I know it's been a while since I've written, but life has been busy! I worked two full weeks at WBIR, then flew back to Oregon for a week, worked one day, and now have two off. After tomorrow, I should be on a normal schedule for a while. That is, if you consider working Friday through Tuesday, 2:30pm to midnight, normal. I'm not complaining though. My life is as great as it's been in a long time.
I know this blog will be chock full of stories about my job as I go along, so I'm going to not write about work in this post. Instead, I'm going to write about the "other" stuff I've been up to, starting with my trip to Oregon last week.
I negotiated a week in Oregon with my new boss the day he called and offered me the job. I had planned to be in Ashland for a reunion with all of my friends from Southern Oregon University the first weekend in June. It also happened that another friend of mine, Ann Curry from NBC News, was tapped to be the speaker at SOU's commencement, which was held the same weekend. I was happy when I found out my request to leave work for a week after only working for two was granted. Thanks to my mom, and my friend, Jessalynn, for helping me finagle air miles to get a ticket, I was able to go.
I spent five days in southern Oregon. My mom picked me up at the Medford airport at midnight on Wednesday. We spent all day Thursday shopping, eating, and spending time together. We didn't buy much, but it was the time together that mattered most. I knew after this trip, it will be at least six months before I see her again.
I had dinner with my friends from KOBI, my old TV station, on Thursday night. We ate off the Happy Hour menu at Porter's in Medford. Great food, low priced, awesome drinks, and good friends made for a wonderful night. We ended up at Shenanigans, another of our old stomping grounds, filling up the juke box with our favorite music. We were out late...well after midnight. I stayed at Christina Anderson's house that night, with Nate too. It was the only way for the three of us to squeeze in a little extra time together. I'm not sure when I will see them again, unless they make good on talk of coming to Tennessee in September to watch the UO/TN game with me. :)
My friend McKenzie, a friend I've known since living in the dorms at SOU, is a second grade teacher in Medford. She invited me to come talk to her class on Friday. I'm no stranger to speaking in front of people, but talking to a room full of 8 year olds about my job is much different than talking to high school and college students. I had a great time though. The kids asked great questions! I hope I inspired at least one of them to think about journalism as a career.
Friday night was the first night of our SOU reunion. We met for dinner at Standing Stone Brewery in Ashland. It's a casual, low key place with great food. Nine of us showed up! Karine Rosvold, Kellii Wood, Me, McKenzie Minica, Holly Kolberg, and Bradley Whelden all met in the dorms our freshman and sophomore years at SOU. Holly's husband, Ray (also an SOU grad), McKenzie's husband Jason, and Kellii's husband Karsten were also there. Kellii and Karsten also brought their 11 month old daughter, Kaija (Kai-ya), who is a doll. We reminisced about old times, talked about the present, and our hopes for the future. As someone pointed out, all of the funny stories somehow involved me. I was a little crazy in college, or perhaps the word is FUN!
The reunion crew, except for Kellii and Kaija, stayed out until 3am. Ten years ago, getting up at 9am the next morning for breakfast wouldn't have been a big deal. I can honestly say, I'm finally starting to feel my age. Not that I'm old, just that I don't bounce back from late nights the way I used to, especially when there's alcohol involved.
We met at the Breadboard in Ashland for breakfast the following morning. The weather was nice enough to eat outside on the patio. It was just like old times. Huge plates of amazingly yummy food, good conversation, lots of laughs. We spent the afternoon shopping and walking around downtown Ashland. At one point it was just Kellii, Mac, Karine, me and Brad. Brad was a trooper shopping with us girls, but I think he just wanted to spend time with us. We went wine tasting at Allyson's of Ashland, a place we'd never been before and ended up buying a bottle of wine and a meat & cheese plate. That was lunch. I couldn't think of a better meal at that time.
SOU's commencement was later that afternoon. I wanted to go hear Ann give her speech. Karine had to go because her younger sister, Brenna, was graduating. McKenzie sat with me on the grass to listen to the speech. Karine sat with her family. I eventually went and found my friend Anne McCloy, a reporter for KOBI who was covering graduation. I watched Anne, and Amy Sienecki from Ch. 12, interview Ann Curry. The PR guy from SOU had me jump a fence so I could see Ann and watch the interviews. After the interviews were over, Ann saw me, and gave me a huge hug. She knew I was going to be at the ceremony but didn't think she'd see me until we had dinner later that night. She quietly told me she was exhausted but glad to be in her home town of Ashland. Ann, Anne, Amy and I all had our picture taken together. I've known Ann for years and this is only the second time we've had a picture together. Neither have turned out great.
