Saturday, August 2, 2008
Wednesday, July 30, 2008
Thursday, July 24, 2008
Step Brothers!!!! :)
Just a warning...the footage is really blown out so it looks ugly. :(
Tuesday, July 22, 2008
Pictures and fun from Letterman!
However, it was a very fun experience!! The house band (led by Paul Shaffer) was awesome and Letterman was hilarious. They really try to give the audience a good time, especially during the commercial breaks. Amanda Peet, John Hamm from "Mad Men", and Augustana were the guests. All in all, it was a very fun and interesting experience--I would highly recommend it to anyone who has the chance!
Lucy and I infront of the theatre waiting to be let into the VIP area...
Letterman today!!
The last couple of days have been good, but slow at work.
Sunday night, at my weekly Fox 5 Sports visit, Joe--the editor ive been working with--told me how much he had enjoyed working with me, even for such a short time. Its always good to know your help (no matter how small) is appreciated. I now really feel that going to Fox 5 once a week has been a good choice in the long run--Joe is a great contact for me. He really thinks I have a chance to do whatever I want to do--that I have a good work ethic and drive. He said I could always come back to work at Fox 5 after I graduate. That's pretty reassuring!!...I guess we'll see.
Yesterday, I worked on a pretty cool photo essay for a good part of the day. "Extreme Living" around the country. Some pretty crazy houses featured on HGTV.
http://www.cbsnews.com/elements/2008/07/21/in_depth_showbiz/photoessay4277385.shtml?source=search_photo
Friday, July 18, 2008
Friday...again.
First of all...there have been a lot of smaller stories to keep up with this week! "The Dark Knight" premiere was Tuesday. We've been covering the buzz surrounding that this week.
We had a workshop on Wednesday--Susan Zirinsky the executive producer of "48 Hours"--who I mentioned in a previous post about the meetings I attend in her office. She's a pretty big deal...and has climbed up the ranks at CBS since she was an assistant answering phones. Hearing her talk was pretty reassuring that you CAN get to the top if you have enough drive.
Yesterday, we were a little short handed. I spent the entire day doing stories for the site. Typing for 8 hours straight is not fun at all! But, they do appreciate the extra help all the interns put in, so hopefully that will pay off in the future. :)
Other than work, I've just been exploring the city!--Enjoying my last few weeks...
Friday, July 11, 2008
Finally The Weekend!
Pictures
Amy and I with two of our producers Melissa and Judy. Judy suggested we take a picture with our Early Show weather guy Dave Price--or atleast with a larger than life version of him on the Early Show RV...

The signature CBS "Eye"...Been around since the beginning. :)

Wednesday, July 9, 2008
A Package In The Works?
LG actually has a national contest for text messaging--and the winner gets $50,000. It was very strange. LG even paid people to come "cheer on" the contestants. We interviewed a few people and got some cool b-roll with good NATS.
I've been itching to get my hands on a camera to go out and get some footage (AND a story) that I could actually put together in a package for myself (and to possibly go on the website). Hopefully I will be able to work on it most of the day tomorrow and have a package produced completely by me to add to this journal...and to my resume tape. :)
I may also have a story on Yankee Stadium in the works too...
Let's hope. :)
Rihanna Concert Video
Here is the Early Show interview with Tracy Smith and Rihanna from the day the interns got to be VIPs at the plaza. :)
Tuesday, July 8, 2008
Nothing exciting to report
Buzz Briefs:
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2008/07/08/entertainment/main4240526.shtml
Photo Essay I've been working on since yesterday. SCANDALOUSSSS:
Celebrity Sex Scandals...
http://www.cbsnews.com/elements/2008/07/07/in_depth_showbiz/photoessay4237817.shtml?source=search_photo
Sunday, July 6, 2008
:-D
NY1 is the city's only 24-hour news channel. It's actually pretty cool--like a local CNN.
:-D Maybe I can get somewhere in this field afterall...
Thursday, July 3, 2008
Paparazzi
I unfortunately didn't get any pictures of the "famous" people. But I did sneak my way on set far enough to get pictures inside of where they were filming--until they asked me to leave. Haha...I definitely know now I don't want to be a photo journalist. AHH! Very nervewracking.
