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                         August 30, 2002

West Point Today reaches out to community

Story and photos by Spc. Eric S. Bartelt
Asst. Editor

Deep in the bowels of Thayer Hall there’s a soldier with the task of producing a show that could have an impact on every member of the West Point community.

The early stages of West Point Today have been placed on the shoulders of Pfc. Daniel Fitzsimmons, broadcast journalist here, so he can present the community another outlet to receive West Point news.

Fitzsimmons, who is fresh from broadcast journalism school, has taken on the task of doing the bi-weekly show for Channel 8 and 23. It’s quite a task for someone who’s new to the broadcasting game, but he’s up for the challenge of providing quality information for community members.

"I’m happy to have the opportunity. This is what I joined the Army to do," Fitzsimmons said.

Lt. Col. James Whaley, director of West Point’s Public Affairs Office, believes the importance of this project transcends the print medium and gives the community a visual way to see themselves.

"This new show plays a key role in communicating to the West Point family," Whaley said. "Our intent with this show is to increase the visibility of Channel 8 and 23. It allows us innovative ways to communicate to the public and maintain dialogue within the community."

"If you put more things of interest on the community channel, then more people will watch rather than watch only for the latest announcements," he added.

"The post newspaper is the primary tool we use to inform the community and West Point Today is an extension of that," Whaley said.

Fitzsimmons is working on the show’s third episode and gets involved in all aspects of the show from writing the script, to editing the video, to producing the overall product he creates.

"I go and find out what’s going on in the community and I get the story, I shoot the footage, and then get an interview with the subject matter expert," Fitzsimmons said. "I take that and develop a script for audio, I record the audio and lay it down onto a computer and then I take the footage that I’ve gathered and drop the video footage over the audio.

"Producing the show is the sum total of what I do. From scheduling dates and times, making contacts to developing a story line and then packing the product for everyone to see."

Fitzsimmons also relies on the help from the Directorate of Information Management for direction in the studio. DOIM’s engineers work on the set to make sure all the lights and gear in the studio works and their cameramen help direct the show, and Fitzsimmons also received help with the set design from DOIM’s Bob Labrise, exhibit model maker.

Joe Cyr and Joe Tombrello of PAOs Command Information Branch, the command group and the DOIM crew have helped tremendously to get this project off the ground, but for it to work the task is still daunting for a one- man crew to go out and do all the stories.

"The first show was a miracle that it happened, the second show was proof that it wasn’t necessarily a miracle and with the third show, the reality is sinking in with all the nuisances of producing a show," Fitzsimmons said. "Things are starting to get edgy, but I’m also getting familiar with what I need to do."

The show is 30 minutes in length, will involve five-to-six main stories and will be flexible with what stories it covers.

"It’s going to cover the whole realm of interests for the community, it’ll cover sports, special interests such as blood drives, community interests such as building projects and what’s going on in the commandant’s world," Whaley said. "It’ll be a great communications tool that people can use to promote and talk about things that they’re doing within the community."

The show will air five times a week during different hours of the day so that all members of the community will have a chance to see it.

"We’re trying to tap into different times that people can watch the show," Whaley said. "That’s important when you change about a third of your military folks every summer, people who’ve been here awhile know what "R" Day is or what the first football game is all about, but if you just arrived you may not know about that or know we have blood drives or this or that, so that’s what this show is all about -- reaching the community."

The future may bring different twists to the show, as Fitzsimmons would like to get the cadets involved with doing some stories or involve a cadet as a co-host.

Fitzsimmons added that because sports is a big deal at West Point, there may be more features on athletes that go beyond the games and box scores. He reiterates that the show is for everyone across the community.

"I think it’s a great opportunity for West Point to become more aware of itself and for us to highlight certain unique aspects of the community and let everyone know about those qualities," Fitzsimmons said. "It’s a community soapbox of sorts -- while it’s a great way to get command information out it’s also a way to keep the community abreast to what’s interesting around them."