Today was probably my favorite day yet. I started off with Jimmie Brown, an editor and camera man for the live center. He’s been working in the field of journalism as an editor/photographer for 40 years, and today was his last day before retirement! He was so kind to me and answered absolutely any questions I had. To start the day off, I shadowed him in the live center during the 9 am broadcast. About 1-3 times per show, the live center gives updates on any breaking news: local, national, or international. Today, the hurricanes in El Salvador provided the first segment, and during breaks, Jimmie actually let me hold the camera to see how it holds steady and what angles are best. Since its a handheld gimbal, there is no zoom, so he has to physically get closer or farther away from the reporter or screens for the best shots.
Fun fact: Gimbals have a four frame lag, so reporters in the live center wear microphones that are purposefully lagged four frames to match the sound with the video.
After the broadcast finished, we headed into the main editing room for the rest of his shift. Because he started in the business so long ago, Jimmie’s used to actually cutting frames as well as the modern digitally editing. In fact, he brought a picture of himself when he first got into the business, bent over physical tape to edit. Times changes quickly!
The overarching theme encompassing what I learned from Jimmie could be best seen through his preparation for shows. He ingrained the concept of preparation into me as he worked ahead to make sure that he was ready for anything. All his screens were set to record the incoming video from sky5 (the WRAL chopper), he constantly looked for new updates from producers so he could being editing teasers, and did anything else that would ensure he would be ready when they need it.
Although my time was short with Jimmie, I will remember it for a long time, especially because of the quote he left me: ‘You’re looking at your future”. My time was even shorter with my next shadow, Greg Best. Greg took over in the main editing room for Jimmie at noon, so I stayed with him for about an hour while he prepared his edits. Greg worked extremely fast, so I had to ask a lot of questions to keep up with his quick clicks on the keyboard. I really enjoyed speaking with him because I learned a lot about the nature among co-workers and how friendly everyone is in the newsroom. Although he’s a self-proclaimed introvert, I made him crack a smile and even laugh a few times, so definitely a win for me.
After my lunch break, I worked with my final host for the day, Benn Page. Benn also works as an editor, but today he focused on the Sunday “Rewind” segment that he produces. Rewind is about 23 minutes long, so Benn works to put together all the top stories of the week and consolidates them into a short, but informative show. There are also two bigger features during the segment, each with their own entire package. For these, teasers are scattered earlier throughout the show to give viewers an idea of what’s coming next. Benn actually let me write a few teasers for the two features that would be presented later in the show, so some of my writing will be incorporated to the show on Sunday! Although it’s just a sentence or two for each teaser, writing them took about 20 min each as I tried to address all the elements that needed to be hit in a “conversational” tone, without giving the full story away so people would want to tune in later. Benn, too, was so kind to me, showing me the ropes and answering every question imaginable while working on his show. I can’t wait for more tomorrow!
