Getting Started: One Intern’s Experience

By: Rachel Gill
Posted In: Opinion

Getting Started in the Field

As I stepped into my car, dressed with professionalism from head to toe, I thought to myself: And so it finally begins. I immediately turned the radio on and gave the volume dial a very generous twist. Suddenly, the beats of Kelly Clarkson’s “Independent” filled every inch of my car. As I drove along the local roads of Charlotte, Shelburne, and then Interstate 89, which I have driven countless times before, all seemed new, different, and changed. The same was true of me as well. I guess, no matter the roads you take, when your destination changes, so do you. The destination of this 25-minute drive: News Channel 5, Where the News Comes First.

Today began, my fast-paced and oozing-with-information internship with News Channel 5. From the moment I opened the door that read, “Keep this door closed at all times,” I transformed into a broadcast journalist, keeping in mind all of the tidbits of knowledge I have come to know about print journalism. My broadcast career began with a 9:15 morning news meeting that consists of at least four full cups of black coffee, and all of the reporters sitting around a table attempting to decide the news for Vermont and up-state New York.

Looking around the table, I realized that all of these faces were familiar, of course, because they are the same ones that have been stuck inside my TV while I brush up on local news sitting at my kitchen table. However, now we are sitting side by side, as equals. Throughout the meeting, there was a large amount of banter back and forth between these reporters, all trying to pitch what they believed to be news for the day. Once all of the battles have been fought, some ending in victory and some in defeat, a conference call is made to the New York office in Plattsburg to inform the producers of the day’s story assignments.

When the meeting came to a close, it was time to make the stories, which only existed as two-sentence summaries on the news list, into actual packages (full news story). This involved going out with a news crew and gathering the sound bites (interviews) and VO (Video) to create the package.

The first day I accompanied a news crew to the State House to cover a press conference by Bernie Sanders concerning the new Congressional bill for Medicare. This allowed me to also see other news venues and the way a press conference is held. After the press conference, the reporter I was with had called ahead to the nearest Senior Center to ask to speak with whoever might be around when we arrived in an effort to cover another perspective.

The construction of the story, however, began before we even arrived. This involved a conversation between the reporter, in this case, Graham Johnson, dressed in crisp khaki pants, a white dress shirt, a bright red tie and glasses. The camera guy, Mike, was dressed as many of the cameramen dress, in shorts and a T-shirt. Despite their difference in dress, they certainly knew how to get the job done, as a team of course. Their goal was to decide on a focus for the story, which can change depending on what they are able to collect for interviews and video. Agreeing on a focus allows them to collect interviews and video that complement each other.

In this case, their focus was trying to explain the Medicare bill to seniors and reporting on the viewpoint of not only the Congressmen but on fellow senior citizens. Prior to this experience, I never thought about what a huge impact a reporter’s cameraman has on the story. As Graham Johnson explained, “Packages are just as much a reporter’s story as a cameraman’s story.” Furthermore, the quality of each shot, interview, and camera angle can make or break a story. Also, the visuals need to transport the viewer to the scene; otherwise the reporter’s words will have no meaning.

Day 2: Around in Circles

As soon as I stepped in the newsroom, I could smell the chaos in the air. One of the cameramen had heard over the police scanner that there were multiple police units being sent to a Route 2A and some talk of an explosion. As soon as I heard that, my heart seemed to skip a beat. I then begin to wonder if I was going to be allowed to tag along. And sure enough, the reporter looked at me and said, “You coming?” I responded with a strong, “Yes” trying not to sound excited over a potential emergency.

The ride to the scene was filled with wrong turns, missed street signs, and phone calls to the office. When we finally locate the correct Route 2A, of which there are two of in two different towns, it ended up being a suicide. Due to News Channel 5 policy, they could not cover the suicide.

Instead, the reporter called the station and producers told her to take a little trip to Jeffersonville, Vt., to the Miler family’s corn maze. During the ride, through small Vermont towns along numerous back roads, again, the reporter (Lauren Cooke) and camera guy (Jamie) made sure to agree on the focus for their story. All they had to work from was a one-paragraph press release, which they kindly shared with me, that provided a little background on the corn maze and said that the maze was opening very early this year.

