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Do I Need An Agent?

(FYI, the founder of survivetvnewsjobs.com, who is now an agent, did not solicit this article. Matthew Nordin -a regular contributor to the website – submitted this article all on his own.)

It’s the question young television reporters and anchors — and now even producers — often ask me. Having been in commercial TV for more than a decade, they wonder aloud, “Do I need an agent?”

“It depends” is an answer I personally hate to receive. But it’s apt here. I usually ask them about their current career situation, whether they have a long-term partner or spouse, and what their goals are.

I can’t do that with everyone who reads Survive TV News Jobs. So I thought I would give you my thoughts on what goes into my decision to hire an agent for myself and whether to recommend one to friends and colleagues.

Where are you in your career? I got lucky. The late Conrad Shadlen, who represented some real heavyweights in his day, took an interest in me for some reason after seeing stories I’d done while an intern for then-CNN correspondent Brooks Jackson and at Southern Illinois University’s WSIU-TV. Rad signed me right out of college. The credibility of being represented by his New York agency helped me months later get my first paid television reporting job at WSPA-TV in Greenville/Spartanburg, South Carolina. It was then the 35^th largest market in the country. I was able to rent a nice apartment and buy food. Hey, that was an achievement. I had no idea at the time, but I have since learned that some of my colleagues have been forced to go on government assistance because their first TV station paid them so little.

If your college’s broadcast journalism program did not produce a live, professional-looking newscast every night that allowed you to build a respectable reel then it’s probably a waste of time and money to hire an agent right out of school. They aren’t going to be able to get you a job in a Top 50 market. Plus, they’re going to be taking 5-10% of your gross salary. That’s not what you bring home in your paycheck. We’re talking about 5-10% of your income before taxes. Can you afford that?

What are your goals? When I was in my 20’s, I put my career ahead of everything. I was single. I just wanted to “get to the network” as quickly as possible. Then two things happened: 9/11 and Mark Sanford’s election as governor of South Carolina. 9/11 changed everything. People my age or a little older who were making tons of money on Wall Street prior to that morning were suddenly calling their significant others, leaving the most beautiful, heart-wrenching voicemails I’ve ever heard. Something clicked for a lot of my friends and me. God, the Universe, whatever label you wish to use, didn’t send us to Earth to make money and spend our lives in newsroom cubicles and live trucks.

The next year, WSPA-TV assigned me to cover this recent congressman from Charleston named Mark Sanford. This was long before he went “hiking the Appalachian Trail.” He was taking South Carolina’s Republican Party by storm, making real connections with voters, beating some big GOP names for the gubernatorial nomination. From the primary campaign through Sanford’s general election victory party at a Sticky Fingers BBQ restaurant in November 2002, I was on the campaign trail. Just like network news journalists, my photographer and I traveled all over the state covering Sanford and his opponents, rendezvousing with our satellite truck late in the afternoon, staying in hotel rooms at night, joking that paying rent in Greenville was a waste because we were never in our apartments. Then it was over. The adrenaline vanished. I was back in my Greenville apartment. And I was all alone.

It has taken me years to take these lessons and create the life and career I want — a life and career I continue to tweak — but I realized the life of a network news correspondent was not what I wanted. When NBC News axed a slew of veteran correspondents in 2008, one of them said that for the first time he’d be able to drive his family to dinner. When he was on-staff at NBC, he’d always driven separately and with a bag packed in the back. He was inevitably getting called away to cover something happening somewhere in the world.

I realized I needed stability. I wanted a dog, a spouse, two children — the works.

In the meantime, Conrad Shadlen’s agency had vanished near the end of his life. I didn’t renew with the agency that bought him out because I didn’t know what I wanted to do next. If I went off and freelanced somewhere, that 10% hit to my limited income might have been unsustainable.

So ask yourself: Does an agent really fit into my life plan? Or do I just want the caché of being able to say I have an agent?

Is your significant other willing to move? Once you’re in a relationship, someone’s career has to come first. You both might decide at this point in your lives it makes more sense to put your TV career first. However, if you become involved with a doctor or lawyer who’s already planted the seeds of a nice little practice, it’s going to be hard for him or her to move. In their world, they may have to start from zero and build-up their practice all over again if you both move.

