Behind the Scenes with Kevin

Good morning! Hope your week is going well so far. It's time to wrap up our Behind the Scenes blog series with some wise words from the one, the only, Kevin Hunsperger! Take it away, Kevin!

Behind the Scenes with Kevin

Kevin has spent 7 years at WSIL! He's reported for 13 years throughout his career.  

• Describe your daily routine...

My alarm goes off at 2:55 each morning. I brush my teeth, get dressed (I have my clothes picked out the night before), and hit the road. I shower and pack my lunch the night before too to maximize on my beauty sleep. Now that we're in HD, I need even more.

I arrive at work around 3:15. I check my email, Twitter, and Facebook for any overnight breaking stories or things that need updating. I also scour the wires for medical news. I produce the two medical blocks in the 5:30 and 6:30 shows and like to use fresh content that wasn't used the night before.

Emily, Weston, and I work together to write stories and decide on other content for the show. We usual discuss ideas as we go along too. During this process I always eat a bowl of plain oatmeal with blueberries and chocolate whey powder. I wash it down with a diet Mt. Dew. I don't like coffee, so the diet Mt. Dew is my caffeine boost for the day.

By about 5:15 I wander to the mirror and shave, brush my teeth again, and put on makeup. Yes, I wear makeup. Probably not enough though. Ha.

You all know the rest as you watch each morning. Emily and I work together on moderating the Cover it Live chat room and posting comments. After the show, we all meet to discuss the things that went right and wrong and then start planning for future shows.

Some days I then go out and report, or I just record my voice for a health story that's been provided by ABC or CNN that runs as our To Your Health segment at 5 p.m.

• What's the most stressful aspect of your job?

The most stressful times are when Emily isn't here and I'm setting up the chat and keeping an eye on things. Sometimes I get behind on posting comments and our dedicated Cover it Live chatters get a little impatient, but they've come to expect that from me.

• What's the most fun?

This job is so much fun. I have worked at WSIL for more than 7 years. I've been anchoring the morning show for almost 6 1/2 years. I love this shift and I love my coworkers. We have so much fun together, but when it's time to get serious, we do just that. Because this is a 90 minute show and it's in the morning there's more time to have a little (or a lot) of fun.

This past November Kevin showed southern Illinois what it feels like to be tased- live on the air!

His facial expression says it all.

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

Probably not too many other surprises for people to learn about, since I'm the last one to write a blog. But I can't tell you all how great this team gets along and looks forward to bringing you the news each morning.

• When did you first become interested in TV news?

I kinda fell into news by accident. Well, maybe not by accident, but it was not something I had studied in college. I went to Southeast Missouri State University in Cape Girardeau. At that time (early 90's) there was no broadcasting department. I was majoring in Mass Communication with the intent of going into radio. I worked at the campus radio station, but there was a decline in enrollment and the introduction class got dropped. I wanted to stay on course and graduate on time, so I switched gears and did Corporate Video (which involves shooting video and editing). I had such a hard time with the editing that I quit that program. Now I do it all the time, ironic. I also did some reporting for the student newspaper. Anyway, since I had a little bit of everything under my belt, my degree is Mass Communication with an emphasis in Media Studies.

It was around the time I was graduating that I thought I'd try out the news thing. I got a job in St. Louis as a freelance newspaper reporter for the Suburban Journals. But I really wanted to go into broadcast journalism and was lucky enough to be hired as a "broadcast assistant" at KMOV. That was just a fancy title for TelePrompter operator. While I was there, I learned all I could about news and how things worked. I went out on stories with reporters and rewrote their scripts. I voiced packages and learned to edit. Then I knew that was what I wanted. After about 18 months of that I landed my first on air gig in tiny Florence, Alabama. The rest as they say, is history...

Thanks, Kevin!

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

Remembering the Shuttle Challenger Tragedy

January 28, 1986 is a day many Americans remember well. The Space Shuttle Challenger had just lifted off from the Kennedy Space Center when it exploded.

All seven on board died in the accident.

The Challenger Learning Center in Paducah is remembering the day with a special guest. Kentucky's only astronaut, Col. Terrence Wilcutt will be on hand.

We talked to him about the tragedy and his life as an astronaut. Click here to hear that interview.

Here's what some of our Facebook friends had to say about that day 25 years ago.

Ray Lindsey:
I was in the 4th Grade at Chisholm Elementary School in Edmond, Oklahoma. My classmates and I were watching it live in the auditorium. When the disaster happened, our principal Mrs. Mitchell, turned the Television off. I remember that The Cosby Show was supposed to be on that Night but instead President Regan was on TV. He said a line in his speech I will never forget to this day. "To leave the surely bonds of Earth, to touch the face of God."

Allan Shotts:
When we came in from recess at 10:45, we found our teacher in tears, she was recording the launch as we were studying space and was following a teacher.

