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Monday, July 11, 2016

Backstage at Channel 7 News

by Alexandra Lee

The lively, professional atmosphere inside the standard-looking office building of the ABC Channel 7 News Station was anything but dull. The harmony of each televised reporter, producer, scriptwriter, assignment manager, and cameraman working as a team to produce the live news demonstrated expertise, efficiency, and extreme coordination. On our tour to the news station, led by the famous Cheryl Jennings, we were introduced to several televised reporters such as Kristen Sze, Reggie Aqui, and Jessica Castro. We were even lucky enough to see them report live for the 11 a.m. news on July 6. We stepped into the control room while the news was rolling to witness three essential members of the team in action. One man had an extremely difficult job; he had to cue each reporter 10 seconds before they would be live, tell others when to switch the camera image, and simultaneously juggle several other tasks. One woman was in charge of scrolling the ad-libs for each reporter, while another remained in contact with the other producers, ensuring that everything ran smoothly. Every person in the newsroom was on time and extremely concentrated, as necessary for the show to run perfectly.
One concern mentioned by Jennings was that broadcast journalism might become jeopardized, with more and more people reading news on the internet instead of tuning in to watch the live reports on television. Channel 7 has been incorporating social media posts into their reports as a way to stay updated and modern, and appeal to more people. The rest of our visit consisted of practicing handshakes and chatting with Jennings, as she specified how important it is to make a good first impression; learning the different backgrounds of some of the reporters; and being introduced to various other important members of the Channel 7 unit. The Earthscope team was so fortunate to be able to witness the amazing action and coordination behind the scenes at the ABC Channel 7 news station.

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