Suddenly, we were all taking part in discussion about how to make corn news. I then asked, “Well, does everyone know what a corn maze is?” And Lauren asked, “Yeah, and what makes a farmer start a corn maze?” Then Jamie, added, “I wonder how a farmer has any time for a corn maze and I wonder if the guy makes any money?” With that, we all looked at each other and knew we had just stumbled upon our focus: The corn maze and the Milers. After that discussion, I realized that I had just contributed to a crucial part of the story. I then sat a little higher in the backseat of the News Channel 5 Ford Explorer.

During the ride, Lauren and Jamie also made sure to keep me asking question after question in order for me to take full advantage of their skills, and of course to keep them on their toes. One point that stuck with me was not only the importance of stand-up, but also the purpose. At the beginning, the end or even in the middle of a package, sometimes the reporter does a stand-up, which consists of them talking to the camera. However, the purpose of stand-up is not to just show face. Instead, there must be news in a stand-up. There are various purposes that stand-up serves, which are providing transition, demonstrating or explaining something, or saying something that there may not be video for.

When we pulled into the steep dirt driveway, I knew this story was dripping with feature possibilities. There was not only the corn maze, but Milers and the visitors trying to find their way through the twists and turns of the maze. One of the important parts to this package was to provide strong visuals and interviews in order to make the corn maze newsworthy. This meant that Jamie needed to use his creative juices and shot all kinds of angles, which he did.

He followed a 9-year-old-girl named Cassandra and her mother through the maze, allowing the viewer to be able to experience walking through the maze. He used shots of their footsteps, their heads popping through the high corn, and shots of the flag that each group needs to carry with them, so in case they get lost, the Milers’ youngest daughter can spot them right away. Lauren’s job was to provide interviews that told the story of the Milers, the corn maze and why and how many people come to face the maze. Lauren was able to speak with Mr. Milers about the financial side of the business and get some fun bites about people getting lost. She also spoke with Cassandra, the 9-year-old maze-goer, about why she enjoys the maze. My role in all of this was observing the entire process and attempting to envision what parts would be used.

Once we arrived back at the station, it was time to make the package. Some aspect of the package construction that I was curious about was the editing process. So I poked my head in the editing room and asked Jamie if I could join him. He gladly agreed and explained to me all about setting in and out points and about how video and audio are recorded on two separate tracks, along with a separate track for natural sound. I was also able to learn the art of a natural wipe. In this case, Jamie wanted to link Cassandra and her mother’s feet walking, a shot of Cassandra going through the maze, from behind her, while she was holding the flag, and Cassandra and her mother walking through the corn from an adjoining path.

After looking at the tape, Jamie realized that during his filming, the flag happened to brush across the camera lens, causing the shot to go black for a second that caused a natural wipe or natural transition. Jamie used this shot to transition from their walking feet, to Cassandra holding the flag, and then to her and her mother walking through the corn from an adjoining path. In other words, Jamie explained that visually he does not like to shot things that are choppy. If the shot is of Cassandra walking through the maze and then cuts to her with her mom, the viewer wonders how she got there. Therefore, just like in writing transitions are very important.

All Rallied Up!

Today, I attended a civil rights rally protesting the Patriot Act, which involves anything from privacy when checking out books at your local library to what you type in that the Google search box. This brought the more liberal Vermonters to the lawn of the Vermont Supreme Court in Montpelier.

As the rally kept on rallying, I noticed Stewart Ledbetter, the reporter I was with for the day (and also my supervisor), pull a teal-haired women aside, to ask her some questions. At first she was reserved for a women who would take such a big hairdressing risk. However, once Stewart asked about her own political views, she suddenly began speaking like a real teal-haired woman would. “I think they’re dangerous. They are the ones we should watch out for,” she said as she pointed with two raised eyebrows to the many state offices surrounding us. As a listened, I knew this was a killer SOT (sound bite), not to mention visually unique VO (video).

