Action News at THON!

2012 is the first year that 6abc decided to travel down to Penn State University to cover their annual Dance Marathon which raises millions of dollars every year to fight pediatric cancer. Action News found out that we were the only station in the region to cover the event during our weekend newscasts, a fact we were proud of as the event wrapped up.

As far as Creative Services is concerned, we produced a 30 second spot with our stations veteran-Jim Gardner. The spot involved Jim discussing Penn State controversial stance in the media and how Thon will aim to turn all the negative into a positive with one goal in mind- raising money for pediatric cancer. As we were filming, I got to witness how inspiring Jim Gardner is. I definitely look up to him as a role model.

Here's the finished spot:

It came out great!

Here's a little topical recap of the week:

Tonight at 11-

A local man shot outside his home. Now police are gathering clues in search for the suspects.

Then-

The woman accused of running over a nine-year-old girl has turned herself in. We're learning more about the alleged hit-and-run driver.

Plus-

I'm Meteorologist Cecily Tynan. Our span of spring-like weather continues. But, how long will it last? Find out in the ACCU weather forecast.

AND-

Dozens of residents come home to find they're missing door knockers. Why these items have become so appealing to thieves.

Tonight at 11.

AND ANOTHER:

Today at 4:

A massive oil spill continues to send sickening fumes over the Delaware Valley. Why residents are concerned about their health.

Then-

The Philadelphia Archdiocese is announcing the fate of four catholic high schools. We're their with all the latest.

Plus-

I'm Meteorologist Adam Joseph. Mild weather is moving out of our region. I'm tracking cooler temperatures in time for the weekend, coming up in the ACCU weather forecast.

AND-

The stars are gearing up for the biggest event in Hollywood. Alicia Vitarelli is live at the Oscars with the coverage.

Today at 4.

Gearing up for the Public...

This week marks a relatively big week for the social media sector of the Creative Services Department. The department launched the first "Lunch with the Talent campaign"-- created to increase the amount of subscribers to our Facebook page. Throughout the past two weeks, Maria and I have been compiling an excel worksheet of all the people who entered the "Lunch with Meteorologist Adam Joseph" contest. Since Adam is our top talent, over 4,000 single individuals entered the contest not including several individuals who entered the contest hundreds of times. Throughout these past weeks, we've been logging every single name into the excel worksheet. Note for next time-> include that multiple entries will not increase chances of winning lunch with Adam Joseph.

After randomly selecting the winners and announcing them via Facebook, they were invited to the station (with a guest) to receive a free tour and of course meet the famous Adam Joseph!

We showered our guests with gifts, food and knowledge about 6abc and our road to becoming the best news station in the Southeastern PA region. Along with assisting Maria with the event, I am gearing up to add another bullet to the list my responsibilities: TOUR GUIDING!

Maria and Mike have started to train me on giving tours of our new station which interns usually have done in the past. In fact, Mike asked if I was willing to give tours over the Summer. Nothing is finalized but the longer I stay in the building, the happier I will be...

Baby Steps in getting a job. Baby steps..

The Review..

Today (Friday) has been a good day! What made today special was the fact that I got my midterm evaluation today. I was nervous all week about it (since Mara told me ahead of time) and it was today!

I received rave reviews about my performance as an intern, which really put me in a good mood! The only bit of constructive criticism I received was just to keep working on my editing skills. I'm a beginner at Final Cut so its only natural that I have these beginner road blocks so often.

Today, Tim asked for me to give him a rundown of the Nielson ratings reports. After reading over it carefully, I noticed that 6abc ranks #1 in the entire region (as far as news) and the importance of primetime television in correlation with how well our newscasts typically play out-- ratings wise! Learning about the ratings system is pretty cool but I think there is a better way to gather ratings.

Topical time!

Today at 4-
Drivers are in for big delays as the Platt Bridge construction project begins tonight. Sarah Bloomquist has the full report.

Then-

Dozens of dead chickens found scattered in a local cemetery! Now police are searching for those responsible.

Plus-

I'm Meteorologist Melissa Magee. After a windy start, temperatures are starting to look up. I'll have all the details in the ACCu weather forecast.

AND-

A local mother and her daughter score tickets to the 84th Academy Awards. More about their road to the red carpet.

Today at 4!

Adios, until next week.

Midway Madness

This week marks the half way point of my experience here at Channel 6 Action News. I can not believe this experience is half way over.

This week, after a few weeks of battling with our camera/computer system, Katelyn and I finally produced our 3rd video for Good Morning America and The Philadelphia Flyers. We posted on our WPVI youtube channel and its already had over 600 page views. Fans really love our Behind the Scenes videos!

Drum roll please. . . .

I'm very happy with the way it turned out and so did the department. I received an abundance of praise from the News Director, Tom Davis as well as Bernie P., President and General Manager who gave it a unanimous thumbs up! Thereafter, we were able to distribute the video to the public. And yes, that is my annoying voice you hear in the background. (I hate my speaking voice).

In addition to making finalizations on this video, I've written a topical for mostly everyday of the week. I love topicals!

Today at 4-

New details on the dispute between neighbors that ended in tragedy. We're learning more about the suspect involved in the deadly shooting.

Then-

A man is caught stealing an expensive watch in airport security. We have footage of the thief in action.

Plus-

I'm Meteorologist Adam Joseph. Our string of mild weather may come to an abrupt end. More details in your ACCU Weather forecast.

AND-

It's that time again! Karen Rogers is out with her favorite sign, offering $600 to someone in need.

