Students watch the workings of the newsroom from the balcony above.

While the world waited for the appearance of Punxsutawney Phil, Wake County students visited CBC to learn about the broadcasting industry. The groundhog saw his shadow which means six more weeks of winter weather, but the shadows seen at WRAL-TV and WRAL-FM were a good thing. The students got a glimpse inside the studios where the Triangle’s top news, weather and radio are made.

Students from two dozen Wake County middle and high schools participated in the Groundhog Job Shadow Day at CBC’s Raleigh television and radio stations. Several students shadowed at WRAL-FM, another group at WRAL-TV and a few concentrated specifically on forecasting with WRAL-TV’s Greg Fishel in the Weather Center.

Students got to watch WRAL-TV Anchor Bill Leslie hard at work on the morning newscast.

WRAL-FM’s Diane Ramsey talks to students about the experience they would need to pursue a career as a radio personality.

WRAL-TV’s James Farmer demonstrates the use of a robotic camera.

WRAL-FM’s Lori Rentsch teaches students about making commercials for radio.

Several CBC employees made presentations for the students, including WRAL-TV Director of Broadcast Operations James Farmer. He discussed the ins and outs of TV engineering, including a brief history of cameras and other machinery.

This lucky student got a chance to hear his voice over live radio.

Students from a variety of Wake County schools came to WRAL-TV for Job Shadow Day.

This student got a chance to see that WRAL-TV’s weather forecasters only have this green screen when pointing out weather graphics on air.

WRAL-TV Meteorologist Chris Thompson took a break from weathercasting to talk to the Job Shadow Day crew.

WRAL-FM Production Content Director Lori Rentsch walked students through producing a commercial for radio. She also discussed the impact of satellite radio on the industry saying, “For traditional stations to survive, they’ll have to concentrate on local programming, things of local interest.”

Each presenter talked about the college degrees and fields of study necessary to break into their particular career.