This past Monday, I got the pleasure of taking a grand ole' tour of WVVA, the local news station here in Bluefield, with my mass communications class.
When we met down in the Alumni Hall parking lot, of course...it was raining. After everyone arrived, we car pulled over to the station, which was only a few minutes away. We all had opportunities to ask questions and got to meet some of the workers, as well as the news anchor and the meteorologist.
One of the funniest parts of the day was to talk to the news anchor and meteorologist when the cameras were off and see how their total demeanor and voices changed when the cameras came on. It was like a completely different person.
We also got to see all the different parts of pulling a news broadcast together, from checking sources to the programs used for the show. It was a great experience to be able to see how everyone worked together for the show. Even the work that goes on before shows is amazing. You have people that are answering phones getting tips, checking tips, finding stories, following the weather, checking equipment, and so much more.
WVVA also informed our class that they were having a huge equipment upgrade soon. They went through and showed us what things would go, and what kind of things would be brought in, and why those pieces of equipment would be better. I'm thinking they should donate the money from the old equipment to the Autumn college fund. Great idea, huh?
Our class had just finished up the section in the course that covered television, so the field trip to the television station really helped us get a great grasp on what goes on for local news stations. The experience was very helpful and helped finish off that section of the course.
