My Place In The NewsRoom

Hello everyone, I’m back after having an amazing but busy summer. I finished my internship with WTAE 4 and it was the best experience on my life. Not only did I meet good people but also have a feel for how the business really works.

Going into my first day at WTAE channel 4 I really had known idea what to expect. In fact I was really nervous about it. I didn’t know what they would expect from me, what would they have me doing and most of all, would I be able to do it right? Just like anything else you always fear what you don’t know and this was no different.

Entering the news room I was taken back a little by all the commotion that was going on. Phones were ringing left and right and everyone were typing hard at their computers to pump out today’s sorties. In the back I saw Rege Bononis the Managing Editor at WTAE and also my boss. He showed me around the station and introduced me to some of the people I would be working with. Everyone I met was so nice and all told me if I needed anything, just let them know. I also met a girl by the name of Sara Bower our Assignment Desk manager, and found out that she is a Westminster alumnus! How about that?

As the weeks went by I was given opportunities to do different things. One week I was with reporters, sometimes helping to write scripts, and other times I would be in the back editing my own work. What I was really finding out was my place in the news room. I starting thinking to myself even from the first day, where do I see myself at this station if I were to work here? And this whole experience was about what I really want to do with broadcasting once I graduate.

After the first month I starting checking off jobs that I know are not for me or jobs that I know I’m not cable of. The first to fall into this list was reporting and anchoring. Seeing the talent and skill of these anchors and reporters were remarkable. They truly are skilled at what they do. Plus from my understanding of these positions are highly competitive and hard to get.

Anther job I thought I thought I might be interested in was producing. Now going into this internship I didn’t know that producers also wrote all the scripts. Sitting at a computer all day writing stories is not something I really care to do. I believe I would be able too just don’t really want to do it.

One of the positions I can see myself at would be directing. A few nights a week I would go into master control room and watch the director work his magic. Its pretty similar to the way we do it at the County Line. Of course just on a little larger scale.

I realizes now how important an internship is. It’s a chance to gain some great experience and make important connections that could help you land a job down the road. But for me it was more than that. It was a chance to get a taste what I really want to do. Although whatever career path I take might not be in news. I know now that if it were I would enjoy editing, directing, and photography. It is night and day to do the same jobs at school then at a real TV station. I highly recommend that everyone do an internship. You would be foolish not too. I learned a lot of things about myself and some things I was happy to find out. Heading into my last semester at school I know now what I need to focus on.