Anyway, I had asked Ann if she would also take a picture with my friend Kellii and her daughter, Kaija. Ann agreed but I had to get it set up with the University security people so they didn't jump on us when we approached Ann. They were cool with it and actually had us come inside a roped off area so we could do that picture without a bunch of "fans" hovering. Plus, they wanted to whisk Ann and her family away from the stadium quickly in a golf cart. The picture turned out cute. One of these days I will post pictures with these blogs. Perhaps on my next day off. Kellii was thrilled to meet Ann & I'm glad I could make that happen for her.
All of my college crew split up Saturday afternoon/evening to do our own thing for a few hours. I got dropped off at the Ashland Springs Hotel, where Ann was staying, to have dinner with her at the hotel's restaurant, Larks. I got there as Ann was getting in an elevator to go up and change. I waited for her in the lobby. We went to the restaurant together where we met up with her step mother, nephew (Jesse) and his girlfriend (Anna). We had a lovely meal together, talking about Ann's dad, my move, Jesse and Anna's schooling. And, I possibly had the best salmon I've ever had. Ann was font of my brussel sprouts; they were cooked to perfection. We sat there and talked and laughed for more than two hours. Jesse reminds me of Ann. He's laid back, quiet, smart, and caring. He hangs on every word she speaks. Lots of respect between the two of them. Both of them remind me of Ann's dad, Bob. Jesse is the eldest grandchild, so it makes sense that he might see himself as a future family leader.
I went to go meet up with my friends for a last drink after dinner. But not before Ann told me how proud of me she was that I left everything familiar to take on this career and life challenge. It felt great to hear those words from my mentor. Even though our visit was short, it was one of the best visits I've had with Ann. Perhaps that had something to do with being in Oregon and not in NYC...more relaxed.
My friends and I said goodbye late that night. Mac, me and Karine got back to Macs house around 1:30am. We had to take Karine to the airport around 3:45am. Getting an hour and a half of sleep then being suddenly woken up wasn't fun. Mac and I went back to sleep until noon when we got back from the airport. We met up with my mom for lunch and then my mom took me to the airport so I could fly all night home to TN. I realized on this trip that distance between friends doesn't really matter. Good friends will stay connected no matter what. My friends are proof of that.
Wednesday, June 9, 2010
Thursday, May 27, 2010
Tales of the Night Side
My first week at WBIR I worked dayside for training. The hours were 9:30am to 6:30pm. I switched to my normal schedule last week, which is quite a difference. Instead of Monday through Friday, I work Friday through Sunday, 2:30pm to midnight.
I like the swing shift hours. I usually go to bed around midnight anyway, so that's not much of a change. What is a change is forcing myself to get up at 7am with nothing to do right away. I'm going to try to not get in the habit of getting home at midnight, staying up until 2 or 3 am and then sleeping in until noon. It might be tough though because it's SO tempting. A week in, so far so good. We will see how long I can keep it up.
Last Sunday I covered the last day of the inaugural Tennessee Tea Party Coalition Convention held in Gatlinburg (about an hour from Knoxville). The Coalition is comprised of all the local Tea Party chapters across the state. I should know how many there are but I don't. Several candidates running for governor participated in a debate as the finale of the convention. There were seven candidates and many issues discussed. Instead of focusing on the issues, I focused on the attendees and what they got out of the debate. I won't get into my story, but I will talk process. I shot almost an hour of video because initially I didn't know what I was going to focus on. Stories like these are always tough. Do you focus on the issues & many candidates? Or, focus on the people? Shooting that much video and not having a clear direction to the story were my first two mistakes. I could have decided on a focus before I got there. However, being brand new to this state and having to study every thing political has proved to be a challenge. Anyway, I got back to the station around 7pm. Our show is at 11pm. Normally, four hours is plenty of time for me to turn a story. Last Sunday it wasn't. I got bogged down with trying to include a short 2-3 second sound bite from each of the seven candidates in my story. That adds complication to editing. Since I'm also new to our editing system, that was another mistake. I bit off more than I could chew, and for the first time in 2 years, I missed a deadline. We had to turn my package (long story that I voice over) into a vosot (voice over sound on tape that the anchor reads over live). Technically, I guess I didn't miss deadline since I still got content submitted, but I didn't file what I was supposed to. I was embarrassed. To my surprise, all of my weekend colleagues were supportive since they know learning the new editing system IS a challenge for anyone who hasn't used it before. I finished my package after the show and that's what was posted on the website. I sent a text message to my mentor, Ann Curry, about missing slot. She told me I'm allowed this early in because everything is brand new to me. That gave me some relief. On Monday, my news director didn't say a thing about it. I was relieved by that too. I had already talked to him about how challenging the editing system was to me. I think (and hope) he's giving me a little time to settle in.
