Sportscaster, DuckTV
Senior, Journalism Major, Robert D. Clark Honors College
Producer, DuckTV Sports
Vice President, UO Chapter of Association of Women in Sports Media
Role in DuckTV: After moving up the ranks from sideline reporter to anchor, Childs is now one of three sports producers for DuckTV. It’s a leadership and teaching role that runs the gamut from big-picture responsibilities—running team meetings, managing the staff, assigning stories—to nuts and bolts like securing game credentials and athlete interviews, creating rundowns for the teleprompter, and calling the show.
Honors thesis topic: How recent research on chronic traumatic encephalopathy has changed perceptions about American football
Dream job: Sports reporter and lead anchor for a show like ESPN SportsCenter
Biggest challenge of being a producer: I have to do this before my schoolwork, because there are so many people relying on me. I’m on call all the time. If anyone has something wrong with a camera, I pick up the phone. I’ve been in Corvallis at midnight when I get a call from someone locked out of Allen, and I have to walk them through the steps of getting in to edit.
On being a woman in a male-dominated field: It’s been really cool to work on a team of all-female producers. Especially in sports, that’s not common. It’s empowering. Going into a male-dominated field is sort of scary, but at the same time there are so many resources now. Things are changing. A lot more females are getting into the industry, so it’s a good time to do it.
“I’ve learned to find the story. And working hands-on with a reporting team in the studio has been so beneficial.” — Emma Childs
Become a Broadcast Journalist
Ever watch the news and wonder what it’s like to be the one holding the mic—the reporter on location, the sportscaster covering the big game, the anchor at the desk?
Become part of DuckTV, and you can.
Audition for the school’s student-run television network and you’ll help produce six to seven original news, sports, and creative episodes each term. You get one credit a term for the DuckTV class, but the real reward is total immersion in the broadcast world. DuckTV team members don’t just read from a teleprompter. They literally run the show.
Applying the skills they learn in broadcast classes, students cover the big games and breaking campus news, rain or shine. They pitch stories, secure press credentials, write scripts, edit video, and create rundowns. They shoot on location and in the studio. They do all the public relations and social media. They even write and act in fictional comedies and dramas.
Of course, things don’t always go as planned in TV. Sometimes you can’t land the interview you need. Sometimes the technology breaks unexpectedly. And sometimes you have to stay late on a Sunday to finish final edits. But every obstacle is an invaluable lesson, propelling you one step closer to your dream job.
Speaking of that job, you’ll need an attention-grabbing reel—the broadcaster’s equivalent of a portfolio—to land it. Fortunately, after a stint or two on Duck TV, you’ll have more than enough high-quality work to show the world the broadcast superstar you’ve become.
What Our Alumni Are Saying
“DuckTV is one of the most valuable classes I took at the UO. It prepared me for this crazy yet exciting broadcast journalism industry. It gave me hands-on experience with every aspect of a newsroom, from reporting and anchoring to making the broadcast happen behind the scenes. Four months after graduating, I landed a job as a multimedia journalist and found the job requirements were exactly what DuckTV entailed.” — Jessica Waite
BA '15 (Journalism)
DuckTV Sports Producer, 2014–15
Jessica Waite is a multimedia journalist at the NBC affiliate in Eugene, where she reports, produces, and anchors. She’s also in charge of the NBC 16 franchise “Acts of Kindness,” featuring people who make a difference in the community through thoughtful or selfless acts.
