Three, Two, One, and action! The cameras roll as the teleprompter begins to flicker. The windows are darkly lit as dawn began oh-so-many hours prior, but there is not a tired eye in the office of CBS46, a renowned news channel that sits on the west side of Georgia’s capital city. Rick Folbaum, a Main News Anchor at the station, stands proudly at his desk ready to inform the eager citizens of the metropolis about the entrancing events of the city. New York very well may be the city that never sleeps, but broadcast journalism takes the cake as the industry’s most tired trade. 

Being on camera all through the night is an occupation that only seems appealing to some. Late nights lead to late mornings and an almost nocturnal schedule for slumber. Folbaum began his lifetime intrigue of broadcasting when he was just a kid, reading the newspaper on his grandfather’s lap and awaiting a new copy every early morning. Ted Koppel and Bob Costas led the anchor to take a bite out of big apple suburbia as Folbaum eventually enrolled in Syracuse’s Newhouse School of Public Communications in upstate New York, kickstarting his journalistic career. It was only his first class in which the professor, straight-faced, told him to forget everything he had ever known about writing in order to dive into the world of broadcast. “We were taught a completely different style than I had ever known.” Folbaum said, “It was shocking, to say the least!”

Being on camera greatly differs from the comfort of the fourth-floor chamber in which the Wire staffers sit, as facial expressions are everything, and the communication is conversational. Print and broadcast may be in the same industrious field of study, but their innermost operations could not be more dissimilar. Aside from the stylistic difference, the vocation of journalism is one that should be centered around a non-biased informative media approach, but, when considering the issues of the world today, this can be difficult for writers both on screen and in print. “I mean, I have very strong opinions, personally, on what I cover.” He said, “My job is not to share that with my audience. My job is to share the facts with the people so that they can deduce their own opinions on the topic.”

Though the occupation is strenuous when it comes to being unbiased, it does have its positive perks, like meeting A-listers in the office, or even on the field. For Folbaum, run-ins with celebs happen like clockwork and are always a pleasure at CBS46. The reporter was most enthused about his interview with Bano, a famous Italian singer. “I love bano,” Folbaum said.

On the record: broadcast journalism is the fol-BOMB!