"The one function TV news performs very well is that when there is no news we give it to you with the same emphasis as if there were." - David Brinkley
This year, I am the News Director for NewsWatch 16 on ICTV. As News Director, I have the ultimate say about what goes on the air - content, ethics, and format. I am the go-to person for problems; I am a teacher. I spend the majority of my time in Park, between classes and NewsWatch responsibilities. Sometimes my roommate feels the need to put out a missing person's ad after I leave at nine in the morning and it's eleven at night and I still haven't returned.
As a journalist, I feel that most U.S. citizens are not fulfilling their responsibilities as citizens of a free nation - that is, to use the priviledge of freedom of the press and the First Amendment to its full potential and be informed about our government and our country. And as a journalist, I feel it is my duty to fill the information vacuum and help our citizens to become more actively aware of the goings-on of their country through broadcast television.
This year, I switched my major to television/radio. I felt that to truly be a broadcast journalist, I'd have to understand how the technical aspect of broadcast works. As I've gotten more and more involved in NewsWatch this semester, I've realized exactly how much the technical side interests me. I've never been more excited to learn.
I started shadowing in engineering in Master Control. Master Control runs the television station. Engineering is responsible for putting the programs on the air and making everything run correctly in the studios. It's much more than just pressing buttons. I am actually responsible for putting the shows to air.
As I've gotten more and more involved, I've grown to know a lot about the Park School of Communications. I joined the Dean's Host Committee, an off-shoot of the President's Host Committee, to give tours of Park and share what I know with others. My hope is that I'll be able to impart some of my knowledge on the incoming students, and convince them that Park is where they want to be.
It's more than just showing students and their parents around the school, however. I am a representative of the Park School - and that makes me so excited to know that I am the person that the prospective students are coming to to learn about the school they may be in someday. Hopefully I'll be able to infuence some of their decisions in a positive way by showing them exactly what they can do for Park, and what Park can do for them.
To conclude, I love the direction my life has taken this year. I have a lot of responsibility and not a lot of time, but I'm lucky to have supportive friends, teachers, family and colleagues who are willing to be understanding and work along side of me to produce a wonderful product. I can't wait to learn more, to experience more and to feel like I've truly accomplished something at the end of the day. I also can't wait to see where these wonderful experiences lead me in life.