Channel 8 tour

19th of November, Wednesday

I woke up at 10 am today, and I had a hunch, that I might have been late for school. This might be one of the worst cases of oversleeping. Roger Boily picked me up for the Rotary meeting. I brought the pastry I baked the day before. 

  This Rotary meeting was extra special. We inducted four new members in the club, which is a lot! We learned some things about the new members, and they were given the Rotary pin. The people were a little hype, and the whole room was filled with an elevated feeling. 

  I would like to thank the Rotarians for their generous donations. All this goes to my "Discover America Bus Trip" jar. Thank You!! 

 Today, I had a chance to visit the Channel 8 news studio. I organized it with the help of Rita with Wendy Halik, who is an executive news producer. Anne took me there, and she came with me on the tour. 

  Wendy greeted us in the lobby at 3:30, and our Wednesday afternoon adventure began. She took us in the producers' room first, where they prepare the news. Everyone was very busy, getting ready for the 4 o'clock news. She took us to the studio next. The image you see on TV is just a tiny part of the room, in which the recording happens. It's a huge place with different stations, a lot of monitors, wires, and huge cameras, and it also has a small auditorium. I had a chance to talk to Kevin Doran (he's the managing editor and a news anchor) and Scott Hitsko (who's the chief meteorologist), who were recording. 

  We also went to the control room, where I met the director and the producer of the news too. They were very busy, what they did seemed extremely complicated. They were calling on things, talking really fast, and pushing a lot of buttons while looking at several screens at once. I was glad I could watch them in action. 

  Then we went back, and me and Anne, we sat down at the auditorium, and watched the 4 o'clock news, LIVE! There was little red light, that lit up when the camera was rolling. Rachel Barnhart was the anchor and Scott did the weather too. Other than them, there were only 2 cameramen in the studio. The funny thing that we picked up, is that the two anchors were having a conversation, and (because the recording stopped and started again occasionally) when they had to say something to the camera, they did, and the moment it was off, they carried on their conversation, like they didn't even pause. 

  Honestly, I felt overwhelmed. I felt really lucky, that I could see such a big machine work, and I wanted to take it all in. I loved the athmosphere of the studio. And on top of all the experience, I felt confused a bit too, because everything was so complicated. It seemed so difficult to learn all these stuff, and here they were, professionals in their field. I admire all the energy they put in this. 

  On the way home, we talked about the stuff we saw in the Channel 8 studio, and this was her first time in a TV studio, and she like it too. I have a feeling, that I could work in a place like this. Not as an operator or an editor, but like a reporter or an anchor. It must be fun, every day is different, yet, it's somewhat the same. 

  It was very kind and awesome of Wendy to have given us the tour. I liked the place and the people a lot!