TV station tour

Bill, this might be helpful, or not. Back in the day in Southern California, when I was first getting commercially involved in video production, I was able to get a local cable television station tour as they were also supporting the local Public Access program. I'd indicated an interest in participating and a small group was given a tour of the technical aspects of the facility. Are there still any active Public Access operations at any of your Baltimore cable stations?

Bill, as EarlC remarked about loooong time ago when cable tv was just starting, in order to get their license to have exclusive rights for a city, they would have to setup public access channels. They were eager to have just about anything video to fill the hours that the public channels were operating. They even had classes available to teach how to use equipment and put on your own show. I don't know if you will find that today but won't hurt to look into this. Today we still have public access channels for some of the cities in our metropolitan area. Contacting the individual cities might head you in the right direction. You might also try contacting the local PBS station or thelocalpublic collegeon campus stationsin your area.

When I was working with a metro access station last year, they said they were required to have a public access station in every market even today.

 Isn't Grassroots Media in the Bal'more area?  Joining a local public access station was a very helpful experience and it is usually inexpensive (on the order of $25 per year).

Hi, Bill... I worked in broadcasting for 20+ years at four different stations and we always welcomed tours. Check with your local affiliates and ask about tours, requirements, and if there's a chance to "hang out with a newscrew" for a day.

Usually the tour was based on just one shooter/editor allowing you to hang out with him or her for the day.

We had one-on-one single day visitors go out with me in the morning for a shoot, then we'd sit down and the guest would watch me edit the footage, and then I'd walk him through the next steps of getting it on the air. We'd then take off in the live van to do the 6:00 live shot that wrapped around the story we just finished - I'm sure it was a blast for the guest.

Contact the newsroom or assignment desk to get more info, I'm sure they'd be able to set something up for you.

Jennifer O'Rourke

Videomaker's Managing Editor

Just apply at your local TV stations, Bill. They'll give ya a tour as they interview you.