Communicating with the Real World

The world today is one where there are many ways to communicate a variety of
messages. To many of us, that may mean a single voice, a single word, a single picture, or
whatever appeals to the individual person. The reality is that every little thing that we see
throughout the day is communicating some sort of message to us. For a very long time, messages
were communicated through word of mouth or through writing. Now, as technology has rapidly
advanced, almost every household in the United States has access to various news channels that
pump out dozens of vital news stories every single day for their viewing pleasure. What some
people dont understand is that the news industry is not black and white. It has gone beyond the
mass production of printed newspaper and well past the days of Walter Kronkites face speaking
to us about the biggest current events. In fact, after interning with WMDT, an ABC affiliate on
the Eastern Shore of Maryland, I think the news industry is largely misunderstood. I was
privileged to see the incredible amount of underappreciated work within that specific sect of
society, things that go unnoticed but clearly indicate how far our communication abilities have
come over time. I believe the news industry encapsulates the most important communication
methods in society today.
There are several very specific and crucial aspects of communicating that were evident
over the course of the internship, with one being that there are certainly several different forms
of communication being used at any given time. With that said, it is always important to
remember that not everybody receives the message that you are trying to communicate in the
same way. Sometimes, opposing voices can come together in a productive environment to find
that middle ground that gives off a very clear message. Likewise, teamwork is extremely
important in a news environment as well between all parties involved. Lastly, as with anything

else, asking questions can oftentimes make the difference between what is considered good or
poor communication.
The biggest thing that I learned about communication in general through this internship is
that any number of communication techniques should, and are, being used at any given time.
There was not one specific event that made this apparent, but it was something that became
extremely obvious upon being around skilled photographers and reporters each and every day of
the internship. One of the biggest things that helped with this was that many of those employees
we around my age. Many of them were in the same position as I found myself just several years
ago, and they were able to pick up important techniques that are very relevant to the world today.
What I learned was that there is a very new age of visual communication that photographers have
begun adopting. This mainly involves more creative shots, such as pan shots or the use of a rack
focus. The latter is a very creative technique which changes the focus of the camera in the middle
of a shot, changing which object or feature is the point of concentration. An example of this
being used is during a story that is focused on a crime. Oftentimes this provides many different
things to focus on, including police cars, the lights on those cars, the exact location of the crime
and even the yellow tape that surrounds the area. One specific occasion was towards the end of
my experience, where a man was attacked at his business in Fruitland. When Greg Guidone, the
reporter I was shadowing for the day, and I arrived, there was still police activity and the area
immediately around the crime scene was blocked off. Using what I had learned throughout the
semester, I positioned the camera in a spot where both a police car and the crime scene tape were
tightly arranged within the shot. After focusing in on the car, I gradually re-focused onto the
yellow tape that was flapping in the wind. This type of shot is one of many different perspectives
that will be put into a package for the news, but also one that has the ability to stand out just a

little bit more because it captures the viewers attention in a way that a regular still shot would
not.
When the news is on, you will often watch as dozens of clips pop onto the screen while
the reporter is talking. Something that I never paid attention to was that the images often directly
correlate to what is being said. While we are being communicated to verbally, we are also taking
in the visual aspect of all of the different shots that were gathered for the story. When the voice is
speaking about the police presence around a crime scene, you will usually be seeing specific
video of something that the police are doing, whether it is simply observing the crime scene or
sitting in their car with the lights on. However, when the specific scene and the crime itself are
brought up, usually viewers will get shots of the exact location of the crime, such as a close-up of
the name of a business or a picture of a suspect. To sum it all up, every little visual detail that is
shown often directly correlates with a very specific detail that is being verbally communicated to
us as well. Nothing is misplaced, and everything that we see or hear is for a very specific reason.
Many of these subtle details arent recognized, or if they are, it happens subconsciously. It
became apparent that until you are the individual that is putting it all together, it is easy to
overlook all of the different signals being directed to an audience. On the other hand, one of the
major reasons that individuals might not pick up on these signals or different forms of
communication is because what is broadcasted is not just black and white. There is a lot of gray
area, and people will often act accordingly.
Everybody has opinions. That is a fact of life, and oftentimes these opinions will clash
with those of others. One of the other crucial parts of the reporting industry is that everybody
will understand the message that you are trying to send differently, and for that, sometimes you
have to tread carefully. Obviously, one of the keys to being a journalist is to remain as unbiased