Despite, having this sound bite, the job was not done yet. The main focus of this story was explaining the Patriot Act to viewers through the backdrop of the rally, which represents opposition. However, in all good reporting, all sides need to be addressed. This is where the University of Vermont librarian came in. Stewart explained that he not only wanted to include a so-called expert on the effect on libraries, but also to offer a more neutral opinion. The librarian explained that one of the conditions of this legislation is that if there were any kind of investigation going on in her library, there would be a gag order in place not allowing her to inform any media or even the person being investigated that police are involved.

Once all of the angles at the rally were covered, we took a walk down to a local restaurant to have a little business lunch. At first, I admit: My nerves seemed to be on fire. But once I started chatting about what I have learned so far I began to get a handle on those butterflies. I explained to Stewart and the cameraman Mike, one of the most surprising tidbits of knowledge I have picked up so far, was the role of the cameraman.

I went on to explain, that I watch my far share of news, and for some reason, I was never aware of the huge impact each angle, each transition, and each piece of natural sound has on a broadcast piece. Another piece of knowledge we discussed was how a focus of a package can change. When we were driving to the rally, we were expecting a large crowd. However, when we arrived the crowd was much smaller, so that meant changing the focus from mainly just the rally and the number of people opposing it, to an explanation of the Patriot Act, coverage on the rally, and the voices of opposition. This was also a point that involved a lot of communication between the cameraman and the reporter, because it is important for them to always be on the same page.

The Dean Machine

Today former Vermont Gov. Howard Dean appeared on the covers of “Time” and “Newsweek.” So in the morning meeting, we discussed what angle to take. We decided that we would cover what being on the cover of these two magazines will do for his campaign and what kind of response the covers got from local businesses and possibly people.

I started with making a phone call to some local bookstores like Borders and Barnes and Noble to try and get some bites from people buying the magazines and managers of the stores. I was able to set up an interview with a manager at Borders, which is in downtown Burlington and has a coffee shop where people might be sipping their coffee and talking about Dean. Brenda Devlin (usually a nightshift reporter) set up an interview at Dean’s campaign headquarters and also with a St. Michael’s political science professor to get a varied of perspectives. So Brenda Devlin, Ken and I packed up our stuff and drove to Borders. Unfortunately when we arrived, the magazines had not arrived yet. The UPS man arrived, but the magazines were not on his truck…Oops! This meant that we had to decide on a new angle.

Originally, we were going to shoot the magazines arriving and then have an interview with a person who was waiting for them to arrive in order to convey the anticipation of the magazines. Brenda still interviewed the manager about the demand for copies of the magazines and also a women standing by the magazine rack eagerly awaiting the arrival of “Time” and “Newsweek.”

One obstacle that we faced today was that the camera guy. Ken, had to pick up his girlfriend at the airport, bad planning. But I remembered that there is a magazine/concession shop at the airport. That way, we could shoot the magazine covers on a newsstand, showing that Dean shares the rack with the likes of Cameron Diaz and Justine Timberlake. Also, what is always at the airport? TOURISTS! FROM OUT OF STATE! So what better than to walk up to them with a magazine and ask, “Do you now this man?” and find out if they want to know more now that Dean is on the cover of two well-recognized magazines.

The next stop was at Dean headquarters in South Burlington. When we entered, there were dozens of young people working for his campaign. Brenda interviewed one of his representatives, and we learned that these magazine covers mean that more people are going to know all about Dean’s philosophy.

Once we had all the interviews, it was time to return to the station and start writing. Brenda asked me to research the names of some past people who have been on the cover of “Time” and also find out the circulation numbers of each magazine. I also wrote a VOSOT script in case the producers wanted to run the story again during the 11 o’clock show.

Emergency Landing

During the morning meeting, we had realized that there were some extra camera guys available today so that meant they could let me work alone without a reporter there to “hold my hand.”

At first I was assigned to do a VOSOT on the opening of the Latino Festival, and to go check out some vandalism of the recently shut down train stop in Charlotte (where I live) that was part of a million-dollar transportation effort to give people another way to travel and in hopes to ease their commute during a huge future road construction project (that was scheduled to began within a few weeks). The train was called the Champlain Flyer and it ran from Charlotte to Burlington but hardly anyone rode it and they shut it down. I had been assigned earlier to keep checking it, and to report if I noticed any vandalism and sure enough I did.

