Do They Really Wear Pants? Everything About Broadcasting

After a great lunch in the sunshine, we went off to meet with a pro.
Sitting atop the table was a paper that said "Preston Rudie - Tampa Bay's 10." I sat down and the real interesting fun began.
Rudie, a brunette Ryan Seacrest (how one girl put it), did not hold back. He discussed the basics of broadcast, like who does what (the management teams and anchors) and what happens when plans change.

"The basic thing is - do you really like news?" he said.

With editorial meetings (where everyone plans out the stories) in both the morning and afternoon, you have to be pretty dedicated. You can be pulled around from one state to another in a second, even if you don't want the story. Rudie has covered hurricanes (including going to New Orleans when Katrina happened) and the Columbia Space shuttle disaster. One time when he was covering one story, a boy, Clay Moore, was kidnapped from a bus stop. What was Rudie assigned to do? Go cover the abduction.

One thing is for sure - you have to love news. I learned news anchors write their scripts, and according to Rudie, friends of his who just wanted to be on TV didn't last 2 years.

Now for the real scoop - how to get into broadcast. Rudie suggested looking for a school that has broadcast programs and to intern as much as possible, even if you're stuck as the errand/coffee boy/girl.

"You have to work hard to move up," he said. Some of his friends were involved in news for a year, got an agent and then began sending auditioning tapes.

If anyone wants to ask Rudie any questions, feel free. He's sure to answer as truthful as possible (one girl told him about her dream job as a sex therapist and he handled it in the most professional manner). It's prudie@tampabay10.com

Best of all, I took French's advice about dying what you're dying to ask, and that was "do you really wear pants underneath the table?"

A laugh and smile later, he said yes...well at least they wore shorts.

-Nicole