Internship Report, Week(s) 9-10

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: 9-10
Number of Hours This Week: 45

Week 9-10 Report:

When I went to write the report for week 10, I realized I never wrote a week 9 report. Sorry about that! I’ll try to re-cap both weeks…

So, after I was offered the position working BYU’s basketball season too, things started changing. All of a sudden, I was “in the loop” about planning and preparation for games. I started getting schedules, getting timing rundowns for the show, etc.

Last week was much like the others have been, since the basketball season hadn’t actually started yet. But then this week was crazy! I did all of my normal football-related duties, but added in a basketball game. That was crazy, because we had to use a whole different studio upstairs in the Triad Center. We had to use that studio, because this pre-season exhibition game was not broadcast on KSL Newsradio—it was only on ksl.com. In addition to the change of venue, it was interesting adapting to only having two people doing the work of four. Normally for football, there are four of us working to cut audio, get ready for half-time shows, etc…but for basketball, we’re basically on our own.

My responsibilities for basketball include—but are not limited to—updating the score on the website for people following the game from Iraq, or wherever, cutting highlight audio during the game, cutting post-game interview audio, and rolling a recording of the whole game for the podcast.

The guy I’m working with did what I was doing last year, and he is now a full-time employee of KSL. He showed me everything I needed to do, and I did my best to go above and beyond what he told me. Really, an offer of a “real” position at KSL would be great, so I am doing everything I can to secure one. One example of what I did was get highlight audio prepared from the first half in time for him to use it in the halftime show. He was extremely grateful for it, since he didn’t even expect it.

Basically, I’m learning that you have to do whatever it takes to get what you want in this industry—something that should help me next week, when I have two basketball games AND a football game, and I will have to drive to KSL SIX times in one week.

Things are going great though! I love what I’m doing!

Thanks,
Mark

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

Internship Report, Week 7

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: 7
Number of Hours This Week: 18

Week 7 Report:
BYU played TCU this week, and got trampled. By “horned frogs”. The headlines in the papers looked ridiculous, especially if you looked at it some a standpoint of just comparing the mascot animals involved. Could a horned frog really beat up a cougar that badly? That’s just what happened.

When the microphones were still hot, just before breaking for commercials, you could hear the restrained frustration in the voices of the announcers. And when we were in the commercial break, you could not misunderstand Greg Wrubell’s feelings about the performance of BYU’s team. He really just captured what we all were feeling, when right from the get-go, the cougars seemed to choke.

The air of excitement that had existed in the newsroom in previous weeks was squelched, as the cougars gave their worst performance in recent memory. Not to overlook TCU, since they deserve a lot of credit. They came out swinging, and looked like a top-ranked team that they now are. The game changed the mood in the newsroom in a way that nothing else has. Normally it’s all fun and excitement to be working there, but Thursday seemed painful for more than just the players—it hurt us.

It was also interesting this week—as I eluded to last week, that the industry is tenuous—because on Thursday night, there was someone being trained to do what one of our Producers does. After that person left, our Producer was visibly uneasy, and when asked who the trainee was, he responded “Meet my replacement.” Now, I know little about actual newsroom politics, and what is really going on, but it seemed to me to be somewhat unfair. This particular producer seems like the kind of person everyone would want in a newsroom, and at least from my observation, it seemed like management had gone behind his back, and the first he found out about being replaced was when this new person came in to be trained.

I guess I am finally witnessing firsthand the ugly side of journalism.

We need a car. Last week we heard nothing from our car broker, and I need to call him today or tomorrow to help him understand that we need one NOW. I think he may still be of the understanding that we have all the time in the world, because it seems he puts other people ahead of us in importance. Hopefully by this time next week, I will be driving a “new used car.”

That’s all for this week!

Thanks,
Mark

Internship Report, Week 4

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: 4
Number of Hours This Week: 8


Week 4 Report:
You may have noticed that I only got 8 hours for my internship this week...and you may have also noticed that BYU Football had a bye week, meaning they didn't play...so that's why.


Initially, I thought that I wouldn't be coming in at all this week, because of the bye, but in the post-game show on Saturday, Bronco said there would in fact be a press conference on Monday.


So, I went to the press conference on Monday. Things there were fairly normal, as you would expect. The only problem was that Travis Bright only spoke to reporters for about 2 minutes, and since I had gone to interview David Nixon first, I didn't get any audio from Travis Bright. That was lame. And Greg asked me if I had asked any questions, which I haven't yet--it's easy to just let everyone else ask questions and record their responses--when I told him, he challenged me to try asking questions of my own. I'll try next week.


