You're Watching Your Local News Leader.

I can't ever spell the words chief meteorologist correctly. That's unfortunate because I'm now helping to write the 10:00 news. For my last two weeks of my internship, I've was given the opportunity to sit with Eric Gardner and produce in the evenings. It kind of messed up my schedule, because I don't go into the station until 1:30. I am still doing some stories. Most of them are online and/or kickers for the 10, but it's still nice to get out and do a story or two of my own. So...about producing. This is what my day looks like now: 1:30 get to KOTA See if I have assignments, check emails, update fire stuff...etc. Then, once that is done, I start making the 10:00 rundown. A lot of the stories are from the 5:30, so I just have to tweak the ins and outs and make sure none of the information changes. It normally does. So I change it. The hardest part for this is trying to place like stories together. Normally Eric changes it for me. After that, I look for SD News and National news. We try to have three of each, time permitting. Most of the time these stories come from the wires. We try to do West river stories, so sometimes we have them already done and I don't need to write anymore, I just need to take what we have and tweak it. The stories that I write from the wire, I have to see if we have file footage of people or places or events and then put together a clip for that. The National news is in a different program. Friday, for example, we used a two minute package instead of doing three individual stories. The hardest part is trying to know what's interesting to this region, opposed to what is interesting for me. Next, I start looking at the teases. What do I need to tease. The hardest part is finding words to use, without them repeating or being cliche. It's a struggle, ask Eric. Normally, I write them, he laughs and I take his ideas...BUT I'm learning! The whole time, I have to make sure that the times are correct and if we're heavy or light. There are lots of little details to being a producer. However, it's given me a better insight into what it's like to work with a team of people. The reporters write/shoot the stories (which is a team effort in and of itself) and then the producer puts it all together and then the directors print the scripts, check the video clips, make the graphics and put it on air. I've really enjoyed learning and I feel like I have a better understanding of how this industry works...which is the point, right? Two more days of my internship left. Pretty unbelievable. Can't wait to keep learning and get back to school so I can apply what I learned this summer.

Two Week Notice

Wednesday was my two week notice. With that, I got to start shadowing the producer. I've already learned a lot from the one day. He explained that you had to look at details when you do this (I do like detail) and that each producer is different. So, my goal in the next couple weeks is to find my way of how I like to produce. Eric sounds promising that I'll get to do a lot of hands on and get to write a lot of the teasers and make a lot of the graphics. That's exciting. On the other side, I'm still reporting. Wednesday, I went out with the Sheridan, WY reporter to talk to more firemen and do a story on the fire ban. I basically just went with him to shoot, because when I got back I had to go to the meeting and start helping Eric. Anyway, I really learned a lot from Chris. He used headphones...that was a first. And, he took time to think about what shots he wanted. He was quick and efficient and used what resources he had. I've also learned to improve my interviewing skills. Lately, I've been going on stories of my own, so I've had to ask my own questions. I always forget how hard it is until you're standing there with, what you thought was a good story, and your producer hates it. There's still a lot to learn and I'm really looking forward to getting to produce the next few days. As always, if you check daily, you'll probably see more of my stories. Visit kotatv.com. Here are some of my stories that I've put together the last few weeks: http://www.kotatv.com/story/18984509/rapid-city-faces-nation-wide-dns-virus http://www.kotatv.com/story/18982827/rapid-city-clock-shop-gives-to-care-and-share-food-drive http://www.kotatv.com/story/18982885/a-new-arbys-comes-to-the-south-side-of-rapid-city http://www.kotatv.com/story/18980625/fire-crews-get-upper-hand-on-wild-fires-in-kota-territory

Fires, fires, and...Dr. King?!

It's been a while since I've blogged. I get that...sorry, mom. I have grown so much the past couple of weeks. I'm now responsible enough to take the little SONY cameras and go out on my own and completely shoot my own story. Things to work on: Writing lead-ins and writing headlines. Things I'm improving upon: Narrowing story idea and station-specific stuff (e.g. Archived footage) It's been interesting to go with the different reporters and talk through my ideas with them and see how they were just in my shoes less than 5 years ago. I also got a great visit from Dr. King this weekend. It was nice to have him see me interacting outside WIWU. I think I'm growing quickly and there's only about one month-44 hours to go. I'm excited. I'm ready to keep growing. Here's the website to my station: http://www.kotatv.com/ I have stories everywhere. Just look. Normally, they're the small kickers at the end. Also, I have lots of pictures and I'll start posting them to Facebook.

