"Professional broadcasters are not going to hire you just because you hand them a degree. Aboue left, MIKE MASON located in the KSER productio~ room, is in the process of taping a short weather bulletin. Be/ou.:: STANDING in the newsroom Tee Carr reuiews a brief before i~ presentation . " broadcasting Practical experience educates Palms sweating, heart throbbing and mind racing over just what to say and when, the Harding student throws the switch and his voice says , "This is K-W-C-K, Searcy. " For the first time in his life he has been heard live, on the air. Sound a little emotional for just one sentence? It is not. During the 1978-79 school year a number of Harding mass communications and public relations majors worked at various radio stations and television studios. They included Allen Grieb, working with KATV in Little Rock; Tony Guiden working with a studio in Conway, and Phillip Beasley working with KLAZ radi o. Two others , Tee Carr 'and Mike Mason, worked for Searcy's downtown station , KWCK/ KSER. "Bordering on stage fright" describes the feeling one has when he knows his voice is being heard by thousands of people in a 50-mile radius. From that first time on , practical experience in broadcasting intrigues a person more than ever before and benefits his education more than any class ever could. Tee Carr has worked for KWCK for almost two years on a part-time basis. "It's outstanding experience," exclaimed Carr . Experience was, he said, "beneficial more than I can say." Planning to enter into sports news, Tee valued the opportunities he had been provided to cover play-by-play action at all major sporting events around Searcy . He also credited KHCA , Harding's campus radio station , with giving him the experience and confidence to be able to work at KWCK. Mike Mason has worked at KWCK less than a year and thus has different duties than Tee. Much of his time was spent in running the control board during ball games, which allowed little, if any, personal air time to him. Other duties he performed included covering county court meetings and other community activities and reporting on them. Nonetheless, Mike placed great emphasis on the benefits of his experience. "It rates at least two to one over class work," he said. As a part time worker in broadcasting, Mike felt fortunate. Stating that part time work, with the possibility of being called at anytime, does interfere with one's social life, Mike continued, however , to emphasize the need for one to be willing to start at the bottom and work up. Broadcasting ~ 203
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