Internship Report, Week 8

Intern Name: Mark Hamilton

Internship Site: KSL Newsradio 102.7 FM and 1160 AM

Emphasis: Broadcast Journalism

Semester and Section: Fall 2008, Section 001

Week Number: 8

Number of Hours This Week: 21

Week 8 Report:

I felt like I shared in BYU’s victory this week, because almost everything seemed to go right.

First, we have been up in the air about this whole car thing, and we knew we needed one before winter hit. Thus far we had been lucky, but we felt like we were living on borrowed time. We kept paying that we would get the right car at the right time. Things had gone on so long that we figured maybe we weren’t supposed to get a car yet, and that maybe I’d be fine with just the old one we had, since we had already made it this far.

Well, Wednesday at my internship, Greg Wrubell started talking to me about the upcoming BYU Basketball season, and how they needed to find someone to work for them through the end of March. He started adding up the hours, and it only ended up being about 90. He said he would love to get an intern to do the job, since they wouldn’t have to pay them, and asked if I had any friends. I told him that I didn’t think 90 hours was enough to count as a 4 credit-hour internship, and that I didn’t think anyone would be willing to come up to Salt Lake for a 1 credit-hour internship during the school year. He agreed, and that’s when I suggested they could hire me to do the job, since it is essentially what I have already been doing, and they wouldn’t have to train me further. He loved the idea, and got on the phone with the powers that be. He then offered me the job for $75 a game, or about $18 an hour.

So, starting next week-ish, I will be an “official” employee of KSL Newsradio.

It’s by no means full-time employment, but it’s exactly the kind of “in” I was looking for. In fact, I will be working with the guy who did what I will be doing LAST year. Suffice it to say, if I can do well here, I may very well be able to stay on with KSL after graduation in April.

So, after Greg offered me the position, I drove back to Provo, and called our Car Broker, who informed me that he was looking at a car that matched the description of what we wanted. He bid on it, and we got it! The car arrived in Provo, on Thursday, and we picked it up on Friday night. I was able to take it up to Salt Lake on Saturday for the UNLV game, and this car will make all the difference in my commute and my ability to be a viable future employee.

My new love, a 2001 VW Jetta. Black with beige interior.

Saturday, after the game and the post-game interviews, the board operator and I were the only ones left in the studio. He needed someone to help him start the next program, so I sat in the other room, and when he cued me, I clicked a button that started an audio track that introduced “The Best of the Doug Wright Show.” Then I had to click the actual archived show’s button so the program would start. That means that I had brief—yet important—control over the entire radio station, broadcasting 50,000 Watts of power to the entire intermountain west. I felt powerful. It was fun.

So, that basically sums up a great week!

Thanks,
Mark