Numerous plaques depicting awards hang Alan Blakeney’s office wall. A student sits in Blakeney’s office, tapping away on a keyboard, eyes steady on the screen. Blakeney sits at his desk, skimming through e-mails.GSU TV is on the air after being black since spring 2007. Since then, the station has undergone drastic upgrades, shedding its old cameras and opting for new hi-definition cameras. The station now has nine cameras and a short camera crane, Blakeney said of the newer equipment.
Yet, even with some of the best equipment, the station still lacks a good number of student-produced programs. GSU TV has a few original, student-produced content.
“Anything of interest and a PG rating, we’ll take,” Blakeney said. “It has to be approved by me. If I don’t like it, it won’t run.”
Blakeney said GSU TV has to follow guidelines. Some are Federal Communications Commission guidelines, while others are Blakeney’s.
“We’re not going to offend someone on purpose,” he said.
Anyone willing to work with GSU TV can come see Blakeney in his office. GSU TV is located in Woodson Hall.
GSU TV may not have been on-air until this semester, but they have always had the capability to be on the air, according to Patrick Thompson.
Thompson has had his share of work, thanks to Blakeney. Thompson has worked a Conference USA (C-USA) women’s basketball tournament at Tulane University and has shot Louisiana Tech games for ESPN.
Thompson is one of the last remnants from the older version of GSU-TV. When Blakeney arrived, Thompson got an opportunity to learn more things that are required at today’s TV stations.
“You can come in here and learn any and everything,” he said. Thompson is also reviving a GSU TV classic On The Scene, which is slated to air after spring break.
Blakeney, often called “Mr. B,” said that students staying for the summer semester should feel free to come over to get some sessions in.
Doing a few sessions is all it took Regina Robinson, a graduating senior. Robinson came to GSU when GSU TV was not operating and in the midst of a complete makeover. Now, in less than a year, she feels prepared for the real world.
“My last semester is when everything is up and running,” she said. “I’ve learned a lot in this one year.”
Robinson was a part of the production crew that produced a Bayou Classic commercial, and she has worked GSU basketball games with ESPN. She learned all of this, she said, under Blakeney.
“I didn’t know anything when I first got over here,” she explained. Blakeney quickly showed her how to set up a camera, record in HD and edit the raw footage in Final Cut Pro.
“I’m grateful to have [Blakeney] here,” Robinson said. “I learned what I should’ve learned a long time ago. If it wasn’t for him, we wouldn’t know anything.”
Even with a pretty good future ahead for GSU-TV, Blakeney is still working. He leans back and puts his foot on his desk, ready to help any student who walks into the TV Center in Woodson Hall.
“My door is always open,” Blakeney said.