TV Internship

Caleb Massengill
Internship Location: WSPA
Spring 2008

For my internship, I shadowed reporters and worked with them to complete their stories for WSPA. I made phone calls and helped people find the things they needed. I learned that time management is extremely important. You have to really work hard all the time to be successful in this industry. If you don't, someone else is going to beat you out at whatever you are trying to achieve.

WSPA gave me the opportunity to follow Dianne Derby while she did her "Problem Solver" stories.  It is interesting to see how reporters are able interview in a way that they always get the information they need.  I could see through her hard work that it is difficult to take whatever information you are able to gather and to turn it into a story that will captivate watchers. Reporters must write all their own scripts and decide how to edit a video by a certain time to make it on the news.  It is a very high pressure situation. When I went out with a reporter to cover a story, the reporter I was with allowed me to get some camera time and report the story in my own way. I am not very confident in my reporting skills right now, but I truly enjoyed the experience.

One of my other responsibilities was checking Dianne's voicemail and calling people back in an attempt to find stories that would be interesting and informative to cover. I enjoyed having the responsibility of finding stories that were TV worthy.  I also had the opportunity to investigate stories independently when there was breaking news and Dianne or one of the other reporters needed additional information quickly. For example, when we heard the news that two fisherman who had been missing for several days were found, I worked the phones until I was able to get proof that they had truly been found so we could put breaking news up on TV. 

I was also given the opportunity to watch the editors and see how they put the shows together.  Everything was digital and very high tech.  I spent time with the producers and saw how they shaped their shows.  Then, I got the opportunity to get in the booth and watch the reporters in action. While they were reporting, I got to direct the show and make adjustments on the fly in the case that time needed to be added or taken out.  One of the most important responsibilites I had at WSPA was spending time with the sales staff.  After spending time watching them in action, I decided that I wanted to be on the sales side of the news. Fortunately, a job opened up in their sister station, the Carolinas’ CW.  Because of my internship, I now have a job as an Account Executive at the station.  I am very excited about the opportunity, and it probably wouldn't have been possible if I had not done the internship

The majority of the skills I learned are transferrable. The most definitive skill you must possess in this industry is knowing how to deal with people. You have to be able to get what you need as well as give them what they want. Time management is also extremely important.

In order to make myself stand out on an application or in an interview, I could state the tasks I was given and how I completed them in a timely and successful fashion. After all, in an internship you get out what you put in. It is a truly great experience where you get to see what a job is really all about. 

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