Here's a sampling of some of the various job shadows done by you all. Take a look and see what you can learn from everyone's visits. There's a lot of good stuff here to help you decide what you want to do with your lives; what you need to be doing to get there; and what to expect when you do get there.
*****
Fred
Heumann is a sports director at WLNS 6 News, who gets to determine what gets
slotted into a three-and-a-half-minute time frame at 6 and 11 p.m. At his job, he oversees what is covered and
shown on TV regarding sports. Heumann
has a team of reporters who will go out and retrieve footage that will be used
on the news later in the week. I arrived
at the WLNS building at 4:30 on November 28.
Heumann was compiling footage together for the 6 p.m. news when I walked
in and was transferring the footage and sound bites from a P2 card onto the
computer.
A reporter for Heumann showed up
ready to go out to the Breslin Center and interview some basketball players. Heumann then sent me off with her and a
cameraman, knowing that watching him work was boring, but doing it for himself
was fun. So, we make the trip to the
Breslin Center and arrive around 5 p.m. waiting for the basketball practice to
finish. The practice finishes shortly,
and we make our way down to the court deciding who we’ll interview. We started with the media darling Miles
Bridges, then got Joshua Langford, and finished with Lourawls ‘Tum Tum’ Nairn
Jr.
We then went back to the studio with
the film, and finished preparing the 6 p.m. show. Heumann had to transcribe audio and insert it
into the script and for closed captioning purposes. Heumann then had me wait in the studio and
watch a segment as he was getting changed for his segment. Heumann then came out and did his sports
segment and had a funny unscripted moment.
After the finish of the 6 p.m., we
went back to his office and he told me about how he got started in the
business. The start came after he got
cut from the high school baseball, and became the play-by-play announcer. He then went to Central Michigan University
and double-majored in Journalism and Broadcasting. He then became a scoreboard operator for the
Detroit Tigers, and has now worked at WLNS for 15 years on and off. He has accumulated 37 years of total
broadcasting experience. What he likes
about being a sports director is being able to control what clips make it into
the show. He told me that he looks for
ambitious people and working hard when looking at people to hire or for
internships. He left me with two keys to
success for this job: create a memory and be different. I learned that you need to pick the
attention-grabbing information that audience will be interested in. This was truly a breathtaking experience, and
something that I hope I can go into one day.
Shadow
Subject: Fred Heumann, (734)-673-2438, FHeumann@wlns.com
**********
On November 18th, I went
to Channel 2 Fox Detroit to shadow Charlie Langton. Charlie is a Journalist in
almost every facet of the word. Charlie started initially as a lawyer, who
became a legal analyst for Channel 2, then became a full-time anchor/reporter,
and in the evenings is a reporter for the radio station WWJ—in short he works
non-stop, seven days a week.
The
job shadow started very quick and very early in the morning. I came in to watch
his 6:30 a.m. show, and he came to greet me just four minutes before he was
supposed to be on air, so a very fast paced start to the day. I was able to speak
with Charlie during commercial breaks in between the show, following him around
to different sets that they had at Fox 2. I later was able to tour the station,
meet with the people in the newsroom, control room, and met the crew members
and various anchors working that morning.
One
of the things that I noticed about Charlie’s job, was that while it was very
fast paced, things constantly changing, and it was very comfortable. I guess
what I mean by that is there was common conversation in between takes and
discussion about the next segments coming on the show. This is something I feel
is particular to it being a more laid back Saturday morning show of course, but
I have previously toured Channel 7 WXYZ, and I noticed that FOX 2 seems to be
more laid back and conversational—which was overall a relieving break from
working in a business that is more than not dealing with negative news stories.
