Let the Games Begin

This week set the tone for the duration of my summer. I had the opportunity to work in the newsroom and in the field with reporters. Monday was a very light day. I attended the morning meeting, learned how the assignment desk is ran, printed scripts for Fred Blankenship and Carol Sbarge for the noon newscast and got the mail. Although it may not seem too exciting, I had a fantastic time doing it.  

On Tuesday, I had the opportunity to shadow reporter Nefertiti Jaquez as she covered a wreck in Dekalb County and a press conference about the Zika virus in Fulton County. The first story was about a lady who loss control of her car and fell noes first onto a playground. The good news is that driver and her husband, who was in the car with her, were fine. After Jaquez reported the story live for the noon show, I followed her back into the news van to learn how to log a story, also known as transcribing, and put together her package with her photographer. When she was finished, I had he opportunity to do a stand-up. Jaquez helped me write my script, which was challenging, and coached me on how to be conversational in my speech and less tense in my body language. It went well. It took me three takes to ease my nervousness, loosen my body and be conversational. The second story was about a senior center in Fulton County that was being sprayed for the Zika virus. The story was meant to bring awareness in the Fulton County area because there have been 16 cases of the Zika virus in Georgia and 6 alone in Fulton County. That is something else! Jaquez interviewed the Fulton County commissioner and he said that his goal is to protect pregnant women, children and elderly men and women. After Jaquez covered the story live for the 6 p.m. newscast, I had the opportunity to do another stand-up about that story. I used all of the tips that Jaquez gave me during my first stand-up and used them to do my second, which went well. 

In addition to shadowing that day, I had the opportunity to update the election results from the county primaries for the 11 p.m. newscast. It was really cool but very tedious. I was in charge of updating the results for 10 counties. I began to see double after looking at two computer screens for three and a half hours! Although I got home past midnight, I would do it all over again. 

On Thursday, I had the opportunity to go out with reporter Tyisha Fernandez to cover a story about an alleged murderer who was taken into custody after four years for allegedly killing his business partner. This story had been covered multiple times when the case first happened and investigators were looking for the suspect, and Fernandez was the FIRST person to cover the story and interview the brother of the victim since the alleged suspect had been taken into custody. The brother was so inspiring. The family is very deep in their faith and knew that the alleged suspect would be found. In addition the brother, who is a gospel artist, played the song that he wrote during the time they were looking for his brother four years ago called "Keep Standing." The song is AMAZING! Listening to Fernandez interview the brother reminded me of why I want to go into the broadcast journalism field and tell stories just like that family's. After the interview was over, I had the opportunity to have lunch with Fernandez and her photographer, Matt. Fernandez told me her story about how she got into the business. One thing that stuck with me is that people told her that she would never be a reporter. They told her that she did not have the voice or the "look" but look at her now. She is a part of the #1 news team in the country. After lunch, we went to a gas station so that Fernandes could log her story and put together her packages for the 5 and 6 p.m. newscast. Afterwards, we went to the church where the murder victim was last seen by his family. Tyisha covered the story live for the 5 and 6 p.m. newscast. It is always so cool to see the reporters report live and do it so effortlessly. After she finished the 6 p.m. newscast, I had the opportunity to do a stand-up. This time I incorporated all of the knowledge and tips I had been given by Jaquez and Fernandes. My third stand-up went really well. I wasn't nervous and I made sure to relax myself. Also, writing my script was easier. 

I learned a ton this week, and I strongly believe that God perfectly aligned the reporters I went out with this week. Jaquez taught me a lot about being a journalist, different media terms, writing and on air skills. Fernandes instilled a lot of confidence in me. Her story inspired me more than she will ever know. The things that people told her are some of the things that I have told myself at times. She is truly a living testimony of hard work, dedication and believing in yourself. Both reporters were really big on being kind to everyone. When I was out with Jaquez, we saw another reporter from another station who was covering the same story and instead of looking at him as competition, she treated him as a colleague. Fernandes told me that people who she has given her card out to in the community at different events have provided her with great stories. In fact, the story that she covered on Thursday was given to her by a friend that she had met at an event months ago. Although he had been called by the other news competitors, he decided to call Fernandes first. Furthermore, Jaquez and Fernandes were passionate about volunteer work and finding ways to give back outside of work. 

