Spectrum News
Summer 2017
Are you interested in working in the newsroom after graduation? Do you want to go into a career in either news broadcasting, sports broadcasting or behind the scenes production? Do you want to gain experience from the experts in the field themselves? If you said yes to any one of these questions, this internship experience is definitely for you! This summer, I had the opportunity to intern at Spectrum News in Buffalo for news reporting and anchoring. Working at Spectrum was such an amazing experience and one I will never forget. I learned so much throughout my time there. I loved that through this internship, I did not just learn about on screen work, but I also got to learn about the production side of the newsroom.
At Spectrum, every shift of mine would start with being a part of story meetings. Spectrum holds two story meetings a day. One is held in the morning at around nine to discuss morning story ideas. The other meeting is held in the afternoon around two thirty to cover evening and night story ideas. In these meetings, the assignment desk would pitch story options to reporters, news assistants and anchors to cover for the day. If any one of us (including interns) had ideas for stories, we also pitched them to the assignment desk at this time. I pitched two stories to the assignment desk, and as an intern, one of them was even chosen to be covered! I pitched a story about Presti Karate Centers and our accomplishments made at the 2017 International Training Conference and World Championships Tournament for the Chuck Norris System. After the stories were pitched, the assignment desk assigned an individual to a story or multiple stories and then it was into the city we went!
Throughout the internship, I did more work on the reporting aspect of broadcasting than I did on anchoring. Reporting is so important for any interested broadcaster to learn because when getting into the business, you will start as a reporter before you can become an anchor. As a news reporting intern, I traveled all over Western New York to cover all different kinds of stories, such as cyber security attacks, murders, festivals, weather conditions and so much more. When I was in the field, I also started to create my demo real, which was one of the greatest parts about this internship. The reporters encourage you to get on camera and try recording teases, stand-ups and I even got to try a one-take live shot! The more you get on camera, the more comfortable you will be. My experience on camera in front of professionals in their field definitely helped me gain more confidence and help me refine my craft! What I loved the most about reporting is that on any given day, your work day will not be the same. Each day, there is something different and I never covered the same type of story twice. Also, when you travel throughout the field, you will meet so many incredible people who have so much knowledge to share. I got to learn something new every single day.
Outside of reporting, I also learned so much about the production side of the newsroom. Firstly, I learned how to use the camera. Learning how to record shots in sequences, what shots are important, the different angles you can get the same shot from, and how to put shots together so that it creates a flowing story is so incredibly important. When getting sound for a story, I was able to conduct interviews as an intern to gain experience in asking questions behind the camera lens. In the editing lab, I learned how to construct VO’s, VOSOT’s, and full Packages. Spectrum News uses Dalet for their programming, and even though it took some getting used to, Dalet is a really great software to use!
There are definite benefits to this job. One of my favorite aspects of a job in the news is every single day will be different. Whether you travel to a festival one day, or a car crash the next day, you will learn something new every single day. You will meet so many incredible people who have so much knowledge to share with you. I don’t think there was ever a day where I did not learn something new! At Spectrum, what I also loved was after traveling to a particular event, instead of the production staff editing shots together, I got to piece together the story the way I wanted to. This job will challenge you to think outside the box. For example, if we are getting shots from the Erie County Fair, what is a different way to portray the story of the fair that every other news channels have not already produced? What new and fun ways can we convey the fair activities?
As with every job, there are some downfalls that come with being in the news business. Firstly, the shifts are either a 9:00-5:30 or a 2:30-11:00 p.m. for anyone interested in being a reporter or an anchor. If you want to be on the producing side, your shift will start earlier than 9:00 if you have the morning shift. For a job in the news, if you are interested in reporting or anchoring, you definitely will need to work your way up the ladder in order to becoming an anchor. In this business, you will most likely start as a news assistant. Then, after you have mastered this job, a reporter position may be offered to you. After putting many years into reporting so that you can refine your craft, then you may have the opportunity to become an anchor. For the first few years of the job, you very well could be working holidays, such as Christmas, Easter, New Years and many more. This is a sacrifice professionals in the newsroom make because they absolutely love what they do.
Personally, I could definitely see myself in this position for a career. I loved the fact that every single day, my day was different. Going out in the field was definitely the best part of the job for me. Meeting so many wonderful people and being able to hear their stories was such a rewarding experience for me. On the flip side, I also did love the production aspect of the job as well, much more than I had anticipated. I loved being able to edit all of my shots together in a certain way so that they told the story that I wanted to portray.
If you are considering a career in the newsroom, whether it be on camera or off, the best piece of advice I can give you is make sure you get an internship. This internship gave me a lot of clarity into what the business is truly like and it allowed me to see if this career was the best fit for me. If you are considering this particular internship with Spectrum News in the future, the advice I would give you is this. Before you apply, make sure you build up you resume! Getting involved in activities right on campus, such as the Ridge Report and WNIA Radio can definitely help in doing this! If you think at any capacity a job in the newsroom is what you want to pursue as a career, take advantage of the internship program that Spectrum News offers. It is never too early to start making connections. Spectrum News’ last two hires were interns that went through their program! The more connections you make in the news industry, the better off you will be later on! Overall, this internship was a phenomenal experience and I would recommend it to anyone!