The reporter’s life …
CBS-19 News affiliate, WCAV-TV allowed me the opportunity to follow one of their reporters around for a day.
On March 9, I arrived at the station at 9:20. When I walked in I met the news director, Jim Hanchett.
We went to the newsroom. On the way there Hanchett seemed excited and started to tell me about how it’s a great news day because there have been 2 structure fires.
Then, without even taking a breath he introduced to me to the reporters, producers and the assistant news director.
At first, it didn’t really seem like anyone was doing very much. Mark Tenia was the reporter I was shadowing that day. Tenia explained to me that everyone was Googling and checking other news sites to try to find something good to “pitch” at the meeting.
At 9:45 everyone joined in the studio for the morning meeting. Hanchett listened to their ideas and then told everyone who was going to do what story and what type of story it should be-SOT, Package, etc.
Tenia got a story about how the stimulus package that was being announced that day was going to affect local banks. I think it’s boring but Tenia said he loves that kind of stuff.
From 10 that morning until around 11:30 he called 18 different banks and went through a few of his other contacts that were somewhat related to the story.
He was hoping that one of them could help him out and put in a good word with the people he really needed. Nothing panned out so we went to the courthouse and shot a SOT of one of the workers there.
She was explaining how a new site that the City of Charlottesville has put up will help people find jobs.
Then around 1:30 or so, we each had lunch and went and talked to Hanchett for another story idea.
As I mentioned before, there were 2 structure fires that day. So Tenia was then reassigned to go out and find something substantive at the Boyd Tavern Market fire.
We talked to passersby and the owner. Most were really unwilling to be on camera.
Then we shot a bunch of video of the area of the fire and the people stopping in just to look.
We went back to the station and Tenia edited all the video and got everything ready for air.
Even though Tenia’s first package idea didn’t work out, he went gung-ho into the second.
The #1 thing that I learned from this experience is to always shoot multiple stand-ups. You may never know what kind of usable video you have, what’s going to be the most important at broadcast time, and there are about a million other variables that could mess up only having one stand-up shot.
I also learned to keep pushing and continue to maintain your confidence.
It was a good day and pretty much exactly how I thought it would be.
I would like to thank everyone at CBS-19 in Charlottesville, Virginia for allowing me the opportunity! It was loads of fun.
Holocaust Remembrance Day
Today is Holocaust Remembrance Day!
According to various Internet sites;
On April 12, 1951, the Knesset (Israel’s parliament) proclaimed Yom Hashoah U’Mered HaGetaot (Holocaust and Ghetto Revolt Remembrance Day) to be the 27th of Nissan. The name later became known as Yom Hashoah Ve Hagevurah (Devastation and Heroism Day) and even later simplified to Yom Hashoah.
It’s been 60 years since the Holocaust; but for many it is still a memory that remains strong in their minds.
Hugs Not Drugs
What does that really mean? It’s 420, happy 420. Oh and it’s pronounced four-twenty.
For those of you who are completely lost. Today it April 20(4/20). It’s the day just below the amsterdam festivals on a pothead’s list of “best days ever, man.”
According to wikipedia, 420 is simply cannabis culture. 420 “refers to consumption of cannabis and, by extension, a way to identify oneself with cannabis drug subculture.”-wikipedia.
There are many theories to how this number became the codeword for all things marijuana related: It was the police code for marijuana, or that it was the Waldo’s meeting time to smoke after school everyday.
Myths?
-Concept420.com
Police dispatch code for smoking pot is 420- there is no code that is numbered 420.
There are approximately 420 active chemicals in marijuana- it’s somewhere near 315-give or take
April 20th is National Pot Smokers Day- pretty much, it’s just not a legally recognized holiday
April 20th is Hitler’s birthday.-True
The date of the Columbine school shootings was 4/20-True
Pulp fiction has every clock set to 4:20 throughout the movie.-True
Somali Pirates Aren’t Giving in …
After the release of US Captain of the Maersk Alabama, Richard Phillips, the Somali pirates vowed that they would retaliate for the killing of 3 of their men.