On Monday, I shot a story about a historic bridge in Knox County that's going to be closed from June 2-July 2. I got my legs under me with this story and finally feel like I"m back in the saddle. I interviewed a lady who has lived next to the bridge her entire life. She's frustrated with the closure, but glad the repairs are being done. I also interviewed someone from county Public Works. I turned a pkg that included the lady's story, lots of natural sound pops, and, if I do say so myself, my trademark photography (lots of close shots and unconventional, out of sequence editing). That story was held until Tuesday because of some breaking news. That gave me time to order custom graphics from our parent company, Gannett. I ordered a set-up map for the anchors to read over before my story, and a map of the bridge detour route for my package. We can make graphics in house, but the ones we can order look way better. I fronted the story live as the top story in the 11pm news cast Tuesday night. It felt great to get my first live shot done. I did feel a little anxiety in my chest just before I went on, but I'm going to give it a little time before I decide to go and get drugs to curb that. Our two anchors, Robin Wilhoit and John Becker, and the other nightside reporter, Stoney Sharp, all congratulated me on a great story after the show. That felt great too. Everyone I work with is so supportive and helpful. I'm lucky to be here.
I shot a story on Tuesday that will probably run this Friday. I still have to edit it. Haven't done it yet because producers might kill it. It's about a company looking for Knoxville residents to rent their homes out on football game weekends in the fall. Turns out this isn't the first time the company's targeted Knoxville, what they're doing is legal, and it really isn't a story. I have sound from 2 people; one who's going to sign up, another who isn't but doesn't care if his neighbors do. Script is written & video is logged. Will find out tomorrow if I need to edit it or not. So far, I've gotten on the "hold" rotation. That means I haven't had to shoot, edit, and present an story all in one day. It's kind of nice to be a day ahead. However, I want and need the challenge of doing daily news. I don't discount the "hold" status though because it is nice to be able to put extra time into my work.
Been off the last two days. Didn't think about work at all yesterday. Today, have spent time enterprising, or trying to think of stories to do that don't come out of the newspaper or from a press release. This is also a challenge having only been in Knoxville for two weeks. I'm in a coffee shop now with a list of phone numbers to call. Headed home to do that. Then going downtown. Meeting work friends to watch "Sex and the City" later, and want to walk around downtown with my camera & see if I can't identify other stories.
So far, things here are great. I am looking forward to going to Oregon next week to see my old college friends, and having dinner with Ann while she's in Ashland for SOU's commencement. Then it's back to TN for a long summer of weekend, night side reporting. If any one has any story ideas, please send them my way!
I like the swing shift hours. I usually go to bed around midnight anyway, so that's not much of a change. What is a change is forcing myself to get up at 7am with nothing to do right away. I'm going to try to not get in the habit of getting home at midnight, staying up until 2 or 3 am and then sleeping in until noon. It might be tough though because it's SO tempting. A week in, so far so good. We will see how long I can keep it up.
Last Sunday I covered the last day of the inaugural Tennessee Tea Party Coalition Convention held in Gatlinburg (about an hour from Knoxville). The Coalition is comprised of all the local Tea Party chapters across the state. I should know how many there are but I don't. Several candidates running for governor participated in a debate as the finale of the convention. There were seven candidates and many issues discussed. Instead of focusing on the issues, I focused on the attendees and what they got out of the debate. I won't get into my story, but I will talk process. I shot almost an hour of video because initially I didn't know what I was going to focus on. Stories like these are always tough. Do you focus on the issues & many candidates? Or, focus on the people? Shooting that much video and not having a clear direction to the story were my first two mistakes. I could have decided on a focus before I got there. However, being brand new to this state and having to study every thing political has proved to be a challenge. Anyway, I got back to the station around 7pm. Our show is at 11pm. Normally, four hours is plenty of time for me to turn a story. Last Sunday it wasn't. I got bogged down with trying to include a short 2-3 second sound bite from each of the seven candidates in my story. That adds complication to editing. Since I'm also new to our editing system, that was another mistake. I bit off more than I could chew, and for the first time in 2 years, I missed a deadline. We had to turn my package (long story that I voice over) into a vosot (voice over sound on tape that the anchor reads over live). Technically, I guess I didn't miss deadline since I still got content submitted, but I didn't file what I was supposed to. I was embarrassed. To my surprise, all of my weekend colleagues were supportive since they know learning the new editing system IS a challenge for anyone who hasn't used it before. I finished my package after the show and that's what was posted on the website. I sent a text message to my mentor, Ann Curry, about missing slot. She told me I'm allowed this early in because everything is brand new to me. That gave me some relief. On Monday, my news director didn't say a thing about it. I was relieved by that too. I had already talked to him about how challenging the editing system was to me. I think (and hope) he's giving me a little time to settle in.
