Reporting live from a crime scene
Even with everything you learn in getting a journalism degree from KU, there are some things you can’t learn in a classroom.
It was the first day of my internship at WOWT Channel 6 in Omaha last summer and I was ecstatic to be the only news intern at the station. I knew I’d be getting hands-on experience but I didn’t know I’d be getting so much of it so quickly.
On my first day the reporter and I were called to a bank robbery in South Omaha. The suspect had fled to a house in North Omaha with the money he’d stolen, so we went to check things out.
I figured the police would just bust down the door, go arrest the suspect, and that’d be that. But when we got there, it looked as though half of the Omaha Police Department was stationed around the house, all heavily armed. It was intimidating, seeing police officers run around with guns but it was exciting to see it all up-close while helping report what was going on.
When my mom called to ask how my first day was I left quite a bit out because if you’re not a reporter yourself you don’t understand that there’s some danger that can come with being in the field. But that’s half the fun; it’s a rush, and, getting that experience was something I’ll never forget.
Laura Sather ~ Journalism senior studying news and information and English
May 2012
Tags: Broadcast, Internships, Real-world experience, Students
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