On March 14th, CBS News in Chicago (more specifically Mr. Chris Selfridge) invited the LHS Tom-Tom staff for an exclusive visit in their studio. We toured everything from the garage that stored the live news trucks to watching the news being read live with Irika Sargent and Rob Johnson.

I can tell you first hand that the TV news process is not entirely what it seems, and a lot more goes into the hourly news than a few anchors and reporters reading a teleprompter.

We started the tour by walking through the news room where everyone from graphic designers to the live news anchors sat in their individual cubicles and worked on creating the next news show. Everyone on this floor had their own individual job, but they all worked as a cohesive unit and if one unit didn’t complete their job properly, the whole newscast could be in trouble.

We then continued on into the Newspath room where CBS News keeps in contact with other markets throughout the country and world for non-local news. After that, we went into a control room where a man kept track of where all the live reporters would be. He was also in communication with the news helicopter.

We also walked through a library of tapes of tons of old newscast – the oldest one I saw was from 1969!

Our group later walked through the hall of editors, but before that, we had the opportunity to hold actual Emmy awards! When we were with the editors, we witnessed a mini-crisis as one of the final drafts of the show was stuck on a frozen computer about 8 minutes before showtime. Thankfully the problem was sorted out and the show was saved.

At six o’clock we started watching the news, but this time it was behind the scenes. We watched the first half of the news from the producer’s room. The producers control everything. From where the cameras are to communicating with the field reporters. At the second commercial break we made our way down to the studio where the news was being read.

This part was incredible because everything happened so smoothly. The fact that these news anchors were reading the news in front of 1000s of people live didn’t phase them at all. For most people, that thought is terrifying, but for them it’s just another day at the office.

The anchors, weatherman, and the sports guy all took a picture with us and when the news was finally over, they all took the time to give us some valuable insight into the ever changing world of journalism.

Before we left the studio, Jeff Kiernan, the Vice President and News Director at CBS, told us the secret to being hired by a major news source. He said the best way to get hired is by being able to thoroughly answer the question, “why should I hire you, what makes you special?”

After the tour we all ate at Latinicity, a very good multicultural restaurant in Chicago that blends Latin cuisine with cuisines from all over the world.