Getting your foot in the door

This weekend, I had the honor of being a presenter at the Radio Television News Director Association of the Carolinas Annual Student Workshop at WCNC-TV in Charlotte.

Students from across both Carolinas were there, hoping to get some sage advice on the best pathways to take to begin their careers in the world of television news and multi-media content delivery.

We talked about the critical role that internships play, what you learn from those internships, and who you know.

Here are some of the responses I received when I asked some of my friends, collegues and staff the question:

What advice would you give to someone looking to get their first job in our industry?
“Forget about making it as a “talking head” or a “star”. Warhol’s “fifteen minutes” of fame has become “30 seconds of c-list ‘stardom’”. Adopt a “V-jay” type attitude to your work and career.
Your discipline must include acumen in content, marketing, and business savvy.

Content - Know how to report (in a continuous newsroom mode), write (for pictures, audio, and text), shoot (video & still), layout web presentations, and get comfortable being a presenter.
Great journalism and the willingness and ability to do great reporting is extremely valuable. Anyone can, and millions are, stepping in front of a webcam to spout off meaningless drivel. If you can master new mediums and bring real content to the mix, you will prosper.

Marketing – it’s not enough anymore to put on a tie and deliver the facts. What’s your target market? Is the information presented in a manner to maximize appeal to the target? How can you form allegiances across all platforms to get the word out about your content? Are you and your entire team/project “living the brand” of that effort?

Business – What kind of material/presentation will generate revenue and/or viewers. You had better know how to get funding for your ideas.
Maintain a hungry, aggressive “freelancer” attitude. Don’t wait for anyone to give you a position or permission to create and distribute great content. Just do it. You can parlay entrepreneurial success into bigger things, inside traditional media, or, in allegiance with it, or in the media chaos that abounds now with limitless opportunity.”

Gene Kirkconnell
VP, General Manager – WVTM-TV
Birmingham. AL

“Learn how to write every style possible. TV, Radio, Newspaper, Web, etc. Most importantly, tell them they will need to dig down deep to find the strongest work ethic they can. Never expect anything handed to them, be wiling to work extra long and hard and know that paying your dues still very much applies in our industry.”

Michelle Carolla
Consumer Advocate
WBTW-TV
Florence-Myrtle Beach, SC

“You have to be willing and able to work all sorts of odd hours, to carry and maintain equipment that is very heavy, very temperamental, and worth more than your car. The schedule is not ideal, in most cases, and if you want to be on-air, be prepared to work far from home, far from family and friends, and for money that may or may not allow you the opportunity(s) to travel at will. Remember that shooting your own video helps you become a much better reporter, and it’s never too late or too early to learn how to do a new task. Work hard, be willing to work even harder when asked, and the opportunities will come your way.”

Rusty Ray
Anchor
WBTW-TV/WFXB-TV
Florence-Myrtle Beach, SC

“You have to be willing to move anywhere you are given an opportunity. First jobs are hard to come by, and it's unlikely that you will end up close to home. You have to be ready to leave your friends, your family, and everything familiar behind to start a new career, make a new home, and start a new life. If you are not open to this, then likely you aren't dedicated enough to succeed in this business anyway. Don't plan on making it to your college homecoming, your friends' weddings, mother's day, and especially Christmas and Thanksgiving. You will be starting at the bottom. You have to earn these privileges that people with 9-5 M-F jobs take for granted. Make lots and lots of tapes. But don't expect a lot of responses. Send them anywhere and everywhere. You never know where an opportunity will arise. And everyone says how little money you will make. That's not news. But stay out of credit card debt, don't live beyond your means- you never know how long it will be before you are able to pay that money back!”

Melissa Hoeman
Meteorologist
WBTW-TV
Florence-Myrtle Beach, SC

“Boy won't it be great if we could convince more of them to take the 'behind the scene' jobs. I speak to 2 colleges every year and keep trying to convince more kids to become Producers and Assignment Editors. Not to mention the struggle we all have to convince every male who is graduating, that there are fewer sports jobs each year, so they need to stay in news. Many more kids would land there first job, if they opened up their opportunities and looked beyond on-air positions.”

