Sadly my internship has come to an end and the Fall 2012 semester has begun. I feel so much more prepared for work in the news business as a reporter, anchor, or whatever else life throws at me. The skills I developed included writing for broadcast and web, shooting quality video, booth production, producing with iNews, editing on avid, and interacting with everyday people to tell their stories. That is what I enjoyed the most, taking and learning about people to get their stories out there. I would like to thank EVERYONE at KWWL for the guidance and knowledge. 

My summer was spent working at a golf course back home. Everyone was so impressed that I was working for KWWL the previous semester because that is who my hometown trusts with their news. They all hope to see me on the station one day :).  I enjoyed being home with my family and friends and just taking a break. 

Now, I am a week into the fall semester of my SENIOR YEAR. It is amazing how fast time goes. I am beginning to brainstorm where I see myself after I graduate in May. A few of the classes I am taking include: 



 
I was very pleased with how my Buddy Check 7 piece turned out! It was a great PKG to end with because it was especially challenging. My obstacles were making medical jargon understandable by the general audience, color correcting (always white balance!), and working with limited shots. 

The day of the shoot, there was confusion as to where I was meeting with the hospital's PR. Turns out I went to the completely wrong building haha. I needed to go to the cancer research center and I was at the hospital. So, I was in a hurry to set up my equipment and was using a new tripod..that I wasn't exactly sure how it worked haha and forgot to white balance (white balancing recognizes the true color of white and adjusts all other colors). We were under terrible fluorescents in a small room as well so that didn't help. When I went to edit, I crossed my fingers and hoped that it would be okay but all shots had a yellow hue? No, were completely yellow haha. I had to color correct each shot. Everyone said the color looked good in the end so I was happy haha.  

I spoke with a doctor who was incredibly intelligent about the clinical trials, only he had trouble putting it into terms that I could understand. It was all very interesting and in the end, I was able to translate the doctor's medical terms into something easily understood. 

After all the stuggles, I was very happy with the finished product! And I will NEVER forget to white balance again haha. POA: Even when it looks like a piece is going nowhere and you're frustrated, keep going and make the absolute best of what you have...or if you have time go re-shoot it!

http://www.kwwl.com/story/18168543/breast-cancer-drug-clinical-trial-happening-locally
 
I have been given the opportunity and responsibility to complete the Buddy Check 7 package for the month of May! This is what I will be working on for the next few weeks.  Every month on the 7th KWWL airs a package that is breast cancer related to remind women to do their monthly self exam. I will be focusing on a clinical trial in the works. I don't have much information on the trial yet though. I am excited to have a package air! 
 
I am getting more and more intertwined in the news business. Instead of being home for Easter I spent it with a reporter doing a story on the Empowerment Movement. It was an experience I have never had and will never forget it! We went to an area African American church to get footage on African American people registering to vote. 

Over 5 million African Americans are not registered to vote and the empowerment movement is hoping to decrease that by 1 million over Easter weekend. We talked with the Pastor and a man who registered to vote that day. The reporter I went with taught me a lot that day about how to approach a story like this.
 
Last week I worked on setting up my first PKG on the Hawkeye Community College Career Fair. I met some great people who helped me with everything I needed. I took an economical angle to my story and talked to some career service employees about what fields they see more and more students going into. After getting their responses I went and talked with people in those fields. Manufacturing and health care are really seeing great job outlooks in the coming years.

I noticed that there were so many businesses there looking to hire so I talked with them about that as well. They said they invited many businesses and then had many more contact them asking if there is room for them because they need to hire. This was a good sign for the economy in Iowa.  

I edited a VOSOT for the 10 o’clock show and am working on a PKG for my reel. Hopefully I will figure out how to get some video on my website without actually paying to do it haha. Stay tuned!!

 
Today was a great day at KWWL! I got away from my desk and went out with a reporter to work on a PKG on the Black Hawk County Health Department's efforts in the I-WALK program. They are partnering with the Cedar Falls Community School District, Iowa Department of Public Health, and the Iowa State University Extension to conduct the I-WALK program, a Safe Routes to School project at Lincoln Elementary. Its a cool program that promotes kids walking or biking to school. We talked with several people and got b-roll of her and her son walking. When we returned to the station I observed her putting the PKG together. POA: Always watch how different people do things, everyone has something unique to teach you.  

I like watching different reporters edit because everyone does it differently and I can learn something from every one of them. I learned so much today and am excited to produce my first PKG on Wednesday. I will be covering Hawkeye Community College's Career Fair and talking with an employee in the career services department regarding job outlooks. 

When I come to KWWL and go out on shoots, I know that this is what I am meant to do and love every minute of it. You guys may heard this quote by reminds me of what Confucius once said:

"Choose a job you love and you will never have to work a day in your life." 
 
It is my first day back at the station after a week off for spring break. I went home and for once it actually felt like spring! I spent so much time outside with my dog, Winnie, and enjoyed the warm weather. It was hard to go back to class and work today, especially on a slow news day.

I have been really wanting to turn out my first package. I feel like I should have a few done by now but I keep getting distracted on smaller stories that I turn into VOSOTs. Here is a little bit about what these things are for those of you who don't know:

 
I have mentioned that I am currently a junior at UNI. With all that has been happening at my university with programs being cut, faculty being upset, and student's impacted, it is hard to not pay attention and be involved. 

Over the past two weeks, I realized that I was not nearly involved enough in what was happening at my university in my first few years here. I am paying thousands of dollars to be here and spending countless hours in these buildings while still not knowing what is really happening around me. I am writing this post because I was in class yesterday and reading an article in the Northern Iowan about the faculty meeting and budget cuts when a girl sitting next to me asked me what this is all about. I was completely taken back when I started explaining it to her and three other students listened in and commented that they had no idea. 

I could have been one of these people if it weren't for working at KWWL. I'm sure I would have seen something and been interested but having these opportunities at KWWL have really opened my eyes. It is important to know the politics of what is happening around you whether that be a university or business. Ever since KWWL I am so much more interested in watching the news, reading, and just being a more informed person. 
 
This has been revealed. Here are the programs that are going to be either cut or altered: http://www.uni.edu/program-changes/discontinued-academic-programs


These programs have contributed to less than 2% of degrees in 2010 and 2011. 
 
News at UNI has been the buzz around the newsroom the past couple of weeks. Our university has had to make budget cuts in so many areas. 77 programs are going to see changes. It is recommended that 23 undergrad majors close, 19 minors close, 16 graduate programs will be cut and 19 programs will be restructured. This may seem like a lot but these programs represent a mere 2% of degrees given out in 2010-2011. 

The biggest controversy has been surrounding the closing of Price Lab School. Many employees have and will be laid off and children will be finding new schools. In an email sent to all students and staff, President Ben Allen stated he believes we are just so used to having Price Lab and that it may not be the best model for level two education majors. 

But where do I come in with all of this? I accompanied a reporter to a meeting on March 8 where the faculty were meeting to discuss their confidence (or lack there of) in President Ben Allen and Provost Gloria Gibson. I love going out to shoot with this particular reporter. She is always trying to teach me something or give me tips. When the staff began casting their votes on the "vote of no confidence" in the President and Provost, our reporter went out to do a live shot so I gathered some essential video of the votes being turned in and counted. The vote of no confidence passed for both Pres. Ben Allen and Provost Gloria Gibson. Even though I left that night feeling more confident in my abilities, it was a sad day for UNI. 

POA: Always ask questions! In the news business there is different terminology for certain things and all equipment is slightly different. Don't be afraid of sounding inexperienced, this is how you learn.