Week 5!!

Tuesday, June 8, 2010

So this is LONG over! Two weeks ago tomorrow, Josh and I were assigned a story on moonshine. A new moonshine distillery is opening up in Gatlinburg, TN on July 2nd. Josh and I headed up to Gatlinburg to check it out and see how the moonshine process works. When this distillery officially opens the public will get the opportunity to see how moonshine is made and they will even be able to sample it! That is if you are at least 21. :-) Josh allowed me to film a standup using a mason jar of moonshine. This was by far the best standup I have done yet. All the employes were extremely friendly and glad we came out to do this story. They even let us pick out a t-shirt from their merchandise store. Covering this story made me realize that working in the news industry, I am really going to present stories of all natures.

The moonshine process

Josh filming at the distillery

For this week, Tuesday was the only day I could go out with a reporter. A lot of people were on vacation; therefore, I was asked to stay back on Wednesday and Thursday to teleprompt the 5, 6, and 6:30 shows. This didn't end up being too bad because it rained all week.

Week 4!!

Tuesday, June 1, 2010

This was a LONG day for me to say the least. I had been up since 4:45 am to teach a fitness class and I knew I would be tired before the end of the day. As I walked into the station Mona and Justin, a photographer, were walking out the door. Mona asked me if I wanted to go with her to an interview in Maryville, but I would have to leave immediately. This was the first time I did not attend the 2:30 rundown meeting so that was a little strange. The story in Maryville was about a homemade bomb that had been set off in a neighborhood. Mona had an interview set up with a witness to get more information on what occurred a few days before. To give you an idea as to where this home was located, there were a bunch of sketchy people around. No more details needed. I have been told by many reporters that most stories of this nature occur in these types of neighborhoods. After the interview we met up with the detective on the case for a quick interview. This was probably the quickest story I have ever done with Mona. Once we got back to the station, I helped put together scripts for the newscasts and then ran the teleprompter for all 3 shows.

Wednesday, June 2, 2010

I did not really know what to expect this day. Mona was on dayside working on something she had been doing for a while. I got put with a dayside reporter, Josh Ault, who was filling in for Mona. We were sent out to the Old City in downtown Knoxville to report on a new grocery store, Aisle Nine. While interviewing the general manager of the store, Josh got a call that there was a house fire in Seymour, Tennessee. We finished the interview and told them we would be back to finish the story.

We started heading towards Seymour with NO idea where we were going. Josh is not from Knoxville so he basically was depending on me. haha Little did he know I am HORRIBLE with directions. Finally we used my new blackberry and found the house. We could tell from the smoke this was not going to have a happy ending. There was a lot of smoke and the fire officials were not letting many people near. This 3-story log home was a complete loss. No one was home at the time of the fire. After the firefighters got the fire under control they allowed us to go right up to the house and get some video footage. I also did a stand-up piece. This stand-up was unique because I completely made it up myself in like 2 minutes. Talk about nerve racking but I felt really good about the finished product.

After we finished at the house fire, Josh and I returned to Aisle Nine to finish their grand opening story. Josh taught me to use the camera and I filmed his stand-ups. I also got to film my second stand-up for the day. That evening when I turned on the 11 PM news, there I was pretending to “shop” on camera. At first I was not so sure about working with a new reporter, but I feel as if I learned more on this day than any other day!

Downtown Knoxville finally has a grocery store

By Josh Ault

http://www.wate.com/Global/story.asp?S=12585901

Partner in crime, Josh Ault

What was left of the house...

Thursday, June 3, 2010

This is a day I will never forget. It was an extremely exhausting day both physically and emotionally. Jill was originally given a story about a break-in at a local baseball park but that changed quickly. Breaking news came into the station that 2 Bearden High School boys had been killed in a car accident in Tifton, Georgia. Immediately I was asked by our assignment producer to help Jill on this story. I made a few phone calls and sent a few messages out on Facebook before leaving the station with Jill. We were able to get a few interviews with close friends of the boys. Jill went live at 5PM from the high school as there was still conflicting news coming in from the police and the hospital.

This was not only my first story on a deadly car accident but also my first story that hit close to home. Emotions definitely came in to play. I must say that this truthfully made me realize that this job would not always be easy. People are not always going to agree with the stories I report. Some may feel that I get too deep into people's emotions. Although I deeply care about others and their feelings, that is the nature of the news industry. As much as some people disagree, it is all about who you know in this industry and I am going to use my connections if they help me develop a story deeper.

2 Bearden High School students dead after South Georgia crash

By Jill McNeal

http://www.wate.com/Global/story.asp?S=12590091