Studio 10 intern learns “What would Ita do?”

Aspiring journalist Tom Marlow has recently been serving as an intern at TEN, mostly attached to Studio 10.

On his blog Tom’s Talk Time! he gives writes glowing about his brief time with the show.

Here are some excerpts that give you some insight into the week of an intern:

Network Ten runs like a well-oiled machine. Everyone has a job – and they excel. The atmosphere behind the scenes is stressful, yet comfortable and easygoing – everyone goes about their job with a smile on their face and quite often a joke or two. Watching the hosts in action has been a real treat also, and I think I’ve learnt a lot just by sitting and absorbing their presentation.

Ita Buttrose is magical. Her skills as a journalist and her natural flair for presenting are both infectious and mesmerising. Those attributes, coupled with her impeccable presence and flawless etiquette made working with her a remarkable privilege. Having achieved such a phenomenal career within the media and to still be working tirelessly at the age of 73 has provided me with a reignited incentive to sink my teeth into the industry. Ita has encouraged the strong work ethic that I know is built within me – in fact, I told Ita several times this week that often I will answer my own questions with phrases similar to “because Ita told me so”, or “what would Ita do?” – and I can only hope that her wisdom and advice will remain with me both personally and professionally from now onwards.

Throughout my time at Ten I have been exposed to quite a lot that you just can’t learn from a textbook. I’ve had to do the real bottom of the barrel intern jobs (cleaning a barbeque, running coffees and lunches), but I’ve had an opportunity to dip my hand in a bit of everything. I’ve been able to run guests back and forth, deliver people to the microphone room, communicate with the crew and do background research for upcoming specials. I’ve had the opportunity to implement some story ideas and I’ve written questions for a couple of interviews. I’ve communicated with diverse people from all walks of life and I’ve arranged a number of props on behalf of Ten.

I’ve helped to manage a live audience and I’ve connected with people from across the country. It’s been a week of absorbing and of new experiences which have worked in my favour to solidify my eagerness to one day land myself in the newsroom. My time here has given me the reassurance and encouragement to head back to university and throw myself into my studies and it has strengthened my ideas behind the importance of saying yes.

You can read more here.