I think i can I think i can....

What I Did In Broadcasting This Week: I had my radio shifts on Tuesday and Thursday as usual. I think they went really well this week, except I hit a wrong button today and had to pot up the minidisc player really quickly, whoops. I caught it right away though, so it was okay. I had a lot more energy this week because I'm finally getting over the "WC Plague." I'm still working on getting my own personality to shine through during the shift. Working on the morning show with Joy it was easier because we're both very sarcastic and we bounced off each other really well and we had a lot of fun and we were funny, to boot. Now I have to have that same energy and impact by myself. I'm still struggling with that a lot. But Tandi (Program Director for Titan Radio) is going to have "air-check weeks" where she collects our air-check tapes and offers some suggestions and constructive criticism, which will really help me focus. I have tapes from when I started up through now, but no one ever really had time to critique them for me, so I'm really glad Tandi is taking the time to do so.

I also anchored my first newscast of the semester this week. Shannon and I anchored and Alana produced. We got a lot of sound, including the nat sound burst and reader I dropped in the station about the band festival. Our stories really meshed well together and the newscast had really good flow. I stumbled over a few words, but I think we sounded pretty good! It's been a few months since I anchored, but it's like riding a bike, so no worries. Megan (Radio News Director) is also going to have "air-check weeks."

Career Planning ("evolving"): Mr. Weaver and I have talked about many different options for me. I'm getting in contact with Sarah Bowers, who is working with Melissa Batulis, at WTAE. She's working the assignment editors desk, which might be something I would enjoy. It has a lot to do with organization and management skills. I'm also going to continue building my radio news and d.j. portfolios, making sure I have really great stuff to use for resume tapes. I may try to do another internship somewhere over Christmas break, although since I didn't make much money all summer because I was doing an internship at WTAM, and I really need to make some money over break to pay for WC expenses and everything to get through my last semester here. That's the main thing I hate about this - wanting to get lots of BC experience, but having to make a dent in the $80,000.00 in debt I'll be for the pretty piece of paper I'll get at the end of it all. That's why it's important that I find a good job to pay bills - but also a job I'll enjoy!

This week in the 'biz: I'm taking a class in Broadcast, Cable, and Web programming and promotion so I've been reading a lot of different material lately. I found an article at this site that talks about CBS-TV and Paramount Network Television. Viacom bought CBS in 1999 but the two (Paramount and CBS) never got along. Things are changing now because Viacom co-president Leslie Moonves is cleaning things up in Paramount's TV operations.

The article says ""Paramount is a great name in the history of television; it's a great studio when you look back in the history of television — with Frasier, Cheers and back further to Happy Days and Laverne & Shirley. We think it's a terrific name and it makes sense. No question, it still has some value."

But the people running it will be CBS people."

It will be interesting to see what happens there, because if a lot of the Paramount staff lose their jobs, and with the economy the way it is, well that could be pretty bad.