I really can't believe it's already the fourth week of my internship and I'm about halfway through! This week was pretty interesting, and I was asked to do some different work.
Earlier in the week I had probably one of the coolest experiences I've had since I started working for CBS. I was asked to help another woman go through the scripts for the nightly news. Essentially, the scripts are posted in the production tool, and I had to go in and edit them so it looks like a real story that can be posted online. In the afternoon, we walked over to where the news is filmed. About 10 seconds before we got into the newsroom, she warned me that, "Katie was in there." I didn't really wrap my mind around the idea that Katie Couric was actually in the newsroom working on scripts herself. Christine, the woman I was helping, introduced me to Katie, and while we didn't have a serious conversation or become lifelong friends, it was still pretty neat to meet the foremost female journalist of our time. For the rest of the week I help Christine with the scripts, although I haven't seen Katie since.
I also completed the first part of my top-secret research project for my boss. We haven't discussed it much yet since he has been busy, but he asked me to work on another project, so I can't think it was too bad.
I'm starting to adjust to a pretty solid stream of celebrities wandering into my office. An 80's super model (who I didn't recognize) did an interview this week for the entertainment section. It was a bit of a distraction, but hey, who doesn't like a nice distraction at work?
Yesterday, I was given two of the top stories in the afternoon, which made me feel like my work must have been sufficient enough in the past to be trusted with these responsibilities. I worked on a story about the Missouri floods, and one about the California wildfires. The wildfires one was particularly cool to work on because I had to "CBS-ify" it. Basically it means I take information from another source (local channel, newspaper, radio) and plug it into the story so it's not solely the AP's information. This way, I got to read over some other stories and basically write up the parts I thought were important and add them into the story. I was glad to do a little bit of writing.
Saturday, June 28, 2008
Third Week (June 16- June 20)
During this week, work wasn't especially exciting. I continued to work on my research project for my boss and spent a lot of time doing that. One of the aspects I like most about working on the research project is that I get the chance to see some of the news related television shows CBS produces. Rather than having to sit and read articles off the AP wire about hard news, my boss asked me to watch videos and take note of the quality of the report. I think it's a nice break to just see how things are approached in different angles for different crowds. For example, "The Early Show" is the morning news program CBS airs every weekday morning. They have a target audience mainly of women who are stay-at-home moms. Many of their stories relate back to raising children, or beauty related material, while other shows, like "48 Hours" are more gender neutral.
I think it's important as a reporter, especially when working in TV, to really grasp who is going to be viewing your work. If you miss your target audience then your whole piece could be awful. I don't think this is something that gets stressed very often, but I am beginning to see the growing importance of it.
On another note, I saw how the newsroom reacts to a somewhat odd crisis when the story of the Pregnancy Pact in Gloucester, Mass. broke this week. Everyday there were new stories about the 17 girls who had become pregnant in the last school year. I think it's funny that one story about a baby boom get spun off every day into different aspects-- how to prevent your teen from getting pregnant, the impact of celebrity culture, what went wrong... Even more interesting is that every day this would be one of the top stories. It made me think that if you have a story that's interesting or shocking enough, you can pretty much beat it to death and people will still read it.
Well like I said earlier, it was a pretty slow third week, but I still feel I learned a lot through my various observations.
I think it's important as a reporter, especially when working in TV, to really grasp who is going to be viewing your work. If you miss your target audience then your whole piece could be awful. I don't think this is something that gets stressed very often, but I am beginning to see the growing importance of it.
On another note, I saw how the newsroom reacts to a somewhat odd crisis when the story of the Pregnancy Pact in Gloucester, Mass. broke this week. Everyday there were new stories about the 17 girls who had become pregnant in the last school year. I think it's funny that one story about a baby boom get spun off every day into different aspects-- how to prevent your teen from getting pregnant, the impact of celebrity culture, what went wrong... Even more interesting is that every day this would be one of the top stories. It made me think that if you have a story that's interesting or shocking enough, you can pretty much beat it to death and people will still read it.
Well like I said earlier, it was a pretty slow third week, but I still feel I learned a lot through my various observations.
Tuesday, June 17, 2008
Second Week (June 9- June 13)
This week I had a pretty low-key work week. I continued to upload articles on to CBSNews.com from the AP Wire. One of the people I work for put me in charge of regularly checking the "WebMD" section. This is basically articles that WebMD sends to CBS about new health research and information people should know. While this doesn't sounds like a lot of work, it can be tedious. It is always slow to update, and there are always mistakes in the way it is written. Since it is written in HTML, I also had to learn what different characters and symbols meant, so it was a bit of a challenge. In addition, I also had to find a graphic, related stories, and a "long promo" which is essentially interactive information about a related topic.
Closer to the end of the week, my boss assigned me to a research project and asked me not to tell anyone what it was about. I felt pretty important that he would trust me with a project and values my opinion enough to assign me to it.