On Monday, I shot a story about a historic bridge in Knox County that's going to be closed from June 2-July 2. I got my legs under me with this story and finally feel like I"m back in the saddle. I interviewed a lady who has lived next to the bridge her entire life. She's frustrated with the closure, but glad the repairs are being done. I also interviewed someone from county Public Works. I turned a pkg that included the lady's story, lots of natural sound pops, and, if I do say so myself, my trademark photography (lots of close shots and unconventional, out of sequence editing). That story was held until Tuesday because of some breaking news. That gave me time to order custom graphics from our parent company, Gannett. I ordered a set-up map for the anchors to read over before my story, and a map of the bridge detour route for my package. We can make graphics in house, but the ones we can order look way better. I fronted the story live as the top story in the 11pm news cast Tuesday night. It felt great to get my first live shot done. I did feel a little anxiety in my chest just before I went on, but I'm going to give it a little time before I decide to go and get drugs to curb that. Our two anchors, Robin Wilhoit and John Becker, and the other nightside reporter, Stoney Sharp, all congratulated me on a great story after the show. That felt great too. Everyone I work with is so supportive and helpful. I'm lucky to be here.
I shot a story on Tuesday that will probably run this Friday. I still have to edit it. Haven't done it yet because producers might kill it. It's about a company looking for Knoxville residents to rent their homes out on football game weekends in the fall. Turns out this isn't the first time the company's targeted Knoxville, what they're doing is legal, and it really isn't a story. I have sound from 2 people; one who's going to sign up, another who isn't but doesn't care if his neighbors do. Script is written & video is logged. Will find out tomorrow if I need to edit it or not. So far, I've gotten on the "hold" rotation. That means I haven't had to shoot, edit, and present an story all in one day. It's kind of nice to be a day ahead. However, I want and need the challenge of doing daily news. I don't discount the "hold" status though because it is nice to be able to put extra time into my work.
Been off the last two days. Didn't think about work at all yesterday. Today, have spent time enterprising, or trying to think of stories to do that don't come out of the newspaper or from a press release. This is also a challenge having only been in Knoxville for two weeks. I'm in a coffee shop now with a list of phone numbers to call. Headed home to do that. Then going downtown. Meeting work friends to watch "Sex and the City" later, and want to walk around downtown with my camera & see if I can't identify other stories.
So far, things here are great. I am looking forward to going to Oregon next week to see my old college friends, and having dinner with Ann while she's in Ashland for SOU's commencement. Then it's back to TN for a long summer of weekend, night side reporting. If any one has any story ideas, please send them my way!
Wednesday, May 19, 2010
Pluggin' Along...
It's been three days since I started my new job at WBIR. I spent yesterday getting taught how to use our editing program, Avid. Jim Martin, our chief photog, took me under his wing yesterday. He showed me how to use Avid while we edited a package for one of the anchors of our 4pm show, "Live at Five at Four." He spent a good 3 hours showing me how to capture video, how to work with video once it's digitized in the system, and all of the keyboard shortcuts.
Avid looks similar to the editing program we used at KOBI, but it operates differently. It's going to take trial and error for me to get the hang of it. I hope I learn sooner rather than later. What's reassuring is that another reporter who was hired just a month ago didn't know how to use Avid when he got here either. Today, he was showing me tricks and has picked it up over the last few weeks.
After our editing lesson, I went with Jim to be part of a two camera shoot with our morning anchor, Abby Ham, and the former Mayor of Charlotte, North Carolina (not sure of his name). The Governor was in Knoxville speaking at a leadership conference and is the person credited with growing Charlotte. Knoxville is growing now so Abby interviewed the Mayor about his suggestions for helping development here.
