On Dec. 17, 2024, Taft’s Journalism-Newspaper class got an experience all aspiring journalists dream of. Seven students got the opportunity to come to the WGN station and get the real behind the scene experience. Only a select few schools from the Chicagoland area were invited on this field trip and each school was allowed to bring about seven students.
Given that at Taft, the Journalism-Newspaper class is offered to both juniors and seniors and only seven could go on the trip, the seniors in the class got priority. Many of our seniors are interested in pursuing a career in journalism, so this was an especially wonderful opportunity for them to experience before going off to college.
The day started with Taft students arriving at the WGN around 9:00 am. We were welcomed at the gate and walked to the station entrance. Once we were greeted we were walked to a break room where we were first to arrive.
Due to our punctuality we got the chance to talk to some of WGN’s behind the scenes workers who were gracious enough to give us some personal and professional advice about entering their career.
Upon the arrival of the other two schools we were all given a rundown of the schedule for the way. The day consisted of a tour of the building, an exclusive behind the scenes of Studio 1, and a look into the control room.
After a short tour, students were split into two groups. Group one would start at Studio 1 and then visit the control room. Group two did the opposite, they started in the control room and then swapped to Studio 1.
We were both in group two, so our experience started in the control room. It was set up as one average sized room that had two levels of desks in row form. It was during this time we got to watch the news being directed live while also giving each student the ability to ask questions and take pictures.
Being in the control room we got to learn all about the different jobs behind the scene that keep the news we see on our home televisions running smoothly. We learned there’s someone to control timing, someone who directs the TV angle, someone controlling volume and a director in charge of it all.
The fast paced setting was surprising. The room was buzzing, full of lights flickering, corrections being made and different people talking. To the untrained eye it might seem stressful but as we looked around we saw a well oiled machine, these people were a team and it was amazing to witness.
After about 20 minutes in the control room it was time to swap. As we quietly exited the control room and walked down the hall to Studio 1 where we met with group one before once again splitting up and embarking on the next park of our journey.
If the control room was exciting, the studio was exhilarating. There, everything was live right in front of our eyes. We got the chance to see a small fashion show and even got to interact with the models. We also got to see famous artist Jacquees talk about what’s next in his career. Finally we got to see a holiday drink special.
Everything happened so fast, and the professionalism we saw was undeniable. It was incredible to watch these people who have made a career out of something we love so much and do it so phenomenally.
After both groups were finished with their time in both rooms we headed back to the break room where we got to hear some personal testimonies and advice from guest speakers that work at WGN.
They were so kind and so generous. They were patient with all of our questions about how they got into journalism, what was their advice for young student journalists about what to go into that specific career and even answered questions about their status on internships.
All in all this trip was an incredible experience. We both feel so lucky to have been able to go and learn what happens behind the scenes of WGN. As two students who love what we do, we seriously recommend for all student journalists to look into similar trips to gain this once in a lifetime opportunity.
