Newscast #1 - Michael Rinker - Fall 2019

For the first newscast, I did a story on a women's sports panel called, “Play Like a Girl.” It was a great experience as a reporter because I was able to meet four important women in the sports and sports media world. The panel’s goal was to create a voice for women in their challenges of becoming equal in both sports and sports media. I even had the opportunity to talk to Meghan Duggan of the U.S. women’s national hockey team one-on-one. The panel was held in the Mountainlair ballrooms which made it difficult to get intriguing shots. I was able to fill some b-roll shots of the WVU women’s sports teams that helped my package. I could have done a better job of setting up better shots for my package, so that is something I want to improve on for the next show. I also hope to challenge myself by creating a more exciting standup for my next story.

For the next show, I will be shooting a feature story on Haley Jackson, a WVU track and field athlete. Jackson was recently named Big 12 runner of the week. Jackson earned this honor after placing 2nd at the Lock Haven Invitational for her efforts in the 6k, which matched her career best. She recorded her first top-five finish for any race and she is the first WVU runner to be awarded with the honor since 2019. I hope to interview her, her coach and one of her teammates. With this feature story, I will have to do some further research to find out what angle I want to take. Once I meet with Jackson, I will also have a better idea.

I really enjoyed my time on set last newscast; it was good to be back in there. I thought as a unit we have already built good team chemistry. In-between takes, everyone in the studio had upbeat and positive attitudes which made it easier to be yourself on camera. Although we had some audio issues, I thought in the takes we shot all three could be aired. I enjoyed my reader about the new Mountaineer, Timothy Eads and I hope he gets a chance to watch the show!

Be sure to follow my twitter @MRinkerWVUNEWS as I tweet and cover many things WVU Sports and local Morgantown sports. Our next show will be taped on October, 9th.