I also got my computer log in yesterday. I took advantage of that and spent a couple of hours in the afternoon searching the web and trying to think of story ideas to pitch. It's required here for everyone to add one story idea to our assignment list everyday. From what I gather, everyone has been lax about doing this but the news director is cracking down. The story ideas can't come from the newspaper, and if they do they have to advance the story somehow. They also have to be able to be set up and done within a days notice. If not, then we have to ask permission to have extra time to set them up and actually do them. Not all of these stories on the list will be done, but they are good back ups in case there's not a lot of spot news for the day. Enterprising stories here is going to be a challenge for me for a number of reasons. First, I'm still not that familiar with the region and our viewing area so I have a lot of learning to do. Found out today that I can get paid overtime to sit in the newsroom, study up, and come up with ideas. Might take advantage of that next week. Second, it's going to take some time for me to discover where to find story ideas on the Internet, and I'm going to have to take every opportunity I can to talk to people who live here. I can't wait to start making contacts because in TV news, we rely so much on information from people we know in order to do our work.
Today, I went to a town about 2 hours from Knoxville called Cookville with the other new Multimedia Journalist, Steve. We worked on a story together about a National Guard veteran who has obtained documents and photographs of a WWII soldier who was killed in action. He's made it his mission to return these documents to the soldier's family only he has no idea where they are. He suspects the family is somewhere in the Knoxville area based on the information contained in the documents. On the drive to the story Steve and I talked about being new here. We discovered we have similar philosophies about news, and I think both of us are relieved we think similarly. Steve shot the video for the story today and he logged in on his camera as I drove us back to Knoxville. Back at the station, I captured our video and cut the soundbites out while Steve typed the script. He came to me and asked me to help him write since I was there for the interview. It made me feel good to be asked to do that, and he even used my suggestions. Steve edited the script and presented the story on air.
I finally got a work Blackberry today. It's a brand new smart phone, but it's going to take me a day to figure out how to use it. I'm an iPhone girl. I also got a gas card for our news cars, and got my business cards ordered. So, to recap, I've been familiarized with the computer systems, have computer access, a work phone, know what a day is like for an MMJ, and permission to drive and gas up the news cars. All I need now is to file a story.
I get to do my first story on Thursday. I will go out with our photog, Jim, again tomorrow. I will shoot the video. He will show me how to use our cameras and, I'm sure, give me shooting tips. I will do the interviews and write the scripts. Jim will help me edit since I'm still so new to Avid. Pretty sure I'll get to present the story live from one of our newsroom cameras tomorrow too. So, that means Thursday marks my debut on WBIR. I'm so ready to get out there and do a story. But, I'm nervous about editing. All this talk of doing my first story reminds me that I need to look for my IFB (ear piece so I can hear the director). Wonder where that is???
Anyway, I will file a story Friday on my own, but Jim will be there again for editing if I need him. I feel like I belong here, like I made the right choice, and I'm still trying to figure out how this station and me got connected. Sometimes none of this feels real. I can't believe I'm in TN working at this station, yet I'm still at peace with all this change. I'm the most calm I've been in two years. Strange, considering you'd think I'd be a stress case.
On a fun note, I'm going with people from work to Sundown in the City tomorrow night. Bands play for free in downtown's Market Square and you can hear the music from all the bars and restaurants. We're going right from the station to dinner and then to listen to music. I'm excited. It will be my first outing here. Friday I have plans with a reporter at another station who recently moved to Knoxville from Eugene, OR. Excited to finally meet her as we've only talked to each other on Twitter so far.
Things are going well here.....finger's crossed I get the hang of the new editing system!!!!!
Avid looks similar to the editing program we used at KOBI, but it operates differently. It's going to take trial and error for me to get the hang of it. I hope I learn sooner rather than later. What's reassuring is that another reporter who was hired just a month ago didn't know how to use Avid when he got here either. Today, he was showing me tricks and has picked it up over the last few weeks.
After our editing lesson, I went with Jim to be part of a two camera shoot with our morning anchor, Abby Ham, and the former Mayor of Charlotte, North Carolina (not sure of his name). The Governor was in Knoxville speaking at a leadership conference and is the person credited with growing Charlotte. Knoxville is growing now so Abby interviewed the Mayor about his suggestions for helping development here.
