One of my best professional experiences....my internship!

I know that my main focus last semester was informing you all about my internship at WYTV 33/ WKBN 27. So why would you think that my first entry would be any different? The reason I am writing about my internship right now is because it truly was on of the best professional experiences that I have ever had that helped shape me.

My internship at the station taught me the importance of being on time (or even early), how to dress, shoot video, edit, and overall just how to be a professional while being out in the field. I'm not going to lie, most of the time I am an early bird and am always on time, but there are the occasional times when I was a few minutes behind. While interning at the station I learned the importance of being early because in news or even sports there is always things that can happen and throw everything off. PLUS it really impresses your employer when you are on time!

Being out in the public it's really important to dress your best and look professional! Being a college student, I'm sure most of us are used to wearing jeans and sweats, but this is not the job field for those articles of clothing. Being a broadcast major at Westminster we are give plenty of opportunities to shoot video and edit our packages. The only thing that made it more different when I would do those things at the station was that I felt pressured to complete everything in a timely manner and do the best that I could do because these were actual sportscasters who were going to critique my work!

All of these things are going to help me with hosting Titan Town Sports this year! My capstone project is to make a montage of all of my packages that I do (Bi-weekly) for Titan Town Sports! Since I want to be a sportscaster all of these things are only going to help me even more! Not only am I going to look and sound more professional, but I'm going to gain hands on experience which is a great pay off!

All Good Things Must Come To An End!

Who knew, way back in January, when I wrote my first entry, that I would have had one of the most enjoyable and valuable learning experiences of my life. My internship with WYTV/WKBN will be missed dearly. It was one, of a few things, that I looked forward to doing every week. It was so exciting and I never knew exactly what was going to go on, or where I would be going. I have also experienced a lot of firsts with this internship, such as stand ups, indoor arena football, election night, ice hockey, and how can we all forget, an RBI.

I have experienced a lot of happy and exciting events, as well as a tragic event. All which I will hold dear to my heart. My first stand up is something that I will never forget. Most of my broadcasting experience has come from reading scripts. So when I was practicing what I was going to say I stumbled a lot, mainly because I was nervous. This stand up was with Bill and he is such a great storyteller that I was just as nervous doing it in front of him. I was so pleased with how it came out. Bill did such a great job making me feel comfortable and so proud of what I accomplished. One of the best pieces of advice that Bill gave me was to tell a story as conversationally as possible. This is something that was very hard for me at first, but with practice, I have seen a major improvement.

Something else that really stands out is my first experience covering indoor arena football and ice hockey. I was so energized and ready for just about anything. I am so glad that I got to experience these kinds of things while doing my internship. I also picked up a few pointers when I went out with Joe to get some footage for a feature story on the Mahoning Valley Thunder. These are pointers I am going to take with me and continue using. One of those pointers I will always remember is that you don't always get to find out background information on the people you are interviewing or about the story you are going to do, so when you do a stand up you just need to be simple and to the point, and feed off of what the interviewee says. This I believe will not only help me in my final year here at college, but in my future as a broadcaster.

There are also many other things I will not forget. One of those things happened to hit close to home. That was when I went out with a news video journalist for the day and ended up covering a fatal accident that was a young student here at Westminster. It really hit me, because in sports, what goes on is a lot of exciting action, in news it’s not always as joyful. Some days you may cover something that is going on in the area that is very joyful and giving, things charity related. Then there are the things like covering a tragedy, whether it is a fire or an accident that are never easy. There are even times when you may know or be close to the person you are reporting on. That is just the difference between news and sports.

My time at the station went by so fast. I am still going to keep in contact with all of them. Bob is actually going to be looking at my packages that I am going to be doing for Titan Town Sports as part of my senior project. A lot of people I have talked to said that during their time at an internship they did not get hands on experience and that a lot of what they were doing was running errands or going on mail runs. I can honestly sit here and say that this was an amazing internship. I met a lot of nice people, learned a lot about myself, and gained a lot of knowledge. I was very blessed to be given this opportunity and to have worked with such great people!

Things That Happen Everyday in the Newsroom....

My internship this week was different than most. This week Bob asked me if I wanted to go out with a VJ in the news department. Since before in the past, I haven't got too many opportunities to go out with someone in news, so I thought this would be a great opportunity. Little did I know that Tuesday would be life changing for me.

