Week 8

Where has the summer gone? I cannot believe I have already been at WISH for 2 months!! I still have 2 weeks to go which means lots left to learn, but I have been very happy with my experience up to this point. Yes, living off my intern income ($0) has been difficult, but my time here has been so valuable and definitely worth it!

This week has included much of the same activities... I have written many online stories and VO's for producers while still managing to get out with reporters. Here is a fun/interesting VO I wrote today:

((2SHOT))
(**ERIC**)
Many vacationers put on extra pounds.
ADLIB
(**DEANNA**)
But where you go could mean the difference between a little extra baggage -- and spending the next few weeks on a diet.
(**VO**)
The so called "holiday fat map," ranks vacation spots by the additional pounds visitors return home with.
And the U-S comes in first place.
With our big portions and buffets, the average vacationer leaves with an extra eight pounds.
The Caribbean and its all-inclusive resorts comes in a close second.
France, Italy and Greece also made the top five.

Two things have really stuck out to me this week:

Yesterday I went to Eli Lilly with a reporter named Deanna. Deanna anchors the noon and 5:00 newscast so I haven't really had many interactions with her. However, I hear so many great things about her writing, so I was eager to observe her. Apparently, Lilly was coming out with 3 new generic drugs, but they are also doing some downsizing. We interviewed a Public Relations representative and I was able to see first hand how difficult it is to talk with those people!! It was his job to make his company look good and so he really tiptoed around the fact that so many people would be fired. Deanna talked with me about the interview later and how hard it is to get some of the facts when dealing with PR. She purposely put a mic on the guy we were interviewing and herself so that viewers could hear the questions she was asking. That way, they could see for themselves how the man was not clearly answering some of the difficult questions.

Today: I went to the scene of a motorcycle crash. On the ride there, the photographer warned me that I may see some pretty gory stuff. Luckily, the driver of the motorcycle was already gone by the time we arrived, but I did see them take the driver of the car off on a stretcher. I also saw the twisted motorcycle and beaten up car. Driving back to the station, the photographer (who has worked in this field for over 20 years) shared some of the difficult things he has seen. I guess I never really thought about how someday I will probably witness some of those same things. I may have to see a homicide victim who has been stuffed into a trashcan, or the body of an abused child washed up on the shore of a lake, or the reactions of family members who just learned they lost a loved one. I do tend to wear my heart on my sleve and in situations like that I wouldn't react well. I get nauseous when I see a drop of blood and I cry if I see someone else crying. It's difficult because I don't ever want to become "used" to those kinds of scenes, but at the same time, I don't want to fall apart every time I do see them. There is definitely a fine line between not becoming calloused and not becoming too involved. Because I am a Christian, my line may be a little different. It's been good to see firsthand the kinds of challenges that I will face in this field. It has been valuable to see how different people handle different situations. I know that many of my boundaries will be established once I'm in the field, but it is very good to think about now. Who knows, maybe the fact that I'm very compassionate will get me beat up in this field? I guess I have to believe that if this is the profession for me, then God will equip me with what I need to succeed.

Week 7

I am having a really good week! It was harder than usual to say goodbye to my family and come back to an empty apartment. I woke up Monday with a bad attitude and just said a little prayer that God would change that. My work here isn't done and I want to continue to be excited about this experience. I don't want to wish any of this away, but instead I want to take advantage of every moment which means there's no time for a bad attitude :) God has answered my prayers this week though and I have had a blast!

Monday: A few of us interns were given the task of researching and making calls. With the record-high temperatures this week, many of the stories are heat related. We split up the nearby counties and called different summer kids programs, clubs, sports teams, etc. to see what changes they would be making in their schedule during the hot week. It was nice to be doing something that I know the station appreciates. Later in the day a reporter approached me and asked if I would go out on a story with her. She was going solo and it felt good that she sought me out because she needed an extra hand. The story we were covering was about the Cathedral high valedictorian who was drinking with some friends and dove off a dock at Geist Resevoire where the water was only 3 feet deep. This kid was planning on attending Duke in the fall and now is facing a life as a quadriplegic. We did a few interviews and I was able to ask questions and then we got some footage. I came back and wrote a script for a package and the reporter said she could look over it tonight, so I'm waiting on her feedback before editing.

Tuesday: I went with Dave who is one of my favorite reporters. Dave has been at WISH for 30 years and he also anchors the noon and 5:00 pm news. He was covering a story on kids and gun safety. We went to a gun shop and met some pretty interesting guys. Dave already knew them all, but they were very excited to meet me. One man tried selling me a pink pistol! I got to do a standup in the store which was intimidating since I had quite the audience, but all the men cheered when I finished so it must not have been too bad. After lunch with Dr. King and Dr. Perry, I worked on my script some more and wrote a little for the web.

Today has been a productive day so far. I helped make more calls to auto dealers on how cars were responding to the heat and then I wrote 2 web stories:

http://www.wishtv.com/dpp/news/crime/police-indy-man-sent-and-received-child-porn

http://www.wishtv.com/dpp/news/local/south_central/bargersville-water-grass-on-schedule

Later today I am going to a pool where they are doing more on the heat. It will be roasting outside, but it is always nice to get out for a little bit. I'm going with a reporter that I have never worked with so it will be fun to get to know him and his reporting style better!

Weeks 5 and 6

I am now over halfway finished with my internship! I still have 5 weeks left (yes I will be way over my required hours)! Last week I only worked 2 days so I am just combining the past 2 weeks into one blog.

I am continuing to learn a lot here at WISH. I had the opportunity to go out every day at least for a little bit which always helps to break the day up. There were two stories this week that I found particularly interesting:

Tuesday we covered a robbery story. Apparently, this 25 year old girl had stolen a gun from Don's Guns the night before. Tuesday morning she then used that gun to steal from a hair/beauty store. The owners of the store got a picture of her license plate and police were able to track her down. She led them on a high speed chase and almost ran over a construction worker. The police finally caught up to her while she was trying to unlock the doors of her home. However, she was not cooperating and ended up having to get tased. The whole story seemed bizarre to me. This woman claimed to be pregnant and was obviously pretty desparate. I am realizing how people do things that make no sense at all. We met some very peculiar people during our interviews too.

Wednesday I traveled to Millroy for the day. These two boys (ages 19 and 22) must have gotten into some sort of disagreement. All the neighbors said they were friends, but the 19 year old shot his friend. The small town does not have many murders (the prosectutor couldn't remember any taking place in the town of 600). I found it really sad that the only time this town was recognized in the news was for murder. It seemed like a really nice, quiet town, but now all people will remember is that it was a location for a crime. I'm sure there are alot of really cool stories in a town like that, but the saying "If it bleeds it leads" really is true when it comes to the news.