One of the highlights of my week was some of the compliments my co-workers gave me. My boss told me one of the woman to whom I report told him how impressed she was by my work. He also added that he rarely hears compliments about her, saying she can be "hard to please." I was glad to hear someone appreciated what I was doing, and also thinking I was doing an adequate job. I was also told by someone else that I was doing a great job. He said they had been under-staffed, and given past experiences with their interns, really didn't expect me to pitch in. He said they all thought I was doing great and were glad that I've stepped up to the challenge.
Also one of the cool parts of the week: Ludacris, the rapper, was in my office giving an interview. He sat about 10 feet from me. I had no idea any celebrities would be in so it was a bit of a surprise, but still really neat.
Closer to the end of the week, my boss assigned me to a research project and asked me not to tell anyone what it was about. I felt pretty important that he would trust me with a project and values my opinion enough to assign me to it.
One of the highlights of my week was some of the compliments my co-workers gave me. My boss told me one of the woman to whom I report told him how impressed she was by my work. He also added that he rarely hears compliments about her, saying she can be "hard to please." I was glad to hear someone appreciated what I was doing, and also thinking I was doing an adequate job. I was also told by someone else that I was doing a great job. He said they had been under-staffed, and given past experiences with their interns, really didn't expect me to pitch in. He said they all thought I was doing great and were glad that I've stepped up to the challenge.
Also one of the cool parts of the week: Ludacris, the rapper, was in my office giving an interview. He sat about 10 feet from me. I had no idea any celebrities would be in so it was a bit of a surprise, but still really neat.
Saturday, June 7, 2008
First Week (June 2- June 6)
This summer, I am working for CBS in Manhattan. It's pretty interesting to have a "real" job where I have to sit at a desk in an office. Prior to this, I have only done waitressing, so I was a little nervous when I showed up on my first day. But it turned out not to be so bad.
My first day just consisted of an orientation. I got a tour of the building, where I was in relation to everything else. One of the better parts was seeing where the CBS Nightly News with Katie Couric was filmed. I work in the studio right next to it. It was pretty interesting to see where it all happens, and what goes into putting on a nightly broadcast before it actually happens.
After all the touring and introductions, the senior news producer, senior video producer, and the producer who puts together entertainment and photo essays came to talk to us. They said they had divided us up based on our resumes and qualifications. Instantly, Dan Collins, the senior news producer, said he had chosen me to work for him. I was really excited that he had volunteered to work with me because I figured I could learn a lot from working for him. He has a very prestigious job for CBSNews.com, and he was in charge of, in my opinion, the most interesting of the three facets.
The next 2 days consisted more of training for what I am doing at work. Essentially, I am assigned breaking stories from the AP wire, which I upload online with a graphic/photo, an original head line and sub-headline, credits, captions, related stories, interactive, and other important parts. I produce the stories. I think one of the best parts is seeing the AP wire update on a constant basis. I like knowing that I know everything going on in the world when it happens. For example, When Hilary Clinton declared she was ending her quest for presidency, I was probably one of the first people to know it was happening, before all the major news stations broadcasted it.
One of the other, slightly unrelated, interesting things that happened this week was the filming of a pilot in my office. It was being filled for the fall, and was literally about 10 feet from my desk. Marcia Gay Harden was the star, and it was funny to think I was that close to a celebrity when they were working.
My first day just consisted of an orientation. I got a tour of the building, where I was in relation to everything else. One of the better parts was seeing where the CBS Nightly News with Katie Couric was filmed. I work in the studio right next to it. It was pretty interesting to see where it all happens, and what goes into putting on a nightly broadcast before it actually happens.
After all the touring and introductions, the senior news producer, senior video producer, and the producer who puts together entertainment and photo essays came to talk to us. They said they had divided us up based on our resumes and qualifications. Instantly, Dan Collins, the senior news producer, said he had chosen me to work for him. I was really excited that he had volunteered to work with me because I figured I could learn a lot from working for him. He has a very prestigious job for CBSNews.com, and he was in charge of, in my opinion, the most interesting of the three facets.
The next 2 days consisted more of training for what I am doing at work. Essentially, I am assigned breaking stories from the AP wire, which I upload online with a graphic/photo, an original head line and sub-headline, credits, captions, related stories, interactive, and other important parts. I produce the stories. I think one of the best parts is seeing the AP wire update on a constant basis. I like knowing that I know everything going on in the world when it happens. For example, When Hilary Clinton declared she was ending her quest for presidency, I was probably one of the first people to know it was happening, before all the major news stations broadcasted it.
One of the other, slightly unrelated, interesting things that happened this week was the filming of a pilot in my office. It was being filled for the fall, and was literally about 10 feet from my desk. Marcia Gay Harden was the star, and it was funny to think I was that close to a celebrity when they were working.
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