WFAA-Day 2

One thing I'm finding out by getting back in the newsroom is that despite all the new gadgets, television news really hasn't changed that much. WFAA has a morning news meeting to go over stories and assignments (on a greaseboard, no less); then reporters go out and report while photographers shoot. Reporters will do a VO/SOT for one newscast and a package for another.

And like almost everywhere else, WFAA has some reporters as a one-man band. This morning, I'm with Wyatt Goolsby, who not only one-man bands, but also sets up and performs his own live shots. (We're at city hall in Fort Worth for the swearing in of the new mayor).

Wyatt did the live shot with TVU mobile technology, more commonly called backpack journalism. No live trucks, no satellites ... it transmits using cell phones, and is no bigger than what you see in the picture. Wyatt doesn't simply set the camera on a tripod; he picks it up and gets right in the middle of stories. He does almost all his stories this way, hopping from place to place around the Metroplex.

A fascinating thing about Wyatt: he's only 26 years old. He jumped from the Midland-Odessa TV market (#155) right to Dallas (#5), which is almost unheard of. He credits his ability and willingness to use new technologies like TVU for getting his position.