Stan Sanders
News Director
WCMH-TV
Columbus, Ohio

“Write, write, write. Practice your writing and ask people to critique your writing. If you want to be a reporter or a producer, you need to have this skill down pat. And don't send me an email asking if I've ‘received your tape.’ I am not likely to rifle through to check. If you honestly wonder, pay for that service at the post office. If it's an excuse to send me an email, think of something else.”

Robin Wojtanik
News Director
KEPR-TV
Pasco, WA

“Dress and groom professionally. Dress older than college, think corporate attorney. Don’t present yourself as a specialist, be willing to do any job or combination of jobs. Pursue an internship. Treat it like a multi-month job interview. Dress professionally, show up on time, listen and learn. If you want to be on-air, apply for your first job as a producer, it’s much easier to break in the business. It will polish your writing skills, teach you all aspects of newsroom operations, and help you understand why your story needs to come in on time. It will then separate your resume from the multitude of others when applying for the first on-air job.”

Gary Courson
News Director
WKBN-TV
Youngstown, OH

“The one thing college professors don't cover is the lack of pay at your first job. It's a common misconception that all TV people are rich. When I go Back to talk to the communication students at ASU they're amazed when I tell them my first job out of college was making $13,500. This is why many of them leave the business and go back to grad school. If you stick with it the money will come. But the first couple of years are going to be rough.”

Jimmy Moore
Chief Photographer
WBTW-TV
Myrtle Beach-Florence, SC

“Most students who do get a shot at on-air work will most likely begin in a small market shop. Many small markets will require you shoot, write and edit your own work. In some cases, like my own, producing and news assisting were also added to the mix, in addition to looking and sounding good. It may seem like a lot at first, but from my experience the more I learned about each job in the newsroom the better I was at my job on-air. When you can shoot and edit your own work, it sharpens your reporting skills. When you produce write teases and help cut and archive tapes it makes you a sharper anchor. Never think you're too good or above doing any of these jobs.”

Kimberly Gill
Former WBTW-TV, and current WEWS-TV Anchor
Cleveland, OH

“Taking a line from an old SNL skit, my best advice to someone trying to get their first job is "GET TO KNOW ME!!!" Networking is probably the number one thing students can start doing before graduation. It's the only reason I got my first job. Attend conferences, get an internship, and meet as many people as possible. Having an inside connection may not always get you the job, but it will get your tape looked at, which isn't a guarantee when there is a stack of 200 tapes. “

Chris Still
Meteorologist
WBTW-TV
Myrtle Beach-Florence, SC

“It's not the most talented people who make it in this business, but the ones who want it the most. First, you must know how to make a tape. Start with 5-6 ten second stand ups, and then either a PKG or an anchoring segment (put your best work first). Remember, the News Director isn't looking for perfection... Just someone he/she can mold. I started out by sending tapes to small markets (most did NOT have job openings). You have a better chance of a News Director looking at your tape if it's the only one on his/her desk, as opposed to 1 of 50. My first job came from a News Director in South Dakota who DID NOT posts the opening. The entry level pay is terrible (I started at $18,000), but the experience is priceless. View your first one air job as grad school.”

Larche Hardy
News Director
WMBB-TV
Panama City, FL

“Watch newscasts with reporters who know what they're doing. You can pick up small things that make a big difference in your writing and fact collecting. Those experienced reporters know how to take a story down to the "so what." I've watched Boyd Huppert stories every other day or so from the KARE 11 website, and I really think that's helped me a lot. Don't be afraid to ask a TV station of you can go out with a reporter on a story. Watch how that reporter handles people, information and pay close attention to how reporters ask questions. You can usually pull a great sound bite out of someone depending on how you ask the question.”

Jody Barr
Reporter
WBTW-TV
Myrtle Beach-Florence, SC

“In school, political science and government courses were invaluable. Of course, lots and lots of writing, in every subject. Getting comfortable with thinking how you would say something- then writing it that way. I took lots of public speaking and ethics courses also... ethics in business was excellent, because it really lays case studies on how a business should act... in its community, toward the environment, towards its customers. “

Martha Hunn
Anchor
WBTW-TV
Myrtle Beach-Florence, SC

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