Tag Archives: reporting

“I’m the greatest star,” as told by a girl who dreams of being Fanny Brice

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Do you ever wonder what it would be like to live a life you know is not meant for you? Maybe one day you could be the president of the United States. Or, you could train hard enough to be an Olympic figure skater. Or, what if you could find the cure to cancer? Many of us have childhood dreams about what we want to be when we grow up. I, for one, always dreamt of being a Broadway star. For some of us, those dreams will come true. For others of us, we’ll re-evaluate situations, find new passions and work towards goals that differ from what we originally saw our life becoming. I, clearly, am not in pursuit of a life on the stage (that pays the bills). But, I think in a lot of ways, I have learned a little bit about how to keep my childhood dreams alive in both my personal life and my professional life. So, thus begins the story of how the Midwestern little girl, who lived, breathed and dreamed of being on Broadway became the college student, excited about a career in journalism, who only day-dreams about originating a pivotal role in musical theater.

I was a ham when I was growing up. I wore my dance costumes around the house. I directed plays of my brother and me in my living room. And, when my extended family would gather for dinner on Friday nights, I would make everyone get in a circle and play a game called “Punchanella” that basically involved me singing and dancing for everyone in the room. By second grade, I was able to channel that energy into theater classes. Soon, I began to imagine myself starring in plays that had an audience consisting of more that just my family. I studied Idina Menzel, Barbra Streisand and Sutton Foster, longing to be like them one day. And, I dreamt of standing ovations, Tony Awards and sold out crowds. But, that’s all it was for me: a dream. Some people are able to fiercely go after their dreams, work hard and become determined to succeed. And, I admire that greatly. But, personally, I always knew that my life would lead me other places. When I approached the college application process, it was the first time I began to really contemplate what I realistically wanted to do with my life. I left high school with so many passions and interests that it seemed as though my mind was changing every day. One minute, I’d be determined to be a history teacher. And the next minute I’d contemplate going into arts education. Right now, neither of those possibilities are remotely close to the path I am currently on. I took an internship at a locally based news network this summer that ultimately changed the way I look at my future. After my internship, I became fairly certain that I want a career in broadcast journalism. Here’s why:

1. Just as I love working on a show and seeing it come together, I love watching news stories develop. I love being in the newsroom with the producers and watching the line-up come together.
2. While one of my favorite parts of theater is writing original work, I love writing news pieces just as much.
3. The part I love about being on stage is commanding an audience’s attention. While I may not be garnering attention by belting out a high B, reporters have a responsibility to get the attention of the public so that everyday people are educated about the world around them.

So, my life isn’t exactly what I thought it was going to be. But, when you take a closer look, it’s not all that different either. I have found a career path that excites me, challenges me and seems accessible in the future. And, while I realize that I will never be the next Babs, the most important part is that I haven’t lost my inner Fanny Brice. The shower is my karaoke bar, class presentations are my stage and if you see me strutting down Wood Steps you can bet I’m pretending to be the dance captain of this school. “I’m The Greatest Star” Fanny Brice

What did you dream of being when you grow up? How are those dreams impacting your life today? Are you living your dreams in some way? I hope you are.

Sweet Dreams,
Laurel

A lot harder than it looks

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For work last week I went to the Lakers-Hawks game.  The day before the game, the cameraman told me we would do some “stand-ups” while there and I should come ready.  This meant he would film me talking as if I was going to be on air, for me to practice and be able to watch myself later.  Excited for my first time ever being on camera, I didn’t make the mistake of coming unprepared again.

I spent hours before the game researching both teams, their players, their history, everything I could think of.  I brainstormed all angles I could approach the story from and tried to tease out what was the most interesting.  I then sat down and wrote, rewrote, and re-rewrote an introduction for the game.  After I (thought) I was done writing, I tried to memorize the long paragraph I had written, full of pertinent facts and interesting statistics.  I pretended like I was standing on the court and practiced my script in front of the mirror over and over again, constantly changing up the details.

On the drive over to Staples Center, I was still going; rehearsing my lines over and over, trying not to stumble over my long sentences.  I got to LA half an hour early, so I grabbed some coffee at a nearby Starbucks.  There I continued to practice what I’d written out loud, pacing back and forth, sporadically stopping to cross out a stat or scribble in a new line.  People must have been looking at me like I was crazy, but I was concentrating too hard to care.

When five o’clock rolled around, I headed over to Staples Center to get my press credentials.  I’d become more comfortable with the arena’s layout and was able to navigate the press-only areas somewhat better.  I no longer felt like an idiot asking for directions every twenty feet, press badge limply dangling at my side.  As usual, I met the cameraman and anchor on the floor as a few of the players were warming up on the court in front of us.  I helped set things up for the live shot and relay messages from the producers back at the studio.

