News Central 34 prepares for semester production

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The student anchors and technicians of News Central 34 are ramping up for a new semester of bringing university and local news to your TV screen.

Steve Bishop, a graduate assistant for News Central 34, said preparing the program for live broadcasts takes between four and five weeks for a seven- to eight-week run.

“News Central is kind of its own brand,” the Battle Creek resident said. “We don’t just cover the CMU campus. We cover Mount Pleasant and we cover Isabella County.”

Bishop said the first step in preparing for each semester is bringing in students from BCA 524: Producing Television News, and then training them to find news stories and get used to the production studio’s equipment.

After producers begin their routine, anchor auditions are held before a practice week — all leading up to live on-air broadcasts every weekday.

Clarkston senior Alana Goeringer works behind the scenes as a producer for the live News Central 34 segments. She works closely with on-air talent to put together a smooth show and gain insight for her future career.

“Even though we have all these classes and we learn different aspects of (production),” she said, “this is more of a hands-on type thing and not everybody knows how all of the equipment works.”

St. Charles senior Chad Weaver was one of the broadcast and cinematic arts students who auditioned for a role as a franchise reporter.

Bishop said there are 26 anchor positions available, varying between sports, weather and news anchor positions.

“Our anchors will typically work an eight-hour week,” he said. “(They’re) in 2 to 6 p.m. every day writing the show.”

Weaver said each franchise reporter is responsible for researching current events and putting together an assemblage of stories to last a few minutes, and then they must present that information in a short segment.

“It’s a great experience,” he said. “It’s a lot different from when you’re in class and doing it and then actually being in a newsroom and doing it. It’s a lot more hectic.”

Each anchor is responsible for either a Monday and Wednesday news segment, or a Tuesday and Thursday segment, each at 5 p.m. There is also a shorter Friday segment that airs from 5 to 5:30 p.m.

“Ultimately what you put into it is what you get out of it,” Bishop said. “The quality gets better as the semester goes on.”

BCA Professor Rick Sykes has worked as News Central 34′s adviser since 1996. He said he takes pride in the experience he is able to provide students.

“What they get in our co-curricular is experience that’s not replicated anywhere else in the state of Michigan,” he said. “It is as close to a commercial news operation as I can get it.”

News Central 34′s newscasts can be viewed weekdays at 5 p.m. on channel 34 on campus and channel 97 off campus.