They weren’t lying. The Somali pirates have since taken new hostages. According to the AP: There are 4 more ships that have been captured: the MV Sea Horse(Lebanon), MV Irene E.M.(Greece) and 2 Egyptian fishing boats.
The American Captain has been freed
After being taken hostage by a group of pirates in a fishing boat on Wednesday. The United States Navy covertly parachuted to a nearby boat and waited for the right time to strike.
The surprise was all on the Somali pirates, starting in the Gulf of Aden. Pirates are used to be able to walk onto a ship and demand ransoms without difficulty. But the crew of the Maersk Alabama put up a fight for their boat and their captain.
Then the navy seals surprised the Somali pirates one last time by fighting and taking back the ship’s captain, unharmed.
Capt. Richard Phillips is now safe and at home with his family.
According to the International Maritime Bureau, the pirates still hold about a dozen ships with more than 200 crew members. There are hostages still out there from numerous countries, including Russia, Germany, China, Italy and Bulgaria.
**I’m glad that Captain Phillips is home safe but I feel the mass media in the US should also give mention to the rest of those that are still living a life of hell.**
April 13th … what’s important about today?
First off, it is my cousin Donald’s birthday! HAPPY BIRTHDAY DONALD!!
Without going in to the whole story; it’s amazing that Donald is even on this Earth and it is even more amazing that he he is 17 now and doing well in school. Good for you Donald!!
1970
This is the day that Appoll 13s oxygen tank burst, coining the mission a successful failure.
1992
–The Great Chicago Flood took place as the city’s century-old tunnel system and near-by basements filled with water from the Chicago River.
1999
Dr. Jack Kevorkian was sentenced in Pontiac, Mich., to 10 to 25 years in prison for second-degree murder in the lethal injection of a Lou Gehrig’s disease patient. He only served 8 years of that sentence.
This happened_______ years ago today:
Today I figured I’d try something new and look into history for some ideas to write about. They are random events that I picked, but it was trivial knowledge that I found interesting.
1970-
Appollo 13 was launched. Apollo 13 was supposed to be the 3rd manned lunar-landing mission. As part of project Appollo, the job of the crew was to look more closely at the surface of the moon.
Two days after the launch, an electrical fault caused an explosion in a Service Module oxygen tank. The entire crew did make it home okay.
Since that day, Appollo 13 has become known as a successful failure.
1979-
On this day, President Jimmy Carter thought about appointing an “ethnic advisor”. He met with Peter Rodino, Jr. to discuss the idea.
Some interesting current events
Iowa has become the first mid-western state to allow same-sex marriage.Iowa is now the third state in country following Connecticut and Massachusetts to allow gay-marriage.
Michigan is also changing laws by passing the Medical Marihuana Act. This will allow people with chronic pains and illnesses to receive marijuana as a prescribed treatment.
An interesting point from the act:
Data from the Federal Bureau of Investigation Uniform Crime Reports and the Compendium of Federal Justice Statistics show that approximately 99 out of every 100 marihuana arrests in the United States are made under state law, rather than under federal law. Consequently, changing state law will have the practical effect of protecting from arrest the vast majority of seriously ill people who have a medical need to use marihuana.
This new law will allow qualified patients to possess up to 2.5 ounces and to cultivate up to 12 plants.
33-year-old man killed in Radford
Radford University had a scare Thursday night.
At around 9:10 p.m. residents around the Calhoun St and Madison Street intersection heard gunshots.
Julia* a resident on Calhoun said she heard 3 shots and then a pause followed by 4 more shots.
The victim was Floyd Wilfred-Linn Wright, Jr. of Christiansburg.
The man arrested was an employee at the University. His name is Phillip Beale Sr.
The police responded quickly and with diligence.
Radford University followed suit. Roughly ten minutes after the shooting happened alerts were sent out through cell phone calls and text messages.
The calls said to go into lockdown mode. Which basically means stay where you are, lock the doors and don’t leave until further notice.
Many messages were sent out throughout the night with the final message that all was clear received by students around 3 a.m.
