A Day as a Member of the Media

[AceTen]

Well, I'll start this story off with this,

I work at a TV/News Station, WKBT NewsChannel 8 out of La Crosse Wisconsin, its a CBS affiliate.

www.wkbt.com

Anyway, I do basic work there, camera, graphics, prompter, tapes. Nothing too in depth, but still a serious job.

Anyway, for the last Pre-Season Packer game agasint Tennesse, NFL did not carry the rights to the game, meaning small marketed tv stations could go on field and shoot the game. My friend Ben, is a sports photographer for the news station and was asked to travel to Green Bay to shoot the game. Me being well qualified he picked me to go along with him to help out.

First thing about being a member of the media, no fanhood. It was a semi-strict dress code, you couldnt wear packer or titan stuff.. ect. I dressed in black kahkis and a dress shirt. Also, no cheering. Any Cheering could result in loss of credentials.

So we started a trip to Green Bay, arrived there around 3:30 (game at 6). Unloaded the 'WKBT-Mobile' and went to the Media Will Call to pick up our on field credentials. We then walked around to the Press Enterence, which was guarded by police and a bomb/drug sniffing dog. After enterting the media area, we had out equipment checked to make sure the frequencies were compatible with the Green Bay frequencies (for wireless mics). We were then treated to a large meal including, chicken, meat loaf, mashed potatoes, and a drink.

Around 5:30 my friend Ben headed down to the field, and I started my walk to the Press Box. The walk to the Press Box alone was fun because you are a level above all the other fans. And with me wearing a black suit, I got some pretty odd looks lol. It was nice to feel important like that out of my job. I entered the press box and found my seat, which was right between my stations two highest competitors. After enjoying the first half, we were once again treated to a meal of Hot Dogs, Brats, and Chili (god bless wisconsin).

With about 3 minutes left in the game, I headed back down to the media room to wait for my friend Ben. We met up and got ready for interviews. I was to hold the camera (nothing new) and shoot all the post game interviews in the locker room, while Ben held the mic and asked questions. We were let into the Packers Lockerroom along with about 40 other large media stations and attempted to get our interviews. Rodgers interview was kind of tough, but we managed to get almost one on one interviews with: Ryan Grant, Donald Driver, Greg Jennings, Matt Flynn, and Brian Brohm. We interviewed a few other players who are no longer with the team.

After getting all the footage we needed we headed back to La Crosse for editing and such. Most of the interviews I shot were used the next day for a post game wrap up special.

All in all it was a great experience and I give much respect to the Packers organization for the way we were treated while there.

[sacker12]

That sounds very interesting.