Moreover, I learned that I have everything that it takes to be a successful journalist, it just takes practice, dedication, belief in myself and a commitment to trust the process. This week made me so excited about starting my career and continuing to learn and grow.

Me organizing the scrips for the noon newscast. 

Nefertiti and me after her shoot was over. 

Photographer Mr. Sinclair bought us Chick-Fil-A. It was GOOOOOOOD!

Me updating the election results. Side note, "Dancing With the Stars" was playing on the third screen to my left. 

Some of the interns after election night with anchor Justin Farmer. 

Tyisha Fernandes and Matt getting ready to go live. 

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It's Getting Real

On May 19, I attended the intern orientation for WSB-TV at 9 a.m. I walked into the building full of nervousness and excitement but became relieved once I met the other 10 interns. To start off our day, we met with human resources and our supervisor. In addition, two former interns, Maranda and Chelsea, joined our supervisor to give us a student perspective of WSB-TV. After talking with our supervisor and the former interns, Maranda and Chelsea took us on a tour of the building. This was the moment I had been waiting on since I first watched WSB-TV as a young boy. We started on the bottom floor where the radio stations are held. While touring the radio stations, we passed on of my favorite radio personalities on Kiss 104.1 ,Sasha The Diva, as she was broadcasting live. As we walked by, I waived at her, and she waived back!  After we finished downstairs, we went to the third floor see the WSB-TV studio and newsroom. When we walked into the studio, my heart dropped. It was the most beautiful place I have ever seen in my life. As we were looking at the set, Jocelyn Dorsey walked by us and greeted all of us. I was in complete shock because I did not expect to see one of the journalist so soon. Everything from the camera equipment to the news desk looked so cool. Afterwards, we walked across to the newsroom, and I tried to regain my composer. We walked into the newsroom and I lost my composer all over again, internally, of course. I saw Erica Byfield, Dave Huddleston, Erin Coleman, Aaron Diamont, Craig Lucie, Karen Minton, and Fred Blankenship.I could not believe it. I saw standing in the same room with the people who I have watched and have admired for years. Everyone was very nice and welcoming. After leaving the newsroom, we went to a conference room to meet with our supervisor to go over our schedules and expectations for the summer. In addition, our supervisor gave us the option of coming in on Friday, May 20, to attend the morning meeting where anchors and reporters pitch stories.


The next day, I attended the meeting and was fascinated by all of the stories being pitched and the fact that I had the opportunity to hear about the stories before they were shown on television. Before the meeting ended, the interns and I left early to get our badges and become "official." With our badges in hand, we walked to the news room to learn how to put together the scripts for the anchors. Before the noon broadcast, the producer began to send the anchor's scripts to the printers and we got to see Maranda put the scripts in order. In a matter of moments, we met one of the men who work in the studio, and he offered to let us sit in the studio during the noon broadcast to watch the anchors LIVE. Again, I internally lost my composer. It was an amazing experience to watch Fred Blankenship, Carol Sbarge and Brad Nitz LIVE! Before we left for the day, we ran into Blankenship and Sbarge in the hallway and Blankenship gave us some great advice about staring off in the news business and finding a job after college.


This week, I learned a lot about myself and the importance of getting out of my comfort zone. My supervisor talked about being aggressive and not waiting for reporters to ask us to shadow them. I have to take the initiative and ask them myself. If they say "no," say "thank you" and ask someone else. Hearing her say that put a fire in me to go above and beyond. In addition, God is teaching me trust. After coming home after orientation, I became very anxious and overwhelmed with everything that I had experienced that day. In that moment, one of my favorite people, Taylor Wilkerson, texted me and asked me about my day. She reminded me that this experience would as another testimony of God's love and faithfulness. What would I do without Tay-Tay?

I am stocked for the road ahead, everything I will get to experience and all of the people I will have the opportunity to meet. I know that I will leave with more skills and a greater passion for journalism. Greater than that, I am still in awe that God blessed me with this extraordinary opportunity.




The control room and crew during the noon broadcast.



Fred Blankenship and Carol Sbarge LIVE.



The set where the lottery numbers are announced.



Me outside of the building the Saturday before orientation.



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