Early that morning we received a phone calling telling us that there was an accident on the interstate. All I kept thinking was that I was hoping it was nothing serious because I have never been one for the sight of blood or anything worse. We drove on the interstate and saw the tow truck. We had to park on the opposite side of the road. Guess what that meant? We were going to be running across the interstate and as if that wasn't dangerous enough we were going to be running across the road with equipment. These are things though that happen all of the time when you are in news...you never know what's going to happen or what to expect.

We got some footage of the accident and then met with the trooper to get details about the accident. The only thing we found out was that it was serious and the driver was life- flighted to an area hospital, and a one vehicle accident. We left and after being back for awhile it was time for the noon news. The competing station had declared the accident fatal, but the officer had told us it wasn't. We finally got confirmation, and the accident was fatal. I kept thinking about it, and was glad in a way that I did not see the accident as it was being handled, but just saw it being cleaned up.

Later that night I got news that the driver of the car was from my college. I didn't know what to feel at that moment. My heart kind of sank. I was sad for her, her friends, and her family. I had only known of her, so I really didn't know her. In a way I was kind of glad that I didn't, because if it had been one of my friends out there I don't know how I would have reacted. This really hit home to me.

This is something that could happen at any time when you work in news. You never know what to expect. News is a lot different than sports. When in sports everything is pretty much happy, and fun. Most things I've seen in news so far have been very emotional and serious. I think people who are in news deserve a lot of credit. They witness things that are really serious and can too be in harms way, just like police officers and firefighters. I really hope that I can get a job in sports right away, but if now I guess I know ahead of time what I will be in for if I go in to news.

What...an RBI?

The past few weeks I've been talking a lot about doing hands on things at the station, like doing my own packages and stand ups, but this week I gained sports knowledge. Sports have been a big part of my life since I was 5 years old. Since I was a girl, I couldn't play sports like football, baseball, wrestling, etc. So most of the sports knowledge I have is from the sports I have played, and I know them in and out. Sports like tennis, soccer, volleyball, and track & field. I grew up watching football with my Dad and Uncles, so I'm pretty knowledgeable when it comes to that, but softball and baseball that was a different story.

It is spring sports season and that does mean baseball and softball coverage. I guess this week was as good of a time as any to learn. I mean I do want to be a sportscaster, and baseball is America's favorite past time. Joe was the lucky guy to teach me the in and out's of baseball this week. I already knew the basics like how many innings in major league, how many strikes and balls the batter get's before they are out. Joe told me what an RBI was, there are only 7 innings in high school ball, and that a K means strike out. These are very important things to know if you want to be a sportscaster. When I would keep stats before I would just write what he told me to write. This week I was actually catching on and writing down what happened before he even told me.

When going in to this internship I thought that most of what I would learn would be technical things. Things like editing, or learning tricks of the trade. It's been more than that. I've been learning new things each and every week and this week was no different. Most of a sportscasters knowledge comes from experience of playing or watching a certain sport. I could sit down and read books on rules of sports or articles in magazines, but that just not how I learn. Joe would explain what was happening as it was taking place and I caught on right away. Baseball just wasn't something I was ever interested in, but I'm sure glad I've become more knowledgeable about it and now know what's going on a little more. This is something that can only help!

Welcome to the World of Arena Football!

I know the past few weeks have been me talking about the excitement of doing packages. This week I got to do something a little more different. This week I not only went out with a different sportscaster, but I was introduced to the world of arena football. There is an arena football team in Youngstown Ohio, which I didn't know. Where I live this isn't something that is offered, so it was new to me. I'm a big football enthusiast, but I didn't know how the two would compare. Not only was I excited to go see what arena football was all about, but I would be going out will Joe. Joe anchors sports at 10, and although I've met him before, I've never got to go out and see how he does everything.

I usually go out with the same person when I film, and I've picked up a lot of good pointers from him. This was my opportunity to go out and pick up a few more from someone else's point of view. When we arrived there I was so overwhelmed, yet excited! The first thing I noticed was that the field is a lot shorter than a normal football field. Joe explained to me that the reason the space is smaller is because it's played an arena and the space is limited. The field is the normal length of a standard NHL hockey rink. I also found out that scoring is the same as in the NFL with the addition of a drop kick field goal worth four points during normal play or two points as a post-touchdown conversion.

