ST. LOUIS- Students from Lindenwood University’s communications program recently toured KMOV Channel 4, a top-25 market television station and gained firsthand experience in how a top-25 market television station operates.
11 members of Lindenwood’s Broadcast Education Association chapter received a full tour of the station, watched a live taping of Great Day St. Louis, and spoke with producers, on-air talent, a lifestyle and journalist, and members of the marketing department.
Students observed the live broadcast from inside the studio, watching as hosts delivered segments. They also got a look inside the control room, where directors managed graphics, audio and camera transitions in real time.
“News has become much simpler on the technical side,” Jacob Stanoch said about his understanding of how a newsroom functions. “Though anchors coming up with and finding their stories is just as hard.”
The environment the students got to observe was fast-paced and detail-oriented.
“It kind of reassured how I thought a news station was run,” he said. “Always paying attention and looking for the next thing. Very professional. The majority of the people love what they do there.”
During the tour, students got to learn how a professional TV station operates from finding and producing stories to how video was edited and placed into the rundown before showtimes. Producers talked about the different shows that are produced at the station and how the station runs as a well oiled machine to make sure everything comes together.
Students also heard from a lifestyle journalist about how he builds sources and how to maintain credibility in terms of knowing who to reach out to regarding potential story ideas. He offered insight about how there is more than just appearing on camera but the emotional side by the way he connects with people out in the community and finds stories to report on.
One highlight for the students was getting to talk with David Amelotti, a Lindenwood alum, who works as an investigative anchor and reporter at KMOV.
“My favorite part was obviously meeting with David Amelotti since I knew him and chopped it up a bit while he gave us advice,” Stanoch said. “Meeting the other on-air talent was also very nice.”
The group featured a mix of students that had an interest in going into to news after college but also students who news wasn’t necessarily on their but wanted to learn more.
“As someone who isn’t really interested in news, I still enjoyed the visit,” Stanoch said. “Delaney did an excellent job putting the visit together and more people should join BEA.”
The tour was organized by Delaney Willis, vice president of Lindenwood’s BEA chapter, who said she began coordinating the visit in November after months of outreach.
“The process to get the tour scheduled was quite lengthy,” Willis said. “I mass emailed anchors, reporters and producers.”
She said she connected with a producer who worked closely with her to tailor the experience to Lindenwood students’ interests.
“She showed such desire to allow Lindenwood BEA to get the most out of their tour and definitely cater our tour to our wants and our needs,” Willis said.
Students were able to compare KMOV’s state-of-the-art studio to Lindenwood’s campus facilities, noting the abundance of monitors, robotic cameras and advanced production technology. Much of Lindenwood’s equipment is operated manually, giving students a clearer picture of how professional studios function at a higher level.
“It was really cool for students to see what’s possible if you really put your mind to it,” Willis said. “There’s so many people that work behind the scenes rather than just the people that you see on a daily basis in front of the screen.”
The visit allowed students to see what the behind-the-scenes looks like at the professional level and how many moving parts there are that students wouldn’t normally see when watching a television program.
“The biggest thing that I got to see firsthand was how much goes on behind the scenes rather than just what we see on TV,” she said.
For Lindenwood communication students, the visit provided not only a behind-the-scenes look at broadcast operations but also inspiration and practical insight into careers in mass media and what a potential career after college could look like.
