Broadcasting majors were treated to valuable real-world advice from Columbia's WIS-TV veteran meteorologist Von Gaskin. During a 75-minute Zoom call on Feb. 25 Gaskin encouraged the students to be determined in reaching their goals. "You have to keep pushing yourself to the next level," she said. "That's how you will make it, you have to keep working hard."
She also told the audience of mostly juniors and seniors that now is the time to get the necessary resume or audition reels together to apply for reporter, anchor, producer and videographer positions. "If you are not shooting and editing videos for TikTok or YouTube, then you should be," she said.
Gaskins has worked in television news since 2004, her first job being at Myrtle Beach's WPDE-TV. After earning a bachelor's degree at the University of South Carolina, she achieved a graduate degree in meteorology at Mississippi State University.
She stressed to the students in one of Professor Justin Smith's broadcasting classes how new hires at her station must be savvy in social media. "I've seen people get hired and fired for their social media," she said.
She said on-air people are expected to daily post news and, for her, weather updates on mostly Facebook and Twitter. "You cannot shy away from social media," she said.
In normal times, Gaskin does her weather report from the station, as seen in this image. But the COVID pandemic has created new challenges. She says many reporters have not been to the station in a year since the lockdown began in March 2020.
Today, the broadcasting scenario looks more like this with Gaskin (top) and her on-air colleagues each working and broadcasting from home.
She credits Microsoft Teams technology for enabling the news department staff to meet remotely in the mornings and afternoon. And she still marvels at how the Unity Intercom app allows for smooth audio during the live broadcasts.
Von Gaskin was most gracious in encouraging SC State students to contact her and consider her a resource. A valuable one indeed!
And she's close by too! She lives in Orangeburg with her husband and three sons.
Many thanks to Professor Justin Smith for organizing this excellent Black History Month event.
No comments:
Post a Comment