CCHS Classmates Tag Along With KPSP News Producers

By Danna Leyva

During my job shadowing day with classmate Laura Padilla, I was partnered with mobile reporter Eddie Quezada. He interviewed Rajendra Netha, El Paseo Jewelry owner, for a story to inform consumers about the changing price of gold. He also interviewed Rocky from Rockey's Pawn Shop.
After that, we followed up on a story about the lawsuit against the Palm Springs animal shelter for euthanizing animals in a " No Kill" shelter. We went to the Palm Springs Animal Shelter to ask about the lawsuit, but they didn't want to come out on camera, so we came away without a story.
Then we went back to the KPSP local 2 news station to edit the interviews and put the stories together. While I was waiting for Eddie to write the story, Laura and I asked assignment desk editor Tom Cutler (pictured above with Laura) about his job. We listened to the police and fire radio frequencies, which is how he finds out what's going on the community. Tom Cutler has to make the decision whether to send a reporter to get the story or not.

Job shadowing KPSP local 2 was an amazing learning experience and has made me realize what happens in the environment of a television news station.

By Laura Padilla

I was partnered with mobile journalist Arti Nehru. She interviewed Desert Sands Assistant Superintendent for Personnel Sherry Johnstone about the proposed 50 classified employee layoffs.

This includes bus drivers, custodians, and librarians, which, according to DSUSD bus driver BJ Anderson, will affect not only the employees that receive the pink slips but the students who use the services as well.

Just as Arti finished her interviews for the first story, she rushed to her second interview.

For the second story, she interviewed Palm Springs Superintendent Lorri McCune about the canceling of school on Good Friday. McCune said that many staff members requested Good Friday off because it was an important religious holiday to celebrate, leaving the district with no choice but to cancel the school day because they couldn't arrange enough substitutes to cover the teachers who would be out that day.

After recording the video for the two stories, we headed back to the KPSP news station. At the news station, Tom Cutler explained his position as the assignment desk manager; he sits by the radios of the fire department and police department to listen for any emergency news.

Then meteorologist Patrick Evans (below) took us on a tour of the studio. After the tour, he showed us that he gets the information for the weather reports from satellite video and weather web pages.

He also explained that when he is reporting the weather on air, he is only standing in front of a green background where the image is just synced in for the viewer to see.

At the end of the day, I sat in the studio to watch the five o'clock news broadcast go on air. It was amazing to see the stories in their production phase make it to air.