Hard work pays off

"You don't have the talent to work in this market."

That's what a news manager once told Jody Barr, and he sat across the desk from her, hoping to get his foot in the door at her television station.

After all, Jody was not your typical reporter candidate. His teeth weren't capped. He talked the way folks in his hometown of Hartsville talk. And while Jody is a nice-looking enough guy, he'd be the first to tell you he's no threat to steal any looks away from Tom Cruise or Brad Pitt.

I first met Jody not long after I took over as News Director at WBTW. He had been an intern at the station, working alongside Patricia Burkett and photojournalist Curtis Graham. I liked him almost instantly. He had a personality that was infectious. He was fun to be around, and his enthusiasm was contagious.

Jody made it clear from the beginning - he wanted to be a part of the News 13 team. He had grown up watching our station, and after completing his Broadcast Journalism degree at the University of South Carolina, he wanted to come to work for us.

But Jody wasn't the only one lobbying for a job. Others who had worked with him came to me and recommended him for a job we had open in our Lumberton newsroom. "He'll work his butt off," I was told by several people. "Just give him a chance," others said.

So I did. I hired Jody to work as a one-man band in Lumberton, and you would have thought he hit the lottery. He instantly went to work, learning the history of Robeson County and the opportunities and challenges the people who live there face as a community. He built sources, took people to lunch, and chased car wrecks and fires around the clock.

When the time came for us to hire a new reporter into our Myrtle Beach newsroom, I thought to myself, "I need a bulldog, someone who will work relentlessly to break news in Horry County, and own the big stories."

So we move Jody to Myrtle Beach, and I've never regretted it. He hit the ground running, introducing himself to key members of the community, and more than anything else, set about the tough reporter work of building sources, beyond the Public Information Officers, and the officials.

Those sources deliver big almost every week. Jody breaks big stories all the time, and leads our newscasts. And when he isn't, he takes it extremely personal.

Is he perfect? No.

He's not the world's most patient person. But usually it comes from a deep desire to win. He takes it personally when we get beat on a story.

Over the past two weeks, Jody took his commitment to a new level. He covered every minute of what will likely be one of the biggest trials of 2008 - the Louis "Mick" Winkler case. Jody used his laptop computer from inside the court to keep us all updated via email, and you updated through multiple stories on scnow.com.

Last Saturday, when the trial stretched through the day, Jody was there, and delivered the verdict to our viewers an Text Alert subscribers, first.

Thursday night, as the jury deliberated past midnight, Jody was there, staying on top of the story. And he was there this morning, delivering the news first, once again, when the jury recommended Winkler pay the ultimate price for his crime.

Jody will be the first to tell you it was a team effort. Literally every photographer we have in Myrtle Beach spent time camping out with him over the past two weeks in Conway.

Our producers and anchors back in the newsroom offered plenty of support as well. Our management team gave him the resources he needed to cover and own the story.

But it still came down to Jody – and that unwavering commitment to lead the way and own the story.

It proved, at least in this case that hard work and determination is sometimes all you really need to get the job done.

And what a good job indeed.

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