I highly recommend reading Mika Brzezinski’s book All Things at Once. Whether you’re just out of college and the previous paragraph is the furthest thing from your mind or if you’re mid-career and a sizzling pang of recognition just hit your belly, Mika’s negotiation of her career and her husband’s career (she’s married to WABC-TV investigative reporter Jim Hoffer) along with trying to raise two daughters will hit you at an emotional level that is nearly unparalleled in autobiographies of this type. Remember, Mika hasn’t always been this successful. Before reaching star status with MSNBC’s Morning Joe, she had been fired by CBS News. I will say no more. No spoilers here.

If you’re not willing to move, you may not need an agent. In fact, you may be an agent’s worst nightmare because they want to send your tape all over the country to give you the best shot at a great new job.

If you and your significant other don’t want to move, surely you can get to know all of the news directors in town on your own. Then again, if you’re already working in a major market, you may need to keep your agent to negotiate your next deal at the station or to get a meeting at another station across town if you’re let go. (As you can see, we’re back to “it depends.”)

Ready to hire an agent? Do your due diligence. Just like you would vet a source on a news story, do some checking around on this person who wants to be your representative to the broadcast news world. Interview them. Skype with them. Fly out and meet them if you can afford it. Ask them what they like about you. Ask them how they plan to market you. Ask them how they’ll work with you to improve your skills and marketability for the next job search two or three years from now.

The goal is to find someone who wants to represent YOU, not just another anchor/reporter. And the goal is to only hire an agent if he or she truly fits in with your life plan.

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Matthew Nordin is an investigative reporter at WXIX-TV in Cincinnati. Join him on LinkedIn and follow him on Twitter @FOX19Matthew.

What Mergers Really Mean For “Joe TV Journalist”

The recent Gannett-Belo merger announcement was definitely an attention getter. Many wonder how in the world it will work, what it will mean for the industry and what does it mean for TV journalism? There are several great articles already tackling some of these issues. (See Dallas Morning news for more on how the deal will work. And this New York Times article explains the financial reasons for the merger)

In this article, we are going to look at what average “Joe TV Journalist” needs to consider. Much of it is common sense but, it bears reminding.

What Big Media Buyouts mean to Journalists:

Fewer options

More opportunities to burn bridges

Mind p’s and q’s

More mergers means fewer options in many cases. Newsroom consolidations are a trend that is even creating enough concern to start a movement. (Check out this map to see how many stations are operating this way.)

This means fewer options in terms of companies for whom you can work. That is significant because this is not a big business anyway. Pick a journalist you know, and with little to no effort you can come up with three names of people connected to that person. A little more effort and you will likely come up with at least ten other names. So think twice if you get a burning desire to tell your ND to “&^%$ off!”

There are more opportunities each day now, to burn bridges. Companies keep human resource files on you. Count on the fact that ND’s across the country from one another can hit a few computer keys or speed dial and get the full scoop on you in a heartbeat. If you hate your situation, gripe in private and quietly move on.

That is all part of minding your p’s and q’s. Keep in mind, sticking it to the “&*^hole” newsroom and walking out or giving a day’s notice will come back to bite you. The chances of it happening are greater than ever with fewer companies controlling more of the jobs. Remember, the fewer broadcasting companies that exist, the bigger the bite. I know a few journalists right now who decided to just walk out (to get a little revenge on “the man!”) and now they are really hurting. You will be labeled. You will raise red flags. You will lose out on top salary options. And yes, you could be black balled all together. It really does happen, especially within station groups. So, if you love being a part of TV news, suck it up. Find a job quietly, and put in two weeks notice. You can do it, your career depends on it.

Bottom line, what this means for “Joe TV Journalist” is that the biz is getting even smaller than it was before. Play nice in the sandbox, and take the high road even when others around you are not. Your reputation will count for even more than in the past. If this trend continues there simply will be fewer options for you to get a second chance.

When to use two shots.

This seemingly simple technique is misused all the time. Too often you watch a story about a difficult situation like a murder or serious health issue and when the story ends, the next image is a two shot. Then the, visibly, uncomfortable anchors try and transition to WX, teases or a story about puppies!

Two shots are not throwaways used just to get to WX or sports or to make sure you do not have disappearing anchors. Two shots have a specific, and key, purpose in a newscast: Building your team.

