HOLY CRAP IT IS EARLY IN THE MORNING. I got here at 7am...meaning I woke up at 5:30! Wow, I don't think I can even remember the last time I was up that early!
Anyways, I got here as our morning news show began, and let me tell you: it is very quiet in the morning. Aside from the anchors doing the show, and the occasional announcement from the scanners (someone's having a heart attack, lady having a baby, someone fell over, etc.) I can keep quietly to myself...just how I like my mornings :) As the show was going, I suddenly noticed a most wonderful scent. Then...two guys from a local barbecue place came in! They were here to do a cooking thing on the morning show and HOLY CRAP it smelled good. I wish they had left some stuff here to eat. Darn.
This afternoon, I drum roll please...actually did stuff! First, I went to a press conference about health care with a Nebraska Representative. Party on. Did some interviews with people, some lady cried and rambled as usual, moved on. THEN, about an hour later, I went to the zoo! Yeah, it's free right now, so we went around the PACKED zoo, did some interviews with excited people, looked at some animals, went on the animal ski lift thing with the camera - which brought us much unnecessary attention, and then left. Now I'm back and I'm slightly hot and stinky. However, I have received like 3 compliments on my skirt (an unfortunate choice when going on a ski lift OVER PEOPLE. Oops). Also, I wore sandals instead of my original choice of high heels. Good call considering I was walking through the zoo lugging around a huge tripod that can be like 3 feet taller than I am.
Entertaining things:
-I can see one reporter's sports bra through the back of her shirt. AWKWARD.
-Some people came up to us wanting to be filmed, and when we rejected (nicely) their request, the newspaper came up to them. They weren't impressed with the thought of being in the paper and rejected her (not nicely).
-Some guy called in during the morning show to comment about something. He just thought some aspect of some story was funny. WHY did you call and waste 5 minutes of my time, dude? Why?
-The press conference was at a community college/university place with multiple locations around the area. We went to the wrong one, then (after much cursing and anger from the reporter) arrived 15 minutes late to a place 30 minutes from the other location - A+ to the speeding photog!
Now I'm off to enjoy the final hour of relaxation in the quiet, air conditioned, newsroom.
Tara
Saturday, July 25, 2009
Friday, July 24, 2009
Wednesday, July 22nd/Friday, July 24th
Once again, it's been awhile...but I have been on vacation, so that's a good reason, right?
Whatever. Don't judge me. Anyways, the past few days have been a-okay. Wednesday I was stuck in the building for the first few hours, and then went out on a press conference about SIDS (sudden infant death syndrome). Talk about THRILLING. Who doesn't love sitting in a small room full of journalists who are trying to stay awake during the drone of boring information? When I got back, I was only in for a little while before I got to go out to a graduation ceremony for a bunch of firefighters. Not as thrilling as say...the drowning I missed by 5 minutes, but then I would have been stuck there until like 11pm instead of 7:30, when my shift ends. Weird moment: one of the graduates is a kid I knew in high school! I remember he sat behind me in study hall freshman year (he was like 2-3 years older...and a football player, ha ha). On Halloween I wore an orange sweater (it was heinous, trust me) and he said he liked it because orange was his favorite color. Too bad I wasn't wearing that ugly sweater Wednesday, it could have been destiny!
Or not.
Today, I went to the most exciting event ever (sarcasm)! A two and a half hour preliminary hearing for a murder trial! This kid killed his dad, who had been sleeping with the kid's fiance (and had gotten her pregnant...classy!). It was dull, it was long, I was HUNGRY. Later, I went out to the live shot at the courthouse for that same story.
Funny/interesting things:
-phone call from some guy complaining/ranting/being stupid/whatever about the media's blaming Bush for Obama's police comment (which we didn't do a story on...hm.)
-One of our reporter/anchor's method of squirting allergy medicine up his nose. He leaned his head back, took the meds, and then like...hyperventilated or something for the next five minutes...with his head tilted back. Then for 5 more while he continued working. I almost lost it.
-I still just crack up at the fact that people think they can call the news for ANYTHING. Examples: 1. We don't have some pre-recorded weather thing you can call. We also don't always have a weather person in. So if you want to know the weather...go online or find some phone service that does that, because I am NOT going to weather.com and reading you the forecast. Seriously. 2. I don't care how serious your problem/issue is, I can't give you a "time frame" for when you will hear from us. For all we know, a million people will set on fire tomorrow morning. That takes precedence to your landlord cheating you out of free water. 3. If you want to complain about something that doesn't relate AT ALL to ANYTHING on our show/station, DON'T CALL ME. I have better things to do than listen to you rant about socialism for 20 minutes.
I feel better now.
Tara
p.s. OH and I forgot...did I mention I'm totally famous now? Yeah. Our state might be adding a new area code, so we did a little story, and I am now phone model. Yes, I dialed the phone and then pretended to be talking to someone in this new "5-3-1" area code. Like magic! My face, up REAL CLOSE, in like 57,000 people's homes and businesses! Wooh!
Whatever. Don't judge me. Anyways, the past few days have been a-okay. Wednesday I was stuck in the building for the first few hours, and then went out on a press conference about SIDS (sudden infant death syndrome). Talk about THRILLING. Who doesn't love sitting in a small room full of journalists who are trying to stay awake during the drone of boring information? When I got back, I was only in for a little while before I got to go out to a graduation ceremony for a bunch of firefighters. Not as thrilling as say...the drowning I missed by 5 minutes, but then I would have been stuck there until like 11pm instead of 7:30, when my shift ends. Weird moment: one of the graduates is a kid I knew in high school! I remember he sat behind me in study hall freshman year (he was like 2-3 years older...and a football player, ha ha). On Halloween I wore an orange sweater (it was heinous, trust me) and he said he liked it because orange was his favorite color. Too bad I wasn't wearing that ugly sweater Wednesday, it could have been destiny!
Or not.