I also got my computer log in yesterday. I took advantage of that and spent a couple of hours in the afternoon searching the web and trying to think of story ideas to pitch. It's required here for everyone to add one story idea to our assignment list everyday. From what I gather, everyone has been lax about doing this but the news director is cracking down. The story ideas can't come from the newspaper, and if they do they have to advance the story somehow. They also have to be able to be set up and done within a days notice. If not, then we have to ask permission to have extra time to set them up and actually do them. Not all of these stories on the list will be done, but they are good back ups in case there's not a lot of spot news for the day. Enterprising stories here is going to be a challenge for me for a number of reasons. First, I'm still not that familiar with the region and our viewing area so I have a lot of learning to do. Found out today that I can get paid overtime to sit in the newsroom, study up, and come up with ideas. Might take advantage of that next week. Second, it's going to take some time for me to discover where to find story ideas on the Internet, and I'm going to have to take every opportunity I can to talk to people who live here. I can't wait to start making contacts because in TV news, we rely so much on information from people we know in order to do our work.
Today, I went to a town about 2 hours from Knoxville called Cookville with the other new Multimedia Journalist, Steve. We worked on a story together about a National Guard veteran who has obtained documents and photographs of a WWII soldier who was killed in action. He's made it his mission to return these documents to the soldier's family only he has no idea where they are. He suspects the family is somewhere in the Knoxville area based on the information contained in the documents. On the drive to the story Steve and I talked about being new here. We discovered we have similar philosophies about news, and I think both of us are relieved we think similarly. Steve shot the video for the story today and he logged in on his camera as I drove us back to Knoxville. Back at the station, I captured our video and cut the soundbites out while Steve typed the script. He came to me and asked me to help him write since I was there for the interview. It made me feel good to be asked to do that, and he even used my suggestions. Steve edited the script and presented the story on air.
I finally got a work Blackberry today. It's a brand new smart phone, but it's going to take me a day to figure out how to use it. I'm an iPhone girl. I also got a gas card for our news cars, and got my business cards ordered. So, to recap, I've been familiarized with the computer systems, have computer access, a work phone, know what a day is like for an MMJ, and permission to drive and gas up the news cars. All I need now is to file a story.
I get to do my first story on Thursday. I will go out with our photog, Jim, again tomorrow. I will shoot the video. He will show me how to use our cameras and, I'm sure, give me shooting tips. I will do the interviews and write the scripts. Jim will help me edit since I'm still so new to Avid. Pretty sure I'll get to present the story live from one of our newsroom cameras tomorrow too. So, that means Thursday marks my debut on WBIR. I'm so ready to get out there and do a story. But, I'm nervous about editing. All this talk of doing my first story reminds me that I need to look for my IFB (ear piece so I can hear the director). Wonder where that is???
Anyway, I will file a story Friday on my own, but Jim will be there again for editing if I need him. I feel like I belong here, like I made the right choice, and I'm still trying to figure out how this station and me got connected. Sometimes none of this feels real. I can't believe I'm in TN working at this station, yet I'm still at peace with all this change. I'm the most calm I've been in two years. Strange, considering you'd think I'd be a stress case.
On a fun note, I'm going with people from work to Sundown in the City tomorrow night. Bands play for free in downtown's Market Square and you can hear the music from all the bars and restaurants. We're going right from the station to dinner and then to listen to music. I'm excited. It will be my first outing here. Friday I have plans with a reporter at another station who recently moved to Knoxville from Eugene, OR. Excited to finally meet her as we've only talked to each other on Twitter so far.
Things are going well here.....finger's crossed I get the hang of the new editing system!!!!!
Monday, May 17, 2010
A New Beginning
I went back to work today after two months of not working. Don't get me wrong. I had so much fun traveling (Vegas, Santa Barbara, NYC), sleeping in, spending time with my mom and family, and resting. I went for weeks applying for jobs and hearing nothing. Finally, I got calls from six stations in the course of a week. I never thought I'd end up at a station in Knoxville, TN only because it's 2,600 miles away from everything that's familiar to me. But, that's exactly where I ended up and exactly where I am as I'm writing this blog. The same sense of peace that guided me through the process of leaving KOBI in Medford, OR to go to nothing has led me here. That same sense of peace, even though I'm a little nervous, guided me through today, my first day at my new station, WBIR, the NBC affiliate in Knoxville, TN.
I got to the station today feeling like it was the first day of school and I was the new kid. I even ate my sack lunch of PB & J, baby carrots, a granola bar and an apple, sitting at my desk alone. However, my lunch hour is not a metaphor for the rest of my day.