Bill Chaplain:
I lived in Fl at the time and was driving down the road , listening on the radio to the launch. I watched out the window of the van I was driving as it blew up ...... It was a very somber daw at work after that and for several days everyone was very sad for what had happened.

Amy Lynn Curry:
I was in Kindergarten in a small school. My class was sitting in the library and we were all excited to see the shuttle launch. We had been learning about all of that in the days leading up to it. I remember when it happened just like it was yesterday...We were all sent home early that day.

Jennifer Stowers:
I was in third grade in a West Frankfort School. We were watching the launch on TV, when the explosion happened our teacher turned off the TV and many teachers gathered to discuss turning it back on for us to see what came of it. They made the decision that it was something that we should not see. I also remember watching some of the memorial service at school.

Behind the Scenes with Evie

Good Morning! Thanks for visiting the morning show blog. On a daily basis during the news, we bring you stories from across southern Illinois. Here, we're doing a blog series... sharing the stories of our News 3 This Morning team. Today's blog features Associate Producer, Evie!

Behind the Scenes with Evie
Evie Allen began at WSIL as an intern, and is now an Associate Producer for News 3 This Morning!
Keep reading to learn more about her journey!
• Describe your daily routine as part of the morning show crew...

As an Associate Producer for the morning show, I usually get up around 2am. I start my day at News 3 at 4am. When I get to the station the first thing I do is check to see what video needs to be edited and from 4am to 5am I cut and edit video for the days shows and then at around 5am I load what is called Aurora. Aurora is the system that receives all the video me, Ross and Josue edit. When I get in there to load the Aurora machine with all the video we edited, I check what is called a run down (lets me know the list of videos we will run that day) to make sure all the video has been sent to Aurora. There is a lot of video to load because we have 3 half hours of news so if video is missing I check with Ross and Josue to see where the video is.

From time to time I have to go out and shoot breaking news or news that happens before reporters come in. Also from time to time I work the cameras on the floor but most of the time I am in the control room making sure ALL the morning show videos are ready to air. My shift is from 4am to 9am. To sum it up, that is most of what I do as an Associate Producer (A.P.) but there is more to my job. Which brings me to the next question.

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

During the week I am in charge of 2 on air segments, so the most stressful part of the job is fulfilling my A.P. duties and working on material for my two segments. Don't get me wrong it's a good stress. I love my job but it gets to be hectic and a lot is going on in my brain.

On Mondays when I come in at 4am I do my usual A.P. duites, and then after the shows at 7am I begin planning for Tuesdays Schoolhouse Update. Now my regular shift hours are from 4am to 9am so Mondays I usually stay later than 9am. I will stay later to make sure I've got everything I need for Tuesday. Then I spend the rest of week looking for the next Tuesdays and Wednesdays stories and events. On Tuesdays and Wednesdays I concentrate more on weekend events for my Weekend Events Calendar segment that airs on Thursdays. Sometimes I come in earlier than 4 so I can clean-up my scripts or add any other events to the calendar. Once 4am hits I am expected to help Ross and Josue edit video. So sometimes it seems like I never have enough hours in the day.

It can also be stressful setting up interviews and then there might be a cancellation for some reason like weather or a teacher is sick or maybe not enough time to shoot my interviews. That's when I have to come out with a back-up plan. So sometimes the pressure is on because this is a deadline business.

Tune in to News 3 This Morning to see Evie's reports on education and local events!

• What's the most fun?

The most fun I have is working with the people I work with and I enjoy my duties here. We get along and we have a great team. The people are funny and real laid back. That relieves a lot of the stress that I have. I also find it fun editing video. We are in charge of what will air and it's almost Art sometimes the way we edit these videos. I also have a lot of fun with my segments and going on interviews. I like people, so it's always fun to meet new people. Some of the stories are really fun too.

• What's something viewers might be surprised to learn about you?

Well, I come from a family that is heavily involved in Church ministry. And in 2004 I became a licensed minster. I am an Elder at Good Fight of Faith Church and I'm in charge of bringing a sermon from time to time at my church. I am a devout Christian and if I could do anything right now it would be full-time ministry but for now I'm happy right where God has me. :) Another surprise is that I am dating Aaron Thompson the graphics guy. We met here during my summer internship in 2009 before I was hired on.

• Why did you first become interested in TV news?

I think I first became interested in TV news when I was told I had a "news" look. I havn't been in News that long. I graduated from SIU in 2010 but I only did 2 years in the news program. I became more interested once I tried it and was told I had potential. So I pursued it and I felt better in this field than my original major (social work). And that is what led me to today. I can't say that I've wanted to be in news ever since I was a child. I always had dreams of TV stardom though. I wanted to be a famous singer/dancer. My idols were Whitney Houston and Janet Jackson. As I developed as a person I seemed to have fallen into news and I'm enjoying the journey. Channel 3 is the first station I've worked at outside of SIU's Channel 8.
　