Here are a couple of the shots I did get:


That's pretty much all my excitement for Today...except for FINALLY getting 4 weeks worth of our ($10 a day) Stipend checks. 160 DOLLARS!!! YESSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS. <--(Being really sarcastic. haha)
Yay! We're on the CBS News Payroll--and hopefully not for the last time...

Happy 4th!!!! :-D
Wednesday, July 2, 2008
I finally met KATIE!!!!!
I watched this as it happened:
Monday, June 30, 2008
Week 5...Time is FLYING!
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2008/06/30/entertainment/main4219048.shtml
I went out on a shoot today with Brad (one of the Producers) and Dan (one of my fellow interns). We went to the Javits Convention Center for the "Fancy Food Show" which was AWESOME because there were over a thousand different specialty food vendors there--which meeeeaaannnnssss over a thousand different SAMPLES of cookies, candy, meats, cheeses, breads, pasta, beverages, etc. SO fun. We got in free with our press passes...the public had to buy a tickets for a few hundred dollars, I believe.
Our purpose of going was to get footage for a story Brad is working on of a berry called "miracle fruit." It supposedly alters your taste buds when you eat one--makes sour and bitter foods taste sweet. Brad tried it a few weeks ago and said it worked...but not well enough for all the hype that's being brought up around it. But I guess it is a cool concept.
We interviewed the guy who is the only commercial supplier of "miracle fruit" in the world. This guy really believes that this fruit can replace sugar as a sweetener--and actually prove to be a "miracle" for people with diabetes and that sort of thing. I'll let you be the judge. I'll post Brad's story (which I contributed to with a few questions and some alternate footage, as always. haha) Here's a segment on it from the Early Show:
Friday, June 27, 2008
Happy Friday
http://www.cbsnews.com/elements/2008/06/26/in_depth_showbiz/photoessay4212033.shtml?source=search_photo
Heath Ledger Story: "Ledger's Performance: No 'Joke'"
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2008/06/27/entertainment/main4214955.shtml
Thursday, June 26, 2008
Yay for Baseball!
Wednesday morning, all 80+ CBS News interns were invited to attend and be introduced on the Early Show. It was fun hanging out with the other interns from different departments...we ended up on camera a few times--including when the weather guy pointed to me and my friend Amy (also an interactive intern) and said "We've got reps from South Carolina and LSU here!" I got a few calls from people telling me they had just seen me on TV. 5 mintues of fame...haha. Here are the CBS Interactive Intern girls (Amanda, Me, Amy, and Lucy):
The Early Show crew filming segments out on the Plaza. They were all pretty nice...
After being out on the plaza, we went on a tour of the Early Show set--and got to watch them tape an interview with Julie Chen and Sigourney Weaver to air at a later date. It was cool to be able to see how CBS does their show as compared to when I was at the Today Show a couple weeks ago. Us with some friends from Evening Weekend News (Aaron and Chris) in the Early Show Studio before the Interview started:
The Early Show Control Room: where all the magic happens:
Once I got to work, I helped interview 1980s Super Model Kim Alexis. She has a new show on TV Land called "She's Got The Look" that she's promoting. I took alternate footage like I've been doing for previous interviews with the digital camera to lay over the regular still camera footage. :-)
$10 tickets for an MLB game--Definitely worth 10 bucks...I enjoyed it a lot and was glad to see them kick some Seattle Mariner butt. HOWEVER, I am still a Braves fan (and even more so a GAMECOCKS fan!!!). Gotta stay true to my roots!Today:
The Senior VP of Standards & Special Projects, Linda Mason, held a presentation for all of the interns to attend. She went over CBS's codes of conduct/ethics. It was pretty interesting because a lot of it was based on everything we learned in Journalism 303--Law and Ethics. I guess there is a reason we have that class...haha.
There were also a lot of things I wasn't aware were so important that she covered in the presentation--reasons why different problems arise and how to cover our butts when they happen.
