Melissa Berry used to hate being on camera, but late in her college career she took her shot at delivering the news.
Berry was strictly an R-TV production student, but with the changes in the field of journalism, she decided to take a broadcast news class. Berry said organizations are hiring people who can do everything for a story - report, shoot and edit - and learning to work in front of the camera helps make her more competitive in a tight job market.
Berry graduated in May 2009 with a bachelor's degree in radio-television production and a minor in psychology. With a surplus of credits - about 40 more than required to graduate - she took it relatively easy her last semester with 12 credits.
But that didn't mean she wasn't working hard. Despite taking the broadcast class, she still preferred the production side of radio-television, and she earned the position of director of photography for the student documentary class.
"I love shooting," she said. And she faced challenges finding images for the subject of the spring 2009 documentary: suicide. Berry said she tried to find a beautiful way to portray a morbid subject.
Immersed in experience
Berry's production experience goes back to her junior year of high school in Cheyenne, Wyo., when she started working for the student-run Thunderbird Television.
"My favorite part was shooting and editing," she said, but she didn't like being on camera.
At UM, during her sophomore and junior years, Berry worked for KPAX, running audio boards and rolling tapes, which involved physically rewinding that day's footage.
"That was the most stressful part of the job," Berry said, recalling the time she started rewinding a tape while they were broadcasting live.
Her experience at KPAX helped her learn the ins and outs, and the lingo, of broadcast news and production. She was immersed in a professional setting, which helped her with her schoolwork.
Berry said she had to learn how to manage her time in order to do well in her classes. In her UM News class, she had to produce a story every week, and she felt that if she slowed down, she would "fall off the treadmill." She and her classmates became close while they were editing UM News stories late at night. In that setting, "you get to know people on a different level," Berry said.
Part of the family
Family and community are characteristic of the J-School, Berry said, contrasting it with other programs in which students might not know a majority of their classmates.
Berry also enjoyed the practical nature of the journalism program. With hardly any books required for some of the journalism classes, students outside the J-School might not realize that journalism students have a different set of books - cameras and equipment, Berry said. "Instead of tests, we're up late getting a story done."
Berry will still be in Missoula and around campus after leaving the J-School. She is working as a reporter for KPAX this summer, and she has become a leader for InterVarsity Christian Fellowship, a campus organization.
Berry also runs a small business, Out of the Rain Productions, that was registered in December. She primarily covers weddings - with seven lined up this summer - but also does other video jobs, such as working with Big Brothers Big Sisters.
"I like capturing celebrations and capturing life for people," she said. "Weddings are a good way to do that."
As for focusing on production or broadcast news, Berry said it comes down to whether she would rather be shooting and directing or delivering the news firsthand.
"To an outsider, it all looks pretty similar," she said. Taking the broadcast class made her appreciate the broadcast side more.
"I would still rather work in production," she said, "but now I know what I can do to help the broadcast side."
