Job Shadows: What You Saw, Section 5

Here's a sampling of some of the various job shadows done by you all. Take a look and see what you can learn from everyone's visits. There's a lot of good stuff here to help you decide what you want to do with your lives; what you need to be doing to get there; and what to expect when you do get there.

Please give each one of these a quick read, will you?

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Job Shadow Report

            On my job shadow I shadowed Rebecca Williams, who is a reporter for NPR and is based out of Ann Arbor. When I was led through the building first thing in the morning, I noticed the business-casual attire and general comfortable air that was in the offices. The first thing I learned about working for the news business is that it’s not all business all the time. People crack jokes. People small talk. It’s something one can get used to.

At the news meeting, people filed in and out as their own agendas required. The only man wearing a tie was in charge of the place. Several reporters skyped into the meeting from home. One man hadn’t bothered to change out of his wife beater. A woman held a fat-faced baby in front of the camera to wave at the crowd in the newsroom. Journalism can be a good place for people that have to live while they work instead of around it.

Rebecca led me from the news meeting around the whole building, showing me rooms where reporters were doing live segments on the radio and other rooms where poorly-dressed interns sat laughing as they adjusted minute dimensions on the news website. One machine in a vacant broadcast room recorded phone calls for live phone interviews. Other machines lined the desk around the hanging microphone, sound mixers and dual-monitor computers all linked through a life-support system  of wires to one another.

Her workstation was a happy mess of papers and technology. A digital recorder in a leather bag sat happily atop an ever-imposing stack of memos, notes, and photos. She showed me her current project, a news story done by her and the intern that works with her for a segment that the station does where people ask questions that they think the station can answer. After a quick poll online, a winning question is selected and investigated. This week’s was on roadkill.

Rebecca typically writes two or three features at the same time. This helps her

take breaks from one project to work on another and as such it helps keep her sane. Rebecca sets her own deadlines for herself instead of using the ones given to her (always earlier of course) to prevent procrastination and stress. She typically does pre-interviews and interviews three or four days out of the week.

In the case of breaking news, Rebecca typically will spend four to five hours in her newsroom performing phone interviews and stockpiling her information. This is just one chunk of the massive amount of work that goes into a breaking news story. 14-hour days become expected during crunch time for a breaking story. Withholding the case of a breaking story, Rebecca likes to plan at least two shows ahead to keep on top of her work.

Rebecca taught me about the need to have organization in your life and in your workplace. Despite the piles of papers on and around her desk, Rebecca assured me that she knew where everything was well enough to grab it whenever she needed it. Her habits always put her ahead of her own deadlines and made it so that everything could look finished and professional by the time it was sent out into the world.

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I completed a job shadow with Ali Harb from the Arab American News in Dearborn. The first bit of time was spent discussing the reasoning behind the development of the publication. Harb described to me how the paper strives to espouse values of self-identity and improvement, along with trying to convey the issues and triumphs faced by the Arab-American community at large in the Dearborn area.

After introducing me to a few of the other employees of the paper, he showed me several of his own stories (the day I attended was an editing day) and some of the topics that he has covered. We then got into a riveting discussion about Donald Trump’s impact on the area (as the primary elections have deservedly been a hot topic of coverage as of late in the area). Despite the hateful rhetoric that he often uses, Trump has the support of some Muslims and Arabs in the area. According to Harb, Trump has served to create a class divide between Arabs and Muslims in the area. Most of Trumps Arab and Muslim supporters who were not born in the US validate Trump by stating that if they were able to attain legal status in the US, those who haven’t should be deported. 

Toward the end of that conversation, Harb received a call from a woman pitching him a story idea. That started a new discussion where he described how he and other employees deal with deciphering between legitimate stories and those that have no potential substance.

The job honestly seems like something that I would be interested in. It’s a smaller publication, so it’s more personal. I was told that if I interned there, I would produce stories that actually have my name attached to them. If I was to indeed consider a career in journalism down the line, given that I also study Arabic Language & Culture here at MSU, this is honestly a job that I would like to have.