Today on Action News at 4.

Looking forward to a great week!

Getting the hang of things..

With the constant problems accumulating this week, I got a break to discuss the ins and outs of the ratings period. I learned that the Ratings Period just started this month where local television stations compete for the best ratings in the area. Tim printed out a sheet of numbers that displayed the ratings for the entire day.

The ratings period is a time when stations gather information to track and find out which shows are successful and which are not. In turn, this helps networks decide which programs are successful and worthy of keeping on air. 

Tim and I met for about an hour to discuss Nielson ratings and how 160,000 people in the tri-state area represent the millions of cultures and demographics who watch television at any given time. There is a percentage that represents viewership per time block which indicates the times of day people are watching television. It wasn't a stock that Primetime blocks had the highest percentage. They don't call it primetime for no reason. 

To make things short and brief, Tim showed me that we monitor the ratings so the Promotions department has an idea of what we need to do more promoting of. The morning, noon, 5pm and 6pm shatter all the competition across the board--- beating NBC, CBS and Fox. Since the 4pm is a relatively new newscast (replacing Oprah), the ratings are not as strong as the other well-established newscasts. The 11pm is also up for grabs because Fox produces a newscast an hour earlier---giving viewers a chance to watch the news earlier. This would make sense for our, since we focus our energies on writing topicals for the 4pm and 11pm newscasts.

Isn't it amazing how television works?

Good Morning Ammmmeerrriccaaa!

This week, we continued to jumpstart our Behind the Scenes project for Good Morning America's shoot with the Action News team and the Philadelphia Flyers. Katelyn and I ran into quite a few problems with the footage I shot a few weeks ago. The entire beginning of the week consisted of me uploading video from the flip camera we use and logging it into our final cut project. What made things more frustrating was the fact that I filmed some of the footage on my phone which made us have to convert the footage in a different format than normal. In the end, though, we were able to get everything on the same plane.

Here's a few topicals from the week.

Today at 4-

Dealers caught on surveillance! What Camden police are doing to clear drugs off their streets.

Then-

A prosecutor is investigating the death of Cardinal Bevilacqua. Why results from a toxicology test could raise a few eyebrows.

Plus-

I'm meteorologist Adam Joseph. More snow is on the way just in time for the weekend. How much to expect in the ACCU weather forecast.

AND-

This purple squirrel has become an internet sensation! Why the colorful creature has everyone buzzing.

Today on Action News at 4.

Social Media 101

Yet another special event I was able to participate in this week was a station-wide Social Media meeting where the Creative Services department held several information sessions to inform people about the stations strategies and expectations on social media networks such as Facebook, Twitter, Google+, LinkedIn, etc. It was housed in the station's state of the art conference room where producers, executive producers, vice presidents, anchors and the President/General Manager came together to ask questions and get a little more educated on how social media impacts the business.

A big topic of discussion came up when the Special Reports executive producer brought up how the Joe Paterno case was handled. CBS Sports reported (a day early) that Paterno was dead when he really was not.

Journalism 101: Never report on the death of someone unless it is 100% accurate and a reputable source on behalf of the person comes forward. CBS Sports and CBS Inc. was in serious trouble after that false report.   

I say this to say that social media played a huge role in that mistake. Someone, on behalf of CBS sports, reported that story via social networking. CBS, being a reputable source (in my eyes at least), released the story and dozens of other stations took the story and ran with it. Our station, however, waited to report his death--calling it "alleged reports of Paterno's death." If anyone, known to work at 6abc, reported the story (personal or professional) then the station could've received flack for it. This goes to show how powerful social media networking is, and how its changing the dynamics of journalism.

Working Behind the Scenes..

Another fresh week down with another Behind the Scenes project for the Philadelphia Auto Show under my belt. Mara gave me a heads up that she wanted the video done by the end of the week (a few days before the Auto Show wrapped up). It was a strict deadline indeed, but with the help of Katelyn, we were able to get it done within the deadline.

This week, I realized how much time and patience goes into the editing process. This go round, we used a flip cam  which is a very portable and convenient way of shooting footage while participating in fast paced activities. It was great up into Katelyn and I sat down in the editing booth and began logging tape into Final Cut Pro. We spent two whole days figuring out how to properly log the video and transfer them so they'd be viewable for the audience. This project ended up being the guinea big to figure out how to do everything the proper way. In the end we finally figured it out and released the video to the public. Here it is!!

As I said earlier, it was awesome meeting so many fans. I even signed a couple autographs myself. So random.

As always, I love to share my topical writings with you. Here's an exciting one from Tuesday:

Today at 4--

A man is charged for raping a teenage girl and throwing her out a window! We're learning more about the chain of events leading up to the attack.

Then--

Family and friends are waiting anxiously as Somali rescue, Jessical Buchanan returns to Philadelphia. Sarah Bloomquist is reporting live from Mobile 6.

Plus--

I'm Meteorologist Adam Joseph. We're tracking warm temperatures ahead. But how long will it last? Find out in your ACCU Weather forecast.

AND--

Why pay more? How this furniture shop promises to save you some cash on your favorite brands.

Today on Action News at 4.

In addition, I'm continuing to help Maria with writing teasers followed by posts to our Facebook page. We have 145,526 fans and counting. 3rd news station in the entire country to hit that number!! Woohoo!!

She's been having me do TODAY IN HISTORY daily posts where I have to research something interesting that has happened in the past on that particular day. It's popular among the Action News fans :-)