On-The-Job: University of Michigan Interns UC225 Blog I: Week 2: Getting to know my colleagues

Sunday, June 1, 2014

Week 2: Getting to know my colleagues

The people at WDIV are undeniably the best part of working there thus far. Their willingness to reach out to me to offer help, guidance and hands-on experience is truly something unique. A typical day for me is full of endless opportunities for me to learn. Live in the D airs every weekday morning at 11 am. I arrive around 10 am and begin preparing for the coming show. Whether greeting guests we will be hosting to helping fine-tune the run-down, I work side-by-side with Jay, the producer. He is incredibly approachable, helpful and rewarding to work with. He gives me an immense amount of responsibility and freedom with assignments such as researching and booking future stories, scripting and re-scripting and other crucial production aspects.

Once the show airs at 11am, I am usually in between the control room and the studio. If there is a live-shot from the patio or any other location, I may help set the shot up and ensure the guests know when we may tease to them or exactly what time their segments are. After the show ends, around 12pm, I work on what we may need for this week to next week shows. That may include scripting a previously shot pre-recorded segment, researching stories for future segments, live or pre-recorded, or content meetings with Jay, Karen, Guy and Michelle.

Around 1 to 3pm is often the window in which I would go on runs for stories with Michelle, Live in the D’s video journalist. We cover stories that emphasize the diversity and uniqueness of Detroit’s culture. From dining in Detroit segments, to Made in Michigan segments to stories of personal struggles of often triumph. Michelle has been instrumental in showing me different technical aspects of production in video journalism. She is also incredibly young, at only 24, she is incredibly relatable yet clearly talented. Going on runs with her has already taught me so much. Other personalities in the office have been equally as open to giving me helpful insight and advice. Guy Gordon, one of the anchors, helped me through writing my first script, encouraging me and ultimately approving my work. John Pompeo, an emmy-award winning photo journalist for WDIV, took a look at my practice standups and took some time out of his own day to point out points where I could work on my delivery and on-air persona. Angie, the managing editor, worked with Mark from the IT department for a few hours on and off just to transfer my standups so I could edit them over the long weekend. Moments like these are truly surreal as I realize how willing and eager to help me each employee of WDIV is. In return I am excited for every day at work and give my all and more at every chance to help I can.