One of the best ways to learn about the broadcasting business is to do an internship and to gain experience in the field...and the next best thing is to hear advice from people who have been in the business for years.
Since the start of my internship is more than a month away, I'm still waiting on that personal experience, but last Friday my Broadcast Journalism II class had the opportunity to listen to a reporter in the business, plus get some feedback on the stories we've been working on for the County Line during this semester.
Reporter Amy Marcinkiewicz (from the Pittsburgh NBC affiliate
, WPXI) stopped by for about an hour in between stories. She was up in the area that day because she had just covered a story at Slippery Rock University about Chelsea Clinton coming to the school to talk to students that afternoon. Then...Amy was heading back to work on at least one more story that day...maybe two. Needless to say, she was busy, so she was frank, honest, and to-the-point with her comments...but they all made sense.
I decided to show her my Mini-Horse Package...which you can watch in following post. I had cleaned up the story a little before showing it to her (and I will upload the better version soon), but overall, Amy liked the story...she felt I had all the important elements (compelling and well-shot video, nat sound, good writing, etc.), but she mentioned I could have done a better stand up to help show how short the mini-horses really are and stuck it in the middle somewhere. Also, Amy thought I needed more makeup...I am pretty fair-skinned to begin with, so that's something I'm going to need to work on for fut
ure stories. However, what made me happy was that she said the story was resume-worthy, especially since the story was non-dated.
Amy also had some helpful general advice from the field to share with the whole class. For example, some of the comments I benefited from included using the diamond effect when it comes to any story that involves some bigger issue. Showing how a situation affects one person can grab the audience's attention quicker and make them stay tuned in to the story. Also, the story has the potential for human-interest and appears non-dated, so it can be used on a resume tape. Amy also stressed the importance of using compelling video at the beginning of any story...plus good writing is a must.
Amy's visit I think reiterated to me that the broadcast business can be brutal...and you have to be a go-getter in this field to go anywhere. Her "advice from the field" was useful...and I plan to put her suggestions into action. Overall, I think Amy pointed out that the best stories are the ones that stand out and endure.
, WPXI) stopped by for about an hour in between stories. She was up in the area that day because she had just covered a story at Slippery Rock University about Chelsea Clinton coming to the school to talk to students that afternoon. Then...Amy was heading back to work on at least one more story that day...maybe two. Needless to say, she was busy, so she was frank, honest, and to-the-point with her comments...but they all made sense.I decided to show her my Mini-Horse Package...which you can watch in following post. I had cleaned up the story a little before showing it to her (and I will upload the better version soon), but overall, Amy liked the story...she felt I had all the important elements (compelling and well-shot video, nat sound, good writing, etc.), but she mentioned I could have done a better stand up to help show how short the mini-horses really are and stuck it in the middle somewhere. Also, Amy thought I needed more makeup...I am pretty fair-skinned to begin with, so that's something I'm going to need to work on for fut
ure stories. However, what made me happy was that she said the story was resume-worthy, especially since the story was non-dated.Amy also had some helpful general advice from the field to share with the whole class. For example, some of the comments I benefited from included using the diamond effect when it comes to any story that involves some bigger issue. Showing how a situation affects one person can grab the audience's attention quicker and make them stay tuned in to the story. Also, the story has the potential for human-interest and appears non-dated, so it can be used on a resume tape. Amy also stressed the importance of using compelling video at the beginning of any story...plus good writing is a must.
Amy's visit I think reiterated to me that the broadcast business can be brutal...and you have to be a go-getter in this field to go anywhere. Her "advice from the field" was useful...and I plan to put her suggestions into action. Overall, I think Amy pointed out that the best stories are the ones that stand out and endure.
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