MINDY ROSS/Daily Bruin Senior Staff Floor Director
Matt Gorlic counts down before Andrew
Masuda and fourth-year English student Melissa
Magee go on air to launch UCLA TV.
By Dexter Gauntlett
Daily Bruin Contributor
Set against a panoramic mock-up of the campus, the newest faces
of UCLA TV delivered the top campus news stories as “Bruin
News 29″ debuted live from the first floor of Kerckhoff Hall
Thursday night.
“It’s definitely a success overall; I’m very,
very pleased,” said fourth-year political science student and
producer for the telecast Trisha Kirk.
“We got a lot of ideas from the Daily Bruin and other news
sources that we can represent visually,” Kirk said.
A team of five student anchors deliver the news stories while
reporters conduct interviews (called packages) amounting to a 20 or
30-minute show that airs at 6 p.m. every Thursday.
“The packages are prepared by students. It’s a week
long process, and the reporters put a lot of effort into it,”
Kirk said. “We’re looking for quality, not
quantity.”
Fourth-year students Andrew Masuda and Melissa Magee were
Thursday’s anchors and conducted the news portion of the
show.
Magee said her only experience came from high school, and the
entire cast vastly improved since January.
Masuda said she was pleased with the debut and noted the stress
that comes along with a live broadcast.
“Five minutes before the show I kind of tensed up, but
overall I think everyone did a great job,” Masuda said.
Fourth-year communication and political science student Carlos
Collard and third-year political science student Albert Chu
delivered the campus’ sports news.
Chu also felt slightly nervous before the debut telecast but
managed to maintain his composure during the broadcast.
“I got a great rush 10 seconds before the camera shot, but
once the camera got going it felt natural,” Chu said.
The debut telecast covered the death of 22–year-old Marissa
Witham. The UCLA alumna died along with 17 others abroad the
Gulfstream III aircraft that crashed March 29.
The show also aired footage from the March 14 rally on campus
demanding the repeal of SP-1 and 2, policies the regents passed in
1995 that ended affirmative action in UC admissions and hiring.
“Bruin News 29″ is the most recent addition to the
UCLA TV lineup that already includes the “Mike and Ben
Show,” “Getting it on With Matt and John” and
“The Show.”
The volunteer cast of 45, including photographers, editors,
crew, producers and anchors, have been working since August to pick
up where “Mainline,” UCLA’s first televised
newsmagazine, left off.
Kirk said she is confident that better resources will ensure
that the new show won’t meet the same fate as
“Mainline” ““ which was cancelled last year.
The broadcast is looking to expand rapidly and seeks to air
nightly by the end of the quarter or by early next year, Kirk
said.
“We’re constantly recruiting on a case by case
basis, but we’ll have a media night in the fall in order to
bring more people on,” Kirk said.
Next week, an interview with Mary Negrete, mother of Michael
Negrete, the former UCLA student who has been missing since
December 10, 1999, is scheduled to be televised.
Channel 29 is broadcasted only in the dorms, but Kirk is making
plans to get the newscast televised on cable access as well.
“I’m really positive about the progress we’ve
made, and have a lot of confidence in the abilities of our staff
members and contributors,” Kirk said.