The CBS interns with Director Chip Colley and Technical Director Nancy Stevenson

Being Stand-ins for McCain, Obama, and Lehrer

CBS Interns with Katie Couric

The Production Truck

CBS pool interns with CBS Pool Production Manager Susan Harmon

My experience interning with the CBS network pool was more than I could have imagined or asked for. Before I explain my awesome experience, let me explain what a network pool is because, honestly, I did not understand what it was at first.

Each time there is a large event (such as a sports event, a national convention, the State of the Union Address, etc.) a certain network (such as ABC, CBS, NBC, Fox, CNN,etc.) is assigned as the 'network pool' for that event. This means that that network, which for the first presidential debate was CBS, will provide all of the equipment and cameras to provide all of the live feed to the other networks. CBS, or whatever network is assigned, brings in the best of the best from their network to fill in positions such as Director, Associate Director, Technical Director, Producer, Production Manager, cameramen, audio and visual technicians, etc. They bring in people from all over the nation to fill these positions for the big event, whatever it may be. Other networks pay a subscriber fee to the network pool that is assigned so that they can get the live feed from the event. So if you have ever wondered why the same video is on every network during big events such as a speech by the President, it is because only one network, the network pool, is providing that video to all of the other networks.

It was amazing working with so many amazing people that were with the network pool. Many of them have been in the broadcast business for more than 30 years--they are the veterans. They were all eager to show us everything about their job. We were given in-depth tours of the production truck including the switcher, the audio settings, and the visual settings. I learned things that I could never have learned in a classroom. The other CBS network pool interns and I were lucky enough to get fully credentialed. We were able to go backstage while the set was being built. We also got to be stand-ins for Obama, McCain, and Lehrer when the pool was setting up the cameras and trying to get the angles right. It was an amazing feeling standing on that stage where I knew that history was about to be made.

We performed a lot of little jobs for our internship, such as running errands, giving people rides, making copies, making phone calls, and making sure that everyone had what they needed. However, we also were able to sit in the production truck during the candidate's rehearsals and the actual debate. It was amazing seeing the debate from every angle and watching the amazing Director Chip Colley cut from camera to camera and get different shots. He had a vision in his head of how he wanted to the debate to look on screen. He was good at getting reaction shots (or at least trying to) and moving from person to person as they spoke. He seemed to know who was going to interject before they did. He did such an amazing job and it was great to see him in action. One of the coolest things was seeing what each network did with the video that we provided them with. The network pool provided every network with the primary shot, an isolated shot of McCain, an isolated shot of Obama, and a high shot of the set. There were 5 screens at the top of the main wall in the production truck that had all of the networks. It was so cool to see what video they used that we gave them and to see the difference in the time delays, graphics, and commentaries. One thing that amazed me more than anything was how well all of the networks worked as a team with the pool to cover this event. Although the media is a competitive industry, I learned that they are also a very tight-knit community.