First Week At WKBN!

Well classes are out for the semester, but that doesn't mean I'm not still hard at work in my major of broadcasting! This past week, fellow class mate and now co-worker Shayna Marti and myself started our internships at WKBN in Youngstown, Ohio. We were of course a little nervous when we came in our first day, but our internship supervisor Maggie Henderson put us at ease and showed us some of the technical aspects of the newsroom. Almost every reporter in the newsroom gets their own computer and work off of an AP system named ENPS. Using this program at first was like learning a foreign language because we have never used it before in our experiences at Westminster. The system allows you to check multiple AP wires, write scripts and save them to the rundown server and also acts as an in-office email system if you need to contact others in the newsroom. After learning a bit about the computers and the programs WKBN uses, We went out on our first adventure with a reporter to North Poland elementary to film a package about make a wish. It was really neat to get our first taste of how a VJ (video journalist, backpack journalist, one man band etc...) gets the job done and all the aspects that go into it. We helped Roxann Sebest set up the equipment, and then watched as she got all the b roll footage she needed for the package. She allowed us to be in charge of the camera for the interviews she conducted with the students and the school's president. On Tuesday, I came into the newsroom by myself and went out on another feature/enterprise story with a VJ named Dan Marin. Dan is a really cool guy and showed me how enthusiasm for the job and in the field can really help you capture a good package. The most amusing part of the day is that we went to an alpaca farm named Day Star Alpacas in North Jefferson to film the alpacas getting sheared for the summer. I will be sure to upload the video I captured on my cell phone of the alpacas getting shaved, it's truly unique! I even got the taste of editing on Avid, which is the editing software they use in the station, and the shots of the alpacas made for compelling and colorful video! The next day, on Wednesday, Shayna and I returned to the newsroom and decided to split up to follow different reporters on their journey's for the day. I went with veteran reporter Stan Boney to interview the mayor of Youngstown, and also a former senator who knew Ted Kennedy in the 80's. I decided after watching the video that was captured from the day that I wanted to start writing my own package scripts. It was quite the process to begin to learn how to write scripts on the ENPS system, but I got the hang of it after awhile and polished off a pretty good script. I had my supervisor Maggie look it over and give me suggestions to improve my writing. With all of this action in one week, I can't wait to see what this week brings, and I'll be sure to post video of everything happening!