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Ravenscroft Interns Learn All About CBC
Each year CBC participates in Ravenscroft High School’s Senior Internship Program, hosting students to teach them about the workings of CBC’s various enterprises. Four seniors from Ravenscroft spent two weeks rotating among several CBC divisions in Raleigh & Durham, learning the ins and outs of broadcasting, baseball and more.
WRAL-TV’s Peter Sockett teaches the Ravenscroft Interns about television engineering. |
Ravenscroft senior Caitlin McDonnell tries her hand at the weather screen. |
WRAL-TV’s Gary Tann (right) shows Donovan Ragsdale (center) & Konstantin Kazmierski the master control board. |
From May 2 – 13, 2005, Heather Bramble, Konstantin Kazmierski, Caitlin McDonnell and Donovan Ragsdale toured CBC. Due to AP testing conflicts, different combinations from among the four participated each day.
Bramble kicked off their internship by visiting Microspace, touring the facility and monitoring a meeting about engineering between several managers. She also got a tour of MCC’s Video Services.
The next day brought the students to the A.J. Fletcher Foundation where they learned about the history of the Foundation and Philanthropy Journal, as well as the different workings of the AJFF. The group then took a trip to the Legislature with AJFF Policy Watch Director Chris Fitzsimon.
The interns then traveled to WRAL-FM and NCNN where they visited with each department head, getting an overview of each section of the radio entities. WRAL-FM Operations Manager Joe Wade Formicola concluded the meetings by tying all of the information they’d learned that morning together. And the students also got a chance to see the studio up close and personal on the air with WRAL-FM Personality Diane Ramsey.
While in Durham, the Ravenscroft interns spent a morning at FOX50 meeting with several managers. FOX 50 Operations Supervisor Chris Downey explained the path programming takes from satellite to tape, to quality control, to master control, to air. FOX 50 Vice President & General Manager Tommy Schenck took the students on a complete facility tour and talked about CBC in general and the overall FOX 50 operation.
The two weeks are eye opening for senior Konstantin Kazmierski. |
The students sat in on a daily news meeting at WRAL-TV. |
Seniors Caitlin McDonnell (left) & Heather Bramble learn how news story topics are chosen. |
“We discussed some of the recent trends and big issues in the industry, including ownership, decency, and the digital transition,” said Schenck. “We also discussed how to get a foot in the door at a station and how to pursue prospective employers after college.”
The students also got a lesson in programming while at FOX 50, learning how FOX 50 makes scheduling and buying decisions using research, demographics and advertiser support information. They also learned the nuts and bolts of getting programming to the station, and how the programming department fits in with the rest of the FOX 50 operation.
Ravenscroft senior Donovan Ragsdale dresses the part for news success. |
A rainy Friday made for a soggy tour of the American Tobacco Campus for the Ravenscroft interns, but AT Admin Asst/Event Coordinator Libby Hamilton braved the cold and damp to tell them about CBC’s work at American Tobacco.
The students spent most of their second week at WRAL-TV, meeting with each division, watching broadcasts and tapings, and even trying their own hand at practicing weather forecasting. They learned about what classes and degrees will best prepare them for a career in television news and production, got a chance to hear about TV sales and ratings, and got a full behind-the-scenes view of the Triangle’s top news operation.
The Ravenscroft interns spent their last day of the program at the Durham Bulls. They learned the goings on of a minor league baseball operation, including the stresses of a cool, drizzly day of game preparations.
POSTED: May 16, 2005
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