Keep The Ball Rolling
Well what do you know, being a student in the Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism would actually require working intimately with many of your peers. After two shifts on the job as the lead producer, on a two-person team, I've learned that nothing gets done without some teamwork.
I've worked on a variety of newscasts over the course of my three years at Annenberg Television News and I would wholeheartedly admit that being apart of the team was something I really struggled with --like you can ask all my former producers, they will tell you some great stories about working with silly old Evan Budrovich.
Working as an assisgnment desk editor, graphic artist and eventually a multimedia journalist, I experienced the best and worst parts of being the "cogs of the machine" pumping out the weekly ATVN segment. As an athlete, albeit a novice club baseball player for USC, some of my best moments have come through just hanging out with a group of guys I genuinely enjoy being around. That can also be said of ATVN Producing, which is exctly why I will spend 12 hours of my life every gosh-darn Tuesday in the newsroom.
When I was doing all that "busy work" over the last two years I had quite the mixed experience and that was because I was hardly invested into that final newscast. In order for a newcast to really hit home with the viewer, it has to mean something to you *yourself* first and foremost. I'm far from any expert in producing an actual newscast for air, but something I've learned is that when working with your team, addressing everyone by name with both a smile and positive attitude can really go a long way towards the final product.
There have been times I just wanted to stop and lie in the fetal position, but one big clap of the hands or a mini lap around the newsroom, sorry to anyone I've hit over the last few weeks, can be the perfect medicine to keep the thoughts positive and productive.
Like heck, just this past week I counted SEVEN people who stayed past their shift (apologies to those I missed) to ensure an individual job was completed, if not multiple tasks. It sure brought a smile to my face, and I made sure to give all my teammates a high-five, first-bump or say a sincere thank you for all the hard work they invested into the show.
It may just be the very beginning but if I ever want to learn anything from this class besides how to wake up early and watch the news, I have to be willing to critically judge how my teammates work in the editing room, out in the newsroom and at the iNews computers. I may not be the most organized, we all know I lack the news sense to dominate the morning meetings, but I can stay relatively relaxed and equally excited about dishing out the rock to everyone on the newsroom floor that's willing to get involved in the action.
Going back to my sports mind, I love scouting prospects and molding together a group of players to accomplish a given task. That has led to great success for many of the teams I've coached over the years and I think the same can be said here. The dynamic is a tad bit different, but my colleagues are hungry to learn, which I just love. They are also really smart and nice enough to handle my assortment of sarcastic jokes and loud outbursts.
Proclaimed "Keep The Ball Rolling" Team Tuesday by our weather anchor Faith Miller, everyone should be aware that my leadership pod of the talented Jillian Olivas and our awesome Executive Producer Rachel Scott will make ATVN one heck of an experience.