as possible in your reporting. That is not always completely possible, and I got the opportunity to
gain this experience during a time where that became very evident. In 2016, the country is
experiencing one of the most highly-publicized elections that it has seen in quite some time. This
is largely due to the candidates, but covering these political avenues, such as rallies that take
place in the area, can be very tenuous. As several people at WMDT mentioned, people are very
sensitive to the amount of time dedicated to covering each political party. If you spend one
minute discussing Donald Trump but only 40 seconds talking about Hillary Clinton or Bernie
Sanders, the risk of offending the latters supporters is very high because people will feel like the
station was not being fair and equal with their coverage. This can very quickly turn off many
viewers, even if the difference in coverage was for a completely unrelated or harmless reason. As
I learned in Professor Trenarys Human Communication course, the medium of communicating
the message has a lot to do with how it is received. This ties back into the first point about there
being several forms of communication used at the same time. When something is on your
television, with both verbal and visual messages being sent at all times, it is going to appeal to
your senses more than just reading a newspaper will.
The media seems to have a stigma attached to it as well. There were multiple occasions
where I would be shadowing a story, where somebody who saw us and was within earshot would
make a disparaging comment about the media that was loud enough for us to hear. This is where
it becomes apparent that even if the individual station did nothing to an individual, it is very
possible that they will have a perception that everybody within the media are the same. If they
felt wronged at any point by the coverage, or lack thereof, on any number of topics that are
important to them, it will likely directly affect how they interpret what they hear from the news.
This is exactly why it is so important to be as unbiased as possible in covering anything.

Just as differing opinions can divide, they can also bring something together. There are a
lot of jobs that require many different personalities to come together for a greater goal, but Im
not sure if that type of dynamic exists in such a way outside of a newsroom. An example of this
happens just about every morning in the news room as the day is just beginning during the
morning meeting. This is the time that each reporter shares with the producer what his or her
ideas for a package and vo/sots are for the day. When you have four or five reporters covering
two or three stories each, it is understandable that there will be some disagreements or opinions
on either the context of the story or the direction that the story will go in. Oftentimes, there will
be this sort of discussion as the story ideas are brought up, and although it would be a stretch to
ever call it a disagreement, there are clearly different opinions on the matter. Usually, however,
this ends up being a very positive thing for the story. When each person is able to bring different
perspectives on a certain idea or issue, or perhaps even knowledge that the other wasnt aware of
before, it can create a new angle on a given story or at least meet somewhere in the middle with
what everybody is looking for. This same concept applies to the relationship between the
reporters and photographers each day. When the photographer is done with the package and
ready to drop it for the producer to add to the lineup for the news, usually the reporter will come
down and take a look at it first. Sometimes, there will be suggestions bounced off of each other
back and forth until both of them can agree on the best possible finished product. The importance
of this is that the news is watched by so many individuals each and every day. Much like the way
that a viewer might receive the wrong message if something is conveyed the wrong way, because
there is two people involved in creating the package, there could be something that one picks up
on that the other didnt initially. Despite the various personalities that make up a news room as

well as the possibility of varying opinions between them, they are always working toward a
common goal as a team.
One of the other very important lessons learned from this internship was the necessity to
work as a team at all times. In reality, the entire news room, which is made up of at least 10
people at any given time for the most part, all work together throughout the day in different
capacities to put together the best possible hour-long show that they can. While working as one
large team, there are also several smaller teams within that dynamic. These would be each of the
two-person groups, the reporter and photographer that go out on the stories. From here, each
vo/sot and package are filtered into the run down by the producer. The web editors also work for
most of the day to gather other news, on world or national topics. In the studio, people are
constantly working on updated graphics to be used in the show. Come show time, the studio is a
very dynamic place. The line producer must constantly keep track of where they are in the show,
and also call out how much time is left in certain segments to the director of the show. The
director is constantly feeding information to whoever is manning the cameras that are focused on
the anchor of the show, as well as the anchors themselves. There is a constant stream of
information being passed along at any given point for the majority of the hour-long show. I got
to experience this when I had the opportunity to line produce on a couple of occasions when I
was in studio. Specifically during weather segments, you must communicate to the director when
there is one minute, 30 seconds and 15 seconds remaining in the segment on the rundown, as
well as when there is only five seconds remaining to tell the speaker to wrap his segment up.
This is mainly so that the show stays on a good timeframe. No matter what time of the day you
find yourself on in the news industry, there is always a wide variety of team efforts going on that
are essential to the function of the news industry. Though each individual has to be very

