Students Invited to FOX 25 News Studio
November 08, 2010
Emmanuel students Megan McPhilemy '11, Anne MacIntyre '12 and Lannan O'Brien '13 visited the FOX 25 news studio on November 2nd to participate in election night news coverage. The students were invited by FOX 25 news writer and Emmanuel alumna Sarah Talty '06 through Special Instructor of Journalism Mark Baard, whom she has stayed in touch with since graduating.
While at the station the students were introduced to well-known reporters Maria Stephanos, Mark Ockerbloom and Sara Underwood. The studio was filled with various guests including Boston-area college students, professors, political analysts and city residents with the goal of achieving a broad range of perspectives on the election and how it would affect different groups of people. The Emmanuel students were assigned to a group of desks with computers on which they watched the webcast live. Underwood then gathered all of the college students, mostly communications and political science majors, together to answer questions, addressing each student in the group.
"The experience was unreal," said MacIntyre. "I felt like my dream of becoming a newscaster or at least working at a TV station became more realistic. It made me realize that I did make the right choice regarding my major, that I was in the right place here at Emmanuel and that my dreams are not as unrealistic as I once thought."
Baard selected the students from his "Introduction to Journalism" class due to their quality of written work to date, participation, stated interest in broadcasting and sense of professionalism.
"This opportunity will allow these students to bring to their future internships and early careers a better appreciation of the fast-paced environment, the need to collaborate and write compelling stories and the time constraints found at established news organizations," said Baard.
The students were excited by the opportunity to see behind the scenes of a television news broadcast and by the warm welcome they received from the studio staff.
"Seeing how the studio worked, learning about the process of putting together a show and seeing how many people worked together was a great learning experience," said McPhilemy. "The environment was very professional, yet family like. The interactions between the people at the studio made it obvious they were one big team. It was a really unique insight into the studio."
"It was really amazing to see the inner workings of a news broadcast. As we were introduced to various Fox employees, I was surprised to find that everyone was so down-to-earth," said O'Brien. "They were genuinely excited to have young people in the studio and to talk with us about Fox, as well as our college experience in Boston, especially meteorologist Kevin Lemanowicz, who told us about his start in television weather news and advised us on figuring out what we want to do in life."
