Work Experience @ Channel Seven: Day One

Work Experience at Channel Seven

Day One: Monday, December 3, 2012

Once upon a time in the lovely and picturesque hustle and bustle of Sydney City it was time to begin the big day for a young and hopeful journalism student.

No, but seriously…

My alarm abruptly sounded at 5:30am and I woke with butterflies already fluttering in my stomach but it was time to get up, get ready for work and shake off the nerves. I began the walk to work at 6:30am and arrived at 6:45am. I made my way up the golden channel seven stairs and introduced myself to the security guard behind the administration desk. I was handed my lanyard attached to a security pass and was introduced to Adam; the guest greeter.

I sat in the studio watching how Sunrise looks from behind the camera, joining in on the banter during the ad breaks and watching Justice Crew rehearse and perform. It was exactly how I expected it to be: casual but professional, easy but hard work and loads of fun but laid back and relaxed too. After seeing how things work in the studio it was time to check out the goings on in the control room. The control room consisted of about seven people monitoring everything from the timing of the on-air segments to the written visuals shown on-screen. It was exciting to hear how everything sounds from behind the scenes and to understand how much goes into ensuring everything runs smoothly.

As live as you can get - The Morning Show

I met with Adam again and at this point it was about 9:30am, Sunrise had finished and The Morning Show was now on-air. Adam gave me his headset so I could hear the conversations between the crew and hosts in the studio and the producers in the control room. We got Larry his morning coffee and made sure all guests had arrived and were comfortable. 

Once everything was organised down stairs it was time to sort the mail for Sunrise and The Morning Show. Adam showed me where the desks were of those that received the most mail; Melissa Doyle, David Koch, Michael Pell and Karen Staude. The other work experience person, Micah and I sorted it all and delivered it to their desks along with Edwina Bartholomew’s as I could see her sitting at her desk.

Next I was properly introduced to Karen Staude, Michael Pell’s Personal Assistant. Karen is the one who I was in email contact with regarding the details of beginning my work experience; organising my insurance and the time/date details of when I was to start work. By this time it was nearing 11:30am and Karen didn’t have any work she wanted to do so she told me to leave early and enjoy the city of Sydney.

It was so surreal to be in the big smoke of Sydney City and all on my lonesome but it was pouring with rain so I decided to just head back to my apartment and call everyone at home to let them know how my morning went.

And that was that. Day one: complete.