UPDATE (Dec. 15, 2020)—Cole Grecco '18 is currently the Guest Coordinator for CBS This Morning, CBS News' national morning news show. In this role he manages all aspects of guest and CBS News correspondent appearances on the show, assisting in briefing them for their segments, arranging their travel, and other duties. He also helps the live and line producers gather footage, video, and other materials for the guest's live segments, and helps clarify information with the guest and their teams.
"The live show aspect is a huge part of my job, which includes constantly updating info and keeping the producers in the show's control room, edit rooms, and newsroom updated on any guest changes," Grecco said. "Recently, I have started training on actually producing these live segments overnight with our guests, contributors, and correspondents. This includes generating questions and research to include in the segment; creating graphics and visuals to thoroughly convey our message for the chat; and crashing live segments when breaking news happens or a guest gets added last minute. It's a thrill every day, and I'm beyond happy I get to help write the first draft of history every morning!"
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W&J senior producing promising future with CBS internship
WASHINGTON, PA (July 24, 2017)—Cole Grecco’s future is broadcasting in HD.
The Washington & Jefferson College (W&J) rising senior is well on his way to his dream career of producing a news program, spending this summer interning with the national news program “CBS This Morning: Saturday.”
The opportunity has been a long time coming for Grecco, who has been a news junkie since childhood.
“I have watched the news ever since I can remember. My mom and I are morning people who loved to the watch the news, so it was a natural bond we shared and continue to share to this day,” he said.
That interest created a desire in Grecco to make the news happen, and pushed him to research internship opportunities with CBS News. When he found the internship listed on the CBS News website, he knew it was the chance he needed. He sent in his application, earned a Skype interview with the Director of News Associates & Internships, and got the gig.
“I work for the Office of Student Life during the academic year, and when I got the acceptance email I was actually setting up for a Student Life event all by myself in the Media Room. When I got the email, I literally started jumping up and down, knees to chest, with excitement,” Grecco said. “Then I called my parents while running around the Media Room, and then ran upstairs to the Student Life Office to share the news with all of my coworkers. I feel like the security cameras got quite a show that day.”
Grecco shared that when Dean of Student Life Eva Chatterjee-Sutton learned about his upcoming CBS internship, she helped to set up an on-campus internship with Justin Swank, coordinator of publications and projects, to hone his filming and editing skills.
From there, it was off to New York City to join the staff of “CBS This Morning: Saturday,” where Grecco is currently aiding the show’s production by logging tapes, assisting on shoots, helping cut and edit packages for air, researching and pitching story ideas, and coordinating scripts for packages for air.
Through the show, Grecco has learned what it means to be in a news room as he’s observed (and been a part of) all the facets that go into show production. What’s made the biggest impression on Grecco is the importance of good writing, he said, and that the quality of a show’s script can make or break a piece.
“The work that I’ve been so honored to be a part of is, bottom line, to help create compelling, ethical, creative, need-to-know news, so people can be informed about what is going on in the world they are stepping out into daily. This work, in my opinion, has and will always be important to our basic necessities as people in a functioning society,” he said.
Working with CBS News, Grecco said, has laid the foundation for his future career as a producer.
“I obviously have a long road ahead and a lot more to learn, but this internship has created something that I never dreamed possible,” he said.
About Washington & Jefferson College
Washington & Jefferson College, located in Washington, Pa., is a selective liberal arts college founded in 1781. Committed to providing each of its students with the highest-quality undergraduate education available, W&J offers a traditional arts and sciences curriculum emphasizing interdisciplinary study and independent study work. For more information about W&J, visit washjeff.dev, or call 888-W-AND-JAY.
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