We had our first newscast on Wednesday, and I honestly thought it went really well. Not perfect, of course, but it was better than I had expected. We did four takes. You could tell everyone was really nervous the first time around, but by the second take, everyone was much more comfortable and relaxed. It made me proud of our team, and excited to see what’s to come. 

Last Monday, the reporters gave their pitches. They all had good ideas and I was impressed with how well they were working with their beats. I was running around like crazy after class to post their selected story ideas and conference times in the edit lab. Afterwards, I had a break until Wednesday.

Wednesday, I got to help reporter Megan Bsharah film for her Empty Bowls story. It was fun getting to watch her work, and come up with a creative stand-up. I also 

helped Sierra Davis film for her story about winterizing vehicles. She had to do a man-on-the-street interview, and I was trying to help her track someone down – this is something I did not miss about being a reporter.

Thursday was conference day. I got to sit in on the conferences with Professor Dahlia. It was extremely helpful to see the feedback she gave everyone, because I was learning what to look for, and learning the right way to do things. I felt more confident in helping the reporters when they came to me for help. 

Later in the day, I joined the reporters in the edit lab while they made changes to their packages. They were quick to reorganize their packages, and they all made huge improvements. Professor Dahlia and I critiqued each person’s story. I learned a lot from reviewing her feedback, because she caught a lot of things that I didn’t. Lastly, we chose who was making show and BOR. I sent out tweets and emails – something I had to get used to remembering to do almost every day in order to send out reminders and information. Friday, I helped Noelle film in Studio B.

On Saturday, I worked on the script all day long. I was most confused with the rundown. I couldn’t seem to understand where to add time in, and I think this is something I will still need help with the next time around. Writing the script came easy to me for some stories, but others, like sports, I had a more difficult time because I’m not as educated in that area. The format of the script was easy to put together because I followed one I had, but it was tedious. 

Professor Dahlia gave me great feedback on the script and I was relieved that she thought I did a good job. On Monday morning, I had a meeting with her to go over it before printing scripts off for everyone. The reporters who made show, BOR or sports were working hard to get their last edits done. They did an amazing job finalizing their packages, and they turned out great. 

We met on Tuesday to rehearse before the big day. Kendall Lewis, who was previously in WVU News, was there to guide us. She gave the new anchors great tips on how to work with their pitch and their tone throughout the script. They improved significantly by the time we were done, and everyone felt well-prepared…and anxious.

Wednesday was show day. I learned how to communicate with the anchors through their earpieces. Boothing was pretty easy for me and I enjoyed it.  I made sure the anchors were framed well, and let them know what was going on behind the scenes. The anchors caught on to blocking quickly.  

Extremely impressed with Lindsey, our director, at how fast she picked up her position, because it’s hard and fast-paced. 

The show turned out pretty good, which is exciting because that means we can only get better. I look forward to hearing the second round of pitches on Monday, and to watching this team continue to work together and grow.