Observation Week

A week of observation for me, but not totally… I went in Tuesday bright and early at 7am. Each morning, I take about 15 minutes at a computer to read through the wires and catch up on what’s happening in the news. When things are pretty slow, I take some time to write short news stories. The morning shifts are good times to practice writing.

Fox 26 Morning News Anchor and Reporter Natalie Bomke, works the morning shifts. She’s great about giving advice to interns and really nice too.

Tuesday I worked with Consumer and News Reporter Emily Akin. She’s also the voice coach for the interns. We spent some time trying to train my voice, practice on-air speaking, being able to connect with the audience and worked on enunciations. It was a good session, gotta get used to hearing my voice!

Near the end of the week, I worked with Sports Reporter Keith Calkins. It was slow so he had time to show me how he prepares for his sports segments for the evening show. I also worked with the Sports editor, Richard. He’s the guy that puts together the sports video packages together that we see on the show. There editing system looks similar to what we have at RSU. Overall both guys were really helpful. I’m the only intern this summer with interest in sports but I’ll get to have more of their time and help so that’s cool.

A great leaning experience this week, but now I’m ready to get some hands-on action. This upcoming week I’m looking forward to following the sports and news reporters out in the field. Wish me luck =)

Round 2!

I'm Back with a new internship! This summer I’m interning in my home sweet home, Houston, TX at Fox 26, one of Houston’s local news stations. This is my second internship since the spring of 09’ in Washington D.C.

I started my internship June 1^st, so it’s already been a full week. My first day was pretty cool even though I was a bit nervous; it felt kind of like a reality show for interns. It’s about 10 students interning for Fox, maybe even a couple more. I spent my first week getting familiar with the newsroom, getting to know fellow interns and employees at Fox.

Mr. Ruben Dominguez, Assignment Manager and Traffic Reporter, is also the Supervisor for the interns. I also call him "The Man". One of his top priorities is to make sure us interns get the most out of our internship. Through out his busy day, he's still able to check and see how we're doing and introduces us to the right people we should work with.

Besides being in the news room, I got a chance to sit in the studio during live news casting and see how things work behind the scenes. Also, interns are allowed to sit-in on daily meetings and pitch story ideas.So far I've only pitched 2 stories so I need to pick it up a bit

Through out the week, I met a lot of reporters, producers, editors and camera guys. So much, it’s been kind of hard remembering everyone's name. My main focus is in the Sports Department. Ruben introduced me to Keith Calkins, the Sports Reporter for Fox. I plan on shadowing him through out the summer.

During my internship, I'll be assisting producers, editors, photographers, and reporters with managing assignments and researching stories. I'll be able to go out into the field with the reporters and do stand-ups. I'll learn how to write, copy and edit videos, and learn how to run a studio camera and teleprompter. Near the end of the programs, interns will have a chance to put together a newscast! So I'll be working on my on-air skills.

Just about everyone I've met so far at Fox emphasized on writing, writing, and more writing and the importance of writing. So I know Professor Coomer’s, Writing for the Media class will come quite in handy.

Overall I’m excited about my new internship and can’t wait to learn more about the business and discover how much progress I’ve made.

I'm also blogging about my experience on Fox. My first blog is called "Introducing Erica Taylor". I’ll try to take lots of pictures during my internship and also show off Houston :)

So long for now.