Embarking on a new journey

During the week of February 15, 2016, I experienced and learned a lot in such a short amount of time. This week I worked with Jason Gun and Carla Lemons at the assignment desk.

Beat checks, answering phone calls, checking emails, and listening to the scanner are just a few of the things that are very important to the news station and for the assignment desk workers to do. Prior to this week, I never knew what a beat check was or even heard of it, but now I am very fluent in it. Beat checks are phones calls that are made out to all of the police stations in the seven cities of Hampton Roads. The calls are needed so that News Channel 3 can keep the people up to date with new or forming information in regards to the news.

The assignment desk also is in charge of the live shots that are broadcasted into a news segment or package. There are three types; primary shot, satellite shot, and live U. Primary shot is done from a Microwave Truck where the satellite from the truck and at the station (EJ1) or in Suffolk (EJ2) have to be connected in order to feed in the shot into a package or news segment. The satellite shot is sent from a truck to an actual satellite up in space and is fed back to the news station. And lastly, the live U is the last resort for a shot to be used on, as it can drop like a phone call. Yes, it uses cellular data and if anyone is on the phone during the broadcast it can hinder it.

I was given the opportunity to do an assignment by Carla’s request. She asked me to contact some local businesses to find out information for a segment that was shown in the 11 o’ clock news. To have this experience and to gain so much knowledge is so thrilling and this was only the first week. I now understand that the assignment desk is the heart of the station and that it holds a strong position. Responsibility is something that everyone has in the news room. No one can wait for anything to happen.