PLANNING FOR GROWTH IN YEARS OF RESTRICTED RESOURCES

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exchange of professionals and students twice each semester. With approval fromAEJMC, the first group of professionals from WTHI-TV came to Ball StateUniversity’s campus in October of 2001. Arriving were the co-author, Genie Garner,News Director at WTHI-TV, and Kelly Cress, Executive Producer. This first visit wasto set up the parameters for the students coming to Terre Haute the following monthalong with the logistical aspects of such an endeavor. Since the Department ofTelecommunications is typical of most programs across the country, the two visitorswere assigned to lecture to many of the news classes during their stay.During this time, they were also introduced to the department’s working newscastlaboratory, NewsCenter 43. To quote the co-author, “we were totally amazed andimpressed. The teamwork was amazing.”After the newscast, the news representativeswent out to dinner with the students to dissect the newscast and to offer pointers toimprove its on-air look and contents. During this stay, the students who were going toTerre Haute were given the chance to get to know the News Director and ExecutiveProducer since they would be reporting to them during the students stay in November.Five students from the Department of Telecommunications drove the two-and-a-halfhour distance from Muncie to Terre Haute, Indiana, to work at WTHI-TV November12 and 13, 2001. The group that was chosen to attend was decided by the NewsDirector (Amy Barnette) for NewsCenter 43 with assistance from the faculty advisor,who is a co-author of this article. This placed an enormous burden on student NewsDirector but it was felt that she had earned the right to make the tough calls. This wasnot an easy decision. There were many deserving students who wanted to attend. Also,the dates were during the school week, meaning students would need to get permissionfrom their professors to miss classes during the week. Going to Terre Haute were theNews Director Amy Barnette, a reporter (Kylie Gandolf), a producer (JasonBrocklesby), and two shooter/editors (Sonny Wingler and Doug Moon).It was important that more than just on-air people attend. Part of the agreement wasthat students who were interested in being behind the scenes had an opportunity towork with professionals. The two shooter/editors were going to be given cameras totake out and shoot stories. The staff photographers gave them training on theequipment, so that the number of questions about equipment would be limited. Afterarriving back at the station, the shooters were going to edit the packages for air thatevening. The producer was going to help produce the evening’s newscast. He was goingto make decisions that affected what was to be seen and what wasn’t going to make itto air. Having the experience from NewsCenter 43 paid off. With professors who haveprofessional experience in the ranks prodding the students to produce a high-quality,professional product for air—and on time—meant that the time pressures were part ofthe business here in the department.Over the two days the students were there, they produced the following materialthat went to air:• A package entitled Terre Haute Man Still Flying by student reporter Kylie Gandolf.She went to the Indianapolis International Airport, about forty-five minutes fromTerre Haute, to get reaction to the airline crash in Queens, New York, that day.Kylie found a passenger who lives in Terre Haute who was praying with his fellowpassengers before his plane took off. This package fit into the newscast’s teamcoverage of the accident, the 9/11 fallout, and local reaction to events.BEA—Educating tomorrow’s electronic media professionals 66
• A voice over (VO) by Jason Brocklesby about gas prices that were increasingnationwide and the local reaction.• A VO by Amy Barnette concerning local Veteran’s Day observances in the city ofRockville.• A package by Kylie Gandolf about a local resident who is credited with inventingthe “black box” that is used on airplanes to record vital statistical material along withvoice recordings from the cockpit. This package included a live newsroomintroduction by Kylie with the anchor team for the newscast.