Tuesday was spent cutting that audio into soundbytes. Wednesday, we gathered audio from the Mountain West Conference's Coaches' Teleconference, and I started compiling a calendar of all of the Men's Basketball games for all of the major Universities and Colleges in Utah. (I already did this for football, back before my hours were even counting.) We're already starting preparation for the beginning of the Basketball Season (still more than a month off.)


I heard back from our car broker this week...he was going to bid on a car that was our second choice of model, but nowhere near what we wanted color-wise (and my wife is pretty particular about this) so we didn't get it. Hopefully something will come up this week.


That's about it!


Thanks,
Mark

Internship Report, Week 3

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: 3
Number of Hours This Week: 20

Week 3 Report:
As will probably continue to be the case, this week was much like the others, so I will do my best to highlight things that were different, and spare you a re-hashing of things that I do every week…

This week was notable because after last week’s stomping of UCLA 59-0, BYU has attracted quite a bit of attention on a national scale, and actually, as of this writing, they are ranked 11th in the polls nationally. All this attention is both good and bad for BYU, because both BYU and the Mountain West Conference need more national recognition and respect, but at the same time, it proved to be a distraction from the team’s focus.

In the opening quarter of Saturday’s game against Wyoming, BYU’s offense didn’t score. Both Max Hall and Bronco Mendenhall were flooded with interview requests and appeared on ESPN during the week, putting a strain on them that they haven’t known before. As a result, they have changed their policies dealing with the media in order to refocus. That made me think more about the fine line the media walks in their lust for information and interviews…sometimes it is hard to remember that these are real people, with real lives, that are going out of their way to accommodate you. We ought to respect that.

This week went well, as far as the day-to-day things go. On Saturday, up at KSL Headquarters, the game was a bit slower than normal, since BYU easily handled Wyoming. But that didn’t stop it from being one of the craziest days for me at work. I was following the Utah-Air Force game and cutting highlights from that at the same time I was cutting highlights from the East Carolina-Carolina game, and other top-25 games. I was answering phone calls, E-mailing audio highlights to ESPN and The Mtn., etc. I was literally running around doing 5 things at once. And it was great…time flies on Saturdays, even though it’s more than 8 hours. My job satisfaction there is great…I love working there, and the people I am working with.

Still waiting to hear word on the new car we’ve ordered through a car broker. I’m not sure my current car can keep up this rigorous schedule of commuting.

That’s it for this week.

Thanks!
~ Mark Hamilton

Internship Report, Week 2

Since I am already writing these reports to turn in to my internship advisors, I thought I would include them in my blog as a sort of running journal of my experiences with KSL Newsradio. Let me know what you think!
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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: 2
Number of Hours This Week: 19.5

Week 2 Report:
This is actually the first such report I have written for my internship, because I started a few weeks ago (before the semester even started) but it wasn’t counting as official University Credit until it was officially approved about a week and a half ago.

I can’t tell you how fortunate I consider myself to be completing my internship requirement with KSL Newsradio. Specifically, my internship is the Sports Radio Internship, and my responsibilities lie with Greg Wrubell, “The Voice of the Cougars.” It is wonderful to work with him, and I already feel like I am making huge contributions to the production team at KSL Broadcast House. I have heard horror stories of internships where you are basically a glorified slave, being sent to make coffee or to make copies and run errands. My biggest concern was that I wanted to feel needed and appreciated. And I do.

My only two complaints are the hours and the commute. It is rough working a part-time job and going to school full-time in Provo and doing an internship in Salt Lake. This is more or less how my week usually goes:

Mondays, at 9:30 a.m., I meet Greg at Legends Grille here on BYU campus. I help him set up the audio equipment for the BYU Football Press Conference that starts at 10:00 a.m. We not only record the press conference for posting to the web and for future use in radio broadcasts throughout the week, but it is broadcast live on the internet and KSL’s XM-radio frequency. Typically, a press conference starts with Coach Bronco Mendenhall, and then it breaks up into pool interviews of two of the players. That is where I spring into action, and I am expected to record good audio from both players and even ask them questions. I bring that back to Greg, and he uploads it to the internet.

