The University of Oklahoma • Gaylord College of Journalism and Mass Comunication
ON THE SET: Fall 2006 OU Nightly newscast anchors (from left) John Moss, Joanna Rus, Keaton Fuchs and Mitch Sego bring live news, weather and sports from Gaylord Hall. “OU Nightly” covers news on campus and around Norman. Photo by Lance ThomasBroadcasts anchor students' course work
Students choose from variety of on-air opportunities
A hidden microphone rests in the ear of an attractive young anchor.
“30 seconds,” she hears from the producer as she does last-minute preparations.
She opens her mouth wide and performs a series of stretches that will ensure her words flow smoothly during the show.
The co-anchor adjusts the collar on her red button-down blouse seconds before they begin. The lights dim, cameras begin to roll and the newscast begins.
“Good evening and thank you for watching ‘OU Nightly,’” says the first anchor.
“We’re bringing you news from around campus and around Norman, live from Gaylord Hall,” says her colleague.
LIVE FROM NORMAN: McMahon Centennial professor Dana Rosengard gives some last minute instruction to students before the “OU Nightly” broadcast.This isn’t Oklahoma City’s KFOR Channel 4 or Tulsa’s KJRH Channel 2. It’s “OU Nightly,” the daily student newscast written, produced and presented by OU students on TV4OU, the student television station.
Inside the Cherokee Gothic exterior of Gaylord Hall is a state-of-the-art television studio. With three sets, a green screen, professional-quality lights and high-end cameras, the studio is the envy of many professionals.
“We have the opportunity to give an experience that many other schools can’t give students with technology,” says George Lynn Franklin, TV4OU station manager.
TV4OU airs on Cox Cable’s Channel 4. In addition to the newscast, students produced four other shows in 2005-2006: “Point of View,” “The Fifth Quarter,” “Sports Package” and “TV4OU Concert Series.”
“The two sports shows are making efforts to bring lesser-known sports to the channel live,” Franklin says. “Live baseball games have made it on air.”
“Wired Entertainment Weekly,” the station’s first weekly show, won a First Place award from the Oklahoma Association of Broadcast Educators in fall 2005.
A fictional reality show will air in fall 2006. Called “405,” the comedy follows typical OU students through daily life. It has nine leading roles.
Students come to the station to work. Student productions do not pay students in money or school credit; students do them for the career prep.
“I can get the experience that I can only get in a professional setting right here at the college level,” journalism junior Keaton Fuchs says. “Everyone can really come out with a lot of experience from here.”
Fuchs served as TV/radio operations and production manager in 2005-2006 and as an anchor for the live newscast.
“OU Nightly” 2005-2006 had four anchors: Fuchs; Laura Neal, broadcast and electronic media junior; Kelli Steggeman, journalism senior; and Nicole Ninh, journalism and political science senior. John Moss, broadcast and electronic media senior, and Mitch Day, broadcast and electronic media senior, shared the position of sports anchor, while meteorology seniors Matt Mahler and Keith Cavey presented the weather.
“With an internship you just view,” Stegeman says. “Here you learn about the industry as you do.”
Student producers, directors and control operators – students in Franklin’s Broadcast Practicum — spend three hours preparing before each live broadcast. Practicum students also work cameras, lights and other equipment.
Dana Rosengard, McMahon Centennial Professor of Journalism and “OU Nightly” news director, came to OU in fall 2005 and began immediately to play a key role in helping students be proactive about their futures.Taking it To The Wire
The Wire, a student-run radio station, provides another broadcast outlet for Gaylord college students. Student Affairs and the University of Oklahoma Student Association gave a $40,000 grant to help buy a transmitter and new antennae. The Wire, available online at wire.ou.edu, is working to find a spot on the FM dial.
Four to seven student-led shows air on the Wire each Monday through Friday. Students are enrolled in the Wire Practicum class and required to do a one- to two- hour show weekly.
“You say you want to be a television journalist?” he asks. “Come on. Right downstairs. Come be one. I want to help students be sure this is what they want to do.”
“My colleagues say, ‘How are you getting them to do that?’ or ‘Why are they doing this?’ I use the ‘F’ word all the time: fun. This is fun.”
Being part of the Gaylord College broadcast group also is serious work, given that students spend up to 12 hours a week editing tapes and researching stories for the chance to be on air.
Students who get on-air or behind-the-camera experience are in a better position to get jobs than those who do not.
Therefore, the competition to be part of the “OU Nightly” cast is strong. Those who apply must submit cover letters, résumés and writing samples, along with a taped script reading. Student audition tapes go to two other universities for judging.
“These are people who are not afraid to step up,” Rosengard says. “I think this is another example of them as leaders and another opportunity for them to be leaders. It takes a lot of courage to sit down on that anchor chair.”
Journalism graduate Chealsie Sanchez, an “OU Nightly” producer, is in charge of making sure the show is on time and that everyone speaks and roles tapes on cue. Sanchez says her experience will help her get a job as a television producer when she enters the job market.
As another school day ends, so does the day’s student newscast.
“Thanks for watching ‘OU Nightly,” brought to you by the Gaylord College of Journalism and Mass Communication here on the campus of the University of Oklahoma,” says the first anchor. “We’ll see you back here tomorrow night live at 4:30.”
“Have a great evening,” says her colleague. “Good night.”