Tricia Can't Write Hard News

Well I had to write the Top Story for the noon news yesterday. That was insane. I got lots of help and the wonderful staff at KOTA held my hand the whole time. But, still...I was excited. The story was a political scandal and so I had to go talk to elected officials. Let me tell you, they're not easy to talk to. But, I'm sure you know that. I first was able to get an interview with the senator at 10:30...he's old and slow. We got back to the station at 11:30. Luckily, I had written the script and the producer was able to correct my details and make them a story. So then we had a somewhat biased story for the noon show. I called the Attorney General's office...no comment. I called the Secretary of State...he's available for an interview at 3:30. So at 3:30, Brad and I went down to interview him. It wasn't as scary as it should've been. Then, I got back, tweaked my story and put it online. That was fun. Lessons Learned? Deadlines are the death of me and broll is not abundant. Here's the story: And here are other stories I worked on the end of last week. http://www.kotatv.com/story/18800606/deerfield-lake-boat-ramps-open-friday http://www.kotatv.com/story/18798709/new-rapid-city-parking-fee-enforced-friday

Week Two: Here We Go

Monday was great. Absolutely great. They stopped referring to me as "Intern 2"!! And, I finally got all my usernames, passwords and email! On top of that, I did my own story. It's been a while. http://www.kotatv.com/story/18757861/the-coffee-can-selling-coffee-from-a-vw-bus-in-rapid-city My day started with me getting assignments...my own assignments. I had an awesome story: It was a great reminder that God's love is everywhere, not just IWU. I had to make some calls and really learn the story. My assignment really just had a contact. It was supposed to be a VO, but ended up as a web story, because the lack of footage available. My supervisor didn't really change much, except for my grammatical errors. That's a huge step from last week. Second, I made calls for my shoot in the afternoon. I knew I needed to do a VOSOT. The story was there, but she wanted her husband home...which meant a 4:00 shoot. Wow...my first story will be under pressure! So, I wrote the script and thought about what I needed her to say. So, after lunch, I updated some stories, did some more tweaking of my script, and sat until 4:00. Then, the more I thought about it, the more I realized, her husband doesn't need to be there. So, I called her back and we scheduled for 3:30 instead. Not much better, but it was something. But, it was perfect. I got there. Got lots of broll. And, got her to say exactly what I needed. I got back to KOTA, found an edit bay. Got it all put together and exported. Finished my web story. Boom! I felt good. It's not the best thing every done, but for my first story, I am proud of what I did. And, I think that's the important part.

