THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, April 28, 1995 TAG: 9504280064
SECTION: DAILY BREAK PAGE: E1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: By DIANE TENNANT, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Long : 120 lines
FAME IS A fleeting thing. In this case, it's a minute and a half - max - on a TV news camera.
So 12-year-old Donald J. White is making the most of it.
Exuding poise and personality, he wowed the honchos from WTKR, Channel 3, into giving him a slot as a teen reporter. Which is why ``D.J.'' was working the crowd at Greenbrier Mall recently.
``Do we have any teens?'' he asked, beaming at passing shoppers. ``How old are you? Do you mind if we do an interview for Channel 3?''
They didn't mind. So D.J. launched into his questions, microphone and confidence well in hand, for a report on teen hangouts in the '90s.
D.J., a Crestwood Middle School student, is the youngest in WTKR's new crew of teen reporters. He's one of 20 the station has selected, out of more than 700 who auditioned, to file a special series of reports on the 5 p.m. news.
The series started Thursday and will run through May 24. Two to four of the teens will be chosen to continue as paid reporters for WTKR, filing one story a week on topics of interest to kids.
At Greenbrier Mall, D.J. started with the mall marketing director.
``Hi, Donald, how are you?'' she greeted him.
``I'm doing fine,'' he replied. ``How about yourself? And your name again?''
``My name is Kim,'' she said.
D.J. ushered her into the hall, where cameraman Ted Heck showed him how to hold the mike, toggling it back and forth from his mouth to Kim's.
``Do you think of teens as equal to adults, customer-wise?'' he asked, referring to the questions he had written on index cards.
``Certainly,'' Kim said.
Curious shoppers and hangers-out gathered to ogle the camera and the kid in the olive-green suit.
``Thank you. That was Kim Wagner,'' D.J. said to the lens.
``Do you want to get her title?'' Heck suggested. Take two.
D.J. looked Wagner square in the eyes as he repeated his questions, and she repeated her answers.
``Thank you, that was Kim Wagner, marketing director.''
``Good job,'' Heck said. Cut.
D.J. headed into the crowd of shoppers and nabbed a teen.
``Do you mind if we do a TV interview for Channel 3?''
The boy in denim shorts and braces didn't mind, but he didn't have much to say.
Neither did two girls consumed with giggles and big lollipops. Then an older girl walked up to D.J.
``Excuse me, my mom wants to talk to you,'' she said. Taking advantage of the situation, D.J. interviewed the girl first, then went up to her mother.
She eyed D.J.'s olive-green suit and dazzling tie. ``What are you doing?'' asked Sonia Seymour. ``I'm nosy.''
D.J., oozing charm, smiled her up and held out the mike. ``Do you have teens?''
``Yes, I do, the one you just interviewed,'' Seymour responded.
Do you, D.J. asked, allow your daughter to hang out in the mall?
``I'm supervising. She'll be in the top court (of the two-story mall) and I'll be lurking in the bottom court. It teaches them to be social. It is a positive thing as long as they have something to do, not just come out and hang out.''
``Thank you.''
D.J. began to cast around for more interviews.
``What do you think? Do we want to go upstairs?'' asked producer Carol Monroe.
``Yeah, find some older teens,'' Heck said. ``We're not getting really great sound.''
They piled onto the elevator, and D.J. described the sort of camera angle he was seeking.
``I want a kind of shot for the effect that I want,'' he explained to Heck. ``Basically, just a shot that shows teens just hangin' out. Just bein' regular, with their friends.''
He hit pay dirt as soon as he stepped out.
Todd Paluszak, 16, was sitting on a bench with his legs outstretched. His friend Rob Bridge, 17, was stretched out in the opposite direction on the adjoining bench.
``Hi, I'm Donald from TV 3. Mind if I do an interview with you guys?''
Nope, didn't mind. They were just hangin'. D.J. slid smoothly onto the bench.
What, he asked, would you like to see built just for teens?
A dance place, Todd said, with food and videos. Until that happens, though, the mall is a good place.
``Nothing else to do, really. It's harmless,'' he said.
``They need something for teens. There's really nothing around here,'' Rob said. ``Any place where we could just hang out. There's nothing else to do.''
As D.J. began searching for more parents to interview, Heck lagged behind. ``Let me get just one more shot of these guys hangin' out,'' he said. ``They are just seriously hangin'.''
Monroe spotted Seymour ``lurking'' in the bottom court. Ask Heck to shoot her again, she advised D.J. It's good to get background shots of people you have interviewed.
A spin through the food court turned up two mothers and one father of teens. D.J. headed for a toy store.
``You really think I got a chance?'' he asked Heck. ``You think I got the stuff?''
``Yeah. Get a couple more years on you,'' Heck said. He glanced at D.J. and revised his estimate. ``About 10.''
They headed into a clothing store, where the manager had agreed to let WTKR's teen reporters film customers.
D.J. went after an 11-year-old trying on dresses.
``When's this gonna be on?'' she asked.
``April 28,'' Heck replied.
``Why?''
``It's the news.''
``Why?''
``Because,'' D.J. said, gesturing grandly with the microphone. ``I am your Teen Reporter.'' ILLUSTRATION: Color photos
LAWRENCE JACKSON/Staff
Donald J. White, 12, conducts interviews at Greenbrier Mall in
Chesapeake. Below, he questions Adriane Shelton, left, and Meredith
Ruby, both 14.
by CNB