Freelance News Editor
CBS 11/TXA 21 

“I got interested in this business when I was 11. My mom was a receptionist at Irving Community TV Network, and I went with her on one of those ‘take your kid to work’ days. At the station that day, they needed help working the teleprompter, and I was pretty much hooked.

“Then I got interested in the editing side of video work about a year ago through my Video Tech classes. I just stuck with it and followed through. Before I started the North Lake program, I investigated video programs at several universities, and none were that great. They have a lot of students and large classes, and just don’t have time to go over everything and for you to ask a lot of questions.

“The best part of this program is the fact that the professors here really know their stuff and genuinely care about their students. They’ll do everything possible to get you through the program. Andy Chiles and Dane Sigua take the time to get you the information you need and help you any way they can.

“There aren’t that many professors who will really sit down and explain something to you, but here at North Lake they will. They really care about the students, and I think this is one of the best video programs in the area.

“In editing class, Dane will go through and explain not just how but why something has to be edited a certain way. For instance, action video has to be edited very quickly. Any one shot should only be up for a maximum of three seconds; if an action shot takes too long, the viewer will probably look away or change the channel.

“I work as a part-time news editor on the morning show for Channel 11, which is a two-hour program. The amount of work really adds up quickly. For a 30-minute show, there are 45 to 60 stories, each 10 to 15 seconds long. If there are three to five shots for each story, that’s easily 200 or more shots in half an hour. Then you also have to match the video to the script.”

A graduate of Academy of Irving high school, Robert Tucker is pursuing an associate degree in Video Tech at North Lake College. He is a freelancer specializing in news editing.