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.