Tuesday through Thursday, I’m up at KSL headquarters from 5:45 a.m.-8:45 a.m. Things are less set-in-stone, but usually, I am breaking up audio from press conferences, teleconferences, interviews, etc. into 5-15 second sound bites that can be used for broadcast. I also compile a list of these sound bites, called a “cut list” and distribute it to on-air personalities, such as Greg Wrubell. All of this is done digitally (or “non-linearly”). During the week, I also update stats sheets from the previous week’s game. All of the preparation up to this point is leading us to “game day,” typically on Saturdays. If you’re keeping a running-total, you probably realize at this point that after four days, I’ve barely done half of my hours for the week. That’s because…

Saturdays (or whatever day is game day), I have to be at KSL Headquarters 2 hours before game time. So, if the kickoff is at 1:30 p.m. like it was this week, I have to be there at 11:30 a.m. As soon as I get there, I am working with on-air personalities Randolph Fairbairn, Paul McHardy and Andrew Adams, pulling sound bites from other Mountain West Conference games, and the top-25 ranked teams’ games. This helps them with the pre-game show, spots during timeouts in the actual BYU game, and their halftime show. This all goes in a cut list like I described earlier. During the BYU game, these responsibilities continue, and I also answer KSL Newsradio’s main phone line, and also keep a running cut list of sound bite highlights from the BYU game. When the game ends, I record the post-game shows, and keep a running list of possible sound bites to cut later. When the post-game shows end, they start the “Cougar Call-in Show,” and I become a call screener. I answer up to 10 phone lines, and take down the information of the callers. When the call-in show stuff is over, I cut the audio from the post-game press conferences, player interviews and coach interviews into sound bites for use during the next few days, and compile a cut list of that as well. Also, during a game we frequently receive calls from ABC Sports Radio (ESPN) or Fox Sports (FSN) requesting audio highlights from the game. I then convert the files into .mp3 format and e-mail them to the appropriate people, who then air them on national media. By the time I am done working on game days, I am understandably exhausted.


As you can tell, I needn’t have feared that I would be doing menial labor at KSL. They put me to work, and I give it everything I have. You can ask any of them, and they’ll tell you what they tell me on almost a daily basis—they couldn’t do it without me. It has been both fun, and rewarding thus far. I also feel like I am getting an invaluable education in what really goes on in a newsroom.


If I had to pin down what I specifically learned this week, I think it would be what one producer told me on Saturday. After telling me I did an awesome job, and thanking me for everything I do to make the show possible, I told him if there’s ever anything else I can do, to let me know. He thought for a second, and then said,

“OK, there is something, I guess, that I would tell you—‘Take the initiative.’”

He told me that I didn’t have to wait for anyone to ask me to do things…if I saw a need, I should just do it, and they would tell me if I was doing too much, or overstepping my bounds.


It is easy to be excited about going to my internship, even on early mornings when I’m getting up at 4:00 a.m. because it is a great atmosphere. I’m really grateful and fortunate to be working with a team of producers that are positive and work as a team, and tolerate my lack of experience while helping me to learn on the job—literally.


That’s it for this week.

Thanks!

~ Mark Hamilton

KSL Sports Radio Internship

Anyone that looks at the date on the previous post will see that I am pathetically behind on my Blog. Well, I've been inspired by the faithful dedication of my new boss to HIS Blog.
If you recognize him, it's because he is a local celebrity. I say local, but his influence is far-reaching. His name is Greg Wrubell. You may know him as "The Voice of the Cougars."

Yes, out of the I'm-not-sure-how-many people who applied for the internship, I was the one lucky soul who was selected. So, KSL Radio has now become an integral part of my life, and will be for at least the next 14 weeks or so.

Thus far, it has been great. Greg is awesome to work with, and I feel like I'm actually part of the action and that what I am doing really helps.

The schedule for me is thus:

Mondays, we have a BYU Football press-conference at Legends Grille from 9:30 - 11:00 a.m. That's where we gather our audio for the week's radio segments. Coach Bronco Mendenhall and two players are the speakers.

Tuesday through Thursday, I drive up to KSL's Headquarters in Salt Lake (in a car that probably shouldn't be doing that--I'll get into that more later), and I'm there from 6:00 - 9:00 a.m. That's when I cut up the audio from the press conference, teleconferences, the Bronco Mendenhall Show, etc. into usable soundbites for air.

Saturdays (or gameday) I am once again in Salt Lake for the pre-game show, the game, and the post-game show. It usually takes about 8 hours. As I haven't yet done this, I'm not sure exactly what I will do there.

Greg Wrubell's Blog:
"Cougar Tracks"