Bear News offers students a taste of real-world television experience By Jason DeThomas UNC Connection April 21, 2008

The studio is dimly lit, and the UNC Bear insignia barely stands out on the front of the anchor desk. The first floor of Candelaria is home to none other than our very own Bear News Studio. Heather DeSiena, producer of Bear news, gave an exclusive interview and also led me on a tour of the studio. DeSiena, a Journalism major, has been involved with Bear News since it was a fledgling program, anchoring for two seasons. When asked why she was so enthusiastic, DeSiena said I love journalism, love news, love broadcasting! She must, because she told me she spends hours in the studio, especially before shows, remembering one time she was there for around five hours straight. After taking Television Production as a class, DeSiena and Tony Trevino (now the assignments editor) approached Dr. Dale Edwards, the faculty member who oversees Bear News. They hashed out a plan and Bear Tracks was bornthe same basic thing as Bear News but with a more light-hearted air. Bear Tracks is more experimental and similar to newsmagazines than Bear News. And its purely volunteer-based, whereas Bear News comes from a class. Bear News in the Spring, Bear Tracks in the Fall. Bear Tracks, unlike Bear News (which is an upper-tier class) has no requirements to participatestudents must only be willing to learn. No other experience or skills are necessary. The key is that as one participates in Bear Tracks and learns, they can then go into Bear News with a step-up. Also, they can train new volunteers to Bear Tracks the same way they were trained. Speaking of trainingI have none. So I was lost and I had to keep asking DeSiena to explain things. The first thing I asked was What's a producer do? DeSiena said everything. That means checking every story, e-mailing and checking scripts, checking the timing, making sure anchors are prepared with their scripts, helping to plan stories and basically making sure everything is in place come show time. However, DeSiena, Trevino and Edwards arent the only people who contribute story ideas the entire crew does. The thing they focus the most on, however, is impact. They continually ask the question: How does this impact the students? Each story starts from that root and branches through each persons specific interests. Reporters go and cover their own stories in the time in between shows, and each works around their own schedules. Then it is the producers job to block, or arrange, the shows themselves. There are five blocks: A, B, C, D, and, you guessed it, Q. No, I'm just kidding. Its E. Haha. A is hard hitting news, usually longer and always first. Some examples are the changes to the +/- grading system, school safety issues, or Student Representative Council news. B contains softer news, frequently containing a human interest angle or having a lighter mood, concerning things such as tattooing, dancing, or music. C is the weather, D is sports, and E is the kicker. A kicker is a short feel-good story to end the show with and make watchers feel happy. All the blocks together run about 30 minutes. The show has two news anchors, a sports anchor, and a weather anchor. In fact there are many positions, and DeSiena says it really helps to maintain a real-world atmosphere. They try to promote realistic conditions, and as such, things can get quite hectic come time to shoot. Deadlines are strict, and live mistakes are not editedthey are aired. Making mistakes is a great learning tool, says DeSiena, and ask any child whos ever burned their hand on the stovetheyll agree.

When the show began almost one and a half years ago, there was only DeSiena, Trevino, and Edwards (as volunteers, that is, not in the class). Now there is a staff that fills entire conference rooms and some people need to stand. Its really exciting, just to see the numbers growwere really excited to see what happens. The next time Bear News airs a new show is April 15th (but might roll over into the morning of the 16th), and the final show is May 1st. Between shows, they simply loop the episode forever until they air a new show. Thanks to Bear news, we can get a glimpse of our own students hard at work and at the same time get a slice of campus newsso check it out, channel 98. Go Bear News.