Today, I went to the most exciting event ever (sarcasm)! A two and a half hour preliminary hearing for a murder trial! This kid killed his dad, who had been sleeping with the kid's fiance (and had gotten her pregnant...classy!). It was dull, it was long, I was HUNGRY. Later, I went out to the live shot at the courthouse for that same story.
Funny/interesting things:
-phone call from some guy complaining/ranting/being stupid/whatever about the media's blaming Bush for Obama's police comment (which we didn't do a story on...hm.)
-One of our reporter/anchor's method of squirting allergy medicine up his nose. He leaned his head back, took the meds, and then like...hyperventilated or something for the next five minutes...with his head tilted back. Then for 5 more while he continued working. I almost lost it.
-I still just crack up at the fact that people think they can call the news for ANYTHING. Examples: 1. We don't have some pre-recorded weather thing you can call. We also don't always have a weather person in. So if you want to know the weather...go online or find some phone service that does that, because I am NOT going to weather.com and reading you the forecast. Seriously. 2. I don't care how serious your problem/issue is, I can't give you a "time frame" for when you will hear from us. For all we know, a million people will set on fire tomorrow morning. That takes precedence to your landlord cheating you out of free water. 3. If you want to complain about something that doesn't relate AT ALL to ANYTHING on our show/station, DON'T CALL ME. I have better things to do than listen to you rant about socialism for 20 minutes.
I feel better now.
Tara
p.s. OH and I forgot...did I mention I'm totally famous now? Yeah. Our state might be adding a new area code, so we did a little story, and I am now phone model. Yes, I dialed the phone and then pretended to be talking to someone in this new "5-3-1" area code. Like magic! My face, up REAL CLOSE, in like 57,000 people's homes and businesses! Wooh!
Wednesday, July 15, 2009
Sunday, July 12th/Wednesday July 15th
Woah...sorry I haven't posted. Not like I'm busy or anything...I just keep forgetting and then my parents remind me when I get home. I have this rule where I only blog at the intern desk...hence "Live from the Intern Desk". Clever, huh?
Anyways, the past few days have had their moments. Sunday was pretty dull...actually terribly dull...until BAM huge story. I'm talking story of the summer...dead body in a house. Dead body that has been in the house, decomposing, so long that you couldn't tell the gender or age. I was out on the live shot for about 2 hours, watching our reporter go into his usual overly-stressed mode and talking with neighbors. Then subsequently telling the reporter everything useful the neighbors unwittingly said to me. It's cool. They never said off the record. However, our female anchor made some AMAZING peanut butter brownies. Those things were like pieces of tasty gold.
Today has also been...eh. I went out on a followup from that dead body, which turned out to be the 10 year old boy that lived there with his mom, who was in the house when they discovered the body. She's being charged with murder. So, we did a story that was all "aw, this kid is dead". Seriously though, it was really sad. The neighbors cried and I didn't. Because I never cry at normal things, only about weird things.
I just came back from another story...police officer arrested for child porn. This was embarrassing (for him) because we were allowed in the garage where they take the guy out and put him in booking. So we were right there when he was led out of the car. Sucks to be you, man.
Now I'm sitting again. The other intern is getting some dinner so I took her seat at the assignment desk, the best one in the room. Ha.
Interesting things:
-Phone calls from the usual crazies, of course.
-watching reporters freak out over uh...nothing.
-Okay that's it. Can't think of anything else.
-Tara
Anyways, the past few days have had their moments. Sunday was pretty dull...actually terribly dull...until BAM huge story. I'm talking story of the summer...dead body in a house. Dead body that has been in the house, decomposing, so long that you couldn't tell the gender or age. I was out on the live shot for about 2 hours, watching our reporter go into his usual overly-stressed mode and talking with neighbors. Then subsequently telling the reporter everything useful the neighbors unwittingly said to me. It's cool. They never said off the record. However, our female anchor made some AMAZING peanut butter brownies. Those things were like pieces of tasty gold.
Today has also been...eh. I went out on a followup from that dead body, which turned out to be the 10 year old boy that lived there with his mom, who was in the house when they discovered the body. She's being charged with murder. So, we did a story that was all "aw, this kid is dead". Seriously though, it was really sad. The neighbors cried and I didn't. Because I never cry at normal things, only about weird things.
I just came back from another story...police officer arrested for child porn. This was embarrassing (for him) because we were allowed in the garage where they take the guy out and put him in booking. So we were right there when he was led out of the car. Sucks to be you, man.
Now I'm sitting again. The other intern is getting some dinner so I took her seat at the assignment desk, the best one in the room. Ha.
Interesting things:
-Phone calls from the usual crazies, of course.
-watching reporters freak out over uh...nothing.
-Okay that's it. Can't think of anything else.
-Tara
Sunday, July 5, 2009
Friday, July 2nd/Sunday, July 5th
Wow...people call us for the most amazing things. Today, while searching through our system for a story, I stumbled upon the answering machine messages we got about the DTV transition...or at least DURING the DTV transition. Things said included a million "I have a converter box. I'm so confused!" to "I have a question about _____. I am looking for [reporter who works for another station in town]." Also, everyone hates us. Oh and "I have a weather radio that keeps going off for the wrong counties. Can you fix it?" Why do people call the news for these things? Have they never heard of the internet? Does someone really thing we are going to do a story on the bad water pressure in their house (real call.)
Anyways, enough of that. On Friday, I went out on a wild goose chase. A reporter and I went to do an economy story on this grocery store that had closed...but we had no leads. So, we went around trying to find people to talk to, and ended up spending about 5 hours out in this small(er) town for this story. Then, a few hours later, some dude beat his kid with a gun (right by my house, too!) so I went out on that story, too. Also, 35897623458960346 people called on Friday about fireworks and the rain that happened over the 4th weekend.
Today, I did....Nothing! Well, not NOTHING. I did stick by those stupid scanners and I DID get the call that some girl had almost drowned...and got us there FIRST! Yeah me. That's about it.
Amazing/recent things:
-making fun of the photographer that always has a GPS ("Oh, [Photographer], he'll be fine. He's got that silly GPS. Like it's hard to get around. Please.")
