“Winthrop Close Up” Trains Students for Broadcast Jobs

Anchors Chris Barnes, from left, and Rohena Khan and sports reporter James Lamberts prepare for a February taping of “Winthrop Close Up.” They await direction from Ashley Wheeler, right, while camera crew members, Katy Pfeil and Joe Mason, check their equipment.

When senior broadcast major Adam LaRoche graduates in May, he will be equipped with the real world knowledge and hands-on experience needed to gain a coveted career in video or television.

He will show off his skills in a professional resume tape of his best stories from “Winthrop Close Up,” an award-winning student magazine show produced by broadcast majors in the Department of Mass Communication.

The weekly 30-minute production combines the efforts of students in two higher level courses, broadcast journalism and television production. Students rotate jobs to write, shoot and edit stories, which cover a wide variety of topics, from the effects of escalating violence in Kenya on students to a five-part series on Winthrop and Rock Hill’s partnership in redeveloping the Textile Corridor.

“On Monday we brainstorm and assign story ideas. On Wednesday, we put everything to tape, and Thursdays are for editing. On Friday, the tape goes to Residence Life and airs in residence halls from Friday to the following Thursday, three to four times per day,” said LaRoche, this semester’s sports editor. He has already completed both courses and is working on “Winthrop Close Up” this spring as a volunteer.

“Winthrop Close Up” has proven an eye-opening experience for students. Brandon Taylor ’07, who now works as a WBTW News 13 general assignment reporter, thought before he took the class that the television industry was “just glitz and glamour.”

“Once I got into ‘Winthrop Close Up,’ I realized it was anything but that. It’s a very demanding and stressful profession, and deadlines are key,” said Taylor.

Instructor Mark Nortz says some students believe working on “Winthrop Close Up” is a steep learning curve.

“They are used to having a two- to three-week turnaround on their work in earlier classes, and now they only have a week, and they have to work in teams,” said Nortz, who co-teaches with Associate Professor Haney Howell.

Nortz believes the success of “Winthrop Close Up” lies in teaching the basics of learning how to write and shoot good stories, as well as editing and producing strong packages. He says it falls on the students to build on the basics.

Today’s students have the benefit of learning on more than $200,000 in state-of-the art digital equipment recently installed by the department. The new equipment includes a digital switcher, audio board and graphics enhancer, which puts text on video.

Equipped with their resume tapes, mass communication students often look for jobs in front of and behind the camera. LaRoche says he would like to find a job as a production assistant when he graduates, but he emphasizes the overall skills gained through work on the program.

“‘Winthrop Close Up’ has helped me use my creativity outside the box. I can find an aspect of a story and focus on that to make it flow and have a professional result,” said LaRoche.