Tuesday, June 24, 2008
Tuesday, Tuesday
Today's Buzz Briefs:
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2008/06/24/entertainment/main4205278.shtml
AP Story--Israelis Flattered By "Zohan" Movie:
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2008/06/24/entertainment/main4205541.shtml
Photo Essay--New Orleans' First Tourist Attraction To Open Since Katrina:
http://www.cbsnews.com/elements/2008/06/24/travel/photoessay4205578.shtml?source=search_photo
Monday, June 23, 2008
Weekend Report
Friday afternoon at work was pretty slow...worked on a few AP stories before leaving CBS for the weekend. Then I headed off to Time Square to attempt to see another Broadway show...I'm obsessed. I've figured out that if you ask for student tickets at the Theatre box offices, they have them for $25 (unless they've sold out already). So...
I walked into Eugine O'Neill theatre and redeemed the LAST student rush ticket for Friday night's performace of Spring Awakening.
Amazing.
I can't stop listening to the soundtrack. Definitely my favorite Broadway show I've seen in a long time.
I started a part-time weekend internship yesterday at Fox 5...New York City's local Fox station. My cousin is a sports agent--one of his clients, Duke, is the main sports anchor at Fox. He does a Sunday night show called "Sports Extra" which he invited me to help with every week so that I can get my fill of sports broadcast this summer, since I am unfortunately not getting that at CBS right now. What I will be helping with at Fox 5 is very similar to what I do in multimedia services at Williams Brice Stadium. I'll be logging games on TV as well as cutting footage to lay over the anchor track--and helping to put together packages for the show.
So, yesterday on my first day, I came in to basically observe and to watch them film the show. It turns out that Michael Strahan from the New York Giants (who just announced his retirement) was coming in to be interviewed for last night's show. Let me tell you...I was SO much more excited to meet Strahan than I was to meet any of the other celebrities I've met so far while I've been here. Sports broadcast is what I want to do--and there's just something about athletes that fascinates me! :) He was nice enough to take a picture with me:
So Exciting. Definitely looking forward to getting my hands on some sports!!!!
Today...just a usual Monday...AP stories and some photo essays. Worked on a story about Nelson Mandella turning 90, as well as a story on the memorial service held yesterday for Stan Winston (special effects creator for Jurassic Park, Terminator, etc.) Also, a story and photo essay on summer runway shows this week. Yay for Milan Fashion Week: http://www.cbsnews.com/elements/2008/06/23/in_depth_showbiz/photoessay4202720.shtml?source=search_photo
Thursday, June 19, 2008
Working for the weekend...
Today was pretty low-key. I did a few AP stories and a couple of photo essays...nothing too exciting. The biggest news we had was Jamie Lynn Spears having her baby. WOO HOO. However, I was able to run over to 60 Minutes for a little bit with Daniel (got to see Alex for once). All of the interns who want to are going to the Early Show taping of the Rihanna concert tomorrow at 11:15 on the Plaza. Should be fun...hanging with the other interns is a good time!
One of the photo essays I did today...These celebrity quotes go on the AP wire every Thrusday--my producer made it my little job to make a photo essay like this every week. Not a big deal, but kinda fun to have a little weekly job to be in charge of. :)...What They Said: http://www.cbsnews.com/elements/2008/06/19/in_depth_showbiz/photoessay4193982.shtml
This is the story that one of the producers I work with, Melissa, wrote on her interview with Ludacris to go with the videos I made. Melissa does most of the celebrity interviews that come through here-so she lets me help her when she does! :)...Ludacris Vies For Eco And Online Revolution: http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2008/06/18/entertainment/main4192499.shtmlWednesday, June 18, 2008
I'm getting bad at this everyday posting thing...
Ludacris talks to CBSNews.com about his experience in films and how the roles he has played have helped him with controversial situations:
The two videos above are the only thing I've been working on for the last 3 days...