-PISSED lady who was mad that we made a mistake on our graphics "You said one street but the graphic said another. This has happened several times. PLEASE TELL your people". Wow lady...when we become Jesus and stop making mistakes, we'll let you know via a misspelled graphic. Just for you.
-Our sports guy is wearing a white button down and tie (nice). Oh, and ABOVE THE KNEE, TIGHT, WHITE SHORTS! Ick...come on now. Put some pants on, it's cold in here! I'm wearing a sweater in July!
-Lady called this afternoon asking, "Do you know if there are any more Michael Jackson tickets available?" Lady, this is Nebraska. Why on EARTH would we know? Or really...care?
-OKAY I JUST HAVE TO SAY IT. One of the reporters here wears PASTEL skirt suits. With SHOULDER PADS. Its like she can't escape the 80's. Please, sweetie, you look like you are probably not even past 32! Don't DO this to yourself! Plus you're not a twig/stick figure (but not fat, I promise), so those suits make you look....just don't. Please. Go shopping somewhere other than Goodwill or the old lady section in JC Penney. Go to Express! Or NY and Company! Embrace black.
-Our male news anchor hid his Pepsi behind the female news anchors back. He sipped on it during breaks.
Okay I'm done now. Tara
Anyways, enough of that. On Friday, I went out on a wild goose chase. A reporter and I went to do an economy story on this grocery store that had closed...but we had no leads. So, we went around trying to find people to talk to, and ended up spending about 5 hours out in this small(er) town for this story. Then, a few hours later, some dude beat his kid with a gun (right by my house, too!) so I went out on that story, too. Also, 35897623458960346 people called on Friday about fireworks and the rain that happened over the 4th weekend.
Today, I did....Nothing! Well, not NOTHING. I did stick by those stupid scanners and I DID get the call that some girl had almost drowned...and got us there FIRST! Yeah me. That's about it.
Amazing/recent things:
-making fun of the photographer that always has a GPS ("Oh, [Photographer], he'll be fine. He's got that silly GPS. Like it's hard to get around. Please.")
-PISSED lady who was mad that we made a mistake on our graphics "You said one street but the graphic said another. This has happened several times. PLEASE TELL your people". Wow lady...when we become Jesus and stop making mistakes, we'll let you know via a misspelled graphic. Just for you.
-Our sports guy is wearing a white button down and tie (nice). Oh, and ABOVE THE KNEE, TIGHT, WHITE SHORTS! Ick...come on now. Put some pants on, it's cold in here! I'm wearing a sweater in July!
-Lady called this afternoon asking, "Do you know if there are any more Michael Jackson tickets available?" Lady, this is Nebraska. Why on EARTH would we know? Or really...care?
-OKAY I JUST HAVE TO SAY IT. One of the reporters here wears PASTEL skirt suits. With SHOULDER PADS. Its like she can't escape the 80's. Please, sweetie, you look like you are probably not even past 32! Don't DO this to yourself! Plus you're not a twig/stick figure (but not fat, I promise), so those suits make you look....just don't. Please. Go shopping somewhere other than Goodwill or the old lady section in JC Penney. Go to Express! Or NY and Company! Embrace black.
-Our male news anchor hid his Pepsi behind the female news anchors back. He sipped on it during breaks.
Okay I'm done now. Tara
Friday, June 26, 2009
Friday, June 26th
Well, well, well. It's been a little while! I took Wednesday off because it was my birthday (Yeah being legal!) and today was my first day back since Sunday...it's weird being gone for so many days. Last time I switched a Wed. I hadn't worked here very long so it wasn't weird, but I've been here for oh...a month or so now, so I have gotten used to my schedule.
Anyways...today has been pretty crazy, and I still have just over 4 hours till my shift's over. This morning I got the delicious job of hunting down info from a livestock fat and bone rendering plant to ask them about the hundreds of NE cattle that have died from the heat. I called the local plant, who directed me to regional, who directed me BACK to local. Then I called the headquarters, and I'm still waiting for a call back. Come ON - dead cows aren't that sketchy! THEN I called the Nebraska Department of Agriculture - Animal Industry branch PR lady, who said she knew nothing.
So that was a bust...then I got sent out on an outdoor festival thing, and as we were shooting that, we got a call about a body in a dumpster. So, I spent the next 2 1/2 hours behind a shopping center, in 91 degree heat, watching some poor lady dig around in a trash dumpster. Forensics isn't as glamorous as CSI makes it.
Anyways, I just got back. We'll see what else happens today. Hopefully nothing, so I can RELAX - I'm tired and my feet hurt.
A bientot. Tara
Anyways...today has been pretty crazy, and I still have just over 4 hours till my shift's over. This morning I got the delicious job of hunting down info from a livestock fat and bone rendering plant to ask them about the hundreds of NE cattle that have died from the heat. I called the local plant, who directed me to regional, who directed me BACK to local. Then I called the headquarters, and I'm still waiting for a call back. Come ON - dead cows aren't that sketchy! THEN I called the Nebraska Department of Agriculture - Animal Industry branch PR lady, who said she knew nothing.
So that was a bust...then I got sent out on an outdoor festival thing, and as we were shooting that, we got a call about a body in a dumpster. So, I spent the next 2 1/2 hours behind a shopping center, in 91 degree heat, watching some poor lady dig around in a trash dumpster. Forensics isn't as glamorous as CSI makes it.
Anyways, I just got back. We'll see what else happens today. Hopefully nothing, so I can RELAX - I'm tired and my feet hurt.
A bientot. Tara
Sunday, June 21, 2009
Sunday, June 21st
Oh, what a day. I went out on nothing, yet the day was not without it's moments. Here's what I did: answered the phone, called the dispatch office a bazillion times, repeat the address of a terrible boating accident to producers and reporters who couldn't remember where they were headed, google said address each time to give directions, will myself to NOT eat the last brownie that the anchor brought in today, laugh at callers.