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I shadowed Mike Valenti regarding his radio show. He graduated from Michigan State
University with a journalism degree. Mike is a radio host on WXYT-FM 97.1 The Ticket in Detroit. Mike co-hosts the Valenti and Foster show Monday through Friday, from 2 p.m. to 6 p.m. The Valenti and Foster show focuses on sports. They talk about hot topics, games, trades, breaking news, professional Detroit teams, college sports news, etc. They analyze what’s going on, and have people call into the show to voice their opinions. One thing I was curious about was the way they prepare for the show. Mike prepares 24/7. He told me that’s the world we live in today. Because of social media, smart phones, etc., people already know most of the sport stories happening around the country. Mike finds a way to create new angles and present different opinions.

Mike likes the ability to give his thoughts about the world and take different angles that aren’t out there. Because of this, he has taken criticism in the past. One example was the Michigan State-Michigan football game. We all remember the historic finish and many thought it was very lucky. Mike pointed out that MSU did not have a punt returner. Instead, everyone was on the line of scrimmage rushing to block the punt. However, Michigan had coverage men out wide and sent four people down field to down the kick. In reality, it didn’t matter if they touched the ball, the game would have ended regardless because of the time on the clock and the fact MSU didn’t have anyone to recover the kick. Mike called out Michigan head coach Jim Harbaugh, he said it was bad coaching and that’s the reason why that play happened, not luck.

Mike received a lot of criticism from Michigan fans who called into his show. He said it’s simple math, four Michigan players go down the field, 11 Spartans rush the punter, that’s 11 on seven, it’s a fact. Mike said as long as you back your opinions up with facts, and don’t say things you don’t believe in, then you will have no issues in that regard.

Mike doesn’t like the impact of social media. He believes it has poisoned people. Instantly after a game ends, there are many angry fans attacking one another online. That’s why he doesn’t like social media. Mike also doesn’t like how dealing with people has changed. Nowadays when dealing with athletes, coaches, or teams, you have to go through their PR department. Mike thinks PR has become so safe, you can’t get any opinions from coaches or athletes when interviewing them.

If I had Mikes job, I would like the preparation aspect. I like watching as many games as possible, reading about sports, etc. I also like to analyze a game I just watched, instead of just stating the score and statistics. I like to try to find out why so and so had a double-double, or why the starting quarterback only completed 48 percent of his passes. I think I could do a good job of analyzing games and presenting original and new content regarding sports.

I wouldn’t like dealing with angry fans who call into the show. I don’t think I could maturely talk to someone who didn’t know what they were talking about, or someone who would disagree with everything I say for no reason. I think that would be my biggest challenge and something I wouldn’t want to deal with. Back home, I listened to Mike’s show almost everyday. I found it really cool to learn from him about his job. Mike also said he’s willing to help me, which I think is very cool. I have now built a strong contact for the future. 


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I shadowed the lead watchdog reporter at the Lansing State Journal, Steven Reed, at the Governor Rick Snyder luncheon with the Economic Club of the Lansing Regional Chamber. Reed said he was looking for familiar themes in Snyder’s speech. Since he has been so heavily involved in the news with the Flint water crisis, Reed was listening closely to see if Snyder’s rhetoric remained consistent from speech to speech. I watched Reed not lose focus for a second as he was listening for good sound bites and making note of where to find them in his recording so he could quickly find them for his story as he was on a tight deadline.

            Reed also displayed how it is important to work closely with your photographer so their images match what his angle was. For example in this instance Reed was looking for quotes that showed Snyder wasn’t going to back down, his photographer would hope to capture a picture of him standing tall and confident.

            Reed also mentioned how this outing might not be the best example of what his title says he does, but it represents how even in investigative journalism there is a daily grind. Not everyday is going to be Watergate. He pointed out though, that this is a very important job. Fact-based journalism that empowers readers is very important to Reed and he thinks it’s a shame that it isn’t financially supported like it used to be. Nonetheless, these day-to-day meetings and hearings are important to contextualize bigger events.

            I think the investigative field would fit me because of my want for fact-based journalism. It’s too hard for the public to get straight information that doesn’t have an opinion in it. The reporter is supposed to deliver the news as it is and let their readers or viewers decide what they think. I also could see myself in the field because I’m not afraid to ask tough questions. I can be blunt and I’m not afraid to ask something that will hopefully warrant a response that isn’t basic. Journalism was created to place a spotlight on major public figures and companies, and without it, those in power will have freer reign and get away with wrongdoing.

