DBTV has changed my life. How’s that for a catchy lead? I’m not trying to be melodramatic ““ it’s true. From granting me special access to star-studded events, to crossing police barricades at a protest, to sitting courtside at a basketball game, reporting for DBTV has given me so many opportunities and memorable experiences that will last a lifetime.
Working for DBTV has taught me more than a classroom ever could. Deadlines needed to be met, even if it means spending 10 hours in a windowless basement staring at the same five-second shot over and over until you have a sequence of perfectly aligned soundbites and visuals that actually tell a compelling story.
The best thing I learned though is something they’ve been trying to teach us since kindergarten: how to work and play well with others. Putting together video packages is definitely a team effort that requires everyone involved to do their share of the work, no matter how stressed, overworked or sleep-deprived everyone is, and I’m so impressed with how much reporters and producers in our section help each other out no matter what time of the day or night it is.
And of course, the most memorable and special memories of all are the ones of bonding with fellow reporters while out in the field filming, interviewing, sometimes getting pushed and shoved together at a rally, then returning to the office for hours of editing only to emerge at some ungodly time early the next morning.
Thanks for everything, Daily Bruin, It’s been fun.
Reporting one last time for Daily Bruin Television, this is Maura Deignan.
Deignan was a DBTV reporter in 2007-2008. She will be teaching English in Japan next year through the Japanese Exchange Teaching program.