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...