Advice for Recent Graduates

Life of Me: The Next Step

I have some exciting news, no pun intended.

Starting Monday I will officially be the senior producer of my station.

The duties are that of an executive producer. We will just no longer have a position with that title.

As the senior producer, I'll get to fulfill my career goals - or at least, I'll work on fulfilling them to the best of my ability.

I've said it before: for most journalists, my station is just one stop in a long line of jobs. Reporters, producers, anchors. They all breeze through for a year or two and then they move onto the next stop. Not me, though.

I'm not going anywhere. I love where I'm at. It's the perfect size and has everything and everyone I need to be happy. I'm not a moth drawn to the lights of the big city. I like to go visit every now and then, but nothing could ever take the place of a long drive through the country on a hot summer day.

So I think I'll stick around at the station as long as they'll let me. There's nothing wrong with staying where your roots are, after all.

The Journalist's Dilemma: First or Right?

Social media - love it or hate it, it's not going anywhere, and it's posing quite the dilemma for journalists regardless of the media with which they work.

As a society, we've gotten used to having instant access to information. So much so that we've come to expect it. We carry our smart phones, tablets and/or laptops everywhere with us to stay linked to the world. Our emails come to our phones and we're constantly updating our statuses or sending out a new tweet. The same has come to be expected of the media.

As our dependence on social media and the internet increases, and it will, the handprint of journalists all across the globe will evolve. We're already adapting to the never-idle world of social media, and as such the premise of being 'first' is changing.

But I can't help but wonder if our dedication to being first isn't overshadowing our ethical duties to getting it right.

I've talked before about my attachment to being ethical when it comes to my job. I like to have the facts and have them double-checked before I run a story. I don't believe in running retractions simply because we weren't patient enough to get all of the information we needed before reporting something.

My station competes against two other local stations and four or so area stations, as well as several newspapers and a seldomly-right online news source. We constantly work to keep our website up-to-date with all the latest details of every story. Then there's the Facebook page to consider, the Twitter site and the pressing decision of whether to send a text alert. And of course, we're expected to be first.

As journalists we have a duty to keep the public informed in an unbiased way. The information we present to our audiences should be right the first time and not just as an afterthought.

Just because we hear reports of a shooting over the scanner doesn't mean we should immediately send out a text alert without confirming that it's actually happened. All too often though that's exactly what we do, following it up with a 'false alarm' retraction text.

Jumping the gun is dangerous (no pun intended). As members of the media, we should be observers and reporters. We shouldn't be getting involved in the stories we cover unless it's for a damn good reason like uncovering corruption or pushing for reform.

When we fail to report just the facts, we can predetermine the outcome of an investigation or trial and even sway a political election. It's tough to keep your emotions out of your stories, but it's what you have to do. Just because you feel like someone is guilty doesn't mean it's your duty to convince everyone else of it. Nor should we always report everything we know.

It's a fine line we journalists tread. Our toes are always just inches from the finish line, and we can always hear the pounding feet of our competitors. But in the end we must remember that being first isn't commendable when what we're reporting isn't accurate. Will your audience understand that or even appreciate your efforts? Probably not, but if you're not pissing people off then you're probably not doing your job right.

Behind the Scenes: Identity Protection

Coworker: Ahhhh! Drunk guy from the bar found me! This is why we don't tell people where we work.

Me: Just ignore him.

Coworker: Next time we tell people we’re sanitation workers.

Yeah. Totally believable.

Chaos in the Control Room: Day 5

This week we're using the 6:00 as our practice field, which means we've moved into my domain as the 6:00 is one of my shows.

The schedule for the mock 6:00 is a little hectic. Basically I'm producing the show twice - once for the actual airing and then again for the practice round - all before actual show time. (And yes, I still produced the 10:00)

Things came together quite nicely. For the first time, it actually looked like an actual show ... well, except for the video and soundbites. You see, the actual HD video editing process hasn't started yet so we've been seeing the same soundbite and video clips over and over again.

But now the cameras have actually been set up so we had real shots, instead of random shots where you can't even see the talent. I will admit I'm still nervous about the robots 'cause in my opinion you can't replace the intuition of an actual cameraman.

It's all slowly coming together. Hopefully by the time we start doing live playbacks of the 10:00 on our other channel next week, everything will have fallen into place and we'll look like pros.

Chaos in the Control Room: Day 3

I snapped this right before the mock newscast for the 5:00 show started. As you can see, there are so many people crammed in this little room I couldn't even get everyone in it.

Chaos in the Control Room: Day 2

Day two wasn't as crazy of a day. Plus, one of the engineers who knows my favorite candy is milk duds brought me a box just because.

I have the best coworkers.

Now for Day 3. Bring it on.

Chaos in the Control Room: Day 1

Day one of the mock newscasts is under my belt.

To give you a quick overview of my day - I haven't left the station since 12:30. I've done four shows - two for real and two for practice. I even managed to get an entire block of new news that I wrote myself in at 10:00.

If I could have taken a picture of how many people were crammed into our itty-bitty control room, I would have posted it for your enjoyment. We were packed in there like sardines.

