I’m a bit ashamed that I didn’t start this earlier. As many of you know, I’ve been interning at NBC29 here in Charlottesville for the past month or so. And I’ve decided to do weekly blog entries on my experiences there. I bring you: Adventures of an NBC Intern.

Since I -have- been there for a month, I’ll use this first post to catch you all up with what I’ve been through so far. Then I’ll (hopefully) be doing a weekly entry on what I’ve learned, interesting things that have happened, people I’ve met, etc. Though I will be very careful not to reveal too much - turns out there are times to keep your mouth shut. And of course, anything I learn secondhand-off-the-record will remain off-the-record.

Part 1: The First Month

I’d always wanted to work at a TV station. Back in 2nd and 3rd grade, I remember doing mock newscasts for my family on New Years, and later on, the frequent mention of interns on TechTV always made me a bit more jealous of their menial responsibilities than most. So when I learned I could actually do an internship in high school, I jumped on it. And the process turned out to be much easier than I thought - the cover letter was a bit of a pain, but after that it was just a phone call, and I had the internship. No interview, no discussion of what I’d want to get out of the experience, no drug test (the big shocker)… I pretty much just showed up for my first day on the job.

When I first got there, I was really torn between reporting and photography for what I wanted to concentrate on. I started out learning bits of both, watching the photogs closely on location, and reading script after script back in the newsroom. But early on, I realized that my true passion was with the photography/editing side of the equation, so for the past few weeks, I’ve gotten to start concentrating just on that.

Over the next few weeks, my days would be divided up roughly into three sections. In the afternoons, I would shadow a reporter and photographer, observing what exactly it meant to hold one of those two jobs. This half has generally been my favorite part of the internship, as I’ve gotten to tag along on stories they reserve for their “top team members,” and I’ve met lots of people I’d never get to talk with in “real life” (who’d of thought Jim Camblos would come to know who I am?). The evenings usually involved me going along with just a photographer to the more remote stories (police dinners, board meetings, etc.) - I was able to get my hands on the camera more during these trips. And then, late night, when no one was actually out shooting a story, I’d sit in the editing room, watching the photogs or editors put together the final packages and VOs for the 10 and 11 0′clock shows. One day, I even edited part of a VO - that rather made my day.

The really incredible part of my experience so far is how much everyone in the newsroom has made me feel like I belong. Going out on shoots, hearing off-the-record details about investigations, running at top speed with a tripod towards Lee Park… It’s made me feel so much a part of the team, and that’s what has made me really enjoy my time there so far.

So basically, I’m having a blast at 29. I’ll keep you all updated on how it’s going!

This sounds so similar to my first internship, though you’re about five years ahead! Mine was at WVTF back in 1995, my final year at Virginia Tech. Of course, that was in radio, where you end up doing pretty much everything. I liked it so much, I’ve really never left!

For me, there was nothing like knowing that I wrote the newscast that got heard by tens of thousands of people. It’s fairly addictive!

I was looking at sweeps info for NBC, and their newscasts get seen by like, 10-30 thousand people. True, I haven’t shot anything they’ve shown yet, but I have pointed out things to shoot that have gone on air…

One step at a time