At first I had finished the project--with one 4 minute video--that didn't really follow any particular story line. I ended up deciding that it would be better to do two videos for the site to #1-make them easier to follow, keeping to one central subject and #2 to make them shorter to accomodate people's short attention spans. That took forever because I had to basically re-edit everything to fit and flow together. My producers think I did a good job...and I guess I'm satisfied with the finished products. I'm always critical on myself because I always feel like I have room for improvement. But alas...I'm a published editor on CBSNews.com! :)
What I've been doing today is finishing posting the video to video forums, as well as posting the links to Ludacris fan sites to get more exposure.
I also just got back from the weekly meeting in Susan Zirinsky's (exec producer of 48 Hours) office with Daniel who does web pieces for 48 Hours and 60 Minutes for CBSNews.com. Those meetings are always pretty interesting because we have to decide what will go on the website to promote the next week's show. We discussed the problem of new competition--America's Got Talent is on NBC at the same time and gets stellar ratings--and what to do to put more promotion out there. The audience also likes things that are interactive online--so we discussed the possibility of a 48 Hours crime website. Other than that, we all just chatted for a little bit--Susan's a big deal here at CBS (and elsewhere) and she knows me now...so that's really neat to be able to say. (not to brag, haha)
There's a 60 Mintues meeting I'll be attending with Daniel tomorrow. That should be cool too!! :)
Friday, June 13, 2008
Busy Busy Busy
Please forgive me for having not posted in a few days...by the time I get home, the last thing on my mind is sitting back down at my computer to type some more. haha...but I'm glad I have this blog so I can look back on it later and remember my experience.
The last few days have actually be very exciting. On Tuesday, rapper Ludacris came into the studio for an interview. It was very exciting to meet someone as well known and multi-talented as Chris Bridges (his given name). Being a rapper isn't exactly the most well respected job in the world, but Luda has made a well respected name for himself as an actor in the 2006 Oscar Winning movie "Crash" as well as others in recent years. He's also become something of a business man with his new website WeMix.com where independent music artists can post music and get feedback from peers and even other celebrities like Ludacris.
My project for the last 3 days was to create a short video with the interview footage on Final Cut Pro. I will definitely be posting it on here as soon as it is on the web so that you can see my first video project!! (FINALLY!!!!)
Yesterday I was invited to go out on a shoot for the first time. HGTV's interior design reality show Design Star is starting its 3rd season this month. They held a promotion/competiton for the show out in Greeley Square which was open to the public as well as the press to interview the finalists and the judges (who consisted of big names in the design world including Vern Yip from TLC's Trading Spaces). One of the other interns, Dan, went with me and was put in charge of the boom mic. The other two producers were the correspondant and the photog. I was put in charge of the digital camera with which I took still photos for a photo essay I just finished this afternoon. I also took some video footage to get some hand held shots for the package that one of the producers is puting together. The hand held shots are cool because they give the still footage a raw/documentary like feel. This was a technique I played with in my Ludacris package and it looked really, really cool!!!
Here's the HGTV Design Star Photo Essay:
http://www.cbsnews.com/elements/2008/06/13/in_depth_showbiz/photoessay4179463.shtml?source=search_photo
And the video that it goes with (some of the interview footage is mine :) )
Monday, June 9, 2008
More of the Same
Got here about 9, worked on a photo essay with the pictures from when we shot the TV pilot the other day to go with the story that was written up on it. The PE was embedded into the story:
http://www.showbuzz.cbsnews.com/stories/2008/06/08/tv/main4162401.shtml
After I finished that, I worked on another photo essay with pictures from the TV Land Awards which was hosted by Vanessa Williams last night. That award show is always interesting because they bring back and honor people from classic and older shows like "The Golden Girls", "Happy Days", and "Roseanne".
The final thing I did today was a quick story from the AP wire about how SAG is in negotiations to prevent repeating a strike like the one in 2000. Sort of a boring day...
I'm supposed to help interview Ludacris tomorrow...that will be SO exciting.
Friday, June 6, 2008
Catching Up On Yesterday and Today
Yesterday morning I came in to the studio to find that I had been kicked out of my desk because a camera crew was setting up to shoot a pilot for a new show. One of the producers told me that they needed extras to make the scene appear as if it were a full room--so I figured that would be a fun experience for my Thursday morning at work.
