Add another one to the list of all of the reasons you already love John Stewart. He’s known for lashing out at the media on the Daily Show, but this time he did it in person at the DNC!
Cnn reports Stewart said, “the never-ending television news cycle creates a “false sense of urgency” and forces reporters to “follow the veins that have been mined,” instead of pursuing serious and in-depth reporting.”
Read the rest of CNN’s wrap up of Stewart’s comments on the media HERE.
The New York Times today asks, “Is Jon Stewart the most trusted man in America?” I personally love him. He uts through a lot of the, well, crap, that other “real news” outlets glaze right over.
The NYT goes on to say,
When Americans were asked in a 2007 poll by the Pew Research Center for the People and the Press to name the journalist they most admired, Mr. Stewart, the fake news anchor, came in at No. 4, tied with the real news anchors Brian Williams and Tom Brokaw of NBC, Dan Rather of CBS and Anderson Cooper of CNN. And a study this year from the center’s Project for Excellence in Journalism concluded that “ ‘The Daily Show’ is clearly impacting American dialogue” and “getting people to think critically about the public square.”
What does this say about “real news” if the best source for trusted information is the comedy channel? This would be a great topic of discussion for journalism students. What can “real news” outlets do to regain some of the trust they’ve lost since the days of Cronkite and Murrow?
Read the rest of the NYT article HERE for further discussion material.
…that’s the new twist on one man bands… and they’re joining the ranks of CNN.
From MediaBistro.com’s TVNewser (8/11/08):
The all-platform journalists will join traditional general assignment reporters and CNN’s roster of show-based correspondents in 10 new U.S. cities. Those cities include Columbus, Ohio; Denver; Houston; Las Vegas; Minneapolis, MN; Orlando, FL; Philadelphia; Phoenix; Raleigh-Durham, NC; and Seattle. In most cases, the bureaus are expected to be located at CNN affiliates in those markets.
Is this the future for all journalists? Maybe. It’s a good reason to learn a little of everything in school, that’s for sure. For more info on this story, click HERE.
Big news in the broadcast world…. New York’s governor removed the power of non-compete clauses in broadcaster contracts! That means reporters, anchors, and others won’t have to wait ridiculous amounts of time to appear on a competitor stations in New York. Poynter.org reports that several other states already have limitations on non-competes. Is this a trend in the industry? Click HERE to read Poynter’s story on the topic.
Finding a TV news job can be daunting. It costs money just to get your stuff out there. But it is money well spent and you can write off the job hunt expenses on your taxes.
For students who have just graduated or about to graduate it’s sometimes hard to convince them of the importance of treating a job search like a job itself. But if you do that, you will land a job in no time. Just remember it takes longer to find a job in TV news than in many other professions because news directors have to look over paper resumes as well as tapes/dvds and that just takes time.
I’ll also say this on this topic, as it will make your finding a TV job easier: do an internship at a station you would like to work at either now or in a few years. Treat the internship like it’s a high paying job, be nice, know your place, and always offer to help in anyway you can. People will remember you… and that is how you will get a job there. That’s how I got my first TV job. In fact, while I’ve been offered jobs that I have applied for randomly and even some that I never even applied for… I’ve always taken jobs that I found out about from a co-worker or former co-worker. Never burn bridges. Know that the TV business is all about who you know. But you can get your foot in the door and have a long prosperous career if you play your cards right.
That said, here are some good sites to help you find that first TV job or your next TV job:
The number one site for finding a TV job is: tvjobs.com. Pay the membership fee. You can write it off on your taxes AND you will make that money back when you’re hired.
Other good sites:
http://jobs.journalbroadcastgroup.com/TelevisionJobs/tabid/519/Default.aspx
http://scrippsjschool.org/
http://www.tvspy.com/jobbank.cfm
http://www.journalismjobs.com/Search_Jobs.cfm?Media=TV&IndustryID=2,3
TIP for recent grads: Remember, you don’t have zero experience if you’ve worked for your college TV station or done an internship. You can count from the first time you started shooting for your school on your resume. Don’t lie about what you did, but don’t sell yourself short either.
I usually focus on other areas of journalism, but today here’s a little something for those of you interested in being a magazine editor or already working in magazines.
Steve Blacker, a mag exec and consultant has put together a list of eight essential things you need to know to get the cover right… which in turn helps your mag stand out on the news stand and increase sales. Blacker says, “The cover is the most important and only promotional tool a magazine has to sell itself at the newsstand.”
His tips include going with your gut, go out there on the cover image, and don’t overcrowd the cover with words. For more on his story at MinOnline.com click HERE.
News delivery needs to adapt to new media in order to survive, much less thrive. It seems the traditional media outlets are struggling not only on converting content but also with their ad dollars. This topic gets a lot of coverage in this year’s State of the News Media report. More from Rick Edmond’s Biz Blog at Poynter.org:
Advertising takes center stage in the fifth edition of the State of the News Media report, released Monday by the Project for Excellence in Journalism.
The heart of the problem, especially for newspapers, is not loss of audience but “a broken economic model — the decoupling of advertising and news,” the report finds. “Advertisers are not migrating to news Web sites with audiences, and online, news sites are already falling financially behind other kinds of Web destinations.”
A separate report on the future of advertising finds that Madison Avenue is as tradition-bound — or more so — as news outlets. Catching up might involve finding ingenious ways to advertise on news sites.
Read more HERE.