Desks are set up as cubicle pods of four scattered around a pull pen style newsroom. The assignment desk is on a raised platform in front of me. My desk is next to one of our morning anchors. Her name is Abby Ham and she was the first person to greet me in the newsroom today. Co-worker after co-worker introduced themselves to me, each of them extending warm greetings or offers of help to get situated here. Many of them came to this station and never left because they love the community and the company so much. I heard that time after time today. Others were here, left to bigger markets, and came back for the same reason. These sentiments are indications that I made the right decision to move on, and somehow was lucky enough to find this station or for this station to find me.
I will say that I miss my friends at KOBI, Christina, Nate, Natalie, and Anne, dearly. They were what made working at KOBI bearable for my last few weeks. And, I know that I have friendships with each of them that will last. Tonight, I could have killed to have a drink at Porter's with them after work. Instead I settled for Bud Light Lime at home alone because I don't know anyone here yet, and you can't buy wine at the grocery store. Don't feel sorry for me though. I wanted this change, I accepted the challenge, and seized an opportunity to make a major life change.
So how did today go? It was both satisfying and overwhelming. The satisfaction comes from knowing that I will succeed at WBIR. The overwhelming part comes from the fact that there is so much I have to learn on the technical side of things. The day started with our story meeting at 9:30am. Then I met with the department heads of the company. Then I spent nearly five hours being trained on four computer programs we use to write scripts and post stories to the Internet. Tomorrow I will get trained on a new non-linear editing system, but that's jumping ahead.
I will be reporting five days per week at WBIR, Friday through Tuesday on the night side shift 2:30pm to 11:30pm (that starts in a couple weeks after my training ends). I will have one story to turn each day as a package (long story) that I will front live, either in studio or in the field. I am responsible for making all of my own graphics and maps for my stories. I also have to turn that story in to a vosot (voice over sound on tape) to be used in the newscast the following morning. And, I will be responsible for posting text and video versions of my stories to our station's website (www.wbir.com). All of this is very different from my work load at KOBI.
I would sometimes turn a package and two vosots when I reported there. That was an extreme, but it happened pretty often because we were short staffed (and I should say we held our heads above water most days given the amount of work few people did on a regular basis). Our story meetings at KOBI were at 10am and sometimes I didn't get out the door to shoot my stories until after 11am, and then had to be back with my story turned by 4:30 for a live shot in the 5pm or 5:30 for a live shot in the 6pm show. Having the same amount of time to do less work means that I can take more time with my writing, editing, and reporting in general. I am excited for this. Although, I do realize that the workload at KOBI prepared me to work in any newsroom because I know I can handle what ever is put in front of me.
The thing I'm most nervous about is posting my stories to the Internet. We weren't allowed to do this at KOBI. At WBIR, I have to re-write my stories in AP (Associated Press) Style and upload them myself. It's not that hard, or at least it doesn't look difficult, but it's something new and a bit cumbersome. This, like the other computer programs I have to learn, will take trial and error to learn, but I will.
I ended my day by watching our 4pm newscast live in the studio, watching the 5pm show from the control room, and the 6pm show in my news director's office. I won't have a chance to watch the earlier shows most days because I'll be out shooting my story for the late show. This gave me a chance to familiarize myself with what the station offers viewers. And, it allowed me to continue getting familiar with the local news here.
As I mentioned before, I will learn how to edit video on a new program tomorrow, and will shadow a reporter on Wednesday. Thursday I will go out with a photographer and shoot a package, which he says will air. Not sure who will write it though. Friday, I'm supposed to shoot a package by myself but am not sure if I'm turning it for air. I'm off Saturday, and start my night side shift Sunday. I think that's when I will turn my first package myself, although I'm mentally preparing to do that on Thursday. I can't wait to get out there on my own. I'm grateful for this training though.
This is day two being in Knoxville by myself (mom left Sunday). It's ok for now because I have this blog, another web project I'm working on, and getting into a routine to keep me busy. I also have a trip to OR coming up in a few weeks that I'm looking forward to. I probably won't make an effort to really start meeting people until I get back from that trip in early June. That's fine because all this alone time is allowing me to focus on getting adjusted at work and to focus on eating healthy, exercising, and growing.
If you want to see pictures of my station, please check them out in my uploaded pictures on Facebook.
Until tomorrow...