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For my job shadow, I followed R.J Wolcott from the Lansing State Journal. During the jobs show, we went too an MSU board meeting. RJ covers all things education. RJ was covering the topic of price increase in housing for MSU students. I watched as he deciphered what was newsworthy and what wasn’t. The board meeting was long and extremely boring, but RJ was very attentive and honestly I don’t know how he did it. During the time of the board RJ put together about a 250-word teaser of the story.  He told me that they always want to be the first to get the story out even if you don’t put out the full story just yet. He interviewed a few board members after the meeting and I noticed he did not use and tape recorder he simply took down a few quotes and notes and kept moving. In the teaser story seeing as we always need a picture with our articles. RJ told me that they have a bank of pictures and they just choose one image for the teaser but you have to be careful to change the comment because most times the captions ma not match the current story. He told me for the bigger stories they just call photographers and get photos that was. After he interviewed the board members we went over to the library where RJ finished his story. I got to read through the story and I saw an AP style rule that was wrong. Instead of spelling out percent he used the symbol. RJ told me that this had to do with spacing and that the Lansing State Journal ignores this AP style rule.  I asked him many questions and learned that editors don’t trust newer reporters and that they must submit their stories before they are published. Overall it was a great experience and I am not sure if I would like to go into reporting or not.

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Judy Putnam, the columnist and the watchdog of the Lansing State Journal.

Hours: 8:30 am - 1:00 pm

1.    For my shadow experience, I observed Judy Putnam, an columnist at the Lansing State Journal. I arrived and introduced to her who I am and she told me what she would do at that day and what she can taught me that day.

2.    First she introduced me her new office to me and then she took me to attend their meeting. She showed me how they discuss their story ideas and she introduces me her colleagues. She first gave me materials and emails about the picture story she is working on. And then she took me to the library to find the newspaper. After that, we went to a coffee shop and i asked her lots of questions about how to write a story. I have to say her advice is very useful.

3.    At that day, she planned to go the lansing library to find a newspaper and a advertisement published at that day. The reason why she needs to find the newspaper is she was trying to help people to find a source of a picture. And she planned to write a story about how she find the source of the picture and the story behind the picture. 

4.    I asked lots of questions about my project for her. She gave me some advice like how she find stories, how to use resources i have to find a story and how to contact people and ask them questions. She gave me lots of professional answers and help me know more about writing a story.

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I decided to do my job shadow with Adam Tabor, a morning video editor for WWMT – the Kalamazoo CBS affiliate. 

            Tabor graduated from Western Michigan University with a degree in film, video and media studies. 

            Tabor’s day starts at 2 a.m. in order to have enough time to edit together the video for the morning news.  He goes into the station and first takes a look at the news stories that WWMT will cover during their morning segment, and looks through their database for the appropriate videos.  Some of these videos are shot by WWMT’s own cameramen, while other clips come from national news outlets. 

Each video is given a code, similar to a barcode, which is searchable in an online directory.  After locating the video clip, Tabor downloads the video, and converts it into the proper file-type. This makes it possible for WWMT to use the videos in their broadcast. 

After this, Tabor must edit the videos to be used for the broadcast.  To do this, Tabor must first wait for the producers to send him the script for the segment.  Within the script, the producers will leave instructions for Tabor regarding the parts of the video they want shown.

The morning that I was there, WWMT was covering a news story about grandparents who had playfully placed duct tape around the mouth of their grandchild and posted pictures they thought were funny onto Facebook.  The script called for Tabor to edit together a 40-second clip.  However, there was a script to follow. 

The script called for a clip showing one of the pictures of duct tape around the infant’s mouth just as the grandmother made a statement explaining the decision.  In the original video, the grandmother was shown talking to an interviewer and the picture was shown after.  So, Tabor had to edit the video so the grandmother was talking while the baby picture was being shown.

After editing together all of the videos for the morning news broadcast, Tabor sends them up to the studio to be reviewed by the producers and later finalized for the morning news. 

