May 13th: Day Eight
Today, the group went to visit Irelands biggest broadcasting company, RTE. We were there before their 1pm news broadcast. We were in the broadcast room as they prepared for the news segments, seeing how they communicate and what they see on a daily basis. I was surprised that there were so many TVs, it would be too much for me to understand and handle at first.
Before the broadcast started, we were able to step into the newsroom where the reporters sit, and well report. It looked a lot smaller in person than newsrooms look on air. We were able to say hi to the reporter before heading back to the broadcast room, where we would be watching them do the news. Our guide informed us of a few interesting facts about the broadcast room, and just how the news is broadcasted in general.
He informed us that out of all the cameras, one through seven, that cameras three and five are used the most while broadcasting. Before they started with the news, the reported practiced speaking some of her lines, all while to make sure things on the other end are working properly. I did not know that the reporters and broadcasters can communicate between rooms, so at first, I was confused how the reporter was doing things that broadcasters were telling her to do.
The broadcast room is very fast paced, with high communication skills between everyone in the room. They did an amazing job keeping the broadcast running smoothly. It seems like a tough job to get used to if you are not good at working in a fast-paced environment. After the broadcast finished, we went back into the newsroom and took some pictures of the space, and most of us got our pictures taken sitting in the reporter’s chair behind the desk.
After a little in the newsroom, we went downstairs and met two different workers, who were both named Brian. The first Brian talked to us about radio, and I thought it was interesting that RTE does not take any controversial positions, and they stay very middle grounded. Most broadcast companies in America usually lean one way more than the other, and there are not many middle leaning broadcasts.
The next Brian talked to us about his time in America for a few years reporting political news. In normal years, the reporters sent out abroad usually just report on things relating to Ireland, and some things about the white house.
It was a really cool experience to be so close and inside a running live broadcast. It is something I thought I’d never do.
Later that night, we had an hour-long Irish dancing class which was interesting. I am not a dancer, but I think I did pretty decent! I was kind of shocked when the person teaching us how to Irish dance did not actually dance with us, and made one of us sit out of the activity. Other than that, it was pretty fun.