And That’s A Wrap!

I’ve written many times about how terrified I was at the beginning of the semester to produce for ATVN. Looking back, I am so proud of everything that my team and I have accomplished and am stunned by how much I have learned. 

Television News Production has been by far my favorite class since being a journalism student. I have thoroughly enjoyed working with so many talented and motivated students to produce a broadcast each week and have been so inspired by their skills and expertise. I can only hope that I can some day inspire other students in the ways my fellow producers have inspired me! On that note, I have a few tips to share with the next generation of producers at ATVN that I wish I had known at the beginning of the semester. 

First and foremost, be organized! As menial as this tip may seem, I noticed a dramatic improvement in my ability to juggle all of my responsibilities throughout the day by having a checklist that included every task I needed to complete, every multimedia journalist who needed to be assigned a story, every script that needed writing and video that needed editing, you get the picture. Having a hard copy in front of me was one key to not letting some details fall through the cracks.

That being said, I learned how important communication is since we are working as a team in the newsroom. Making sure everyone was aware of changes and updates in the rundown or to certain stories along with what interviews and footage we do and do not have is a key component in making sure everyone is able to do their jobs well. Any miscommunication poses a major threat to a broadcast. 

But above all, I’ve realized that everyone is here to learn. No matter what goes on throughout the day, the most important thing is to not give up. Try, try, try again for any vision you want to execute. Sometimes things don’t go as planned, but you learn to work around them and become resourceful and savvy while doing so. In hindsight there are many mistakes I kick myself for making, but I am still so proud that every week this semester we completed our day-of-air broadcast. 

I understand all these tips are much easier said than done and every skill will take practice, but I wish the next round of producers the best of luck and am confident they will surpass their own expectations in the end!