A lesson to all high school TV anchors:
March 16th was a day that will always stick with me because it was quite bizarre. It was a cold March day of senior year like every other winter day. I got to school and headed to the TV studio to do the morning announcements. Our announcements are a live daily show that the students in my class write, conduct, and produce. Now, it is important to tell you all that this "announcements" thing is not new to me. I had been doing this almost every day this entire school year, so I was very familiar with the proper on-air educate. However, there must have been some internal fire building up inside of me that day, that desperately needed to be let out. I put my microphone on and got situated at the news desk with my partner, Mike, who was doing the same routine to prepare. We then began practicing our lines. It is important I mention that we read from a teleprompter placed in front of us at all times; our names precede our lines. If you can read well, it is a simple task. We always begin with this:
Erin: Good morning, Dallastown. I’m Erin.
Mike: And I’m Mike. And today is Wednesday, March 16th, Day 4.
Erin: and we’re live from 265 at 7:45.
BUT, it didn’t go that way on March 16th. Instead it went something like…..
Erin: Good morning, Dallastown. I’m Erin.
Mike: And I’m Mike and we’re live from 265 at 7:45.
*MY WORLD INSTANTLY FELL APART INSIDE OF ME WHILE LIVE ON THE TVS THROUGHOUT THE SCHOOL*
Erin: what?! That’s not even it….UGH.
Mike(confused): *looks at Erin*
Erin(with anger): AND TODAY IS WESNESDAY MARCH 16TH DAY 4.
Mike: Oh. ...And we’re live from 265 at 7:45.
Erin: *rolls eyes*
*Mike’s part but doesn’t say anything*
Erin: *looks at Mike* That’s your part!
Mike(confused pt.2): Oh. *says line*
Erin: *looks away*
Morning show continues on fine.
Afterwards, I was expecting to get yelled at, given detention, and sent to the principal’s office. But that didn’t happen. My classmates were laughing and asking me what happened. I got some texts and snapchats of my friends laughing. However, my TV teacher simply thought I was having an “off day.” As you can imagine, this was a huge relief as I would never do that normally and I was expecting a punishment. In fact, all of my previous partners and even myself have messed up quite a few times throughout the year yet nothing like this has ever happened. Nevertheless, that was a great example of what happens when you let all your frustrations build up inside. One day when you’re doing the morning announcements live on the school TV and your partner makes an innocent mistake, the next thing you know, you’ll be telling him off on-air for the entire student body and faculty to see.
This was truly a learning experience for myself, as someone who wants to pursue a career in broadcast journalism. The lesson I take away and I hope all of you high school TV students take away from this is: make sure when you are broadcasting on TV for people to see, never allow your emotions or anger to take the place of your duty to present information. This is critical for a high school TV class. You are representing yourself and your school, so do it in the best way you can. If your partner messes up, let them know they made a mistake by going back and saying their missed line instead of getting mad and telling them they messed up. While it may seem like a big deal in the moment, it really is not. There are plenty of other ways you can repair mistakes while broadcasting on television for your school.
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