Best moments:
-Crazy "where [producer/anchor] at guy called again. I sense the beginning of a beautiful friendship, where he is drunk/high/crazy and I am totally amused/slightly annoyed.
-dispatch offices that know LESS about an accident than we do (thanks random tip guy, you are quicker than they are!)
-Best phone call of the night: our mayor wants to raise taxes. Always a big deal, and duh - who would like that? Certainly not anyone WHO GETS TAXED. Anyways, the story included comments from angry people, and the following fact: the $_____ shortfall is EXPECTED in 2010. EXPECTED. Meaning it's a guess. We don't KNOW where that will come from EXACTLY. So this guy calls me. Ticked off, of course. Blames the media and says we're worthless because we didn't report where that shortfall is coming from.
Dude. We don't know. Last I checked it was NOT 2010.
Anyways, I attempt to explain, he calls our station/the mayor communist, says the taxes are our fault (don't know how that one works) I continue to explain - I'm an intern. I don't know if the guy who wrote the story is crazy/didn't get told where the future money is not being saved/etc. He is not pleased, but okay to hang up because he now knows that I am an intern and therefore, stupid.
I cracked up more than any other call ever after he hung up. I almost started laughing mid-call.
Ciao. Tara
Best moments:
-Crazy "where [producer/anchor] at guy called again. I sense the beginning of a beautiful friendship, where he is drunk/high/crazy and I am totally amused/slightly annoyed.
-dispatch offices that know LESS about an accident than we do (thanks random tip guy, you are quicker than they are!)
-Best phone call of the night: our mayor wants to raise taxes. Always a big deal, and duh - who would like that? Certainly not anyone WHO GETS TAXED. Anyways, the story included comments from angry people, and the following fact: the $_____ shortfall is EXPECTED in 2010. EXPECTED. Meaning it's a guess. We don't KNOW where that will come from EXACTLY. So this guy calls me. Ticked off, of course. Blames the media and says we're worthless because we didn't report where that shortfall is coming from.
Dude. We don't know. Last I checked it was NOT 2010.
Anyways, I attempt to explain, he calls our station/the mayor communist, says the taxes are our fault (don't know how that one works) I continue to explain - I'm an intern. I don't know if the guy who wrote the story is crazy/didn't get told where the future money is not being saved/etc. He is not pleased, but okay to hang up because he now knows that I am an intern and therefore, stupid.
I cracked up more than any other call ever after he hung up. I almost started laughing mid-call.
Ciao. Tara
Saturday, June 20, 2009
Friday, June 19th/Saturday, June 20th...oh and some Wednesday, June 17th
Well, okay. It's been a bit since I've posted. But hey, I've been busy! I added a third job to my never-ending pile of jobs, yet still get paid practically nothing (how does this happen? hm.) Anyways, I am covering for another intern today so that she can go to a family thing, and in return, I get my birthday off. Schweet.
Anyways...yesterday was pretty uh, dull, I guess. I went to a sports event to do a story on underage drinking, and thensnuck out left an hour-ish early to see my brother play in a jazz concert.
Today I have done a whole....NOTHING! Well, not nothing. I've taken like 325690875 phone calls, and a few have been decent tips, like the guy whose apartment roof caved in and now he lives in a tent with his wife, baby, and toddler because the landlord won't let him live in another unit while the damage gets fixed. A tent? Woah.
OH! Also, on Wednesday, I got to do to an apartment fire (woohoo!) and saw a baseball team sign stuff for dying kids at a hospital. Awww.
Finally, our weekend news anchor/the reporter who says things like "yuppers" FINALLY got a hair cut. Thank you so much [reporter/anchor dude] because I wanted to attack your floppy bangs with the scissors back here at the intern desk every time you walked by. You saved yourself.
Interesting/Funny things:
-people endlessly making faces/waving to the camera. DON'T DO THAT. WE HATE THAT. YOU LOOK STUPID DOING THAT WHEN THE REPORTER IS LIVE ON TV. YOU ARE NOT COOL. I feel better now.
-A lady calling me, asking for [anchor]...it's the weekend, she's not here. "Oh, is [sports guy] there? He was, but by this time, I realized her "tip" was just a random strange rambling. I said no. She proceeded to tel me to tell [Sports guy] that her message was that she loved him and that he did a "fine job."
-Guy called me, asked for the phone number for our investigative team. Gave it to him and he rambled to me for a bit about how his friends think he could be a comedian, and that he was a construction worker and had I heard of that job before? Yeah? Oh, and all of this was in a very airy, short voice that paused after every weird-sounding word. I was laughing hysterically during this call.
-Remember the guy I mentioned earlier in this blog, asking for our anchors, and then hanging up on me? He's back! Today he called, asked for one of the executive producers, who wasn't here, then for another producer, who wasn't there. Asked if she was in tomorrow, I said I didn't know, and he hung up.
-ANOTHER crazy lady! She asked for our anchor, and then blah-blah-blahed for a bit, then I pretended to not know what time the anchor came in tomorrow, saying I don't work even though I do, and she went on to congratulate me on getting a day off (oh, thanks crazy chick!)
-Got a call about an URGENT story: raccoons stuck in a tree! The lady said, "they're going to starve up there, they've been there a week!" Lady, they're RACCOONS. They probably come down at night, go through your trash can, and then go back up. They have decided to LIVE THERE. Call the Humane Society.
-I TOTALLY lied to some guy...he asked me if it was going to rain tonight. I said no. Guess what? It's raining right now! Oops. Hey, I'm no meteorologist! She's conveniently not in when these crazies call.
-the meteorologist is back, and as i walked past her "office area" I caught a sound bite from her tv...she's watching TLC :)
-there is a lady who has seriously called twice within the last 20 minutes for our weekend anchor. He's here, and she's crazy. My job is to keep them apart. So, to her, he's NOT here. Yet she keeps calling. I will pretend that he is gone until the moment he comes on camera if necessary. Because that's my job. YEAH.
-THAT'S WHAT SHE SAID JOKES IN THE NEWSROOM!! I do belong here, I do!!!