Adam Tabor

Cell: (269) 569-5839

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I had the opportunity to job shadow Erica Francis of FOX 17 in Grand Rapids and it was an experience I will never forget.
I got to the office about noon and waited for Erica to get into work. There was some miscommunication so Francis had actually gone out to do a story and didn’t realize I was there so I had to wait about an hour and a half for her to get back but when she returned to the studio she grabbed me from the waiting area and brought me into the newsroom. She showed me her desk and walked me through the newsroom, explaining what various things were. I didn’t fully understand it all, but it was really cool to see how it all came together. I then had to sign a waiver so that I could go out with her and cover a story.
The story that Francis was covering that day was actually a very sad one. Three students had died in a car crash so we had to travel to the city of Vicksburg, which is just south of Kalamazoo. I rode along with her in the FOX jeep which was cool and got to get to know her and ask her some questions. I learned that Francis went to Central Michigan University and graduated with a Broadcasting degree. She worked for City Holland TV, FOX 2 News, 95.3 CFX, and HOMTV in Okemos. She recommended HOMTV to me and it was ironic because I’m currently doing that internship. She also did a PR internship at ignition media. She told me that internships help a lot because the

things she didn’t learn in the classroom, she learned there. Some tips she gave me included keep up with the news, watch a newscast every day, stay involved on social media, and make connections. In terms of avoiding fatals, Francis said alway ask to say and spell, write it down also, and use multiple sources to look back to. She told me what the source says always goes, never forget to attribute, and relisten to interviews.
When we got to the school we met up with the photog, and went inside to speak with the superintendent. It was awesome to see how Francis interacted with him and also get to see the photog set up his equipment and the interview process in general.
Francis then went outside to do her stand up and after we were done at the school we drove and parked in a Target parking lot. She said that her and her photog normally go park somewhere and do all their editing and story writing in the car. This part was pretty boring for me, not to mention I hadn’t ate or drank anything all day and my phone was dead. I didn’t realize how long of a day it was going to be or I would have planned ahead. They were really pushing their deadline, but got it in just a couple of minutes before the deadline. I could really feel the pressure and realized just how important deadlines are.
The day as a whole was better than anything I could have imagined. I learned a lot from the experience. Getting to spend the day with Francis really reassured me that this is what I want to be doing. I really look forward to my career in the field of Journalism and all the different people I will get to meet and experiences I will have. This job shadow was a really great way for me to get a real idea of what it’s actually like in the news broadcasting field. 

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I shadowed Tammy Sortor from Channel 4 Detroit. She is the producer of Live in the D, a fun morning show that finds human interest and local stories around the city. When I first showed up I was in the waiting area and right across from me, unbeknownst to me, were two people that were going to be on the show that morning. Tammy came and got me and as we walked back she took me to the green room which was full of different people making appearances on the show that morning. I saw people from Greek Town that were there to promote Greek independence day and also a group of hairstylists that pride themselves in their intense and huge hairstyles.

            After that we went up to Tammy’s office where I met the other producer, an intern and the hosts of the show. I saw Tammy putting together scripts, her and the other producer talking trying to figure out just how they wanted the show to go. While watching her she got several calls from the director, trying to get everything into place. Once it reached about a half hour from show time, things got hectic. I was able to go behind the scenes and see how the operating room works, and it is very high paced and high intensity. Within one minute to show time a microphone stopped working and with about 45 seconds, they had to figure out why it was not working and how to fix it.

            I enjoyed this a lot, I enjoyed the pace of it, the people that I got to meet, including the producers but also the guests. I think this job would actually be perfect for me, either as a producer or host. I really liked that it was all human interest, good-feeling, upbeat stories. It was fun to see everyone after the show relax and goof around with each other, knowing that they’d have to do it all over again the next day and looking foreword to it. The biggest lesson I learned was to really just enjoy your job and make everything you can out of it. You really get out of a job what you put into it and if you make it a good time you will enjoy what you do.

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For my job shadow, I spent the day with a photographer who is a freelance photographer and also works for the Lansing State Journal.  His name is Matthew Dae Smith.  I shadowed Matthew while he was hired to take photos of Rochelle Riley at the Michigan Journalism Hall of Fame.  I got to experience what it was like to take photos at such a prestigious event and experience different tools of photography that can be used in those kinds of circumstances.