Like Bill, Joe is also a video-journalist. He interviewed a player for the Mahoning Valley Thunder, shot a stand up, and then shot some b-roll. I found all of this to be so fascinating because I've never been introduced to the world of arena football before, and I learned some new pointers, such as you don't always get to find out background information on the people you are interviewing or story you are going to do, so when you do a stand up you just need to be simple and to the point, and feed off of what the interviewee says. I was so fascinated by all of this that I'm going to go and watch the Thunder play tonight!

On My Own!

My internship was amazing this week! I was finally on my own editing. I still had a few finishing touches to add to my student athlete package that I told you about last week. So I figured now was as good a time as ever to put my finishing touches on that package, and do it on my own. I was amazed how fast I learned my way around everything. I'm a very hands on kind of learner. If I just watch what is going on, but never try it myself I won't learn a thing. If I just explore everything, and learn what everything is chances are I will be able to remember what I did and even pick up a few tricks along the way. The only thing I wanted to make sure was that I couldn't mess anything up that would cause the news to not run or change the order or anything, I mean anything is possible when I'm around!

It all worked out wonderful, I mean one day when they were showing me the editing system I was just thinking to myself, "There is no way I'm ever going to remember that." A week later I was finishing up my own package with very little help. I mean I'm not a professional or anything at this system, but I was proud that I was learning something and had showed progression. I felt so confident that I even asked Bob if I could do another package on this week's athlete because I had shot my own stand up when we were at the tennis club, plus it dealt with one of my loves....tennis! He agreed, and was excited, I think mainly because I was excited and so enthusiastic to do something else on my own.

It took me a little longer than the average package I would do here because I was still learning where everything was and what it all does. I put my sound-bites in, wrote my script and voiced it, and last but not least was the editing of the video and putting it all together. I really liked how it turned out and so did Bob. He told me that I wrote into the bites really well and that my stand up looked good. I know he was probably thinking that I was talking too fast or that I was too stiff, but he never said anything like that, maybe I was just thinking that and was being too hard on myself. I'm just one of those people who like to learn and practice, yet be critical of myself because there's always room for improvement.

Overall, it was a great learning experience and I'm pleased with how they both turned out. Although, my favorite was the tennis package because I did it all by myself! Now I have two more things I can take with me when I leave my internship!

Stand up!

So I know I have been writing a lot in the past few weeks about my creation of student athlete. Well I have some new updates on that project, as well as some new ones. This week when I went in for my internship I had Bill read over what I had wrote to go along with my student athlete story. He was impressed, but gave me a few suggestions on how to make it sound more conversational. I re-vised it, and then I began starting the editing process. Bill had to fill in for Bob during the 6 PM News so I asked him if he would mind if I messed around with the editing system so I could find out where everything is and how it all works. That is just how I learn, I am a very hands on type of person. He told me that it was okay, and I went on my way. It's very similar to the system I use here at school so it wasn't too hard at all. So not only did I finally finish my athlete story....but I did it all by myself by exploring the program!

Bill had a suprise for me up his sleeve. He asked me if I would want to go out with him to do another student athlete with him who is a tennis player. In case you didn't know, tennis is my life. I have played for almost eight years, and even taught lessons at our Country Club last summer, so I was very excited! There was a twist to this though, not only would I be going out to hear this student's story about tennis, but I would be shooting my first stand up. I can't even describe how I felt at that moment. I was so excited to shoot my first stand up and since I know so much about tennis I knew it would just flow right out of me because I know so much about the sport and what's going on.

We did the interview, got some shots of the athlete playing, and then it was that time....stand up time! I'm so used to reading from scripts and with stand ups, well atleast this one, there would be no script included. I knew what I wanted to say, but with Bill being there it made me a little nervous. This is a guy who's been doing sports and stand up's for awhile...what if I fell on my face! I didn't! I kept stumbling when saying it out loud to Bill, and he suggested that we turn on the camera and begin recording it. My first take came our perfect, it was like since the camera was on the mood just changed. I was no longer nervous but excited. I felt like such a professional. We did a few takes and Bill told me I was a natral. When we got back to the studio we watched it, and I was so proud of myself! I just need to learn to use my hands more or create movement when describing what I'm talking about!

I actually think I'm going to put together another package on this athlete so I can include my stand up! It helped me to feel more confident in myself! If I didn't know before, I sure do now, that this is exactly what I want to do with my life!