-I just received a phone call from a man who, very seriously, asked me if the meteorologist who was on tonight was a female. Not a woman, a female. Then when I said her name, he totally butchered it and was pleased. It was wonderful.
That's all for now.
-Tara
Anyways...yesterday was pretty uh, dull, I guess. I went to a sports event to do a story on underage drinking, and then
Today I have done a whole....NOTHING! Well, not nothing. I've taken like 325690875 phone calls, and a few have been decent tips, like the guy whose apartment roof caved in and now he lives in a tent with his wife, baby, and toddler because the landlord won't let him live in another unit while the damage gets fixed. A tent? Woah.
OH! Also, on Wednesday, I got to do to an apartment fire (woohoo!) and saw a baseball team sign stuff for dying kids at a hospital. Awww.
Finally, our weekend news anchor/the reporter who says things like "yuppers" FINALLY got a hair cut. Thank you so much [reporter/anchor dude] because I wanted to attack your floppy bangs with the scissors back here at the intern desk every time you walked by. You saved yourself.
Interesting/Funny things:
-people endlessly making faces/waving to the camera. DON'T DO THAT. WE HATE THAT. YOU LOOK STUPID DOING THAT WHEN THE REPORTER IS LIVE ON TV. YOU ARE NOT COOL. I feel better now.
-A lady calling me, asking for [anchor]...it's the weekend, she's not here. "Oh, is [sports guy] there? He was, but by this time, I realized her "tip" was just a random strange rambling. I said no. She proceeded to tel me to tell [Sports guy] that her message was that she loved him and that he did a "fine job."
-Guy called me, asked for the phone number for our investigative team. Gave it to him and he rambled to me for a bit about how his friends think he could be a comedian, and that he was a construction worker and had I heard of that job before? Yeah? Oh, and all of this was in a very airy, short voice that paused after every weird-sounding word. I was laughing hysterically during this call.
-Remember the guy I mentioned earlier in this blog, asking for our anchors, and then hanging up on me? He's back! Today he called, asked for one of the executive producers, who wasn't here, then for another producer, who wasn't there. Asked if she was in tomorrow, I said I didn't know, and he hung up.
-ANOTHER crazy lady! She asked for our anchor, and then blah-blah-blahed for a bit, then I pretended to not know what time the anchor came in tomorrow, saying I don't work even though I do, and she went on to congratulate me on getting a day off (oh, thanks crazy chick!)
-Got a call about an URGENT story: raccoons stuck in a tree! The lady said, "they're going to starve up there, they've been there a week!" Lady, they're RACCOONS. They probably come down at night, go through your trash can, and then go back up. They have decided to LIVE THERE. Call the Humane Society.
-I TOTALLY lied to some guy...he asked me if it was going to rain tonight. I said no. Guess what? It's raining right now! Oops. Hey, I'm no meteorologist! She's conveniently not in when these crazies call.
-the meteorologist is back, and as i walked past her "office area" I caught a sound bite from her tv...she's watching TLC :)
-there is a lady who has seriously called twice within the last 20 minutes for our weekend anchor. He's here, and she's crazy. My job is to keep them apart. So, to her, he's NOT here. Yet she keeps calling. I will pretend that he is gone until the moment he comes on camera if necessary. Because that's my job. YEAH.
-THAT'S WHAT SHE SAID JOKES IN THE NEWSROOM!! I do belong here, I do!!!
-I just received a phone call from a man who, very seriously, asked me if the meteorologist who was on tonight was a female. Not a woman, a female. Then when I said her name, he totally butchered it and was pleased. It was wonderful.
That's all for now.
-Tara
Sunday, June 14, 2009
Sunday, June 14th
I'm only 3.5 hours into my shift today, but it has already been an EPIC day. Why, you ask? Well, I did another interview...this one flying by the seat of my pants (although it was a cancer camp..pretty straightforward) and then, when I returned to the station, the producer asked me to WRITE THE STORY! Sure, it was only a 35 second VO/SOT (Voice Over with Sound on Tape...basically a short story read by the anchor with video over the anchor's voice, and a quick interview with someone) but still...my words will be read ON CAMERA in a REAL news cast! So...I quickly learned how to find a clip of video on a linear editing system (not with a computer...old school.) and threw it together in about an hour. If they don't use it I'll be ticked.
However, my producer said the following: "It looks great, can't think of anything to change, it's really clean and written tight (aka he asked for about 35 seconds and I gave him 35 seconds, haha)...I wish I had known that you were a great writer earlier, I could have been using you all this time".
However, the craziest moment of the evening came during the 10pm newscast. Let me set the scene. We did an interview with an abortion doctor. Now, I'm not for abortion. However, I watched the story, and it was very fair. The doctor is hoping to take over for a well-known third-trimester abortion doctor, and that is illegal in NE. So it's big news, and very controversial. I watched our interview with him, and it was as unbiased as you can get when you're talking to a crazy abortion doctor. No abortion glorification from our station. The reporter made sure of that. So I get a call from a guy who is MAD. He is cussing me out, calling us everything disgusting ever. I say, as I was trained, "I'm sorry that you feel that way about the story sir..." and prepare to say "but we are just reporting on a topic that is of interest to the community" when he says, "Oh...I bet you've had a few, huh?" I say excuse me (duh) and continue to sit their, both baffled and humored, as he cusses me out. Then he hangs up because I wasn't ticking him off enough...because I wasn't defending abortion. Haha. Then I joked with some reporters about how I should have said, "Oh yeah, I get abortions every week! I go out on Friday, get pregnant, get an abortion, and go to work, woo!" Haha. It was funnier in real life :)
Peace Out. Tara.
However, my producer said the following: "It looks great, can't think of anything to change, it's really clean and written tight (aka he asked for about 35 seconds and I gave him 35 seconds, haha)...I wish I had known that you were a great writer earlier, I could have been using you all this time".