Behind the Scenes with Emily

Good Morning & Happy Wednesday! Hope your day's going well. The topic of today's "Behind the Scenes" blog is Emily Eddington!

Behind the Scenes with Emily 

We do a wide range of live interviews on the morning show!
On this day, it was Superman!

Emily has been at WSIL for 4.5 years, and has been on the morning show for 2.5 years.

• Describe your daily routine as part of the morning show crew...

As a morning show anchor, my daily routine starts EARLY. I have a bit more work to do on myself than Kevin & Clint, so I roll out of bed at 1:30 a.m. to get the process moving. We don't have makeup artists, hairstylists, or wardrobe experts here, so all of that work is up to us. I try to pick out my outfit and accessories the night before, and then in the morning I do my hair and makeup, and then get dressed. Sometimes anchors save their makeup & hair until right before the newscast, but I always fear that we may have breaking news, or it takes longer to get through scripts than normal... so I want to be pretty much ready, so all I need to do before the newscast is a few touch-ups.

Once I'm at the station, I read through the scripts that our producer Weston has written, and try to browse the news wires to find anything extra that can be added. Kevin and I will also write teases, and prepare for live interviews... and write anything else that's needed. My goal when writing/reading over scripts is to make them as conversational and easy to read as possible. There will always be stumbles on the air, but my goal is to lessen the chances, by altering the scripts to the way I naturally speak. Once the morning show is finished, I also anchor a couple of the cut-ins, and Kevin or I will record a promo for the next day. For the remainder of my shift, I'll either do a story for that day's evening newscast, shoot or write an Unsung Hero story, or just work on things for the next day's show.

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

It's not usually a big issue, but sometimes we'll run short on time and be hustling to read and write scripts before the show. It always gets done though, with a few minutes left to look in the mirror and make sure there's no lipstick on my teeth, cat hair on my jacket, etc. Some people might find breaking news during the show stressful, but between Kevin, myself, and Weston our producer- it comes off very smooth. I think Kevin and I actually enjoy being able to go off the cuff with some new "This Just In" type of information. We like to ad-lib and Weston is great about communicating with us from the control room so we know what's happening, and what changes are being made to the show. I think to be a good anchor you have to have confidence-- and that comes from the people around you. I have so much respect for all of the morning crew members... the hours are crazy but everyone manages to come with a good attitude.

• What's the most fun?

The people I work with on the show are a blast. The morning show definitely has a different tone from any other newscast. We're getting people ready to start their day... so we want to get the information out there quickly, but have fun in the process and wake people up! Commercial breaks are always good moments to recover from a laugh attack that may have been brewing during the previous block of news. Whether it's Ross or Evie or Josue on the floor-- I'm grateful for the way they keep us so upbeat! I try to keep in mind that if I'm not having fun doing the show, people probably aren't having fun watching it. As a kid I would sort of mock news anchors with their stiff presence and lecturing tone of voice... so I try to just be myself and act natural. It's harder than it sounds when you're on live TV in front of thousands!



On a day when Aaron, Ross, and Emily were all wearing different styles of red News 3 shirts, a modeling snapshot was in order.

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

Something I hear from visitors or first time guests is that they're surprised at how laid back we are! We are continuously joking around and often times we're chatting right up until the moment we come back from a commercial break. Viewers would also be surprised to learn just how funny and goofy Kevin is. I think they get a taste of that from time to time on the news, but he has a great sense of humor and has us all laughing our heads off on a regular basis. Also, viewers might not realize that our crew is really like a family. We get along during our shift, but we honestly care about each other. You build sort of a bond with people who have to roll into work at 3:30 a.m. It's something nobody else can truly understand until they do it daily.

• When did you first become interested in TV news?

When I was in elementary school, it was just part of my morning routine to watch the news. My parents always had it on, so I'd sit and watch it for awhile. I remember being fascinated- not so much by the stories- but by the anchors, and the whole production. My mom recently reminded me of a journal entry I was assigned to write in 3rd grade about who I wanted to trade places with for a day. I named a local news anchor... it was actually the elderly man that delivered the farm & market reports...hmmm... It was hilarious to hear mom read that to me again. Anyway, I always liked the news but for quite some time, I was very intimidated by what they had to do. As a kid, I remember thinking... I could NEVER memorize all that information! Someone enlightened me about the concept of the teleprompter.

I wasn't fully convinced that news was what I wanted to do until college, when I did some work for the campus TV station, and ended up getting an internship at a local TV station. I grew up watching KHQA in Quincy, Illinois, and one summer as an intern- I was reporting stories. I have never learned so much as I did that summer. Not only did it improve my writing, but just my independence, and ability to go out and gather news on my own. I gained a lot of confidence, and will be forever grateful to the people of KHQA for teaching me SO MUCH.

