Behind the ScenesDuring my spring break, I got the opportunity to tour the WVUE-DT news studio in New Orleans. It was my first time in a news studio, and I was beyond excited to meet members of the sports department. One of them is Garland Gillen, who has worked for sports television in New Orleans since 2003. I talked with him about his job and his favorite parts about it. Breaking into SportsGillen grew up in River Ridge, La. and said he had always loved sports. "I played sports all through childhood," Gillen said. "I played like seven different sports, so I've been addicted to sports since I was a child." Gillen attended De La Salle High School and then ventured to Baton Rouge to attend LSU, where he majored in mass communication. In his junior year, Gillen interned at WAFB, which is where he said he knew he wanted to do something in sports for a career. In his senior year, Gillen attended classes and got to work at a news studio in New Orleans, as he explains in the soundbyte below.
Start Small, Dream BigGillen said to start small so a reporter could learn from his or her mistakes and not have them broadcasted to a larger audience. Gillen said a reporter in a smaller market could also learn how to do many different things. "You learn how to shoot, you learn how to edit, you learn how to anchor, [and] you learn how to make graphics." Since 2003, Gillen has covered many New Orleans sporting events like Super Bowl XLIV and stayed in the city when Hurricane Katrina and Rita made landfall in 2005. What They SayJuan Kincaid worked alongside Gillen at WWL-TV and rejoined him at WVUE-DT in 2015. Kincaid said he and Gillen used to travel many times together for sporting events. "We had some really good trips with college football," Kincaid said. "We had some really good trips with the Saints and playoff games. Garland and I usually get the biggest games and we always had a good time doing it." Chris Finch works with Gillen at WVUE-DT to decide what digital content to post for news about the New Orleans Saints and New Orleans Pelicans. "Basically since we have two pro teams in this market, we have a lot of stuff to cover," Finch said. "So getting it on TV is essentially the sport guys's jobs, but getting it on digital is where I come in. Garland and I communicate about what would probably work best on our digital platforms."
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