            Matthew set-up a flash in the back of the room which he used to take photos for the event.  He then let me put a transmitter on my camera and take some photos during the event.  He was teaching me about the power of flash and lighting and gave me some guidelines and tips for the kinds of pictures that would work best. 

            What I learned most from Matthew is his lively, energetic spirit.  He has a way with people.  He is extremely personable and really knows how to connect and interact with other people.  I was able to watch him in action and observe his style of photography.  I really appreciated his timeliness and how he was always chasing after the perfect shot.

            I helped Matthew record Rochelle Riley’s speech which was an interesting task.  I was up on a stage with one of his cameras helping him get the best possible recording so Rochelle could share her speech with friends and family who were unable to attend the event.  While I did this, Matthew ran around the room taking photos of Rochelle from all different angles.  He really introduced me to a new part of photojournalism that I haven’t been exposed to yet.  He helped me learn that it’s all about working with people and knowing how to interact with your audience.  He was diligent and informative and really helped me learn more about what it takes to be a great photojournalist.

            I really enjoyed spending the day with Matthew Dae Smith.  He is extremely warm and welcoming and really took me under his wing for the day to learn more about what he does and the power of networking and photography.  To say the least, I had one of the most fun days with Matthew and look forward to spending more time with him and learning more about the different kinds of photography he does.

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For my shadow I went to HOM TV, I witnessed all that goes into their news broadcast from start to finish. When I first arrived I took a tour around the office and saw where everyone on the team works. I then was introduced to a Molly O’Keeffe, who was apart of controlling the video and audio aspects of the news room. She explained that before the show she has to make sure that all the clips are in order in regards to stories and scripts. I saw how she did that on the computers as well as how she prepared the audio to the right levels for the broadcast. I then went into the studio where I saw all the cameras, monitors and two mains set ups for the broadcast. Molly explained and showed me how everything is set up; it was interesting to see because some of the things she was doing I am learning in two of my current classes.

After the studio I went to Brandy Yates who is the person in charge of everything including being the anchor for the broadcast. She showed me what programs are used to write scripts and how they are transmitted from the system to the monitors in the studio. I then went into their intern room where I saw all the interns edit videos and B-roll, practice lines and take their stories and prepare scripts for the show. After that I sat on the side and watched everything come together with their 30-minute show. Unfortunately, when I was there they had a few technical difficulties during the show.

Being there was very informative because there were things I was familiar with and things I learned. I learned more about the technical part of news media, and I noticed that the people there were working to meet deadlines just like we do in class. I saw how important it is to get things right in writing because it can either make or break the person reading it live on camera. I had a good time being there and it was just a confirmation that what we are learning in 300 is definitely something we will use in the real journalism world.

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After working at the State News being a sports reporter and editor, I have had experience at seeing older professionals work in the same environment as me. Great writers like Joe Rexrode (who I have worked with personally in the past), Graham Couch, Mike Rosenberg, etc. have all been in the same room as myself, talking to the same people and asking similar questions. I decided to stick with what I know, but find a professional writer who, as he put it, “carved out a niche” for himself in the ever-changing journalism market. That niche was recruiting, which led him to 247sports, a news organization that focuses heavily on the college recruiting trail.

Mike Wilson, a sports reporter at 247sports has been working with the organization since 2013. I do know Wilson and have spoken with him sparingly in the past, but he was one sports reporter who I wanted to know more about. I wanted to see how he operates while focusing on one specific aspect in the sporting world. It just so happens that I shadowed him the day before the spring game, an incredibly active time in the recruiting market for 247 and Wilson. Like a previous speaker we had in class, Derek Wallbank of Bloomberg, Wilson prides himself on being the first to break news regarding Michigan State recruitment. Recruits will schedule their visits as late as 24 hours before, so Wilson was on alert the whole time I was there.

He wrote about seven briefs that day, all on recruit updates for who would be attending the spring game. I would love to do something like that; breaking sports news and carving out a niche for myself in sports journalism. Wilson taught me a lot, and I will continue to model my work after my colleagues and peers that I see on a regular basis.