Things
that I observed that related to the lessons told in our class, was that
deadlines were of course extremely important. There was not once during the
show that their scripts weren’t ready or a news package wasn’t loaded up and ready
to air, everything played on time. Another thing I noticed is the accuracy of
things was very important as well. There was a story that Charlie was doing
where they were talking about the church making a Detroiter one step closer to
becoming a saint through the process of beatification. However, Charlie
accidentally used the word beautification when first reading the story, which
completely changed the meaning of the story. While this happens in this
business, it was note to accuracy that I observed first hand.
My
overall experience shadowing Charlie Langton was one that I greatly appreciate
doing. It gave me the confidence boost that I needed to know that this was a
business that I felt fit me perfectly. It was constantly changing, constantly
moving and most of all you were getting news first hand right from the source,
and informing the people as early as 6:30 in the morning.
Contact Information:
Charlie Langton
WWJ Newsradio 950 and Fox 2 WJBK
(586) 268-8200
I had the pleasure of shadowing
Carolyn Clifford, a news anchor and reporter at WXYZ Channel 7 Action News. I
learned a lot from Carolyn and the several other people I had the opportunity
to speak to.
I arrived at the
station at 3 p.m. on October 16, 2017 and waited in the lobby until Carolyn
took me back to the newsroom. There, she showed me where the different desks
were and what was done at each of them. I had the chance to speak with the
executive producer of digital content, Lyle Cifuentes while Carolyn was finishing
up her script for “The Now,” WXYZ’s 4 o’clock news. With Lyle, I learned about
where WXYZ finds their news and how they share it across social media
platforms, primarily through Facebook. Lyle said that she tries to post about
four things per hour, and she emphasized the importance of using tags and key
words in order to generate shares and likes.
After watching
Carolyn and Heather Catallo anchor for “The Now,” I got to speak to the producer
of the show, Rosemary Wlodarczyk. Rosemary said that it is incredibly important
to pay attention to detail when producing a show, but that it is also important
to choose stories from your heart and from your gut. She also said that it is
crucial to communicate with the editors, the writers, the reporters, and the
directors to ensure that everyone is always on the same page.
When the 5 o’clock
news started, I watched behind the scenes. It was really interesting to witness
what is seen on screen versus what is seen in reality, and I had a better
appreciation for everyone who was responsible for making the magic happen on
air. I was also shocked by the fact that the weather man, Dave Rexroth,
improvised everything he said and did not have a teleprompter to go off of.
Near the end, I
had the chance to ask Carolyn some more personal questions about her experience
as a journalist. She said that one of her favorite parts of her job is that she
can actually help people, and the hardest part is that she never really gets a legitimate
break. In offering some encouraging advice about being in this industry, she
said that as long as you are really doing what you love and what you believe
in, you will be fine.
Overall, I had a
really great experience with this job shadow, especially since I had the chance
to interview people in varying positions. The most prominent thing I learned in
this process was that there are so many different job positions in the field
and there are many different roles that a news reporter can play. I think that
being a reporter for a local news station could be a job that fits me, and I’m
looking forward to getting more experience in it.
Carolyn Clifford
(248) 763-6600
(Personal number)
*************
For my job shadow I shadowed Robert Wolcott for one
hour on Nov. 10, 2017 at the Lansing State Journal. He graduated from Michigan
State University and works in the education field at the LSJ. He writes stories
on MSU, Lansing Community College, and Lansing Public Schools. I learned that
each journalist has their own specialty and writes daily stories and longer
stories called enterprise stories. Wolcott said he normally does an enterprise
story every three months. Wolcott also mentioned that he originally applied to
write stories in the environmental field but got the job for education.
The LSJ office was very
nice. They had large TV screens that showed the daily news and showed what stories
were most popular and how many people were viewing that story at the time. This
was very interesting. I noticed the work environment is quiet, but it gets
noisy sometimes when multiple reporters are talking on the phone at a given
time. Wolcott showed me how they edit stories and then how it looks when they
publish it. I was also introduced to his publisher and editor. I learned that
journalism is a team effort. At times Wolcott had to take important phone calls
from people wanting to give their opinions on a topic and he also had to call
sources to ask for information. I found that journalism is the type of job
where you do not have a set plan each day because sometimes stories just pop up
or people call to talk and give their opinions.