For the most part everyone has a good attitude about the whole thing. Of course there are a few sour pusses who feel like they shouldn't have to do anything to aid in our transition, but since there are far more willing and helpful people than the grumpies it's easy to overlook them.

Actually rebuilding the shows for the new stuff wasn't bad. It was cool to finally get to see everything in action, but I definitely need more practice, as do the members of our production crew.

It took me an hour to redo the noon - partly because it's been so long since I've produced that show. I worked with two other producers on the 5:00, so that didn't take nearly as long.

The run-throughs were a little shaky, but what else do you expect the first time out of the gate? Everyone is still getting a feel for the equipment, and like I mentioned earlier there was quite a crowd in the control room. (I'll try to get a picture tomorrow)

However, with that part of the show taking an hour by myself, I'm still a little nervous about the real deal when it gets here in three weeks. I guess that's what all the practice is for.

Let the Games Begin

We start mock newscasts tomorrow.

They'll last for three weeks.

There's a good chance I'll look like that picture at the end of those three weeks.

Bring it on.



P.S. I'll try to keep you guys updated on how this goes. I've got a nifty little app on my phone that should make posting short updates easier, so stay tuned for the craziness from the control room.

If My Life Were A Movie

So we had our Media vs. Elected Officials softball game benefiting the food bank last weekend.

It was a close call, with the media squeaking out a 29-20 win after being down by 14 at the top of the fifth inning. It was a fun experience, if you don't count the two innings where everything was almost lost, and we accomplished our goal. Enough food was donated to fill up the back of the food bank's truck.

I didn't do too badly, especially considering it's been three years since I played. I dug in at second base just like in the good ol' days - saved a play the pitcher missed and almost made a double play. We won't talk about how sore I've been the past few weeks...

Are you crying?! There's no crying in baseball!

After the game, I watched one of my favorite movies of all time - 'A League of their Own'. This movie is a classic - from its star-studded cast of Tom Hanks, Gina Davis, Rosie O'Donnel and Madonna ... to the fact that it was inspired by our nation's history.

The All-American Girls Professional Baseball League was created in 1943. At the time America was waist-deep in World War II, and most of baseball's best players, along with many of the nation's factory workers, had joined the war effort. That meant the women emerged from their kitchens and gave back to their country.

The AAGPBL was the brainchild of Chicago Cubs owner and bubblegum mogul Phillip Wrigley.

For the first few years, the girls played fast-pitch softball. The overhanded pitching and use of actual baseballs didn't actually start until 1950.

Just like in the movie, the league used scouts to bring in the talent. The first year, there were only four teams: Racine and Kenosha, Wisconsin; Rockford, Illinois; and South Bend, Indiana. Each team had 15 players, a manager/coach, business manager and female chaperone. The teams were selected at Spring Training, which was held on May 17, 1943, at Wrigley Field.

The girls who were selected had to sign a contract. Under that contract they weren't allowed to have any other type of employment. Their salaries ranged from $45 to $85 a week or more. The players had to be highly-skilled and comply with high moral standards and rules of conduct.

 These girls may have been sliding in the dirt, but they weren't allowed to forget their femininity. After every practice, they attended Rubenstein's evening charm school classes where they learned the proper etiquette for every situation imaginable. Every player also had a personalized beauty kit and instructions on how it should be used.

The league operated up until 1954. In the end, only two of the original teams remained - Rockford and South Bend. But there was never any doubt as to the significance of the league. It offered more than 600 girls, some as young as 15, the opportunity to play professional baseball.

If my life could be a movie, I'd want it to be this one. How cool would it be to be able to play softball/baseball professionally? Just watching the movie, I feel the itch to be out on the field with them. Just another sign I was born in the wrong time period.

P.S. To learn more about the AAGPBL, click here.

Everything Changes, Nothing Ever Stays the Same

Lots of change is in the air at the station.

We're getting ready to make the transition to HD in a couple of months. That means all new equipment in the newsroom, control room and studio, and everyone has to go through another round of training to learn how to use it.

While it's exciting knowing that we're keeping up with the times in terms of technology, the way the workload is structured is being shifted. By shifted I mean that a good bit of what the production crew used to do is being shifted upstairs and added to the producers' workload.

That's a little unsettling, especially when you consider that I produce two shows at the same time and barely have time to take a dinner break. When I have to start making my own over-the-shoulder graphics and full page graphics, I don't know that I'll get to eat dinner ever again. I also worry that the quality of my shows will be less because I'll be trying to do more with the same amount of time that I have now.

But on the other side of the fence, I'm excited about getting to be more in control of the look of my shows. I get to decide which picture will be behind the anchor, how the full page graphic is arranged, etc. As a producer that's empowering and makes my shows all the more mine.

In other news, a position that I greatly covet has opened up at the station. It won't be fully open for another two months or so, but I have thrown my name into the hat for it. That's all I'm willing to say about it for now 'cause I'm superstitious and don't want to jinx my chances. So keep your fingers crossed for me. I really, really, really want this.