During the past two months I have been interning at News 12 the Bronx, a local cable station which focuses primarily on issues regarding mainly the borough of the Bronx whether it be sports, features or news in general. At the outset of my search for an internship, I never paid any attention to smaller companies such as News 12. I wanted to intern for major networks, primarily HBO Sports, USA Networks or even WNBC and WABC to name a few. I figured it would be a chance for me to get to see how the "big dogs" in the industry handle their operations and also get a chance to learn from the best. However after really thinking about the situation, (not to mention being turned down by HBO), I figured that interning with a smaller company would enable me to get my "feet wet" and I would probably be allowed to do more things in regards to helping out and also gaining valuable information .
My first day at News 12 was pretty good. I was put into position at the assignment desk where my duty would be to help the assignment editors and basically make their job easier. I was required to help answer calls which were usually news stories which the assignment editors could send a reporter out to cover if it sounded reasonable. Also calls ranged from district attorneys to Chinese food and cab services. Also I would have to give tapes out to the reporters when they wanted new ones for either their shoot or if they wanted an edit master tape to edit their pieces for that day's show. Tapes usually were recovered from the tape cabinet where they were usually numbered. The duties at the desk also required me to check incoming faxes which were usually events taking place all around the borough which whey figured News 12 may have an interest in perhaps covering. Also faxes very often would come from various politicians who would send information stating the good things they had done recently for their own communities. I guess they wanted to keep a good image in the eyes of the station so they could probably receive good reports from the station, all to make them seem more credible within the eyes of their district which would eventually lead to more votes for them in the future.
The assignment furthermore required me to record various incoming feeds from sources which would provide shots from overseas and mainly third-world countries. Many of these shots were very graphic because they were sent in unedited and required whatever station that ordered a package to edit the content to their liking, probably because different countries usually have different standards as to what they want their people to see on television. These feeds (APTV and Conus) were recorded at different times during the day. Usually 6:00 a.m, 11:45 a.m, 3:45 a.m, 4:15 p.m and 9:00 p.m I believe. Everyone benefited from these feeds, even the sports reporter would request footage from a game the previous night for his package in which he would include it.
The assignment desk is where I got a chance to interact with the majority of the people at News 12. Reporters, Producers, Secretaries and other interns all made it their business to linger around the desk. As mentioned before, my first day I was allowed to accompany reporter Claudia DoCampo on a shoot in Manhattan regarding a livery cab strike for that particular day in September. I was allowed to shoot the majority of her cutaways needed for her piece along with her stand-up. It was a great learning experience for me because I got to shoot with a DVC-PRO digital camera. Although it is quite similar to the Beta cameras we use in the St. John's TV Center, it is still very different and takes a little getting used to. The difference that mattered most was undoubtedly the weight of the camera. Even with a battery similar to ours at the TV Center, the digital camera felt like it weighed no more than five pounds to my surprise. Another thing which caught my surprise is the fact that the reporters went out on their shoots solo. They usually shot their own footage but also when interviewing someone they would hold the camera on their shoulders and the mic in the other which is quite weird when seeing it done for the first couple times.After being out on a shoot my first day, it took a while before I went out again. Usually my day was spent behind the huge assignment desk honestly catching up on readings or homework for class the following day. I asked Mayra Garcia, the assignment editor during the day if it was possible for me to go into the control room while a show was being taped which she said would be okay. However on the day I planned to go in to observe the taping, all the computers at the station crashed requiring the services of various computer technicians having to be called in to take a look at what had happened.
So there I was, back to doing my school assignments and basically watching various incoming feeds from all other countries aside
from answering the telephones which I never really liked doing. My days were basically wasting away during the first month and I was starting to regret choosing News 12 as the internship of my choice for the semester. Shortly however, things started to pick up.During late September, early October pennant fever was everywhere in the city, but especially the Bronx. The New York Yankees was baseball's greatest team and was set to play the Texas Rangers in Game 1 of the first round of the playoffs. I was asked to assist female reporter Andrea Bond on the shoot at Yankee Stadium where the Yanks and fans alike would be preparing for Game 1. It was a fun experience because I got to see various network sports anchors on the job and also for the fact that I assisted and wrote most of the story for the reporter because she knew little about the sport, the players and the event as a whole. After the shoot we made our way back to the station where I resumed my duties behind the assignment desk, doing my homework.
