Behind the Scenes with Ross

Hi Everyone! It's Monday already! Thanks for taking a minute to check out our blog, as our "Behind the Scenes" series continues! Members of the News 3 This morning crew have been giving a sneak peek into their routine on News 3 This Morning. Today's blog is all about Associate Producer and Racing Superfan, Ross Wece!

Behind the Scenes with Ross

Ross Wece is all over the place at News 3... Sometimes behind the camera, sometimes in front of it!

He's currently attending SIU, purusing a degree in Radio-Television Production with a specialization in Electronic Journalism.

• Tell us about your daily routine as part of the morning show crew...

My alarm clock goes off at 2:30 AM and I usually try to be up 2:45ish (I'm on a first name basis with my Snooze button!). I try to be out the door and on the road for work by 3. I live south of Carbondale in the
Giant City Park area so it usually takes me around 20 minutes to get to the station in the morning.

Once I get to the station, Weston, our morning show producer who you read about last week, gives me the list of packages I have to prepare for the show. We download some of the packages you see in the show from a national ABC network called "Pathfire" and we also get packages from CNN. After I get packages done I work on other videos that air during the show. It could be anything from doing a Google Image search of Corn Dogs for the "Eat This, Not That" Segment or downloading video from Pathfire about a crime event that occurred over the night!

Hopefully, the editing is done by 5AM so I can head out to the studio floor and begin prepping for the show. Our director usually turns the studio lights on if I'm running behind so when I get on the floor I get our cameras set up and positioned, setup our plasma monitors, and get laptops set up for Kevin and Emily to run Cover it Live with. Once we go on the air, I run studio cameras with another morning show AP Josue Orellana. My shift continues until 9AM so after the show I may prepare videos for the next day's show or work on videos for one of my Superfan/Behind the Wheel segments.

The days that I do my on-air segments really aren't all that much different. I still run studio cameras during the show. But when the time comes for my segment I grab a chair and run up to the desk with Kevin and Emily!

• What's the most stressful part about your job?

I'd say the most stressful part of my job is some of the editing I do in the mornings before the show. We are always striving to get more and more fresh and new content on News Three This Morning instead of just re-hashing the same stories you saw the night before. While this makes for a better show, it increases the amount of editing that must be done before the show. Luckily, we just got a new AP, Josue Orellana, on the morning show and he is a pleasure to work with as well as a fast editor. It's awesome having his set of hands on the morning shift!

• What's the most fun?

By far the most fun part of the morning shift is my co-workers. You can watch the show and see the friendship the Kevin and Emily have and I can assure you that that is exactly how they are when the cameras AREN'T rolling. The off-camera crew is just the same way. We are all great friends and it makes the work that much more fun. I love my job and my co-workers are a big part of that.

• What's something viewers might be surprised to learn about the morning show?

I think folks would be surprised to know the sheer effort required to put an hour and a half show on the air daily. Our producer starts at 12:30 in the morning putting the show together and when Kevin and Emily arrive at 3:15AM they jump right in start writing their scripts and putting stories in the show. A lot of people have the misconception that the anchors just show up and read words off the teleprompter and that couldn't be further from the truth. Kevin and Emily work extremely hard to put a great show on the air daily. Then the three associate producers spend and hour to an hour and a half preparing videos (sometimes longer!).

Ross got dressed up in NASCAR gear for one of his Superfan segments!

• When did you first become interested in TV News?

I guess it would be my junior year of high school. I had never really considered a career in TV before that, but the then music minister at my church said I should consider getting in Television production since I do
a lot of tech work at my church in Carbondale.

I started at WSIL through a high school co-op program in 2007. I went to school until lunch everyday then went and worked at the front desk at the station for 3-4 hours in the afternoon. I filled in on the phones for the receptionist during he lunch hours and made DVD copies of stories when folks requested those.

In August of 2008 it was looking like my time was coming to a close at the station since my co-op program was for that year only but luckily I got offered an Associate Producer position on the morning show and I've been with News 3 This Morning ever since!

Thanks Ross!

Don't forget to tune in weekdays from 5:30 to 7:00 am for News 3 This Morning in HD!