Job & Internship

June 2009 Internship Spotlight

Name: Tushar Dayal
Major: Journalism
Company: BBC World News America

Duties: A great thing about the World News America (WNA) team was that they let me follow my interests. Of course I had the normal intern duties of logging, tape management and tape library management, but as they got more comfortable with me I was given bigger responsibilities. Later I was in charge of feeding footage to and from the studio, mainly to London. I also ran the teleprompter, which seems easy but is pretty stressful. A few times they even let me be the Assistant Director of the show, where I got to run lighting and sound as well as setting up live satellite connections with guests all over the world.

Link for the package that I created: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/programmes/world_news_america/7997381.stm

Most Memorable Experience: The most memorable, or should I say intense experience was when I filled in as Assistant Director on one of my last days with the BBC. The hour-long show was packed with guests, both in-studio and remote. Throughout that hour I was running in and out of the studio, changing camera positions, mic'ing guests, making sure the lighting and sound levels were good. On top of that we had to manage the video feeds of guests coming in from places like Baghdad. While all this was going on I was thinking, "If I make a mistake, millions of people all over the world will see this."

Special Contribution: I was given the opportunity to make a package that aired on the show. It's a "self-authored" piece in which the interviewee tells a story. In this case we did the package on an art exhibit at the National Portrait Gallery on the Public Works of Art project during the Great Depression. I made the connection between government spending then and now, which is the reason why it was given the ok by my supervisor.

Advice to Future Interns: My advice would be to follow your interests and persist. You have to build up skills outside of school, be it working with publications on campus or around Ames. During your internship, gather up ideas and propose them, find connections with current events and conditions. Most of the ideas you propose will be rejected, but that's the nature of the business. Even when your idea is rejected, store it in the back of your head, because it may come in handy later.

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