However, the craziest moment of the evening came during the 10pm newscast. Let me set the scene. We did an interview with an abortion doctor. Now, I'm not for abortion. However, I watched the story, and it was very fair. The doctor is hoping to take over for a well-known third-trimester abortion doctor, and that is illegal in NE. So it's big news, and very controversial. I watched our interview with him, and it was as unbiased as you can get when you're talking to a crazy abortion doctor. No abortion glorification from our station. The reporter made sure of that. So I get a call from a guy who is MAD. He is cussing me out, calling us everything disgusting ever. I say, as I was trained, "I'm sorry that you feel that way about the story sir..." and prepare to say "but we are just reporting on a topic that is of interest to the community" when he says, "Oh...I bet you've had a few, huh?" I say excuse me (duh) and continue to sit their, both baffled and humored, as he cusses me out. Then he hangs up because I wasn't ticking him off enough...because I wasn't defending abortion. Haha. Then I joked with some reporters about how I should have said, "Oh yeah, I get abortions every week! I go out on Friday, get pregnant, get an abortion, and go to work, woo!" Haha. It was funnier in real life :)
Peace Out. Tara.
Friday, June 12, 2009
Wednesday, June 10th/Friday, June 12th
Wednesday was actually pretty cool. I went to a couple weirdo stories. First, we went to a story about a guy who drove into a house. Twice. Same guy, same house, two different days. Needless to say, old guys on dialysis shouldn't drive. Then I went on a story about a lady whose car got shot during a driveby. She was taking her baby to the hospital. It was touching and she cried, and her neighbor had a nice cat. Plus the bullet hole was freaking HUGE. Woah.
Another day, another shift...today has been pretty much the norm, although the DTV transition shook things up a bit. I only went out on one story, though I had the choice to go out on another. More on that later - I saw my first murderers today! I spend an HOUR sitting in a hallway waiting for a trial to end in the county courthouse, and then followed some murderers down the hall...pretty gosh darn exciting!
And now for the real craziness: right now, my town is hosting a MAJOR sports event...one that causes things like 1) Calls from CNN 2) every single other story to be put on the back burner and 3) random celebrities to show up and have free concerts, etc. It's raining today and our reporter will be out in the rain till about 11pm, so when our assignment editor asked me if I wanted to go out to the event...I said, let the sports intern go. I'll be cool.
Things that interested/entertained me today:
-Wednesday...can't remember much. Uh, I went to my first "news meeting". That was cool.
-of all the places to NOT fix all their TVs...my station has a TV that isn't digital. HAHA.
-crazy lady coming up to us outside the courthouse, asking if we can help her with her problems (we have a "can help" phone number that she couldn't get through to)
-someone wrote a note and put it on one of our more "seasoned" reporters' desks. It reads "1960's Reference Desk"
-I accidentally tried to walk up a down escalator in a crowded courthouse today. Oops....don't judge me!
-TOTALLY got into the shot of another news station, and was almost bumped into by two murderers. Just another Friday :)
-Producer called someone in the newsroom to talk to them. I was not paying attention, heard the phone ring...and answered. The girl was sitting RIGHT next to me. Today was apparently my "Tara acts stupid day.
-Tara
Another day, another shift...today has been pretty much the norm, although the DTV transition shook things up a bit. I only went out on one story, though I had the choice to go out on another. More on that later - I saw my first murderers today! I spend an HOUR sitting in a hallway waiting for a trial to end in the county courthouse, and then followed some murderers down the hall...pretty gosh darn exciting!
And now for the real craziness: right now, my town is hosting a MAJOR sports event...one that causes things like 1) Calls from CNN 2) every single other story to be put on the back burner and 3) random celebrities to show up and have free concerts, etc. It's raining today and our reporter will be out in the rain till about 11pm, so when our assignment editor asked me if I wanted to go out to the event...I said, let the sports intern go. I'll be cool.
Things that interested/entertained me today:
-Wednesday...can't remember much. Uh, I went to my first "news meeting". That was cool.
-of all the places to NOT fix all their TVs...my station has a TV that isn't digital. HAHA.
-crazy lady coming up to us outside the courthouse, asking if we can help her with her problems (we have a "can help" phone number that she couldn't get through to)
-someone wrote a note and put it on one of our more "seasoned" reporters' desks. It reads "1960's Reference Desk"
-I accidentally tried to walk up a down escalator in a crowded courthouse today. Oops....don't judge me!
-TOTALLY got into the shot of another news station, and was almost bumped into by two murderers. Just another Friday :)
-Producer called someone in the newsroom to talk to them. I was not paying attention, heard the phone ring...and answered. The girl was sitting RIGHT next to me. Today was apparently my "Tara acts stupid day.
-Tara
Sunday, June 7, 2009
Sunday, June 7th
Wow...it's been awhile! I have been working...I just have either been doing something else to bide my time, going on shoots, or...okay I'll admit it. I just haven't felt like updating :) Anyways, it's a slow day for anyone NOT in weather (aka tornado season is upon us) and I've got some time. In the past few days I have gone on shoots to places like...a food show, done exciting things like...clean out my boss's old paperwork (which was hilarious, actually), watch said boss catch her Starbucks cup on fire (not sure HOW that happened, since those paper cups are microwavable, but she managed to do it). Today I have just sat around, but that's mainly because crime/bad stuff/breaking news generally doesn't happen when the weather sucks. People don't really shoot people outside when it's raining. Interesting.
Funny/interesting things that I have seen:
-TOTALLY drunk guy calls, asks me "Where [Producer that doesn't work nights] at?" I said she wasn't there, then he proceeded to ask me where 2 other producers were (neither of them were producing the 10pm that night). Then he said "Are the storms over?" Well...no. The storms are supposed to be STARTING after 12am. I say this, then he says "They're probably ovr by now". Repeat three times...then he hangs up.
-one of my boss's old investigative files had a police codename of "Operation Papercut"...oooh, dangerous!