Two shots are best used as transitions between subjects that have a similar emotional appeal. In other words: Use them when discussing a serious subject (when you have team coverage for example) or a break out on a story. You can tag out on a two shot, when discussing a story about a bank robbery and have second anchor say a line about another crime story. This type of handoff is fine, and at times quite effective.

Too often two shots are used in the same spots in a newscast every day: At the top of a block, then just before teases. If you do not consider whether the subjects you are discussing are related, you are setting your anchors up for a lot of uncomfortable transitions. No good team building there.

So when planning two shots in a rundown, you really need to think of your anchors as having a conversation and look for places where one anchor can say something, and the other can add a little extra. Let’s go back to the bank robbery example. Let’s say Joe, reads a vo about the robbery. The last line is a two shot, Joe: “Police are hoping someone will call in a tip about that surveillance video.” Then Jane can say, in the two shot: “Police wish they had more tips on this case… (car crash, fire, a burglarly..etc..). If you base two shots on transitions, instead of setting up face time, the number of uncomfortable moments will go way down.

A final thought: Two shots do not require that both anchors speak on camera. You can have just one actually speak. This is especially true if you are wanting to quickly re-establish team during continuing coverage, breaking news or in the middle of a news block. Two shots can get uncomfortable if one has to read a line, then the other sits and waits their turn. This is especially true if the sentences are long, or the first person actually is reading more than one line. Keep two shots tight. Keep the emotional pulse the same. Let it seem like one anchor finishes a thought, and the other picks up the idea to add more. That’s how people talk. It will create natural flow and your anchors will thank you for it.

Transitioning to management.

One of the hardest things to do when you transition to management is to learn when you jump in and when you back away. This takes some trial and error, and a few key reminders.

What managers are truly judged on:

Your team’s successes

Your ability to improve others skills

Your time management

Problem solving on your own

The biggest misconception new managers often have, is that the ratings race is now squarely on their shoulders. This is not true. If you raise the ratings by either doing everything yourself or leading with a reign of terror you will still get the axe.

Your job is to help your entire team succeed. A wise GM once told me, “You are considered a great manager, when you leave and the staff still executes as well or better than when you were there.” Think hard about that statement. If you believe that to really be true, then your first priority as a manager switches from turning the best newscast everyday, to helping others around you improve themselves each day.

Which leads to our next point: Your new role as a manager is not to dive in and redo or fix all the mistakes. Your role is to help others around you improve, so that no one has to routinely dive in and fix others mistakes. The minute you take a management job, you become a mentor. It is that simple. You must know how to help others around you grow and challenge themselves. You are a cheerleader, a reality checker and in many ways a careful observer. So diving in and writing an entire A-block or rewriting every reporter script each day is actually a failure on your part. You are letting your staff down by doing so. You are preventing your staff from succeeding long term.

You also set the example on how to time manage. If you work tireless hours, then take it out on the staff around you, for “being such a mess,” you lose credibility. If you roll in late everyday, leave early several times a week and take long lunches you also lose credibility. Understand that the staff around you keeps a close watch on how hard you work and how long. They take note. They base a tremendous amount of their respect for you on your scheduling. You need to show them how to work hard, while still maintaining some semblance of a life. This shows you are a compassionate, respectful manager who will also honor their hard work and time put in each day.

Finally, if your solution to problems that arise is to go running to the assistant news director or news director for direction, you are dead in the water. Your staff will consider you a joke, and so will your ND. You have to problem solve, largely, by yourself. Of course, if there are potential legal ramifications you do need to consult. But if a reporter is ignoring your orders or a producer is not listening and doing whatever they want, you must fix the issue yourself. Running to the other “parent” to have them hand out the discipline will destroy any chance you have of building credibility. This is an extremely hard lesson. If you try several techniques to no avail, then you need to come to your news director with that list, one-on-one, and provide more suggestions to handle the situation. Never go to the ND and ask him or her to flat out fix it. That’s what you are paid to do now.

So there you have it, go lead by empowering others to challenge themselves. Set up a work routine that you want others to follow. And when an issue arises, come up with a solution and execute. Some decisions will be wrong. Admit it, then fix it. Your staff will learn from this example. It will earn you a lot more credibility than running for guidance and refusing to take a stand yourself.