First Week Recap Of The BDJ D.C. Capstone
Fifteen of us from Newhouse have successfully moved to Washington, D.C. and completed our first week as correspondents for our respective stations. We paid for our living quarters and tuition, but we went in not fully knowing what to expect. We started out extremely excited to be here, already knowing our stations from all over the U.S. — I am working for WCMH in Columbus, WDTN in Dayton and WKBN in Youngstown (a large, medium and small market which is great in my case of having all three kinds of market sizes as an intern). It’s even better for me because it’s the first time WCMH-TV is working with the D.C. capstone, so I’m setting the new precedent this year as far as Newhouse and a Nexstar station.
We started out the week with getting our press passes at the Capital so we can have access to certain parts of the building, do our standup bridges, and shoot video/interviews. We went through a short refresher of how to track correctly with a wind screen and then we hit the ground running. We started making phone calls to our congressmen and thinking of story ideas for the 4th of July.
The 4th was the hardest day we’ve endured in our reporting days thus far. The weather was above 100 degrees and humidity was even worse with tons of people all in one place, all trying to get a different story that can air on TV with little to no mistakes. Most of us made it on air and it was a such a humbling experience! To really see yourself on LIVE, local television and to hear the anchor say your name is unmatched. To find our way to an area we’ve never been, find people from a state some us have ever been to, and to shoot in weather we’ve never experienced was all amazing. I’m so thankful we have this opportunity.
Later we had research days where we met with our respective press people at the Capital and geared up for our next stories. For the next few days we toured the Capital, went on a bus tour around the city and did a few shooting exercises. Some days were harder than others but for the most part, it was fun.
The most exciting day had to be when we got to tour the Nexstar Bureau in the city. This was the first time a capstone group got to do this and I’m so thankful that we were able to be the first to do so. There, they house MSNBC, Fox, and other stations. We also got great tips from Bureau reporters who report for our regions and got to take pictures where they do their live shots. To be able to get valuable information from esteemed people and the news director was the best thing all week. They also gave us their personal numbers and email addresses so we can always keep in contact.
We made it through the first week and I can’t wait to dive into the full second week.
