job hunting – Page 3 – Survive Your Job In Television News

When Job Hunting Tactics Go Horribly Wrong. Strange But True Stories.

Sometimes, the best way to describe how to do something, is to show the opposite. Here are some examples of ways, real, aspiring journalists have really shot themselves in the proverbial foot when job hunting. We are poking some fun, but please know it is to help prevent more of these scenarios.

One ND I worked for describes getting a pizza box from a young reporter wanting a gig. Inside the box was a tape, resume and cover letter saying the reporter knew how to “deliver” on a story. The trouble was, the call letters for the station were wrong on the letter and the reporter misspelled the manager’s name. This ND’s quote, “so much for delivery.”

Many ND’s and AND’s love to share stories about the “idiots” who get their names wrong. I mean, they get the names VERY wrong, then are put off and send fiery emails when the ND doesn’t give them an interview.

Speaking of fiery responses, I once had an anchor candidate call and bless me out (I was an EP) because my station never called to interview him. One of my producers told me about him and I agreed only to hand the ND the anchor’s information. This anchor then thought he had an “in” with me and kept calling asking for status updates. When he read that we hired someone else, he called and told me what a crap station we were and that we all sucked. Yes, I still remember. And, no, I will never help you again.

Then there’s the reporter who sent a manager I know a resume and reel and actually put checkboxes at the end of the email, so the manager could check if he was interested or not, right then and there. His question, why wasn’t there a “could have been, had you not done this” option?

My last interesting scenario, a reporter who sent a long email explaining why a station’s decision not to hire them was a horrible mistake. This was like a manifesto. You would be surprised how many managers get emails like this, where the person has to justify to you that you are messed up, that the person knows he/she is wonderful at their profession. Just remember email, like the internet, never truly disappears.

Oh and keep in mind, if you cannot get a manager’s name and the station’s call letters right, you will not get a call back, no matter how “brilliant” you are. Strange, but true!

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.

Show us the money. The state of TV news and your paycheck.

The future of TV news, and therefore our own salaries, is something we all wonder about. Many journalists took paycuts in the last few years just to keep our jobs. Veteran journalists are being pushed out, because they now cost too much. Others are considering taking the paycuts they’re offered to make sure they stay put. There are plenty of studies out there pointing to fewer opportunities and less money for TV news. Then there’s Bob Papper’s take. He researches a lot of studies for RTNDA and is a professor and chairs the Department of Journalism, Media Studies, and Public Relations at Hofstra University. I recently spoke to him about the RTNDA/Hofstra University 2012 TV and Radio News Staffing and Profitability Survey. He provided a lot of insight into how he came up with those numbers and what they mean. We also talked about future trends he sees.

Now keep in mind, this man has contact with every ND in America. He also calls and checks in with stations that “hire out” their news from other stations. He even checks in with stations that do not have news, just in case they are in the process of changing their minds. The trend he sees? More newscasts are being created in more time slots. Why is that good news? One word: Demand.

Papper says when considering where TV news is heading, do not simply look at staffing. Other factors come into play, which I will lay out in a minute. Instead Papper says, “If you want to know (about the future) on a systemic basis in the industry, see how much news they are doing each day. Stations added news, while cutting employees. That is not sustainable. Sooner or later you will have to hire more people.” Papper is working on the next staffing and profitability survey right now. He sees more newscasts starting up. He says quote, “Television is doing really, really well.”

So, why the low salaries? Plenty of you DM’d me upset that you were not making the median salaries listed in the RTNDA survey. When I took a closer look, many of the medians measured up to what I made in those market sizes more than a decade ago. Not good when you consider inflation. So I asked how we are really doing? Papper’s answer, “The pay is worse today than 40 years ago.” Why? Supply and demand. Unemployment rates are not helping newsies either. Stations can get away with paying relatively little. Papper’s take, “If you are hiring, you are in control right now.” He says he sees no pressure to raise salaries any time soon, because the rest of the economy is still not doing well.

So is there a light at the end of the tunnel for journalists, grinding out more content, with less help and less pay? Papper says yes, because those extra newscasts starting up are putting a strain on more than just you. Stations are feeling the pinch, and will have to plug the holes, because cutting staff while adding newscasts is not a long term solution. So where are the “relief” hires? “That’s exactly what took place in 2011, and (is) substantially taking place in 2012,” according to Papper. Stations are starting to hire more. So what can you do to make yourself especially marketable in the meantime? Keep dabbling in new media. That will make you stand out, and possibly help you command more cash. Papper’s closing thought for you and me? “New media skills, really can help you stay employed. Part of keeping your job is to move with time.”

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Thank you to Bob Papper. He has put together the salary survey for 19 years. He is a professor, and chairs the Department of Journalism, Media Studies, and Public Relations at Hofstra University. He also is a former producer and news manager.