I got to the station today feeling like it was the first day of school and I was the new kid. I even ate my sack lunch of PB & J, baby carrots, a granola bar and an apple, sitting at my desk alone. However, my lunch hour is not a metaphor for the rest of my day.
Desks are set up as cubicle pods of four scattered around a pull pen style newsroom. The assignment desk is on a raised platform in front of me. My desk is next to one of our morning anchors. Her name is Abby Ham and she was the first person to greet me in the newsroom today. Co-worker after co-worker introduced themselves to me, each of them extending warm greetings or offers of help to get situated here. Many of them came to this station and never left because they love the community and the company so much. I heard that time after time today. Others were here, left to bigger markets, and came back for the same reason. These sentiments are indications that I made the right decision to move on, and somehow was lucky enough to find this station or for this station to find me.
I will say that I miss my friends at KOBI, Christina, Nate, Natalie, and Anne, dearly. They were what made working at KOBI bearable for my last few weeks. And, I know that I have friendships with each of them that will last. Tonight, I could have killed to have a drink at Porter's with them after work. Instead I settled for Bud Light Lime at home alone because I don't know anyone here yet, and you can't buy wine at the grocery store. Don't feel sorry for me though. I wanted this change, I accepted the challenge, and seized an opportunity to make a major life change.
So how did today go? It was both satisfying and overwhelming. The satisfaction comes from knowing that I will succeed at WBIR. The overwhelming part comes from the fact that there is so much I have to learn on the technical side of things. The day started with our story meeting at 9:30am. Then I met with the department heads of the company. Then I spent nearly five hours being trained on four computer programs we use to write scripts and post stories to the Internet. Tomorrow I will get trained on a new non-linear editing system, but that's jumping ahead.
I will be reporting five days per week at WBIR, Friday through Tuesday on the night side shift 2:30pm to 11:30pm (that starts in a couple weeks after my training ends). I will have one story to turn each day as a package (long story) that I will front live, either in studio or in the field. I am responsible for making all of my own graphics and maps for my stories. I also have to turn that story in to a vosot (voice over sound on tape) to be used in the newscast the following morning. And, I will be responsible for posting text and video versions of my stories to our station's website (www.wbir.com). All of this is very different from my work load at KOBI.
I would sometimes turn a package and two vosots when I reported there. That was an extreme, but it happened pretty often because we were short staffed (and I should say we held our heads above water most days given the amount of work few people did on a regular basis). Our story meetings at KOBI were at 10am and sometimes I didn't get out the door to shoot my stories until after 11am, and then had to be back with my story turned by 4:30 for a live shot in the 5pm or 5:30 for a live shot in the 6pm show. Having the same amount of time to do less work means that I can take more time with my writing, editing, and reporting in general. I am excited for this. Although, I do realize that the workload at KOBI prepared me to work in any newsroom because I know I can handle what ever is put in front of me.
The thing I'm most nervous about is posting my stories to the Internet. We weren't allowed to do this at KOBI. At WBIR, I have to re-write my stories in AP (Associated Press) Style and upload them myself. It's not that hard, or at least it doesn't look difficult, but it's something new and a bit cumbersome. This, like the other computer programs I have to learn, will take trial and error to learn, but I will.
I ended my day by watching our 4pm newscast live in the studio, watching the 5pm show from the control room, and the 6pm show in my news director's office. I won't have a chance to watch the earlier shows most days because I'll be out shooting my story for the late show. This gave me a chance to familiarize myself with what the station offers viewers. And, it allowed me to continue getting familiar with the local news here.
As I mentioned before, I will learn how to edit video on a new program tomorrow, and will shadow a reporter on Wednesday. Thursday I will go out with a photographer and shoot a package, which he says will air. Not sure who will write it though. Friday, I'm supposed to shoot a package by myself but am not sure if I'm turning it for air. I'm off Saturday, and start my night side shift Sunday. I think that's when I will turn my first package myself, although I'm mentally preparing to do that on Thursday. I can't wait to get out there on my own. I'm grateful for this training though.
This is day two being in Knoxville by myself (mom left Sunday). It's ok for now because I have this blog, another web project I'm working on, and getting into a routine to keep me busy. I also have a trip to OR coming up in a few weeks that I'm looking forward to. I probably won't make an effort to really start meeting people until I get back from that trip in early June. That's fine because all this alone time is allowing me to focus on getting adjusted at work and to focus on eating healthy, exercising, and growing.
If you want to see pictures of my station, please check them out in my uploaded pictures on Facebook.
Until tomorrow...
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