This
job shadow gave me a new appreciation for the daily news stories. Though I am
going to be a teacher in the future, it was interesting to witness what other
professionals do for a living. This job shadow will benefit me in the future
because it made me more interested in local daily news and will result in me
staying more updated on my local news.
Contact
Information
Email: rwolcott@lsj.com
Phone: 517-388-5249
My time shadowing David “Mad Dog”
Demarco was one of the most enjoyable experiences that I’ve had in recent
memory. I had done something like this after my senior year of high school when
I shadowed Jamie Samuelsen, a popular metro Detroit radio host and a personal
friend of mine, but this experience was far more hands-on for me. I had briefly
met Mad Dog prior to this as he was a guest speaker at my JRN 218 course at the
beginning of the year and I was lucky enough to meet him out in the hallway
beforehand and direct him to my class. This fortuitous moment allowed me to get
his contact information after I told him I wanted to go into radio and he told
me might be able to help me get an internship later down the road. I was a bit
confused when I was emailing with Mad Dog trying to set up my job shadow
because he told me to come in while he was on the air. I figured while
shadowing him I would just be shown around the different studios and introduced
to some other radio employees like I was during my first job shadow, but
instead he had me on the air with him and asked for my opinion on issues such
as what LiAngelo Ball’s punishment should be, MSU’s loss to Duke, and even what
my friends and I do in our free time when we aren’t studying. I was also able
to meet Mad Dog’s producer, Colin, a recent MSU grad who aspires to have his
own show one day as well. The whole experience was very laid back and just
reaffirmed in my mind that being a radio host is absolutely what I want to do
with my life. When my time on Mad Dog’s show ended I asked him if getting an
internship at TownSquare Media would be possible in the near future and he
directed me to their Assistant Operations Manager who quickly showed me the
steps I will need to take to get an internship set up. I plan on doing this
internship next semester and this experience was perhaps the most important
task I have completed all semester in any task in terms of helping me build my
brand and grow my future.
David “Mad Dog” Demarco: 517-394-7272
mad.dog@townsquaremedia.com
**********
For my JRN 200 job shadow, I reached out to David “Mad Dog”
Demarco. He’s a local sports journalist and sports radio host on channel 100.7
Lansing’s Sports Station the Game. I first learned about David Demarco when he
came to my Journalism 218 class for professor Sur Carter as a guest speaker. I
figured that he’d be a great person to job shadow not only because being a
sports radio host is something that I aspire to do one day, but also because Mad
Dog was a perfect example to show how important it is to have a unique
personality when on radio and television. He earned the nickname “Mad Dog”
because he doesn’t hold back on any of the sports topics he discusses. He made
sure to point that out to us when he spoke to our class. If it requires him to
yell or even throw a tantrum in the middle of a rant in order to truly get his
point across, then that’s what he’ll do.
I
thought that my job shadow would just consist of a tour around his facility and
maybe a demonstration of the equipment, however I didn’t really know what to
expect. When I got to the facility, I was surprised immediately. I’d always
assumed that the standard radio station facility would be set in a city, in a
tall building. It never occurred to me that a radio station facility would
generally be in a suburban/rural area. The room where he’d do his show was also
surprisingly small. There was barely enough room for me to put my chair in
there. He had computer monitors, lap tops, three mics, and a television all in
this small room. He told me that one of his strategies for finding topics is to
constantly search for the trendiest sports topic throughout the show. That’s
also why he keeps his television strictly on ESPN, that way he can relay news
to his listeners immediately. The biggest surprise when I got there however,
was when Mad Dog handed me a pair of headphones and told me that I’d be a guest
on his show! I remember being very nervous, not really feeling as if I’d
prepared myself for being on live radio. But he told me that I had a good voice
for radio and assured me that his listeners would just ask me about myself.