After we did the shot, the anchor headed back to the studio and the cameraman and I packed up the equipment.  There was still plenty of the before the game so we sat down on the floor seats and he asked if I had prepared anything for a standup.  I shyly handed over my notepad, turned to a long page covered in illegible scribbles and crossed out lines.  I looked on nervously as he patiently read through the mess I had made of my paper.

After getting through it, he gave me a little feedback.  He explained that I had too many statistics and numbers; people don’t want to hear about those.  He showed me how my paragraph was too long and how I needed to choose certain words to emphasize.  Clearly what I had written was not about to be filmed.

The cameraman then told me we would get a chance to do my standup between the third and fourth quarters and instructed me to prepare something for it.  I figured if I were to prepare something, I better watch the game live, instead of socializing in the press room with it on TV in the background.

Last time I was at Staples Center, I watched the game from way up in the press box.  I had been told that I could sit in any of the unoccupied designated press seats on the floor, but I had been hesitant to walk out in the middle of the game, especially since everyone sitting in those seats were frantically typing, obviously being productive.  I didn’t want to take up a seat to just sit and watch.

This time around I was feeling a little more confident.  Plus, I figured I would take notes to prepare for my standup, so I wouldn’t look so unproductive.  I spotted a vacant seat in the back of the press section, decidedly marched over, and sat down.  I got out my notebook and watched intently as I tried to think of a good story line.  Turns out, sitting in the press section had its perks (besides getting to watch the game right on the floor): after each quarter, stat sheets were handed out.  It was helpful to look over those and see what numbers jumped out at me.  I knew I wasn’t supposed to recite stats, but having them in front of me gave me a better idea of what stories were important.  For example, I saw that the Hawks only led twice in the first half- the most by two points with 30 seconds left.  I also saw that the big three pointer Metta World Peace just hit were his first points of the night.

Armed with advice and detailed information, I tried to write a new script for my standup, this time as a transition between the first and second halves.  Again, I wrote and rewrote, scribbled and crossed out, mumbled and rehearsed.  Unfortunately I had a short time limit; I needed to write my script and be able to recite it in front of the camera by the third quarter.

I simultaneously wrote, rehearsed, and watched the game until it was time to meet the cameraman in the pressroom.  When I got there, I read him what I had.  He looked at me and smiled, “Okay, now can you say it without looking?”

Uh oh.

“I’m not sure,” I scrunched up my nose.  “I hope so.”

He laughed, “Well let’s go find out.” Continue reading →

My first NBA game, for work

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“You’re about to interview Vinny del Negro, what do ask him?”

Wait, what?!  I’m going up there?  But I have no idea what to say!

It took me a few seconds to realize that the sports anchor’s question was only hypothetical.  I was sitting on the court at Staples Center watching the Oklahoma City Thunder warm up in preparation to play the Clippers.  Even though I was just there to hold the mic for post game interviews, the anchor made it clear to me that I had to be prepared for anything.  He explained that if anything happened to him, all of a sudden I would be the one on camera interviewing del Negro (Clippers head coach).  He showed me the extensive notes he took on both teams and how he outlined what he was going to say and questions for interviews.

After he showed me how he prepared for live shots at games, he once again made me pretend that I was doing it myself.

“I want you to realize how real this is,” he explained.  “You need to treat this as if you were the one going on camera.”

Everything he told me made perfect sense.  I do want to be a sideline reporter and what better way to prepare myself than pretend like I’m actually going to report while I’m sitting on the court with players, coaches, cameras, and everything?  After the pep talk, I immediately started looking up stats for both teams and their players, diligently taking notes.  Then I pretended like I was going to do an opening shot to the game and interview Chris Paul (Clippers point guard).  I outlined what I would say and rehearsed it over and over again in my head until I felt like I could walk in front of the camera right then and do it.

When fans started filing into the arena and the players started warming up more seriously, the cameraman and I went back to the press room.  I wound up watching about half the game in there and half up in the press box.  Halfway through the fourth quarter, the cameraman and I headed over toward the Clippers locker room.  We lined up outside with reporters and cameramen from many other stations and waited for the players to go in.  The cameraman (or “photog” as they are called) warned me that things got a little aggressive in the locker room and I might have to throw a few bows to get my mic in.

When we were finally allowed in the locker room, everyone started pushing, running almost, to get to the players.  I thought I would fall over in my heels!  We went to the back of the locker room where everyone was crowded around Blake Griffin.  He had a massive dunk in a big win against the top team in the NBA.  After a little adjusting, I managed to snake my arm through the swarm of reporters and get it in front of him.  I was concentrating so hard on making sure my mic was positioned properly that I didn’t get a chance to calm my nerves and ask a question.  It was fun watching him being interviewed right in front of me, though.  He talked for so long my arm started shaking a little.  It takes some muscle to hold up a mic while fully extending your arm for a long period of time!  (I’m going to have to do some extra tricep workouts for my next game.) Continue reading →