Local TV News Analysis – KPLR

The first thing that I noticed about today’s newscast on KPLR was that they started off with the top story of the day about a little girl being victim of a sex offender. The anchors were Rick Edlund and Melanie Moon. Rick was wearing a dark grayish suit with a blue under shirt and a red tie. Melanie was wearing a red suit jacket. The first reporter was Tony Miller and he was reporting from Centerville, Illinois. There were no live shots, but the story package had a shot of school building, surrounding neighborhood, and interviewed personnel’s. Later in the middle of the story he had a stand up outside the school building. The first story that I remember was about a man who was a convicted sex offender who abducted and tried to molest a little school girl. Another story that I remember was about inflation and rising prices in food and energy which are the basic needs. The reporter from the news room was reporting about the food commodities price rise. The package story was also related to an increase in demand as well. One of the commuters said that 2 million people in China and India are eating better. Story also included issues of oil, energy, education and health care as well. The third story was about the Missouri steroid use. The story was about testing the student athletes regarding the use of steroids. My overall impression of the news was just okay. I don’t think the news team did a very good job. The anchors didn’t seem energetic on the camera; it looked like as if they were just reading the news stories one by one. The credibility can be questioned because there could have been better stories to cover than just talking about price rise for few minutes to fill in the news cast. I don’t think I can watch this news station again anymore.

Journal Entry 11

Today I met with my group at 11 o’clock in the LUTV studio to write the log for our package, since we did not do it yesterday. After that we met in the class at 1 pm. Today’s agenda was very clear and professor Schroeder told us that we will be talking about entry level jobs and resume tapes. She also gave us a very useful packet from the website tvjobs.com which explains how to get into TV broadcast industry and how to make our resume tapes look good. Then she gave us the ranking list of local markets both numerically and alphabetically to help with our TV jobs assignment. Since our individual hand written logs were due today, she checked those and I think she was very happy to see that everybody followed her instructions. After that we watched some of her examples of resume tapes and one of her very creative friends Jeremy’s too. They were very good and gave us an idea of a good attention catchy demo tape. She talked about resume tapes – its length, its ingredients, etc. After that we went to the LUTV studio and we all were excited because today we had a LIVE newscast. Tracy and Jen were the anchors, Mike did the sports news and Beth did the weather report. I was very impressed to see the live telecast of LUTV’s newscast. I think everybody did a great job going live. Overall, today’s class was good and I learned the most important thing from this class that is how to make a good resume tape!

TV Jobs Assignment

• KSNF-TV, 1502 Cleveland, Joplin, MO – 64801.
Job Title – Morning show co-anchor
Description - seeks a morning show co-anchor who can bring a sparking on-camera presence and interview skills to the show, and can interact well with the other co-anchor and forecaster.
Market Number – 145
News Director – Jim Jackson

• KNOP-TV, North Hwy 83, Box-749, North Platte, NE – 69103.
Job Title – Entry level reporter/videographer
Description – seeks an entry level reporter/videographer who has shooting, writing, reporting and editing skills, and the ability to do smooth live shots; will learn to produce.
Market Number – 209
News Director – Jacque Harms

• WLIO-TV, 1424 Rice Av., Lima, OH – 45805.
Job Title – Morning anchor-producer/reporter-videographer
Description – seeks a morning anchor-producer/reporter-videographer who can do it all each day; must be a good writer, know newsroom computer systems and Web posting; a passion for the business is crucial, while experience is preferred.
Market Number – 185
Director – Lon Tegels

Yes I am willing to move to these places for the jobs offered. I picked these because they are offering me entry level anchor/reporter jobs and that is what I want to do in the broadcasting field. Also, I want to be in or near the Midwest since my future family will be living in Midwest, so it will be easier for me to stay close to them or even move with them if I have to. Since lower markets are the first targets to get a job for beginners, Midwest has a lot of opportunity for entry level jobs. All these reasons interest me about this job. Some of the top 25 markets like Chicago, IL, St. Louis, MO, Detroit, MI, and Cleveland-Akron, OH are also in the Midwest where I can go after gaining experience for a while from the smaller markets.

Journal Entry 10

Today we were supposed to shoot our second package. So the group met at the LUTV studio to take the equipment. Davina, Haley and I reached in time but Michael was not there. We waited for a while and since he did not show up we decided to move ahead. Fortunately we had Sierra as our cameraman today so we all were good to go. Since Sue needed our equipment and her group was supposed to meet at three pm, she decided to come with our group to help us with our package shoot. We reached the Brunswick Zone bowling alley in St. Peters where Davina works. First of all we started shooting the B-rolls for our package and later when we were about to start the interviews, we realized that we forgot our audio kit on campus. So Davina, Haley and I went back to get the audio stuff and Sierra and Sue kept shooting the B-rolls in the meanwhile. We came back and interviewed Davina’s boss and two other employees for our package. Haley received a call from Mike and we told him that we got pretty much everything done except my stand up, so we told him that he can help us with the editing on Friday, since Haley and I are not good at it. After the interviews, Sierra wanted to shoot some more B-rolls since the one she shot before were not good due to insufficient lighting. Later I did my stand up outside the bowling alley and it the best feeling ever. I felt like a real reporter at that very moment. Overall I enjoyed today’s shoot and I am looking forward to see the finished product soon.