Being on the show was a really good experience because I got to interact with
his listeners, engage in conversation and even get into small sports debates
with total strangers. I got a really good taste of what I was heading for. Mad
Dog’s assistant, Collin, is a Michigan State graduate who told us about how
important it is to start getting into the radio business as soon as possible.
In a way he uses the monitors and computers to keep Mad Dog and the show on
track. He handles all of the silly sound effects, music and commercial breaks,
lets Mad Dog know of his upcoming callers and guests, and even helps build the
show’s website. All of which he learned how to do while at Michigan State
working for Impact Radio on campus.
Some of
the most important lessons I learned while job shadowing Mad Dog is that having
a marketable personality is almost as important as knowing what you’re talking
about when on the show. He pointed out that there are a lot of people who know
sports but there are very few who can host a successful show. I also learned
how important it is for me to get involved with sport media related clubs as
soon as possible. Collin explained to me that it would be a good thing to put
on your resume when applying for communications positions and it’ll also teach
how to use a lot of that technology early on. The job shadow was very
informational and I made sure to personally thank David Demarco for allowing me
to shadow him. I think I might land an internship there too so maybe I’ll be
able to learn even more from him.
On Tuesday, November 21, Jabari
and I got the opportunity to shadow David “Mad Dog” Demarco. His office is located not too far from campus
in Lansing. Mad Dog is a sports air
personality where he covers the Michigan State basketball and football teams
and follow them throughout the season as well as major Detroit teams such as
the Lions, Pistons, Red Wings, etc. He
had both of us speaking on air as well and had people call in to ask us
questions. It was very unexpected as he
had me speak about playing high school sports and the basketball program at
Country Day since that’s where I attended high school. The building where he airs was way smaller
than I expected, as I thought it was going to be a huge area. I got the idea of shadowing Mad Dog when he
came to speak to my JRN 218 class one day, and spoke about his occupation and
all the well-known people he has interviewed such as Jim Tressel, Donald Trump,
etc. I then approached him after class
where he handed out business cards for us to contact him. He has worked at his station for 20 years,
and shadowing Mad Dog gave me a better idea of what I want to do in the future
of journalism and what aspect I want to focus on most. I liked how he made what he was talking
about interesting, and would make funny comments with people he was talking to
so his topics weren’t bland and it made you want to keep listening to him. I hope to possibly receive an internship with
him as he said the opportunity was more than available to us.
*************
My time spent at the Lansing
City Pulse was one of intrigue, it contained different elements that I like and
disliked. Recently, I went on a newsroom tour to visit the Detroit Free Press,
City Hall, and Channel 4 local news. In comparison, in terms of environment, it
was very different. I love the fact that it was quite obvious how different the
two newsroom were, the free press and the City Pulse. Now I know this is
supposed to focus on what I learned in Lansing, and what I learned was
environmental awareness. At the Lansing City Pulse, the newsroom was much
calmer, people going about their regular day honestly. At the free press, it
was bit more chaotic, especially being the fact that it revolved around the
whole Conyers affair. But anyway, I met a plethora of people who worked for the
Pulse; Beth Schwartz who is editor and publisher, and staff writer Lawrence
Cosentino to include a few. Mainly I saw day to day operations, and personnel
doing what they were tasked out to do. Quickly, the thing I most appreciated
and didn't know was that there are so many jobs within this field of media.
They're are writers, editors, publishers, social media experts, etc. Seeing
that really confirmed my choice to want to work in this industry, especially
because I was unsure of what jobs would fit with what I want to do. Another
interesting aspect was that even though they're a based in Lansing, they cover
a lot nationally as well; also, they take a lot of pride in emphasis on arts
and culture. They even have an entire section on their website dedicated to it.
Therefore, I truly did enjoy the fact that i could compare not one but two
newsroom and was able to judge which environment I would personally work best
in.
