My first hose today was Jamila Elder. Wow! I knew from shadowing other people in the office that the assignment desk, where she works, was a bit busy, but actually being there was a overwhelming. Essentially, Jamila’s job is to find stories and disseminate information to the whole news room. She constantly checks NBC and its affiliates, TweetDeck, e-mails with tips, and other online resources for any news that needs to be covered. The work is very fast-paced, so to do it, one needs to be very level-headed when faced with pressure. While handling all this, she also answers phones that ring off the hook and listens to the unwavering chatter of the police scanners at the desk.
Today was actually considered a slow day at the assignment desk, or “so far, so good” so as not to jinx it. There was no crazy breaking news that sent the office scrambling, but I still saw how essential this position was to the organization of the office. Almost every single department of the newsroom-ranging from talent to producers to editors and so on-came up to the assignment desk at some point during the day.
Luckily, Jamila does have some help in the news gathering department, because there’s so much information that it’s easy to miss something. As well as news Production Assistants who man the phones and check for news as well, there are tipsters, who listen to the police scanner from home so they can verify any info that Jamila may have missed. She also has access to a database with records of previous court cases in all of North Carolina, familytreenow.com, and a slew of other resources that help her and the whole station make sure to stay ahead of their competition. It was such an interesting morning!
After lunch, I worked with Tim King, the Production Supervisor/Crew Chief. He is awesome! Tim was involved in anything and everything that was shot today, whether it was as a camera operator, a floor director, or a slew of other positions. His wide-ranging expertise is probably due to his experience in the business. Tim has been working for WRAL for 29 years, starting in his sophomore year of college. Today, he showed me and taught me so many things that I couldn’t possibly record them all. Perhaps one of my favorite parts of my time with him was when he showed me where the special programs are recorded. The WRAL building is very large, and they have another huge area in which special programs like Brain Games, Spiritual Awakening, On the Record, and Education Matters. In fact, Tim said he probably directed about 98% of the Brain Games. However, the room will soon be converted into the space where WRAL does its broadcasts so they have more room, leaving no more space for the extra programs. The passion with which Tim talked about his job, especially in this area, showed me how important it is to find something I enjoy doing.
Another cool part of the afternoon came with the 4 pm broadcast. I got to stand on the floor with Tim, shadowing him as him gave cues to the anchors and communicated information from the control room to them, adapting for any changes the producer made. There is so much happening behind the camera, and Tim is a prime example of the amount of work behind each show. Him and the rest to the newsroom work tirelessly to make sure that each newscast looks effortless. I’m so lucky to have been able to observe it in action!