Journal Entry 9

I was really excited for today's visit to Fox-2,KTVI since last night. So excited, that I did not even sleep last night at all. I met Professor Schroeder, Ed Voss and other students at the LUTV studio to ride with them. We left with all the equipment we needed for this package of Professor Julie Beard’s class. While I was riding with professor Schroeder, Haley, I and she talked about our lives. It was a pretty good conversation. When we reached the studio, other students were already there. We went inside and met Julie and discussed what questions we’re going to ask during the interviews, what B-rolls are we going to shoot, etc. So it was all ready to go in and start taking advantage of our visit arranged by Ed and professor Schroeder. So we went in and met Julie’s class talked about what they do in the studio during their J-term class. Then we met the senior web producer Patrick, who told us what exactly their job is in the studio. It was very exciting to know about this new career in TV industry which is all about web and internet. They do blogging, scripting and posting videos on the fox-2 website. After that I got a chance to interview Patrick and Dan (student from LU) and I really enjoyed doing that. Meanwhile, Ed gave us a short tour of the fox-2 station. Then it was time for the photo session and we took a lot of pictures in the studio. Finally we shot some stand ups and then I was to be done for the day.

Local TV Analysis

The first thing that I noticed about today’s newscast on KTVI, channel 2 was the anchor Mandy Murphy’s shirt. She was wearing a blue silk blouse/top which did not seemed like a suit or very formal because I always try to note the clothes of female anchors. But I guess it looked fine. The other anchor was Dan Grey. He was wearing a navy bluish suit with a white stripped under shirt and a yellow tie. It just looked kind of cheesy to me for his age, or may be I’m not used to it yet. Chris ReGnier was the first reporter and he did a stand up outside the school building of the kid who died in a car accident. There were a lot of live shots including the grandmother of the kid, classmates of the kid, location where the accident happened, etc.
The very first story that I remember was about a thirteen year old kid named Brendon Wiles, who died in a car accident. It was said that he was not skateboarding at the time he was hit by the car. The second story was about the bars on main street, St. Charles. A bill was proposed to curb the rowdiness on the city’s historic main street. It also included banning dancing on tables, underage drinking, cussing. The third story was about the new safety guidelines on My space after Megan Meiers case. Her mother says that it’s not enough. She said that it’s just a baby step and they need to take a bigger leap.
My overall impression of the newscast was that they did a good job especially covering the story of Brendon Wiles. I really liked the package and I felt as if it did touch my heart and that’s what an anchors job is. I feel they did a good job. I liked Dan’s pacing better than Mandy. He knew what he was talking about and Mandy seemed just all right. I think the news team is credible because they showed good interviews and very good B-rolls which explains the true story. I’ll definitely watch this station again.

Journal Entry 8

Today we met in the class and professor Schroeder told us the schedule for the upcoming week real quick since there were a lot of confusions regarding the assignments due for this class in the first week. So after that we got some packets from her containing information regarding the reporting, anchoring, voice improvement, wardrobe, some exercises for voice, etc. then she showed us some tapes from her college time when she used to do anchoring for her college TV station. She showed us how she changed from then to now. One can easily tell the difference not just in her looks but also in her voice and expressions. Then she gave us some tips from the package to improve our voice quality. The best thing that I learned in today’s class was when she told us that milk products are not good for an anchor/reporter, especially when one has to go on air right after having a milk product since it deposits a layer in our throat which sits there for a while. I love yogurts, but now I know when I’m supposed to eat it and when not. Then she asked all the guys to go out for 20 minutes to read and prepare one exercise each to tell the whole class. In the meanwhile she talked to the girls about makeup and I found it very significant and useful since I barely used to do any make up before, but after today I know what products I need for my makeup to be on camera. After that we went to the LUTV studio and started shooting the newscast for the day. I did the entertainment and the funny part about it was that I had to stand up on a box to bring myself to level with the screen. Overall today’s class was fun…