-a couple of days ago, a guy called me and said "Hi, where's [Male news anchor]?" I said "He's not here right now, he doesn't get in until later (it was like 10am)." He said "He gonna be on tonight" "Yes," I said. "Where's [Female news anchor]? Is she on tonight?" "Yes, [M.N.A.] and [F.N.A.] will be on tonight, but they don't get in until later--" and as I was going to ask if he would like to leave a message, he hung up. Guess what's all he wanted to know.
-today, a lady called and said (soundly slightly drunk), "Hi, can I speak to the news man?" to which I said "Um...who?" and she said "Uuuhhh...the news man...on the weather!" Oh. That "news man". Also known as a METEOROLOGIST. Or weather guy.
-Trike/motorcycle. Enough said.
-Today, the switchboard on our phones is messed up and all my calls are being sent to the sports desk. So, the sports guy keeps getting all the stupid calls about DTV/the weather/stupid things no one cares about/etc. and complaining about it :)
-Finally, my parents showed me a TERRIBLE news anchor on our competitor's newscast last night. Today, we laughed about her inability to do well.
-Tara
Funny/interesting things that I have seen:
-TOTALLY drunk guy calls, asks me "Where [Producer that doesn't work nights] at?" I said she wasn't there, then he proceeded to ask me where 2 other producers were (neither of them were producing the 10pm that night). Then he said "Are the storms over?" Well...no. The storms are supposed to be STARTING after 12am. I say this, then he says "They're probably ovr by now". Repeat three times...then he hangs up.
-one of my boss's old investigative files had a police codename of "Operation Papercut"...oooh, dangerous!
-a couple of days ago, a guy called me and said "Hi, where's [Male news anchor]?" I said "He's not here right now, he doesn't get in until later (it was like 10am)." He said "He gonna be on tonight" "Yes," I said. "Where's [Female news anchor]? Is she on tonight?" "Yes, [M.N.A.] and [F.N.A.] will be on tonight, but they don't get in until later--" and as I was going to ask if he would like to leave a message, he hung up. Guess what's all he wanted to know.
-today, a lady called and said (soundly slightly drunk), "Hi, can I speak to the news man?" to which I said "Um...who?" and she said "Uuuhhh...the news man...on the weather!" Oh. That "news man". Also known as a METEOROLOGIST. Or weather guy.
-Trike/motorcycle. Enough said.
-Today, the switchboard on our phones is messed up and all my calls are being sent to the sports desk. So, the sports guy keeps getting all the stupid calls about DTV/the weather/stupid things no one cares about/etc. and complaining about it :)
-Finally, my parents showed me a TERRIBLE news anchor on our competitor's newscast last night. Today, we laughed about her inability to do well.
-Tara
Sunday, May 31, 2009
Saturday, May 20th/Sunday, May 31st
Okay, so I covered for another fellow intern yesterday (she switched shifts with me so I could go to my bro's graduation) and boy, was it DULL! Went to a condo tour thing, then to film the outside of a grocery store that got robbed, and then sat at a computer for the next 6 1/2 hours doing nothing. I guess I could have gone to the graduation ceremony that was being filmed for some touchy-feely story about a quadriplegic kid, but I didn't want to sit there for 3 hours doing nothing. Today has also been pretty dull, except for some entertaining calls and a trip to a bar for a story on smoking. Whoopee. On a sad note, like a bazillion teens are getting killed in car accidents that aren't their fault. Stay off the roads, teens, and protect your lives!
Craziest moment of the night: A former basketball player NE got drunk and drove, got a DUI - we put it on the air (since its 1. in the public domain because he got ticketed and 2. it's of public interest, duh!) and his fiancee called PISSED at us. Then, he got on the phone and said he was calling his attorney. Go ahead, buddy - you can't do anything to us. Knock yourself out.
Things that entertained me:
-right now, the news anchor is wearing the following odd combination: khaki cargo shorts, a short sleeve sweater, sandals, and a suit coat. Haha.
-met the weather guy's wife and kids...she is like totally famous around here- she's our old anchor and an occasional reporter now.
-went to a bar...to do a story.
-I told the reporter I was considering a meteorology degree...he said I should do it because it's a career where "you get paid big bucks to be wrong". Sounds good.
-Was told by our producer that I was going to get the "good intern award" because when we heard about a shooting on the scanners, I took notes and was able to give the address and what happened to the reporter...later, we learned that this shooting was in fact someone hitting someone else with a baseball bat. Hm?
-Got a call tonight from a lady complaining that our station won't work with her converter box ("all I get is 'weak signal, weak signal' and you should fix that") uh, lady...that's YOUR problem. Pretty sure that we 1. Are constantly making sure that wouldn't happen and 2. Would get TONS of complaints if that was OUR fault. Maybe you are just unable to put your converter box together right. Hm.
Later,
Tara
Craziest moment of the night: A former basketball player NE got drunk and drove, got a DUI - we put it on the air (since its 1. in the public domain because he got ticketed and 2. it's of public interest, duh!) and his fiancee called PISSED at us. Then, he got on the phone and said he was calling his attorney. Go ahead, buddy - you can't do anything to us. Knock yourself out.
Things that entertained me:
-right now, the news anchor is wearing the following odd combination: khaki cargo shorts, a short sleeve sweater, sandals, and a suit coat. Haha.
-met the weather guy's wife and kids...she is like totally famous around here- she's our old anchor and an occasional reporter now.
-went to a bar...to do a story.
-I told the reporter I was considering a meteorology degree...he said I should do it because it's a career where "you get paid big bucks to be wrong". Sounds good.
-Was told by our producer that I was going to get the "good intern award" because when we heard about a shooting on the scanners, I took notes and was able to give the address and what happened to the reporter...later, we learned that this shooting was in fact someone hitting someone else with a baseball bat. Hm?
-Got a call tonight from a lady complaining that our station won't work with her converter box ("all I get is 'weak signal, weak signal' and you should fix that") uh, lady...that's YOUR problem. Pretty sure that we 1. Are constantly making sure that wouldn't happen and 2. Would get TONS of complaints if that was OUR fault. Maybe you are just unable to put your converter box together right. Hm.