This was the plan for and Tim (the camera guy) and me before we got a call. A pilot had to make an emergency landing on Interstate 89 in a small plane. Since all of the other reporters were busy and the pilot was not hurt, I was sent alone with a cameraman to the scene. I was so nervous, but I knew that I had the camera guy to help me and I knew what to do. During the car ride, I called some local police departments about the incident and no one had any more information so all I had was a short description I had printed off the wire.

When we arrived, sure enough there was a plane on the interstate! What a sight. So I interviewed a policemen and the pilot. At first I was asking mostly questions about what happened, which is good, but the most interesting part of this was the emotion. People want to know what it is like to land a plane on an interstate. Along with emotion, another important element of this story was the visuals. So Tim shot the video of the police towing the plane off the interstate, which required them to close a section of the road because of the size of the plane’s wingspan.

Once we arrived back at the station, I was told I had to write a VO for the 5 o’clock show, which is just video and a the bare basics of what happened and a VOSOT for the 6o’clock show, which is again video, a sound bite and the anchor reads the script. So I immediately got to work. After a few different re-writes, I was able to write both scripts. Once they were approved, they were changed a little, but that is very normal. They did not however, change my intros! The VO intro was: Drivers on Interstate 89 were joined by an unexpected traveler this morning… and the VOSOT intro: Drivers on Interstate 89, shared the road with a pair of wings today.

Strike!

Today it was off to Verizon, a national phone company that has a headquarters in Vermont. A contract affecting 630 workers expires tomorrow, and workers do not see an agreement with Verizon in the near future. This meant talking to both the workers and company representatives. So after the morning meeting and many phone calls, an interview was set up at the Verizon headquarters in Williston. Lauren, Jamie and I headed to Verizon.

On our way there, we discussed that since strike stories are very generic, the challenge is to find out what is different this time. In this case, Lauren said that workers are unsatisfied with healthcare and they are hearing rumors that Verizon may force some employees to relocate. Therefore, these points are what to ask each side. Also, it is important to get the emotion out of both the workers and the representatives. Everyone knows what a strike is, but they may not know what it is like to be involved in one.

The first interview was with a Verizon representative who spoke about what great healthcare coverage Verizon does offer and that employees knew from the first day they were hired that this job might require relocating. She also said that Verizon didn’t want a strike but that if there was one, the company had a plan in place to make sure that customers have service during a strike. (The plan involved having managers working overtime.)

The second interview was with an emotional Verizon worker. As she spoke, her voice quivered, which affected the quality of her response. However, she did speak about how relocating is not an option for most employees with families and that the quality of the healthcare coverage is one of the reason she came to work for Verizon 18 years ago.

That afternoon, the producers told Lauren that her story was the BIG STORY of the day and that they wanted a live shot from Verizon. At News Channel 5, the BIG STORY almost always has a live opening shot, which adds some importance to the story and makes it a little more urgent. This also gave me the opportunity to experience a live shot. News Channel 5 has a live van that has a huge broadcasting antenna on the roof that allows them to feed live video on air…How cool!

Foxy Lady

Earlier in the week I happened to answer the phone when an anonymous caller wanted to give us a story tip. The man said that he was from the new north end (a section of Burlington) and that he and lots of others had been calling the police department fairly often to report fox sightings. He went on to say that animal control investigated the foxes. and they determined that the foxes are known as urban foxes that pose no threat to humans but are threatening to cats.

I wrote down the information and decided to bring it up at the next morning meeting because at the time the man called everyone was in crunch mode, trying to meet deadline. Sure enough, this morning, Gus (a reporter and the weekend anchor) pitched a story about rabies because a rabid skunk was found recently and he wanted to do an update on the number of rabid animals found this year. That was my golden opportunity to bring up the foxes. It was a winner and so our mission began to get to the bottom of our expose on Urban Wildlife.

Before Gus, Oli, and I set off on our fox hunt, we had to stop by a college debate team event at the University of Vermont. A national program known as The World Debate Institute was holding a practice debate to prepare for a public debate later in the week. So we went to room 003 in Kulkin Hall to learn more about the debaters, and Gus immediately began talking to a group of students hanging out in the hallway while waiting for the first group of debaters to finish.