**********
Location: WDET-FM Radio Station
Subject:
Jerome Vaughn, News Director
On Friday, December 1st I went to WDET to shadow the News
Director, Jerome Vaughn. It was unexpected, and a bit of an adventure to get
there on such short notice from East Lansing to Detroit, but two car rides and
a bus later I was back in Detroit, and on my way to the ground floor of
University Tower on Wayne State’s campus, where the station is located.
The first thing I noticed upon
walking in a was a large map painted the wall of the full scope of WDET’s
coverage, which spans from Owasso in the north, Toledo in the south, and
Ontario in the east. When Mr. Vaughn greeted me one of the first things he said
was that they were the only station to cover news on the other side of the
river, something he is quite proud of. From there he took me into the newsroom,
and we discussed what the job shadow needed to be, and my own interests. I’ve
had a passion for radio since I was a child and told him about the radio
program I started at my high school, and that I currently work for WKAR in East
Lansing. Radio is a little bit more difficult to amass a portfolio for than
strictly print and digital writing given the equipment necessary, which we
discussed.
From there I was given a quick tour
of the station (the multiple recording studios, where the live music performs,
the music library, the master control, a more comprehensive explanation of the
newsroom) until it was time for the 10:30 am staff and editorial meeting, which
I was allowed to sit in on. During the meeting, lead by Mr. Vaughn the editors
and reporters went over their assignments for what was turning out to be a busy
news day. Not five minutes after I arrived Wayne County announced that the
“Fail Jail,” had definitely failed this time and they were scrapping the
project, leaving the large chunk of prime real estate up in the air. By the
time the staff meeting rolled around Fox News (National) had already begun
reporting the possibility of a press conference outside disgraced Senator John
Conyers’ home on Livernois that afternoon in regard to the recent sexual
harassment scandal. I got to see how reporters go about trying to confirm these
rumors in real time, as well as understand that being a reporter involves a
massive amount of multitasking in today’s world, as they were discussing,
researching, writing, and constantly checking twitter all while maintaining a
professional conversation during the meeting. And, to top it off, about an hour
before I arrived it was announced the Mike Flynn was charged by special
counsel, and I got to see how reporters and the news director reacted to that
developing story throughout the day, including the moment when one of the
reporters rushed in to one of the offices to tell us Flynn was likely to flip
on President Trump.
Mr. Vaughn was constantly
interacting with his staff, giving instructions or getting updates, all the
while thoroughly enjoying himself as he worked with his colleagues. The reasons
for his job satisfaction were very much evident during my time there; it was a
fast paced, collaborative, caring, and intelligent environment that was
challenging with a purpose. And I loved it. Luckily for me, I won’t have to
miss it too much as I was offered a summer-long internship with the station,
culminating in what amounts to being a fully fledged reporter.
I know this will be a great fit for
me. I’ve already spent a fair amount of time working within the medium, not to
mention how much radio I actually consume. There will be a lot for me to learn,
but I know there is a very supportive group of people at WDET for me to learn from.
********
For the job shadow, I
shadowed Yanice Jackson-Long who is the managing editor of the Chronicle News.
During my shadow, Yanice showed me what she does at her job on a daily basis.
She edits stories, sets up events, and manages the payments for her employees
and other companies who pay to put their advertisement in the Chronicle News.
Part of her job on a daily basis
involved going through her emails and reading/editing the stories her reporters
had wrote. After she has proof read the stories, she sends the stories to
layout to be published.
Then, Yanice goes on the Chronicle
News website and uploads stories that are newsworthy enough for typically a day
worth of time. The Chronicle News has both a print newspaper as well as a
website page so they can broaden their range of audience. Overall, both print
and the website publish stories and news involving the Lansing community that
is mostly positive aspects within the community.