There are still more Behind the Scenes blog posts to come!

We're on the air weekdays from 5:30 to 7:00 a.m. in HD...

You can also join the conversation on Cover it Live during the news!

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!

$mart Money Preview

Jeff Rose, Certified Financial Planner

Since starting our $mart Money segment about two months ago, we've had a lot of great response.  It allows you, the viewer, to ask our financial experts questions about your money.

On Monday, January 17, Certified Financial Planner Jeff Rose joins us in the studio.  Jeff will talk about four, 15 minute financial fixes.  Ideas include starting a Roth IRA, checking your Credit Report, creating an Emergency Fund, and Simplifying Your Finances.

As always, we invite you to email your questions to news3am@wsiltv.com.  You can also ask questions on our chat Cover it Live.





Hope you have a great weekend.  We look forward to seeing you all weekday mornings between 5:30 a.m. and 7 a.m.

Behind the Scenes with Aaron

Good Morning! TGIF! Hope you've enjoyed learning about members of the News 3 This Morning team! If you have any questions for us, you can always type those in the comments section, or contact us on Facebook, Twitter, or by emailing news3am@wsiltv.com

Behind the Scenes with Aaron

Aaron handles the graphics you see on News 3 This Morning

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

My job, day to day, is dictated by the number and depth of the graphics requests that I receive. On most days, it's either feast or famine, meaning there's either a lot of graphics to make or barely any at all. When it comes to making the final image that you see on the newscast, it all begins in Photoshop. Depending on the story, I gather the appropriate pictures and edit the image together. From there, I enter another program called Lyric, where I can import the image I made in Photoshop and assemble it together with the appropriate text needed to tell the story. After all that, I assign each image a specific number. Using that number, I can call it up at the right time during the show.The final result is called an FSCG, or Full-Screen Computer Graphic... hence the title CG Operator.

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

I love my job. I work on Photoshop all the time at home for fun, and I've gotten pretty efficient at it, so the stress for me is pretty low. Every now and then, however, I'll get a request for a graphic very close to the beginning of the show or even during it, meaning I have to balance creating the new image while running the graphics for the show at the same time and make sure that the new one is done by the time it's needed.

Aaron spends his morning in the control room, designing all kinds of graphics.



• What's the most fun?

Did I mention that I love my job? Like I said before, I work with Photoshop all the time at home. But the key difference between my work at the station and at home is that at home I do digital painting, utilizing a pressure-sensitive pen tablet, which lets me create dynamic brush strokes and "paint" on a digital canvas. This allows me to be very fast and free with my actions, not caring if I mess up or decide to take the painting in a different direction... just hit undo. I basically just taught myself by looking at what I liked and experimenting. This experience I've gained at home has definitely carried over to my position on the Morning Show, and it's still fun making stuff for the news because creating images, whether it's a painting or an informational graphic, is a pleasure for me, not so much a job. I've been very blessed in this regard.

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

I think that pretty much anyone who is a regular viewer knows that the anchors get along very well on camera, but that also goes for the off-screen crew as well, before, during and after the show. Most of us have been working together for almost three years now... some longer than that. So we've definitely cultivated a chemistry that I doubt most work environments have the privilege of enjoying. We're all really like a family here... a very diverse and unique family... to say the least.

• When did you first become interested in TV News?

During my Junior year of High School, I was very privileged to join a television broadcasting class, which was surprising for a school as small as mine (Anna-Jonesboro). We had several nice Canon cameras and computer workstations with a non-linear editing program included. We were tasked in creating anything from mock commercials, music videos, short films and eventually a school-wide newscast. I had a blast in the class.

My senior year, I was one of only six students from TV 1 that was included in the first year of TV 2, where we were given more advanced projects. This became so fun for me, that I'd show up to school an hour early just to work or experiment. On top of that, I'd spend my regular class, lunch hour, study hall and sometimes, an hour or two after school, working in the lab. I'd often finish projects early and ask the teacher for new ones. He usually turned me down and made me wait on everyone else. I just wanted to learn. From there, I decided that I wanted to take the post production skills that I had gained to college to nurture them and eventually use them as a livelihood.

In May of 2007, when I was nearing the end of my Bachelor's Degree in Cinema and Photography, I was hired on at News 3 as an Associate Producer, editing video and running cameras. It wasn't until late 2010, however that I went full-on graphics, after someone noticed some of my digital paintings. Though I truly love films more than television, News 3 has been a great outlet thus far at sharpening my editing and graphics skills.

Thanks to Aaron for telling us all about his work at WSIL!
There are more "Behind the Scenes" blogs to come!

Don't forget- we're on the air at 5:30 a.m. in High Definition!

Join our Cover it Live chat during the news!