As I mentioned before, Zach and I have arrived in Santa Fe. The drive from Lake Powell to Santa Fe was long, but it allowed time for Zach and I to have a heart-to-heart. He's a good kid, that Zach Hagen.
A day later, after my arrival, I went down to Santa Fe Community College and talked with Bill Dupuy, the head news director of KSFR News Santa Fe. KSFR is news radio, much like your typical NPR station. Bill Dupuy is a tall, thin man from Louisiana with a voice that is so elegant and calculated, it would be a shame if he were NOT on the radio. Bill sat me down in his office, and asked me why I am interested in the news. I responded that I had left college with no real career path. I told him the things I like; to write, chat with people, and stay updated with the news (skateboarding and snowboarding aside). I just wanted a career that I liked, and since working 30 years at a skateboard shop doesn't seem like an intellectually stimulating option, I somehow arrived at journalism.
Bill calmly pondered my response to his question. I sat in his office, awkwardly shifting back in forth, looking at the walls, wondering what he would say. Bill finally stood up and said, "well, lets get you started then". I told him I was a apprehensive because I have no training in journalism of any kind, and he laughed and told me, "good, then you won't have to unlearn anything". From then on it was go time.
KSFR News is an extremely reputable news station. Its won the National Associated Press award for Best News Radio the past four years in a row. If I to want end up working in journalism, KSFR News is a great starting spot. The news team consists of 10 volunteer workers, and the payed News Director Bill Dupuy. Myself and two other college aged girls are the youngest workers, and everyone else is a retired professional. They say they like having young guns like us in there, and the wise, older workers are extremely helpful.
Bill threw me right into the mix. The first thing I learned- The News is FAST. There are eleven news reports a day, one every hour, ranging from 2 to 4 minutes each. There is a hour long newscast at noon, which is planned ahead of time and consists of investigative journalism and 'timeless pieces'. KSFR reports local news. The hourly news casts are deciphered, written, spoken, and engineered by only one person. That reporter must decipher the news that comes from all of our sources; email, phone-ins, the internet, and most importantly-the AP wire. Then choose which of these stories they deem as important, and write a short blurb about each. The reporter must then speak the stories onto a computer program, and correct their newscast so it is consistent with a typical newscast. Finally, the reporter must engineer the newscast, allowing it to flow smoothly over the air. In order for the newscast to go over the air, there are ALOT of steps to finish.
It is volunteer work, but I have worked there about 18 hours in the past three days. I need to train first, but they said I should be coming on the air soon.
I'm also privy to a lot of sensitive information. All news stems from local news. I won't go into more boring description, but local news is essentially filtered up the Associated Press ladder, until it becomes National News. I know NOTHING about Santa Fe politics and news, but I'm learning fast. The reporters all harp on me for my horrible Spanish, saying, "If you say that over the air, we will get 500 calls."
Bottom Line-I love working at the radio station. HOWEVER, this does not mean this trip is over. I have to talk with Zach, Molly, the News Station, and My Aunt. I could never stay in Santa Fe for a long period of time. But, I may need to stay long enough to gain some experience in journalism, and receive a good recommendation from KSFR. Whether this means 2 weeks or 6 months, that I will have to figure out. We will continue this roadtrip, but when?
Sorry about the boring post, but I really like the news.
My station
An interesting reporter from The New Mexican
3 comments:
here are some things i think about this post: that boss man of yours doesn't seem like a real person and i think you are making this whole thing up; if you're going to be a journalist you have to have better grammar, you used their instead of there when describing your work hours; i would love to hear you speaking spanish; i miss my friend brett stopping by my apartment.
Where is the mistake? That's why I have editors.
Can I post on your blog? Do you update your blog?
See that Brett? Read Liv's post; that's called a semi-colon.
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