Wonder what the Life of a Broadcast Reporter is like?

The life of a reporter  in the Broadcast industry does not always consist of just standing in front of a camera giving news. Sonia Garcia, UTA NEWS reporter is part of a news production class that airs weekly newscasts for the community of UT Arlington. As a reporter she has to find and pitch a different story every week. Although many might think that a news reporter does not have to do much, but find the story and present it to an audience through a camera, they do not realize that as reporters we shoot, edit and write our own material. This includes stand ups as well. As reporters we are always behind the camera recording all the important feelings being shown or action in order to really touch the heart of the audience with our stories.
We begin by searching for a story idea that we know will have a great impact on the target audience we are aiming at. Carrying a tripod and camera bag around, is just part of the workout that we get every time we shoot a story. Sonia who covered the Job fair for UTA NEWS has to set up her tripod before she can begin recording. Leveling the tripod to the perfect height is just part of the wonderful experience, especially when it decides to break and you find yourself having to hold one leg of the tripod up, while recording.
Placing the camera on the tripod is probably one of the easiest tasks, until we get to the part where Sonia is fixing to record at Autism Speaks, another event in Fort Worth, where she has to set the camera to the correct settings, including focusing and white balancing before she can start recording. Light issues are always the worst to me, having to adjust the iris and shutter speed is never the easiest task.
Conducting interviews are an important part to any news story. Before Sonia can interview anyone she has to plug the Microphone in the appropriate channel and check the sound levels. There have been many situations where sound levels are not checked appropriately and then it turns out the interview has no sound to it.
Adobe Premiere is the main software used to edit and construct stories, where video, sound and graphics all come into one. Later in the production room, right before the news casts starts the producer goes over the stories and decides in which order they will be aired, or if a story will be dropped. While in the TV Studio anchors, camera people, floor manager and others prepare for the beginning of the show. As a reporter who wishes for her work to be seen by others and maybe even TV Station producers, Sonia uploads her story to YouTube.

A reporter's life is tough but fun.
Did you ever think a reporters life entitled all of this?