The show will be called "The Tower" starring Marcia Gay Harden--who plays Zoe, a millionaire who takes over a local Florida newspaper to make it into a thriving tabloid paper. The scene, shot from the perspective of a cell phone camera, takes place in a staff meeting with the new boss (Harden)--who goes on a rampage against one of the senior editors who tries to argue with her decision to make the newspaper a tabloid. She belittles, embarrasses him and fires him. At the beginning of the pilot, the video winds up on youtube and Zoe is being interviewed about her harshness toward her new staff. It was really cool...we all had to act surprised and scared at what she was saying to "Charlie" (the edior who gets fired--and also who I was sitting beside). :) The scene is shot between mine and his heads so you can see the side of my face on camera the whole time. Pretty neat!! I hope it gets picked up...
Here's a few photos:

The guy in the grey suit and bow tie to my right is "Charlie"....and above is Marcia Gay Harden. Recognize her?? :)
Today I mainly just pulled some stories from the AP wire. Nothing terribly noteworthy...just some stories about Ed McMahon's home foreclosure, Rosie O'Donnell's statements on why she is choosing to wait to remarry her girlfriend, and a story on CBS/Paramount's plans to remake "My Fair Lady". I also did a few event photo essays. Not too exciting of a Friday--however, I did find out that rapper/actor Ludacris is coming in for an interview with Showbuzz on Tuesday...which will be VERY exciting.
Wednesday, June 4, 2008
A New Way To Tell A Story
But back to my photo essay--it really took me all day to do because I started from scratch (meaning I wrote my own captions instead of pullling them from the wire). It was also very time consuming to choose which pictures to use. There are so many good pictures and facts...its hard to narrow down, especially with someone like Harrison Ford. So explaining his personal life, career, public service, etc. in so many words is challenging.--BUT I guess you have to do the same thing when writing a script for a broadcast package and eliminate what you absolutely don't need.
Tuesday, June 3, 2008
Day 2
http://www.showbuzz.cbsnews.com/elements/2008/06/03/style_fashion/photoessay4148779.shtml
I was also able to attend two meetings with one of the web producers: 48 Hours and 60 Minutes. They have meetings each week to discuss what parts of the shows will be featured online and what "extras" can be developed to accompany them. It was very exciting...I got to meet Susan Zirinsky--Executive Producer of 48 Hours. The main character from the movie "Broadcast News" is based on her and her time with the CBS Evening News with Dan Rather. After 48 Hours, we headed over to 60 Minutes (their production takes place across the street). Over there I met Bill Owens--60 Minutes Senior Broadcast Producer. Hopefully I will see all the important people I have met around a good bit during the summer and they will remember me. :)
The Beginning
Monday afternoon the 6 interactive interns were divided up among the different producers based on interests and skills. As a broadcast major I will be working with video/editing, etc. I've been told I will also be required to do some story writing and picture/video hunting and some photo essays to accompany those stories that will go on the internet. The shows my group pulls from are mainly 48 hours and 60 minutes--we work closely with producers to decide which segments we will cut and put on CBSNews.com. Also, my group does a lot with CBS Show Buzz, which is the Entertainment part of the website. I don't exactly want to go into entertainment reporting--however, working with showbuzz will allow me to get more "field" experience as I will be sent out to get video coverage of different events--and also interviews from various (possibly famous/well known) people.--How could anyone pass that up? :) Also, I asked one of my supervisors how available the equipment is for interns to take and use. There are some DV cams and tapes we are allowed to take if we decide we want to go out and do some stories on our own. If we pitch them to the producers they may decide to put them on the website if they like our idea and we do a good enough job. They are also willing to let us practice doing stand ups and interviews with the cameras they have in the newsroom. I feel very reassured that I can still be creative and have the opportunity to get out in the field as much as I want to with the freedom to borrow equipment, since most of what Interactive does is recut stories and segments from CBS News shows.
As people are turning to the internet more now than ever, I feel like this internship will be a good opportunity for me to be ahead of the curve as the internet is slowing taking over television broadcast. I'll be exposed to the equipment that is used to make a news website work and will have one up on my competition when it comes to getting a job in the future. :)
I'm Official!!!...