Afterwards, Yanice returns any
emails or phone calls to set up events that her reporters go to. There the
reporters write and review the events. Some of the events include: Wharton
Center for Performing Arts, sporting events, city events and etc. This helps
the Lansing community to stay connected and informed about what’s going on.
Finally, Yanice goes through the
arranged payments and agreements involving local businesses to put
advertisements in the Chronicle News in either print or online. She makes sure
the businesses have either paid what they owe or have an arranged payment agreement
with the newspaper. Then she goes and makes sure to pay her writers and
photographers afterwards to make sure everything is all good.
Overall this was an interesting
experience for me. I got to learn what it’s like to be a managing editor of a
newspaper on a daily basis. I got to witness the responsibility and problem
solving skills it takes to be an editor, which was a good experience in my
opinion because my dream job in life is to become an editor of a fashion
magazine some day. I think this job shadow was a good overall experience and
helped me to learn about the journalism field as well as make some connections
within the journalism field.
******
I
had the opportunity to shadow two Multimedia Journalists, Veronica Gabriel
and Alysia Burgio
at the WLNS TV/6 News station. Gabriel first gave me a walk through of the
station. Fun fact the station once before was a hotel. Then she went on with
informing me with what they do to start their busy day. The Multimedia
Journalists/Reporters first do B-Calls, by calling the Fire Departments and
police stations to see what’s going on. Also look through Press Releases. As a
Multimedia Journalists/Reporter, they have to film, write, and edit their own
work.
After
that I went to a conference with Burgio to see how she gets interviews done and
how to work the camera. The conference was at the Radisson Hotel in Lansing
Michigan. It was a MMFLA Application Deadline event. MMFLA stands for, “Medical
Marijuana Facilities Act.” The conference covered legalizing Marijuana and why
it’s good for those in need of it, also how to access medical Cannabis and how
users can afford it. Burgio interviewed two men. She asked open ended questions
and demonstrated how to use different varieties of B-Roll.
A
little background of Burgio is that she is from the Metro Detroit area and went
to school at Oakland Community College then finished school a Central Michigan
University with a Bachelors in Broadcast and Cinematic Arts with a minor in
Communication. During her college years she was involved with the television
news station at Central Michigan University called News Central 34, which she
was a producer at one point, a multimedia journalists/reporter and she also
hosted her own show for the newspaper on campus called CMLife, it was a video
show. With a mix of radio for a little bit, eventually finding out that was not
up her ally. Burgio said, “Get involved as much as possible is the key,” and I
will try.
*********
My time spent at the Lansing
City Pulse was one of intrigue, it contained different elements that I like and
disliked. Recently, I went on a newsroom tour to visit the Detroit Free Press,
City Hall, and Channel 4 local news. In comparison, in terms of environment, it
was very different. I love the fact that it was quite obvious how different the
two newsroom were, the free press and the City Pulse. Now I know this is
supposed to focus on what I learned in Lansing, and what I learned was
environmental awareness. At the Lansing City Pulse, the newsroom was much
calmer, people going about their regular day honestly. At the free press, it
was bit more chaotic, especially being the fact that it revolved around the
whole Conyers affair. But anyway, I met a plethora of people who worked for the
Pulse; Beth Schwartz who is editor and publisher, and staff writer Lawrence
Cosentino to include a few. Mainly I saw day to day operations, and personnel
doing what they were tasked out to do. Quickly, the thing I most appreciated
and didn't know was that there are so many jobs within this field of media.
They're are writers, editors, publishers, social media experts, etc. Seeing
that really confirmed my choice to want to work in this industry, especially
because I was unsure of what jobs would fit with what I want to do. Another
interesting aspect was that even though they're a based in Lansing, they cover
a lot nationally as well; also, they take a lot of pride in emphasis on arts
and culture. They even have an entire section on their website dedicated to it.
Therefore, I truly did enjoy the fact that i could compare not one but two
newsroom and was able to judge which environment I would personally work best
in.
**********
