Newscast #1- Julia Mellett- Fall 2018

I don’t normally get nervous before going on air, but during this semester’s Anchor Auditions, I was jittery. I’ve loved sports all of my life, and I was trying out to be one of two sports anchors. The selected two would also get the opportunity to work with ESPNU, because of WVU’s long-standing partnership.

I had my sights set on a position that only two of four highly competitive, sports-minded candidates would get. I never once doubted my qualifications or ability, but I had no idea how the other anchor candidates’ auditions went.

I did my audition with the script that I had meticulously memorized, and then let the judges decide my fate. That aspect was the most difficult to handle for me, because all of the alumni judges that Professor Dahlia had chosen had worked in the industry for many years. What if they didn’t see me as I thought I had come across?

As it turned out, that wasn’t an issue! A week of agonizing waiting later, the results were in. Come time for the Anchor Reveal and I opened the pamphlet to see my name under “WVU Sports Anchor/ESPNU Reporter”. I was absolutely ecstatic! This was the opportunity that I had been waiting on for three years, and now it was mine!

I immediately began thinking of beats to cover for the first newscast. The 1988 WVU Football was being honored after the first quarter of this season’s Youngstown State game, so I charged up the batteries, put my SD cards in the camera, and, along with the help of Professor Gilmore, headed to Milan Puskar Stadium for what turned into a rainy, blowout WVU win.

During the game, I was down on the sidelines primed with a camera and my questions. I wrote all of my questions out ahead of time and did adequate research so that when I began my interviews, I knew exactly who I wanted soundbites from and which questions I would ask. A little rain didn’t dull the experience of being down on the sidelines and interviewing the likes of Major Harris and Willie Edwards. My story focused on the 30th anniversary of the first WVU Football team to go 11-0 in the regular season and play for a national championship.

Once I had conducted my interviews and shot all of the footage that I anticipated needing, I started editing everything. Over the span of a couple days, I cut about 20 minutes of footage into a minute and a half package. That is always the most difficult part, because I never like parting with b-roll or soundbites that I’ve shot. I had Professors Dahlia and Gilmore look over my package numerous times before I submitted it for the final grade and the newscast. Having them comment and critique my work was crucial to the success that my package ended up having.

To top it all off, my very first story was picked up and disseminated by ESPNU. I now had an entire sport segment anchored, a package that had made show, and an entire story that ESPNU had selected to air. And we still have four more newscasts to go!

I’ve spoken to many past WVU News anchors, and they voiced how much what they learned in the class helped them succeed in their first jobs. I can’t wait for next week! It’ll only improve from here.