In the Spring of 2010 I interned for WPIX11. As a news intern it was my responsibility to assist reporters, help produce segments (namely the show’s tech and viral video segments), build interactive content for WPIX.com and write for the web as well.
On my first day I was extremely nervous. I have been watching PIX news for as long as I can remember, and it was very important to me that I make a good impression. To start my day I was escorted into the library and taught how to pull file and build reporter drives. One of the production assistants had overslept, so PIX had work for me right off the bat. I was charged with quickly learning TONS, their file video content management system, and being able to effectively use it to organize and aggregate content for the show.
From there I learned how to organize and run scripts into the studio so that the anchors and directors could prepare for upcoming segments outside of what they are given on the teleprompter. Being able to move in and out of the studio gave me an opportunity to meet and engage with the anchors. Tamsen Fadal, Sukanya Krishnan, John Muller, Craig Treadway and Dr. Steve Salvatore.
As time went on I was given more freedom and more responsibilities. About three weeks into my internship I began writing news briefs and some feature pieces for WPIX.com. Shelley Ng, our WPIX.com editor for the morning show, would send me stories that I needed to complete. The stories were typically profiles or “write-ups” of our on-air guests and/or whatever it was they created/did that warranted their presence on the show. I kept this up until the show was assigned a new executive producer, Howard Dorsey.
Howard knew I was a journalist, and that I had reporting skills as well as programming skills. He started giving me the freedom to develop interactive content for the web, such as maps that provided information about crime spree locations, terror raids, etc. He also liked to tap into my reporting skills.
Within the first two weeks of his joining the WPIX team Howard began using me to find extra information for stories, or sending me out onto the street to get man-on-the-street interviews, and locating sources for on-camera interviews. This is where I was really able to shine.
In late April, Lane Bryant bought time on FOX and ABC to run a commercial that advertised underwear for women whom were heavier than the Victoria Secret models typically seen on TV. ABC and FOX both refused to run the commercials, which were not dissimilar from the Victoria Secret “nude” line commercials except for the size of the model, citing that the commercials were inappropriate. The next morning PIX wanted an on camera interview with the model featured in the commercial, Ashley Graham. Howard asked me to try and track her down, but the only thing he was able to give me was her name and the fact that she has a home in Brooklyn.
I jumped onto the web and went to Intelius, a people finder that has the ability to search through unlisted records. The results consisted of about 16 possibilities. I then ran the addresses in the results through a public information database to find out the property value of each address, assuming that a Lane Bryant TV model would live in a more valuable home, and narrowed it down to two addresses which were valued at greater than $800,000. I forwarded the information to our field reporter, and Ms. Graham lived at the first address. PIX Morning News was awarded an exclusive interview with model. I have never felt more appreciated or intelligent. I was so happy that I, a mere intern at this big-time news organization, was able to track down a superstar model without having to leave my desk, or call her agent.
After that I was assigned more research projects and interactive assignments. My last assignment was to build an interactive map that gave the location of the terror raids from May 12 that took place in four states throughout the US. I designed the map so the audience could see how spread out the raids were, but when they click on the point a news package from the local station in the area of the corresponding raid would play.
I will be applying to WPIX for a permanent position in a month or two, on the advice the News Director, Bill Carey. I truly loved being a PIX and I know now that I am equally in love with the idea of being a broadcast journalist and an online journalist, and I would not be settling if I chose one or the other. Journalism is changing and this internship gave me the confidence to know that I can keep up.
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