Journal Entry 7

On Friday the class was supposed to meet at the LUTV station in order to edit the group packages with the assigned photographer to each group. Also other than editing, every student had a 15 minute meet with Professor Schroeder to work on the voice quality improvement individually. So she passed on a sign up sheet and fortunately I was the first one to meet her. Our package was being edited by Sierra at the same time and Michael was helping her. Out of the four package scripts submitted by our group Davina’s script was chosen for the voice over narration, so she did her voice over at that time. During my meeting with Professor Schroeder, she asked me read a news story. After that she told me that the first thing that she liked about my anchoring was that I don’t have a singing tone like some other anchors new in this field, unlike them, she told me that I’ve a very good pacing except that I stress too much on some words. So she asked me read the story again with the changes she asked me to do. After that she told me that I should talk in a way that my voice sounds as if it is coming out of my stomach not my throat or esophagus. Since I’ve learned music and I learned this technique of singing in a way that sound comes from stomach, it was not hard for me to implement it right there. The third time I read the story, it was much better than what I was doing at the first time. So overall, today’s class was fun and quick, we finished editing our package and went home with smiles on our faces. I was more excited than anyone else since my birthday was approaching the coming weekend.

Journal Entry 6

Today we met in the class and professor Schroeder asked about our package shoots yesterday. Then she checked our individual logs for the packages. After that she told us about the assignments that were due today and tomorrow. We talked about some confusion about the assignments that everyone had. Then she taught us how to link a video or text in our blogs by using the hyperlink option. Then as per the calendar, we started talking about the interviews. How to do it? Who to choose for what kind of interviews, etc. It was very interesting. She told the best techniques that a reporter needs to know about interviews. She also gave us the books which can be very useful for a broadcasting major student by one of her favorite authors. She shared some of the techniques that she used to use during her professional career as a reporter. After the lecture she showed us some good examples of interviews with children, who are hard to interview. They were very good. The best one was the one about the birds. I loved how she got such lovely NAT sounds and also good live shots as well as the interviews. After the videos we went to the LUTV studio to shoot the newscast for the day. Since I forgot to write my stand up and time code for the log, so I finished that task since I was not doing anything during the newscast. Overall, today’s class was good.

Local TV News Analysis KSDK, Channel-5

I missed the last TV analysis assignment because I couldn’t watch the news and couldn’t figure out how to watch it online. But today I had a word with Davina and she told me how to do this assignment. In the news at 10 of KSDK channel-5, the very first thing that I noticed was that there was only one male anchor during the whole newscast, which was a little surprising to me. The anchor, Mike Bush started the newscast and he was wearing a gray suit, with a white shirt and a bluish tie with stripes in it.
The very first reporter was Jasmine Huda and she was covering a story from Calhoun County, Illinois about the burglary in schools. She did a stand up right outside the school building. The second reporter was Steve Handleman covering the story of the elections for the President. His stand up was right outside the Presidential resident, the White House. The third reporter was Jeff Small and he reported about the decision updates of 2008. I am not really sure about his stand up, because he was reporting from the studio.
The first story was about the robbery in schools of Calhoun County. Some burglars broke into the school building through the windows and made their way to the hallway and then some of the offices and took off with electronics, money and even medicines. The reporter Jasmine Huda interviewed the sheriff, an elementary school kid, and a parent as well. There were a lot of live shots like the broken window, busted doorframes, woodchips, school building, etc.
The second story that I remember was about the armed robbery in St. Charles including a shooting by an officer. A 28 year old man, William Steele was suspected of robbery after breaking into a house to hide-in. He was shot by an officer and died in the hospital.
The third story was about Megan Meier’s case, who was a teenager and committed suicide after the whole Myspace Hoax. Her mother talked about her daughter’s case on the morning show.
My overall impression of this newscast was good. I think that KSDK channel-5 is very credible because they covered good stories; reporters explained them really well with perfect live shots, and interviews. Also, they have an easy access to the video’s of all top stories on their website. I think I liked it and yes I’ll watch this station again.

Journal Entry 5

Today's start was a little slow. We started off at 10am. We were supposed to meet in the studio at 9am but Davina and Mike were a little late. We all went to the construction site of highway 64-40. After the setting up all the equipments, we started shooting the B-rolls and NAT sounds. Then Dan Galvin from Gateway Constructions came and we had a small introduction with him. He told us that since it is very hard to drive on the highway right now due to the construction, he can only squeeze in two people maximum. So Michael and Davina went to do the interview with him since Haley and I, we both did not know how to run the camera. Haley and I just waited for them to come back and had a good time talking about each other. After they came back we shot the stand ups of haley and I since Davina and Mike shot theirs at the construction site only. After we were done with all the shooting stuff, we drove around to find a random person who lives around and uses highway 64-40 to interview. After asking to about five people, we finally found a lady to do our second interview. After that we packed up all of our equipments to make sure we reach campus soon so that we can write our logs. Later since we all were hungry we went to subway to get something to eat. We came back to the studio to log it and at last we all were glad to be done for the day.