Television News Roller Coaster

So I finished my first week as an intern. First, I've learned so much and the rest of the stuff I did know, but forgot all came rushing back to me. So that's good news. Let's start with Wednesday. Wednesday was an explosion of learning. I went out with a reporter in the morning and we covered two things. First, we went to get an interview with the newly elected State's Attorney...who was giving blood. We set him up still in the chair and interviewed him. It was fun, because I was able to see how persistence worked. First, she called and he said he was giving blood so she was about to give up. Then, the guy in charge said to go get him while giving blood. So that's what we did. She called back...and Vargo was NOT happy about being vulnerable in his first interview...but allowed us to come. So I just watched and learned what kind of questions to ask. Step two, get an aerial view of a field with only a 6-foot tripod. So we did our best. It was a little unnerving, because the reporter was trying to show me how to adjust for outdoor light, then couldn't remember filters. Then I asked (Like any Paul Crisp/Randall King-trained student would) Is this the iris. She replies, "I'm not sure what that is...I don't use it." My jaw dropped. She went to grad school and can't tell me what an iris is. Yikes! But, anyway, she climbed up as high as she could on nearby building and got a handheld shot. Then we went to the field and shot close ups. Again, she used handheld and panned a lot. So I was unsure of how it was going to turn out. So then I got switched to another, er, reporter? Well he was hired on to be the weekend meteorologist and had only been reporting for about a month. This was going to be interesting. So, we went on two more adventures. First, we went to Adecco. Adecco is a hiring company. That's it. So what was the story? Heck if I know. So the reporter did the interview and allowed me to get some broll. That was fun. I enjoyed working with close ups and actually getting to touch the cameras. -Oh, did I mention the still use tapes and the screens aren't colored...yeah it's a learning curve- But, then we get outside and the reporter says, "Oops! I forgot to white balance in there." I knew we were in for it. So we finished getting some SIGNS (I know, go ahead and cringe, Dr. King) and headed back to the station. Then, I got to edit. I wrote the script and edited it together. Well it was a good first attempt. The producer fixed my script and I learned that you don't edit the VO and the SOT together. That's confusing. But, now I know for next time. So, most of that video is not what I put together...ha! I also helped him figure out how to fix the white balance issue. (Thank you again to Paul and 3-way color corrector.) So I felt pretty accomplished with that story. And, even though his name is on it, here is the online story I wrote and he checked. Lastly, we went to the flood plains. If you watch any news around southwest South Dakota, you're going to hear about the 1972 Flood. This story was a little different. It was more of a press conference rather than an event. So there were multiple stations there. I didn't really do much with this, but sit back and observe. Friday, not as adventurous. I went to court. Learned how to write a script on a court case. Learned about the state flower, bird, tree, song, etc. I'm just trying to get to know the area where I'm working. Then I went to get an interview about the pine beetles. Then I wrote a practice script and sat around. With the flood special on tonight's news, there weren't very many reporters going out and around. So it was a little depressing I couldn't do much today, but I'll survive. But, I also want to add that every day I am amazed to see just how beautiful God's creation can be! Both in people and in the landscape.

My First Day

What a day. Yes, I still want to work in television. However, traveling through South Dakota just makes me want to do documentaries rather than news. We'll get to that later. So my day started off rough. I forgot I needed to get gas so I was running about 10 minutes behind. I thought, not a problem...I'll make it up on the Interstate. False. I got stopped (well slowed to 55) for construction. So now I was still going to be late. Well, I made up time. I drove past the station with three minutes to spare. So where should I park? All I saw was a marked parking lot with a minimum fine of $25 or meters that give minimal fines. I parked at a meter. So I park and walk in the building. Immediately I got assigned to go with a reporter to Hot Springs to do a package on the mayoral race tomorrow (June 5th). I was gun hoe until I realized that Hot Springs was the next city with over pop. 500...60 miles away. Now, I don't know if any of you have driven through South Dakota, but it's a lot like in the movie "Holes" when they run away and don't think they'll ever make it, then they find the goop under the boat. Then, we got there. We got some b-roll. We got an interview with the first candidate (the 3-time incumbent)and he took some pictures, since it's his hobby, it was a great shoot. Golden (as Dr. King/Al Tompkins would say). So then on to the next interview. Well, we weren't sure if he was going to be there or where he lived. So we called to verify, no answer. Twice. So we just went. Well we turned down the street and it was bad. We felt like we were in the ghetto of this little town. So we get out. You can't imagine the sight of this guy. He's a retired truck driver, no teeth and a beard that hasn't been shaved in who knows how long. So we convince him to come to town so we can get his interview in a pretty place. Well, he didn't really understand what we wanted. So it took us a while to agree on a location and we went. Well he brought his wife along. They were celebrating their 44th anniversary today. How sweet. Well we took him around. He smoked during our shooting of him. Classy. So that was over. Now our 60 mile drive back. Got to the station about 2:00, ate lunch and started the logging process. Then we transcribed. Then we wrote. Then we edited. It was a basic 1:30 package. New equipment. But, until I get hands on, they're not going to see my skills. So, I'm going to have to get back in the swing of things. Then, on the way home, I got stopped (this time was really stopped) in construction. So I got to call and talk to my mom and rock out to music all the way home. Here's the station website and the story link: http://www.kotatv.com/ ttp://www.kotatv.com/story/18699381/hot-springs-mayoral-candidates-face-off Thanks for reading!!

Introduction

So for those who will actually read this, this is why I've created this blog... I'm interning for KOTA Territory News in Rapid City, South Dakota. More to come. Living with my best friend is cause for great excitement...but for now, I'll leave it strictly Internship related.