The following weeks I was doing more around the station in regards to helping the reporters out as much as possible. I occasionally looked for footage for them by searching through various tapes after checking the library in the computer memory, then cueing up the video for them. Also, I was given the opportunity to observe an editor put together a 30-second strictly voice-over piece on a DVC-PRO editing system which looks like a briefcase when closed. I was allowed to voice my opinion regarding where certain shots should be placed and even made an edit myself. The next week I assisted a third female reporter, Christa Delaney with a press conference shoot in Manhattan regarding the mothers of individuals who all died mysteriously after being in the custody of NYC police. I helped out with the tripod setup along with getting cutaways and shooting the stand up. The next day, I was back out in the field helping yet another female reporter Carmen Grant, on an all day shoot in Manhattan where the city and mayor Giuliani were holding a Yankee pride rally at City Hall to celebrate and cheer on the Yanks before Game 1 of the World Series.
These shoots I especially liked simply for the fact that I got a chance to get from behind the assignment desk and actually do something. I was soon out again the following week probably for the fact that people somehow sensed I preferred going out helping. Maybe it was my body language or constantly reading textbooks which probably woke them up and said let's give the guy a chance to do somethin$ perhaps for the fact that they somehow knew my time was slowly coming to an end. I went out on a shoot on Elder Ave. with an assignment editor to get some additional shots which would be required by a reporter for his piece, which he was unable to get. The situation was that there were some missing kids reported by a family. I believe they were three girls, two younger twins around age six and an elder sister about eleven years of age. When we arrived at the scent to get shots of the house and the foster parents, they received a call from the authorities stating that the kids were found in Connecticut, the home of one of their biological parents. It was a dramatic scene being played out before our eyes as the mother almost broke down in tears, thanking God for the safety of the children. We got the scoop on the story along with a reporter from News Channel 4 who had went downstairs for a moment then returned to grab an interview with the father. This we weren't too pleased about because we wanted to be the only ones to get the breaking report. However, all turned out well in the end.
The following Tuesday was the week of the mass destruction in Honduras due to Hurricane Georges. Reporter Cynthia Guaba was sent on a shoot to interview a family who immigrated from Honduras but still have relatives there who they have heard nothing from, and no way of knowing their well-being. The family spoke mainly Spanish so I really had no idea what they were saying, but it was still very emotional at times. Later that evening we went under the Whitestone Bridge through some very rugged terrain to catch up to some fire trucks which were outing a small brush fire. I got very close to the female reporters as we talked back and forth about various things as we traveled to the shoots. My second time out with reporter Claudia DoCampo, we talked about various clubs and music preferences. It was cool because you get to see the real side of people not just what you may see on television or behind the desk at the station. Claudia allowed me to do all her shots at the Lincoln Hospital shoot, where the doctors were having some kind of protest for whatever the reason.
Overall, my internship at News 12 wasn't bad. In certain ways it could've been much better but it's nothing to complain about. Upon leaving on my last day there, I distributed small handwritten letters in the mailboxes of 85% of the employees there, each saying something different. Before I knew it, during my last hour I was receiving many hugs, handshakes and best wishes for the future. I also received various business cards from a handful of them which I deeply appreciated. My only regret was mainly not getting into the control room as a show was being taped. I would have loved to see their operation as compared to ours here at St. John's, seeing how they do their roll-ins and keys, along with their weather database and commercial drops. Nevertheless, it was a learning experience which was pretty good. I understand now the fundamentals of newsroom production which could lay at the foundation for further knowledge.