Working in broadcasting

[ringer]

My major in university was actually broadcasting with a journalism minor. I've done some radio play-by-play for minor league and college sports. Loved it, just didn't pay much.

All things being equal (yeah, right), I'd rather do broadcast than print. Just not sure how to get my foot in, so to speak.

Here's what I'd do: Call ESPN or HBO and try to get an internship or a P.A. job. I'd also look into the alumni network at your school. If you don't have connections, don't worry. Call anyway and be persistent. Another idea- call the national networks and see if you can work a game they'll be televising in your area. They always need gofers. If you're competent, they'll let you work a lot of these gigs. It's a great way to know the producers and announcers. You won't get rich, but you will make inroads. Stay hungry and remember -- never to complain when you're asked to do B.S..

 

[spup1122]

What's sad about all these one-man band shops, is the markets where they're occurring.

I worked in a market between 100 and 110 and in our sports department, there were three anchor/reporters, including our sports director. They also had two part-time photogs and got lots of help editing.

Each of our reporters had a photographer/editor when available, which was fairly usual. We also had a full-time editor for our evening newscasts as well as our early morning show. When I left, they were hiring a part-time editor to help with the noon show and the weekend morning show. The other station in the market had one-man bands, but they couldn't beat us in the ratings for anything.

Other stations in the nearby metro had backpack journalists, but most of their reporters had photographers assigned to them every day. The same was the case at the station where I worked before that is just inside the top 100.

 

[Flying Headbutt]

Unlike in print, it's impossible to create a TV piece alone. You'll be relying on a cadre of colleagues -- from the sound guy to the shooter to the editor to the graphics coordinator to the intern Xeroxing the scripts. (So "be nice" was good advice from the previous poster.)

Outstanding post, ringer, but this one item I'd amend a bit. THese days, you don't get a shooter, a sound guy, or an editor. In fact, YOU will be the sound guy, the shooter, and the editor. And graphics? Forget it. You'll give those imaginative requests to a 21 year old pot smoker who's in his 6th semester at the community college and pray that he can see through the haze to spell your slug correctly, or won't be lazy and not find the images or backgrounds you want.

Some places just have a generic clip generator, which means you'll build your own graphics from your desktop PC.

The one man show is creeping up the market ladder, too. I'm in a top 60 market and it's definitely here. Hope this doesn't sound negative, there are still several aspects of the job I like...but it's the new reality, and it's here to stay I'm afraid.

There's a growing number of one-man-band reporters in my market, and I'm in market 12. And most of them are at the #1 station.

The same is true in DC. It's unbelievable.

 

[Prince of Persia]

Good thread. I'm curious to know if anyone has gone the Connecticut School of Broadcasting route. I have a good friend of mine taking the classes now and he seems pretty optimistic about his chances for a good job when he's done. And he does have a print journalism background.