Job Shadows: The Second One!

Here's the second job shadow report I've received; they will each be posted as I receive 'em.  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.

Please give each one of these a quick read, will you?

*****

On Tuesday, June 24^th, I completed my job shadow with Jessica Wheeler, a morning reporter for WWMT News Channel 3 in Kalamazoo.

            I have been interested in broadcast journalism since high school, and I had even completed a job shadow of Channel 3’s morning anchor, Marcie Kobriger, as a high school senior and loved it.

Shadowing Jessica was a much different experience, but one that I enjoyed all the same.

Jessica’s day starts at three in the morning, which is the same time that I arrived at the station, and goes until between 11 a.m. and 12 p.m.

I was warned in advance that a reporter’s day is never typical - it always changes. Jessica said that is one reason she likes her job so much - there is always something new and different on a day-to-day basis.

Unfortunately for me, the day that I shadowed Jessica was a very quiet and dull one spent entirely in the newsroom. It definitely gave me a good perspective of what a reporter does when not covering breaking news, though, so I was grateful for that.

Jessica said she aims for her morning schedule to go as follows, unless there is breaking news: arrive at 3 a.m., complete scripts by 4 a.m., do her hair and makeup at 4:15 a.m., and then do the live broadcasts at 4:30 a.m., 5 a.m., 5:30 a.m., and 6 a.m. If there is breaking news, Jessica and her team head to the scene where she will get the scoop and report what is happening from there.

After leading me back to her desk, Jessica began preparing her scripts for the day’s newsroom reports that she would do every half hour, beginning at 4:30. The station uses a program called ENPS. Jessica said the program each station uses depends on the broadcast company that they work for. WWMT is part of the Sinclair Broadcast Group and is also a CBS affiliate.

That morning, Jessica’s stories were about an IRS scam and a Husky Club that was doing good deeds in the community. The IRS story was one that Jessica had to modify from Associated Press stories that were downloaded to the ENPS system that morning, along with video clips and sound bites.

The Husky story was different, though, because Jessica and her photographer/videographer, Eric, had produced the story on their own over the past week. So, all that was left was to introduce the story and roll the footage during the broadcast.

After finishing her scripts, Jessica explained more about how affiliates share stories through programs like CBS Newspath, which is a network story origination source that allows sharing of news packages amongst affiliate news stations.

Jessica also explained about News Minutes in the ENPS system, which are updated every hour and tell the big story highlights across the top of the ENPS screen so that newsrooms and reporters never miss breaking news.

Being prepared and savvy is important as a reporter, Jessica told me. For example, that morning the Internet was acting up, which meant they could not download the video and sound clips that accompanied Jessica’s IRS report. Thus, she tweaked her script to include some important information that would have been left out. For the later broadcasts, they were able to get the video and sound clips, so Jessica went back to her original script.

This Internet fluke was a great example of why reporters have to be able to think on their feet and be able to respond positively when things go wrong.

Social media, like Facebook and Twitter, have been increasingly important sources of information, said Jessica. She said she constantly checks her Twitter feeds and Facebook timeline for posts about breaking news and photos and updates that she could possibly create a story on or report as breaking news.

Jessica follows other news reporters, key community members, and other people who are up early like she is. That way, she has a variety of Tweets to look through and keep herself updated on what is happening in the community in real time.

Social media, Jessica said, also allows reporters like her to track things and string posts together about certain topics, like the Western Michigan University riots. She used Twitter to help find sources to talk to and photos to use in her report on that subject a few weeks ago.

Another interesting aspect of the newsroom is the constantly running row of police scanners. Jessica said her first newsroom job was to listen to scanners and pick out the important events to send news crews to. So, she has a really good ear when it comes to picking up on newsworthy scanner talk. If she hears something interesting on the scanners, she calls dispatch about incidents and asks for more information. Some dispatchers are friendly and willing to help while others are not, she said.

With a few minutes to kill before her first broadcast cut-in, Jessica said she usually goes through her email and the WWMT station email in search of potential news story ideas sent in by community members. One that interested her when I was there was a Mom & Me Belly Dancing Class. She said she would forward the email to herself and then follow up on it when she had some downtime.

After grabbing her scripts off the printer, Jessica settled herself in at the newsroom desk and prepared for her turn on air. She said reporters should always be prepared with notes or a paper script incase of teleprompter failures.

It was so fun to watch her report live, as I stood right next to her. She was extremely focused, calm, collected, and professional while on air. She knew exactly what she needed to communicate with her stories, and her voice reflected that.

In between her cut-ins every half hour that morning, Jessica continued to show me around the newsroom and explain how she edits stories. She said when you are writing for broadcast, everything must be simplified and short, for there is not much time to get the key points to viewers. Leads must be eye-catching and similar to a headline.

To give me practice, Jessica printed out recent AP news stories from the ENPS system and allowed me to write up a short broadcast featuring the stories. After, she would critique them.

I struggled with these practice stories at first, because I was used to writing for print, which allows for much more detail. After I learned to pick out only the most crucial information, Jessica said it was obvious that I knew how to write and that I was doing a great job at creating a cohesive story.

When Jessica was all done with her broadcasts, she and the rest of the morning team took me with them to get lunch.

Once back at the station, Jessica returned to her desk to finish formatting her scripts from that morning for online publication. This was much more along the lines of what we had been doing in class, so I was much more familiar with the format.

As Jessica was showing me their story bin that is constantly updated with fliers and printouts of upcoming events in the community, a police scanner went off telling of a fatal crash on a nearby highway. After confirming with dispatch, Jessica and Eric prepared to head to the scene of the crash.

Since there would be nowhere for me to park on the highway, Jessica thought it best that I not follow them. She did give me some last minute advice, though.

Jessica said a reporter should always be prepared for breaking news. She, for example, always has raingear at her desk and a large tote bag filled with snacks, water, work phone, makeup, hairbrush, and an earpiece.

As Jessica and Eric ran out through the doors, I was unsure if I could see myself being a reporter. I know I would love the excitement and thrill of breaking news and something new to do every day. However, I really like organization and routine, which is what an anchoring job gives you, at least more so than a reporting job.

I am still intrigued and fascinated by broadcast journalism and want to be involved with it in some way. Shadowing Jessica gave me a great feel for what happens in the newsroom and how to cope when things do not go the way they were planned.