Oh, boy.
The fun begins.
This is longer than I wanted it to be.
But, it's something that a number of acquaintances have encouraged me to write for some time.
Gonna make some folks mad. No doubt.
If I offend any one in particular, it's by mistake. I may have some particular people, or organizations, in mind, but, really, it can apply across the board.
For those who aren't "in the business", this may be totally boring.
However, if you watch TV news, or did when it was actually good, you may find it somewhat interesting.
Opinionated, of course.
After quite a few years as a TV news director, I dare say that I've read all or part of several thousand resumes from young, naive J-School grads wanting to "break into the business". Those of us who have been in this biz for any period of time, those of us in news management, anyway, are fully aware that a large number of those young folks just want to be on TV. It was a standing joke at any time news directors got together.
I remember when...WAY back when...journalism was an honorable profession. In fact, at one time, Walter Cronkite, longtime CBS evening anchor, was the "mosted trusted man in America". Somehow, all of that changed. Not overnight, mind you, and it was difficult for those of us on the inside to see the change as it happened. Somehow, "showcasing", "news you can use", "live shots", became the most important parts of the daily news. Content? Well, the "stuff" that makes up the news suddenly took a backseat. And, those "radar wars". You remember. Which station had "live doppler" radar first, and which station had a "2.79 second advantage" over the other station's radar.
Puhleeze!!
That's when television news content was taken out of the hands of real, dyed in the wool, hardhitting journalists, and was turned over to "Marketing". That's just a fancy word for promotions. You know, promos: those announcements that proclaim Station A's team is better than any other station. That they had the story about the big weather system that came through on the air 10 seconds before anyone else mentioned it. The promos that keep showing Cutsey Caitlin falling down because the "hurricane force winds" were too strong for anyone to be standing along the shore.
So, who's to blame? Consultants? Not necessarily so. But, perhaps, partially. How about the broadcast groups themselves? Well, maybe. They have been grasping at straws since cable TV invaded local TV markets in the 1960's and 70's. Beginning with cable, and now including satellite distribution, local stations must compete with entertainment and other alternative programming, including news, from all over the country. Even the BBC has invaded most markets in the U.S. Local TV stations, usually two or three in a market, shared close to 100% of the viewers in their communities, but now compete with hundreds of other stations, not to mention the internet. Local stations, these days, are lucky to be able to split up a small percentage of the viewers in their towns. Facts are that the masses are NOT WATCHING LOCAL TV NEWS.
So, stations had to do something to lure viewers back to the sets. The something was "entertainment news". Every story had to be entertaining and "compelling" (one of many buzz words used by consultants and marketing guys). At one time, news managers..news directors, assignment managers, producers, even reporters...decided what stories were worthy of being covered. Not any more. Promotions guys are in that loop. Even if trained and experienced journalists can see a story in an event, marketing managers all too often weigh in and say "I can't sell that story to the public". The story is not told.
Back to the problem. Or, maybe it's just me. Way back when, the FCC had a law. No one person or group could own more than a total of seven radio or TV stations. In other words, the Acme Television Company could own three TV stations, two AM and two FM stations, or some similar combination. And, NEVER could they own more than one of each (AM-FM-TV) in any one community. All that has changed. Broadcast groups own, oftentimes, dozens of TV stations all across the country. In many cases, they control and produce programming for more than one TV station in a community. That's part of the reason all the news in one town looks alike.
Ever travel around the country, turn on the "local" news and see the same on-air graphics, same stories (often produced by the same reporters on your station "back home")...with little or no local flavor? Unfortunately, "cookie-cutter" news has become a way of thinking for corporate broadcast news gurus. The stations they own can share their "local" stories with ease, via sophisticated internet connections. One of their stations in Alabama will feature a "local" story from one of their stations in Georgia, another "local" story from a station in Arizona, another from North Carolina, still another from Mississippi. Like the viewers who want LOCAL stories give a crap about a local story from Milwaukee.
It's a way to reduce the number of reporters and photograhers at each station. It requires a certain number of reporters to gather and produce enough material to fill up a newscast. However, if the stations can rely on each other's reporters for content, then they don't need as many reporters. That's simple math. The viewers in each community are shortchanged, because their "local" stations are not covering as much "local" material. They are, as has become all too commonplace, "filling up a newscast" with material from everywhere else.
That's my two cents analysis.
But, on to the rest of this story. There's a pretty cute video making the rounds that, I'm sure, causes every veteran news director to laugh. It's attached here. Every prospective (aka "wannabe") reporter needs to look at this and decide whether you're wasting your time by pursuing a career in broadcast journalism for all the wrong reasons and with expectations that are unreasonable. Please don't get me wrong. There are some great guys and gals out there who really, truly want to report. They want to do more than just be "on television". I can count, maybe using all my fingers and a couple toes, the total number of that kind I ran into during the last ten years of my stint in TV. Those were the reporters who got excited about a story, about digging for details, about scoring the big scoop. Those are good reporters. Again, though, not too many more than a dozen.
The facts are simple...these are the ones that few J-school professors ever mention. Even if you are at the top of your class, you are just another person looking for a job. Unless you can work for peanuts, without complaining, unless you can give up, on a moment's notice, any social engagement on your "busy" schedule, unless you're willing (key word) to work nights, weekends, holidays (regardless of your faith, if any), and at any time anyone calls in sick (the repeat "sick" offenders usually disappear soon), then TV news is not for you. You see, to get to that glamorous spot in a large market (by "large", I mean top 50), you will have to start at the bottom. That means you will work for less than $20,000 per year for two years, you will work long hours, and the conditions will be miserable. You must earn the right to move on. Unfortunately, you must also work for companies that are being forced to reduce expenses, for bosses that have very little experience; and, their bosses, the top of the food chain in a station, the general manager who is making news judgment decisions based on his/her own whim. It's such a small world, this world of television news, that anything you do that ticks off anyone higher up the ladder than you will follow you wherever you go.
All of that is to say that you actually get a job in the first place. And, given the cutbacks, that's not even likely. Not as unlikely as winning the lottery, but not too far from it. If you actually get a job, make the most of it. Work hard, don't patronize senior reporters or, for goodness sakes, the news director. Many will help you move forward in your career. But, only if they truly feel like you are working for it. Unless you're one of those dozen, we're not even likely to remember your name after a year or two. Others will resent the fact that you want to better yourself by moving to another market. You'll have to check with reporters who have worked for that news director in the past to see how he/she operates.
If there is enough interest, I'll post some tips on building a resume and cover letter soon. Let me know.
Meanwhile, take a look at this video. You might see yourself or someone you know depicted here. The ND could be one of many I've known, though I don't have blond hair.
http://www.xtranormal.com/watch/8094263/
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