responsible themselves, they have a team to think about at all times. There were a lot of times
that I personally got to be a part of said teams as opposed to just watching. Especially as I got
more experienced over time, I was given more responsibility and more tasks. It began with me
getting the opportunity to pick out a shot or two at the site of a story. It gradually led into me
sometimes playing the role of photographer for part of the day when I shadowed a reporter that
was by themselves. This carries a lot of responsibility, since in the professional world, you cant
sit down and analyze footage, decide that it isnt up to standards, and then rearrange another
interview. Things have to be pretty much perfect the first time around, or a days work can be
basically ruined. This would not only affect the reporter you are with, but also the entire staff at
the station because they would have to put in much more work to make up for it. However,
because it was a learning process, and it is even like that for some people who have been there
for some time, there is one other crucial part to that equal, and that is to ask questions.
Teamwork as a major aspect of communication is something that has been preached since I
began taking communications courses. In Professor Trenarys Intro to Human Communication
course, the main focus was on both interpersonal and intrapersonal communication. This covers
both the individual and team aspect. Though in a bit of a different capacity, I had the opportunity
to demonstrate this in Dr. Simmons Sports Communication class. Aside from having to do an
individual presentation, we had to work with one or two other people on a certain aspect of the
sports program at Salisbury to put together an hour long presentation. This involved setting up
several meetings and coming prepared, which most importantly involves having appropriate
questions. Referring back to the teamwork, you were relying on your partner to do their share as
well or else it could greatly affect both you.

Perhaps one of the most important part of being successful as both an individual and as a
part of a team is to ask questions, something that I got to see a lot of as an intern. This is a vital
form of communication on its own, especially in the environment that is a news station. I found
that the more questions I asked, the more willing people were to help me grow my skills and gain
experience. I made sure to pay attention on several occasions to the type of questions that were
asked over the course of the day, whether that was in the morning meetings, while out on the job,
or during and after the show itself. Referring back to the points about differing opinions and
teamwork, focusing on the questions that were asked really tied in the methods of
communication that were used. In order to have a better understanding of the stories that people
were looking to pursue, questions had to be exchanged to really drive the point home. What is
the news value of this, and why do viewers want to hear about this, were two of the more
common questions that I would hear when stories were pitched in the mornings. As somebody
who is studying communications, it makes sense that you will be expected to interact with people
a little bit more, and be good at it, than certain other walks of life. In Dr. Coxs Participatory
Journalism class, it has been preached over and over to ask as many questions as you can. This
applies not only for interviews, but really for anything you do involving your work.
As an intern, asking questions carried a little bit of a different meaning. During a midsemester meeting with the executive producer, Chris, I was told to be more vocal in general
when going about my daily activities. In the end, because I was somebody who was constantly
learning new things just about every day, asking questions with context to people who have been
working in this field for a while would enlighten me more than just sitting back and watching
would. As a prospective journalist, this is obviously very important because chances are, any
future job is going to require asking strong questions to get the best possible story. According to

Friedlander and Lee (2011), you should always be flexible about your questions. This means a
lot of different things, and can be applied big time. You always want to ask questions that arent
a strict yes or no. It is important to ask questions that allows the person who is answering them to
expand on what was asked. If this is while interviewing somebody for a story, it will allow you
to get greater detail in return and thus, a better story. As an intern, asking questions to the people
that I was shadowing showed them that I was interested in learning what they were doing.
Though it is on a different level, in my own experiences when somebody asks questions about
what Im doing, it does make me want to help them learn how to do it or at least better
understand than somebody who would just sit there in silence and watch. Asking questions is one
of the most important methods of communicating, but it is just one of many ways that the news
industry either conveys its message to the world, or operates internally to do the former.
There are several communication methods going on at any given time no matter where
you are. Whether it is visual or verbal, you have to keep in mind that everybody will receive and
understand messages different than the next person. Much in the way that there are different
opinions that cause that to happen, sometimes two distinct voices can eventually come together
to form a better product. This is something that affects a news organization more internally than
anything else. Also internally, teamwork is paramount to the success of an individual reporter,
photographer or producer, which also makes the concept crucial to the execution of the news on
a daily, if not hourly, basis. At the end of the day, as most communications students learn from
the very beginning, asking questions makes everything else possible. With these main points in
mind, it gives you a good idea of how many methods of communication are being utilized by the
news each and every day. After seeing it first hand and witnessing the effort and communication

needed for the news to be successful, I believe that the industry is the best example of many
different forms of communication coming together to accomplish something on a daily basis.
Because of my experience at WMDT, I not only will take away news-specific details and
experience, but to a deeper extent, lessons about so many different types of factors that go into
communicating in a real world setting. At times, as you take class after class to get your degree,
you will hear many of the same lessons and points repeatedly. However, it isnt until an
experience like this that you really gather a true understand of what all of those lessons truly
meant. It is no longer on the projector and something you simply write down, but something that
becomes engrained in your mind and your daily life. That, I believe, is when everything that you
have learned to this point comes together and gives you a real idea of what it is you are hoping to
accomplish, and how you will go about doing it.

Bibliography

Friedlander, E.J., & Lee, J. (2011). Feature Writing: The Pursuit of Excellence. Boston: Allyn &
Bacon.