Finally, I get to go to the newsroom!  Working in web, especially the 4-8 shift, is really exciting!  Although I am self-proclaimed “technically-challenged”, I actually was able to learn how to work all of the systems involved in my responsibilities relatively easily.  By the second day I was cutting videos, posting AP stories, and making photo galleries!  One of the most interesting aspects so far to me is the complete change of atmosphere from 5-630 (during the nightly newscasts).  I loved the vibe of everyone cheering when we got to a story curse or running around frantically trying to get an on-the-scene witness to call in.  The craziest day was definitely Friday, as all of the stories were thrown out due to the terrible storm.  I got to collect all of the (30) sent in pictures from iReport and quickly make a photo gallery for them so that the reporters could use them on air as evidence for the viewers.  Feeling so involved was so much fun, and now I have a whole new respect for getting a story in first.  After these weeks I’m definitely going to keep up to date on what I’ve learned, and also attempt to gain further knowledge with programs like photoshop and dreamweaver.

The first two weeks of my internship with WAVY were spent in sales, a department which I knew nothing about.  However, 2 commercial shoots, 1 meeting with an ad agency, and about 50 pages worth of notes later, I feel like I know all the ins and outs.  It’s incredible to me how much analysis goes into every decision made by the station, whether it be getting a female-geared show to attract certain viewers or raising the prices of commercial posts so as to take precaution for preemptions from the upcoming presidential elections.  Christina Close, my mentor through all of it, explained especially well to me everything that goes into determining the ratings of each station and how important it is to get a large share of the viewers in this competitive market.  After seeing how well the station was doing in that aspect, I got to witness the sales executives hard at work taking advantage of every connection and every statistic to bring in the commercials that fuels everything.  If I’ve learned anything, it’s that you have got to be a very social and friendly person to be in this side of the business.  All in all though, I’m surprised how much I enjoyed my time in Sales, as it allowed me to think about the station in an entirely new way.