Journal Entry 4

Today we had our guest speaker Virginia Kerr from KMOV channel-4. She is an anchor on the morning show. She gave us a quick brief introduction of hers and told us that she is from Birmingham, Alabama. We asked several questions to her. One of my questions that worry me all the time was regarding my accent. She told me that it’s not a big deal as far as I can make myself understand clearly to my audience. She answered all of our questions with the best of her enthusiasm. She seemed really friendly. She opened up in front of us and shared a lot of her experiences to give us the best suggestions as television broadcast majors. She gave us tips and told her about her first job. She told us how to get an entry in this field by entering a small market first and then jumping to a bigger one after gaining some experience. She also said that we should take full advantage during our internships since that is the best way to learn and try to get hands on experience. She was very good at explaining things and answering all our questions with the best examples. After that we went to the LUTV studio to do an interview with her. Beth Haslag was chosen for this golden opportunity. The interview went fine and then we all clicked pictures as our golden memories of Virginia's visit. It was a fun day and I really enjoyed talking to her and writing down the tips she gave us.

Journal Entry 3

Today we met in the class and discussed everything that we were doing today. We started with finishing up the package worksheet and it was fun and interesting at the same time to learn how to finally complete the package. After the package script, professor Schroeder showed us some of the tapes and taught us how to do different types of stand ups and interviews. She also told us how sometimes its good to start with the NAT sound. It was a very new stuff for me and I learned another good thing for a broadcast major. After that we went to the LUTV studio and started preparing for the newscast the day. Haley and I were supposed to do the anchoring today so we got our scripts to go through it while Dustin, Neal, and Tracy were doing their weather, sports and entertainment shoots. I really enjoyed doing the anchoring because this is what I want to do after I graduate. It was almost like a dream come true. I was not nervous at all. I felt very comfortable in front of the camera. I knew what I was supposed to do and Jill was there to correct us if something went wrong. After the taping of the newscast we decided to shoot some B-rolls for our package. It was fun. Overall, today’s class was fun and I learned a lot of cool stuff including that I am supposed to wear make up while being on camera!

Journal Entry 2

On the second day, the whole class met at the LUTV studio. We were supposed to practice how to put together a news package and get hands on experience. The topic for our package was the J-term classes, and how advanced TV talent was more fun and interesting than other subjects like history or math. So some students were picked to be interviewed for this package and then the whole class will then do a stand up individually which was supposed to be a part of the package not as an opening or closing stand up, but in the middle of the package. I was a little nervous when I saw other students going first and forgetting the stand up, but then professor Schroeder encouraged everyone and said it usually comes out different than what we actually are supposed to say. My stand up was not too bad, but I didn’t know that I was supposed to hold the expression on my face for few seconds in the end, so it was one of the things that I learned. After the stand ups, we all learned how to write logs, the time code for the particular phrase or sentence we need, then the sound bites. I really enjoyed knowing such stuff because this is what I’ll be doing in my future career. We went little slow, so couldn’t get the chance to finish our package as decided, but all of it was fun. I really enjoyed doing stand up, and I felt confident in front of camera which I think is the most important thing to be in this field.

Journal Entry-1

The first day of class was very good. Professor Schroeder gave us the syllabus and calendar for the J-term. We had a brief introduction of the class and every student spoke about their career interests. We talked about various things like anchoring, dress codes, stand-ups, etc. Professor Schroeder told us the difference between a newscast and package. She also gave us the “recipe” for a good package and its main ingredients. Then we talked about our guest interview with Virginia Kerr from KMOV. The best thing that I learned in the first class was that planning is the key to success not just for this class but also for our future career. We also talked about how to set up our blogs and posted the first introductory blog post. Professor Schroeder also shared her experiences and ideas as a student and I found it very impressive. Then we went to the LUTV studio and practiced anchoring, camera and teleprompter. It was so much fun to just watch people reading the news and I felt that my dreams are about to come true. This is what I want to be, an anchor and when professor Schroeder gave us an opportunity to practice anchoring, I just felt on top of the world, because it was my first time practicing anchoring like an actual news reader. I really think that this class is a great fun and the perfect way to learn how to be on camera. I am so excited and looking forward to learn more cool stuff which I have always been dreaming about. Professor Schroeder has been in this field before and I think she will be the best guide for me to make my dream come true.

Introduction

My name is Sakshi Bagai. I am from New Delhi, India and I have come to the states for the first time. It is very exciting to experience a new culture with so many diversities, including people, food, and languages. I am pursuing a mass communication degree with an emphasis on television broadcast and advertising and I want to become either a news reader or a reporter. I really enjoy talking to people about new things. Here at Lindenwood I work with the video checkout which is fun, I also won the first LU Idol. Many of my friends and colleagues have commented on my excellent ability to bring people together for entertainment and informative purposes. Singing is my passion. In India I preformed at national level. My favorite television shows are scrubs, house, south park,etc. I recently saw AVP-2 and i loved it. I am most excited to see how my talents and interests will go over in this new culture.