Gus’s tip: Make friends with people before sticking a camera in their face, make them feel comfortable, and ask questions for background so that you do not use the camera as your notebook. Also, you never know what you might learn by talking to people or as Gus said, “You will never find stories by sitting in the office. Get out there. The best stories are found this way and by asking questions.”

Gus singled out one student who Gus had learned was one of the judges and asked to interview him. Gus then said, “All right, Rachel, you are going to do the interview,” and handed me the News Channel 5 microphone. So I started asking questions: How did you get involved in debating? Why should people debate? It looks like there is a pretty mixed bad of students here; how does that help the debate? Are there an equal number of males and females involved in debate? What is the purpose of a debate, what is the goal?

After, these questions Gus and Oli gave me some pointers. First, my questions were good but I asked too many; I should keep it short and really listen for that bite I need and then say, “Hey, thanks, you did great, and I have what I need” or something like that, so I need to practice knowing when enough is enough. Also, I was interviewing for a VOSOT that only requires about a 10 to 15 second bite but if I was doing a package, I could ask more questions because I need more information.

Now, it was time to go on our fox hunt. First we interviewed an animal control officer, who had been dealing with all the phone calls and later we talked to some residents who had seen the foxes. The animal control office said that they were receiving up to 50 calls a day from concerned residents. After the interview, Gus tends to keep talking a little in order to make interviewees feel more comfortable and to make them feel like they are not only there for the sound bites.

During the discussion, Gus was able to stumble upon another animal story idea. Gus was just asking about how her job had been going and she began to talk on and on about the problem they are having with these dog parks. Owners are allowed to bring their dogs to these parks and they can run free within the enclosed fence. However, these parks are open to anyone, any dog, and any disease. No one is there to check if the dogs have been vaccinated or registered, which is another problem she talked about. Also, the dog owners don’t pick up after the dogs, so whatever diseases the dogs may have could be transmitted through their poop. Gross! But this is a perfect example, of how making a little friendly conversation can bring upon some great stories.

My last day

After a summer of morning meetings, car rides full of questions, and experiencing broadcast journalism, my last day arrived. As I look back to that first day, when every reporter’s and cameraman’s face was unfamiliar and I was just that new intern, I realize just how much I have seen and done in this short time. I have not only written several short formats for air and two fake packages, I have had an unforgettable experience. To be able to ride along with reporters, spend a day with a producer, talk to people I would not normally encounter in my everyday life: This is what journalism is all about.

During my last car ride, Graham (the reporter), Oli (the cameraman) and I had a pretty enlightening conversation. We were on our way to an elementary school in Alburg where several primary grade classroom carpets have been overtaken by mold. Due to this being discovered just days before school is scheduled to begin, the school may not open on time. Also, who knows how long the mold has been there. Graham also learned during a phone call to the principal that this is his only his first month as the new principal. Therefore, he was quite a problem on his hands or under his feet, I should say.

Graham then began to speak about how this principal kept asking him to do an honest story and that his initial plan was to inform all of the parents himself before they caught the story on the 6o’clock news. Unfortunately, the principle was going to have to talk or else he would appear to be hiding something. We also began to discuss how this guy was a perfect example of the very dramatic glimpses reporters get into people’s lives. This was a huge test for this new principal and the way he chooses to deal with it is something the entire state is going to know about.

One statement that Graham said that will stay with me always is: “Journalism is amazing. It gives you the chance to peek into people’s lives at sometimes their most uncomfortable or trying moments in their lives. To see how they deal with that is a true study of human behavior.”

So after we returned to the bureau, I sat down with my supervisor, Stewart, who let me read a letter he is going to send to Salve about what I have done throughout my internship. As soon as I finished the last line of the letter, I felt as proud of myself as I have ever been. We also talked about how beneficial this experience was for me and I told him that I could not have asked for a better internship and the level of professional I was shown was something they should all be proud of as well.

So with that, we shook hands and off I went back into the world, but this time I held my head a little higher.