• Finally, the students helped to shoot, edit, produce other material, and assist theAssignment Editor.This initial introduction to newsroom operations away from campus, and whatstudents’ can provide to the news operations at WTHI-TV, allowed the professionalstaff to evaluate what the students can provide to the station. Seeing how the studentsperformed during the Fall, 2001, visit allowed the WTHI staff to expand the scope ofoperations when the second set of students came to WTHI-TV February 18 and 19,2002. Attending from Ball State University were: Amy Barnette, News Director forNewsCenter 43; Jill Crehan, Assignment Editor; Ryan Miller, on-air weathercaster;Scott Hums, shooter/editor; Josh Witsman, producer/reporter; Dustin Grove,producer/reporter; Andrea Bernatz, producer/weathercaster; and, the co-author of thisarticle who went to observe operations. With the increase in trust with the students,based on the November visit, the news management staff presented the students withmore assignments. Here are the results from the two days spent there:• A follow up to a dorm fire at Indiana State University (ISU), which is located inTerre Haute, by Josh Witsman.• A follow up, by Josh Witsman, on Harmony Haven, a controversial “no kill”animal rescue shelter in Terre Haute. This follow up comes after a longinvestigation by WTHI-TV on Harmony Haven’s operations.• Numerous sporting events shot and edited by Scott Hums.• A VO by Andrea Bernatz concerning a suicide at ISU.• A package by Andrea Bernatz on suicide prevention.• A sound on tape (SOT) with graphics (GFX) by Andrea Bernatz on suicideprevention.• Live weather cut-ins during CBS This Morning by Andrea Bernatz and RyanMiller.• A live shot with package by Mr. Witsman about the closing of a local business.This business was closed by the health department due to rat and mice problems.This closing announcement came at 4 p.m., so he had to scramble to get the storyready for the 6 p.m. show.As with the previous visit in November, students worked with other producers andthe Assignment Editor throughout the day as well as shooting and editing other pieces.In April, 2002, Genie Garner, the co-author of this article along with Doug Runyon,Web Master; Dave Shearer, Promotions Manager; and, Jim Swander, Sales Manager,returned to the Ball State University campus to speak with students in classes andfollow-up on the November and February trips. The purpose was to assess the impactof the program and come up with ideas for future cooperative endeavors.The Department of Telecommunications at Ball State University is grounded in67Feedback September 2003 (Vol. 44, No. 4)
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The Telecommunication Arts degree p
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principally studying in the evening
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Appendix ADepartment of Telecommuni
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WTBUa. Digitalb. Maintenancec. Repl
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Appendix BI. Telecommunication Arts
Page 15 and 16: Please be aware of the following: I
Page 17 and 18: B. In-training Courses1. Initiation
Page 19 and 20: IX. WTBU-TV MissionA. To serve as a
Page 21 and 22: CLASSROOMEMAILING THE NEWS: RADIONE
Page 23 and 24: WOUB, Ohio University, Athens, Ohio
Page 25 and 26: • use software designed for writi
Page 27 and 28: Final Grading Scale for the Semeste
Page 29 and 30: Oct 23 Act I Script conference and
Page 31 and 32: Rationale and MethodIn speaking to
Page 33 and 34: dubs from a clean Beta or DVCPRO ma
Page 35 and 36: y stating, “I would rather see a
Page 37 and 38: I like the montages on a tape first
Page 39 and 40: and regions of the country, consist
Page 41 and 42: Commission] may revoke any station
Page 43 and 44: The new law also declared, “The F
Page 45 and 46: have written policies regarding can
Page 47 and 48: 3) How did you handle such requests
Page 49 and 50: academic publishers have considered
Page 51 and 52: CLASSROOMHOW BROADCAST STUDENTS DES
Page 53 and 54: “character” of the desired acti
Page 55 and 56: mood, tempo, and intellect. The sty
Page 57 and 58: should be the natural result of the
Page 59 and 60: DiscussionThose who teach scriptwri
Page 61 and 62: ESSAYTHE MAN IN THE MIDDLE:EDDIE FR
Page 63 and 64: ESSAY‘BIG’ ISN’T ‘BAD’Bob
Page 65: OUTSIDE THE CLASSROOMBROADCASTERS-I
Page 69 and 70: Mike Latta, Chief Photographer. “
Page 71 and 72: REVIEWFrankland, M. (2002). Radio m
Page 73 and 74: BEA NEWS2004 Convention Program Cha
Page 75 and 76: BEA NEWSChairman, Founder of CMU’
Page 77 and 78: BEA NEWSIndiana Moves More Courses
Page 79: THANK YOU to the following individu
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PLANNING FOR GROWTH IN YEARS OF RESTRICTED RESOURCES

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