Each night local news anchors come into the homes of community members delivering polished versions of news events, weather, and sports. These people frequently become celebrities in small towns, but there are dozens of other people who go into creating the broadcast. Senior Maya Turner works behind the scenes to help create the evening news programs for KAGS, a local news station for Central Texas.
“A friend in my AV class got the job before I did and after a while she referred me to it, My friend knew I would enjoy it and she was right.” Maya said.
Maya has been working for KAGS for six months and has been given the opportunity to work with and meet new people at the station.
“I like all of the employees there,” Maya said. “They’re nice and it’s pretty laid back, and I get a two hour break between each news run, so it’s never too bad.”
Even with the laid back atmosphere of the job, there are still some difficulties when it comes to production.
“The production part of it is hard because we’re dealing with cameras, the audio, and the closed caption lines,” Maya said. “Making sure that the stuff doesn’t break down during the show and keeping the anchors happy is the most difficult part.”
Maya’s teachers value her creativity and follow through in class and believe her unique characteristics are aspects that make her an asset at KAGS.
“One of the main things that help her with broadcast journalism is that she’s creative,” English teacher Lisa Prejean said. “She’s also a person who takes direction well,” Prejean said. “If she’s serving as an assistant to someone and they tell her to do something, then she will follow through with and do that.”
Along with being able to take direction, Maya has learned skills by working with KAGS to help her in her future.
“Time management is another thing that I learned really well,” Maya said. “Our show starts at 6:00, but we have to have everything ready by 5:30. Time cues are very important to them so they know when to come on and start actually being anchors.”
Being able to manage time and still get things done is an important aspect of broadcast journalism that manifests during national events.
“Election day is really hectic,” Maya said. “I learned how to do things at a fast pace and still get them done. The whole day we’re making graphics of all the different candidates and constantly updating information. It’s really stressful in a way, because we do have a time limit on when we have to get it on air.”
Her teachers see her spirit and recognize that she is capable of taking things she learns at school and applying them to real life situations.
“I think it’s pretty awesome that she took the initiative to go after a job she enjoys,” Prejean said. “She found a passion inside of school and took it outside to the next level.”
Despite finding interest in broadcast journalism and taking the job at KAGS, she plans on going into the nursing field in the future.
“I was planning on doing broadcast journalism on the side in the future,” Maya said. “I like to make promotional videos, and I’m also into photography. I know it’s different from videography, but that’s just another thing I have learned and would like to continue even if that’s not the field I pursue for work.”
Though Maya does not plan to enter the field of broadcast journalism upon graduation, she does see how her experience at KAGS will help her in the future.
“My job at KAGS has helped me adapt to different co-workers,” Maya said. “The sports anchors and the news anchors are totally different. In nursing, I know I will deal with a lot of different people so that aspect of working at KAGS will benefit me the most.”