Later,
Tara
Friday, May 29, 2009
Friday, May 29th
Wow, what a day! Although my morning was fairly dull, my afternoon and evening was PACKED. I stopped by the county courthouse for a (rather dull) court case and interview, and then later in the afternoon to a homeless shelter/soup kitchen to discuss a new form of donating via text message. After that, we were planning on interviewing a lady on a story about a teacher posting pictures of her drinking and kissing her former students (also girls), but we were diverted with the news of a lady in a nearby town who was being evicted and charged because she had over 40 animals in her tiny house. We traveled there and worked for about 3 hours. I got to hold some sweet, tiny baby kitties - SO cute! Then, we went and shot a clip of the owner and her caretakers leaving the house, which was so disgusting I can't explain. The officer said the house smelled so badly of urine, he could smell it through the charcoal in his respirator. Anyways, the lady was also severly malnourished - she was skin and bones, and her stomach was protruding - like you see on those videos of dying African children. The lady had 33 cats, 2 dogs, 4 ferrets, a rabbit, and dozens of mice all in a tiny home that was GROSS. What a story.
Too tired to post the things that entertained me :) I work tomorrow and Sunday, so look forward to more exciting stuff, haha.
Tara
Too tired to post the things that entertained me :) I work tomorrow and Sunday, so look forward to more exciting stuff, haha.
Tara
Wednesday, May 27, 2009
Wednesday, May 27th
Okay, first, can I just say that it is WRONG to have weather this cold in late May?! It's like 60 degrees here and that = a cold Tara. Today has been pretty slow (knock on wood) but I've learned lots of stuff. When my "boss" got here she had me file future stories (events that are happening, that kind of thing), and then had me call a few beats (the 911 dispatchers who will tell you if anything big's going on). As far as going out for things - I got to go to the Federal Court building! It was pretty dull, went for a case against a guy who stole a ton of money from like, everyone he knew. It was short and whatever, but I got to see a courtroom, and watch an interview with a lawyer as he left the building...felt like I was on Law & Order, except we were the only media (and actually, the only people watching, his family didn't even come! Sad!) so it was like...woopee!
Things that entertained me today:
-Caller who was freaking out about a low-flying helicopter yesterday ("Why is everyone being so hush-hush about this?!") which we did a story on...YESTERDAY.
-telling our anchor that if anything big happened on the police scanners, I was going to jump up and down and scream at the assignment desk (which is on camera)
-the guy who was in court today was getting into his (crappy) car as we left the courthouse - he got a parking ticket. What a day - go to court for embezzlement and forgery, etc, and get a parking ticket :)
-I made a change for the news! Well, I didn't actually type out the change, but I got a call that a bill that we announced on the air was explained incorrectly...I did the research, saw that the guy who called was right, and told the producer, who then changed the newscast to reflect what I told her :) Not extremely fascinating, but I helped and it was cool, haha.
Until Friday,
Tara
Things that entertained me today:
-Caller who was freaking out about a low-flying helicopter yesterday ("Why is everyone being so hush-hush about this?!") which we did a story on...YESTERDAY.
-telling our anchor that if anything big happened on the police scanners, I was going to jump up and down and scream at the assignment desk (which is on camera)
-the guy who was in court today was getting into his (crappy) car as we left the courthouse - he got a parking ticket. What a day - go to court for embezzlement and forgery, etc, and get a parking ticket :)
-I made a change for the news! Well, I didn't actually type out the change, but I got a call that a bill that we announced on the air was explained incorrectly...I did the research, saw that the guy who called was right, and told the producer, who then changed the newscast to reflect what I told her :) Not extremely fascinating, but I helped and it was cool, haha.
Until Friday,
Tara
Sunday, May 24, 2009
Sunday, May 24th
Although this is my third day of my internship, it's my first day on this blog - let's just say I got really bored. I'll begin by explaining my job as an intern. Basically, I sit at a desk in the back of the newsroom, and do nothing. If a reporter goes out on a story, I might join them. Otherwise, it's just a lot of sitting. Eventually, I might get the opportunity to work on a piece myself, and add it to my resume tape...but I'm not sure what all I'll be doing - hey, it's just the third day!
Today has been pretty dull. I got here at 2:30 and I work until after the 10pm newscast. For the first...4 hours, I sat behind the computer and checked out my Facebook and drooled over cakes on Martha Stewart. Then, I went out with a photographer to cover a symphony concert. However, the day has not been without it's little moments:
-During the final break of the 5:30 newscast, the anchor asked our sports guy, "Will you buy me a pop if I say your name in the close?" He said, "Only if you call me King _____________" She declined :)
-Crazy, crazy callers: We got two calls from this lady who insisted that the mental health facility she was in was the anti-Christ because they wouldn't let her leave for church (never mind that the facility is run by...guess who? A church!)
-Listening to crazy stalker/viewer stories...our anchor is popular with people who make necklaces out of hair and prisoners, it seems, and one of our reporters is popular with older ladies in wheelchairs.
So, all in all, a dull but sorta fun day :) I'm enjoying getting to know this place behind the scenes.
Peace out!
Tara
Today has been pretty dull. I got here at 2:30 and I work until after the 10pm newscast. For the first...4 hours, I sat behind the computer and checked out my Facebook and drooled over cakes on Martha Stewart. Then, I went out with a photographer to cover a symphony concert. However, the day has not been without it's little moments:
-During the final break of the 5:30 newscast, the anchor asked our sports guy, "Will you buy me a pop if I say your name in the close?" He said, "Only if you call me King _____________" She declined :)
-Crazy, crazy callers: We got two calls from this lady who insisted that the mental health facility she was in was the anti-Christ because they wouldn't let her leave for church (never mind that the facility is run by...guess who? A church!)
-Listening to crazy stalker/viewer stories...our anchor is popular with people who make necklaces out of hair and prisoners, it seems, and one of our reporters is popular with older ladies in wheelchairs.
So, all in all, a dull but sorta fun day :) I'm enjoying getting to know this place behind the scenes.
Peace out!
Tara
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)