WMUR’s Jim Breen gives Presidency and the Press participants a behind the scenes tour of the studio.

by Caleigh Plunkett and Eostar Tarbox

Students from Franklin Pierce’s Presidency and the Press were given a tour by Jim Breen of the WMUR studio on Tuesday, Students began at the control room and were shown what it’s like to work in the state’s largest TV news center.

Breen is the director of news operations at the WMUR station, which he says means, “I’m the how guy. I don’t decide what we cover, I figure out how.” He started his college career at Franklin Pierce majoring in sales, but after three years, he decided he preferred the communications field. He then spent six months in an internship at WMUR before becoming an anchor, and working his way up.

After the Q-and-A session with Breen, participants watched from behind the cameras while the anchors broadcast live.

At one point in the broadcast a live report of the day’s storm had to be cut due to lightning in the field. The control room went into recovery mode, moving segments up to cover for the loss of video. In the studio, students got to see the repercussions of this, as the anchors had to ad-lib through the loss.

“What usually goes wrong in the communications field is communications,” said one of the cameramen, laughing as he rushed to set up the next shot.

Afterwards, anchors described what it’s like working in TV news.

Anchor Jennifer Crompton spoke in particular of things that can go wrong backstage and on stage while live. When asked if the constant walking back and forth while off camera was ever overwhelming, she said that the crew helps keep them on track, but she pointed out the loose wires on the studio floor and said she was “always worried about tripping and falling [over the wires], especially for girls in dresses and high heels.”