Student broadcaster gives 'Olympic' effort

One of two from WIU to intern for summer games
by Alison McGaughey

Liz Bales ‘08 (Sherrard, Ill.), can tell tales like the best of seasoned reporters.

She snagged an interview, (albeit off-camera), with presidential hopeful Sen. Hillary Clinton.

She has seen her work advance to national level competition. And, perhaps most importantly, she recently accepted an assignment to cover the Olympic Games in Beijing, China.

She accomplished all the above before even completing her senior year of college.

“I have to admit, sometimes it's like I forget I'm a college student,” she said during her last semester at Western. “There is so much work beyond the classroom. But that's what I love about it.”

Thanks to Broadcasting Department Chair Sharon Evans' work in building connections with NBC Universal's internship program, Western's broadcasting students were invited to apply for internships. Bales started out as a student reporter during her freshman year, and as a senior not only served as anchor on WIU-TV3's live broadcast every week but also had her own show. She was among 12 WIU students selected to interview in Chicago. She and her friend and fellow broadcasting student Lindsey O'Connell (Plainfield, Ill.) made the cut to serve as interns at the Beijing Olympic Games.

“There are only seven or eight other colleges and universities being represented, and they are really big universities, so it's awesome that Western will be involved,” Bales said.

Bales will serve as a runner, alongside other interns who will be production assistants or loggers. She acknowledged that the duties might involve a bit less responsibility than she is used to as an anchor and reporter, but the opportunity to intern during the Olympics was too good to pass up.

“I'd love to be able to work in the track and field area. To be there, and to see the Olympic track… I can't express it in words,” Bales said. “It would just be phenomenal. And it will be amazing to see how the big news corporations work and put together their sports coverage. It will be a great opportunity to make connections.”

Bales, in fact, came to WIU on a track scholarship. But by the end of her freshman year she had decided to focus her priorities on broadcasting.

“What appeals to me most about it is that I love going out to get the story, and being creative in putting it together… telling it in my own way,” she said. “The highlight is giving viewers a good news package, which is news, footage, interviews and audio that I've crafted.”

When Bales first began as a reporter and anchor for Western's station, “I had no idea how to write, I had no idea how to read a TelePrompter, anything like that. But my co-anchors were both seniors, and I learned a lot from them.

“When I started out as a freshman, I would just shake before I had to go on,” she said. “I feel so confident now; it's like you get more comfortable in your own skin and you're able to perform.”

She also credits faculty including Don Norton '77 MA ‘91, Roger Sadler and Buzz Hoon ‘86 MA ‘91 for their guidance. “I feel like I'm pretty close with most of the professors in the department,” she said. “They are very hands on and knowledgeable in the field. You form a bond.”

Bales also learned from working as an intern for WQAD News Channel 8 in Moline, IL, from her senior year of high school through every summer during college, mostly doing behind-the-scenes work but appearing on the air during her final summer internship.

She has worked as an intern for KWQC TV6 in the Quad Cities, working on sports highlights and conducting on-air “stand-ups” at basketball games.

“I learned that you have to write your own stories and then send them in as fast as you can,” she said. “I also learned how when you're a reporter, you're also an editor, because you sit down with your photographer after gathering your story and put it all together. It was a great experience.”

As a reporter for Western's station, she has covered stories that extend far beyond campus. A highlight was covering the former first lady's campaign stop at an Iowa farm where, she says, she got to work alongside “real” reporters from CNN.

Her coverage of that event won a regional level award, and Bales got the chance to attend the National Broadcasting Society (NBS) Region 5 annual convention in Los Angeles, where her news package was among those of only five national finalists.

“Even though I didn't win, it was awesome to be at the national level, and to showcase Western's talent,” she said.

For the immediate future, after the Olympics, her post-graduation goals are to move to a warm climate and find work as a reporter in a mid-sized television market. Her dream is to work for “The Today Show” and to follow in the footsteps of her idol, Katie Couric.

“Even though Katie Couric has had lower ratings since leaving ‘Today,' she was the first female anchor on primetime, and I admire her for that; I think she's awesome.

“With the experience I've gained at Western and with my internships, I know for sure that I'm ready for working in the real world,” Bales said. “I know I can roll with it.”

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