Archive for the 'Uncategorized' Category
New model for j-survival?
The Christian Science Monitor is becoming the first national newspaper to quit a printed edition of their newspaper. They will move the focus to online content instead. More info at csmonitor.com.
How soon will it be for other major newspapers to follow suit? What does it mean for journalism?
A TV version of Facebook?
TV is feeling left out of the popularity of social networking.
The movement was pioneered in part by videogame-console makers such as Microsoft Corp. as a way to connect hard-core gamers for competitive matches, and it is gaining momentum as those companies and others seek to entice a broader audience to chat with friends, share photos and recommend movies and music over their television screens.
Analysts say social networking has the potential to play a key role in shaping what people watch and do on the biggest screen in their homes. They say that eventually could pay off — perhaps in terms of subscription revenue or advertising — for the companies involved in these mostly nascent ventures, as efforts to marry the Internet and the TV gain traction.
Will this work? What do you think about interactive TV?
I’ve long been a proponent about interactive TV news. My plan is a simple one and would work much in the way that TIVO works. The viewer would input his or her favorite topic areas. The TV news station would shoot a “top stories” segment and then every other story would be shot/packaged individually with the anchor intro and tag. These stories would be categorized by the stations into topic areas. Then every viewer would have a customized newscast when they wanted at just the push of the button based on the choices they set in their TIVO-like box or the way Comcast On Demand works. Customized yet doable.
Finding a job in TV News
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.
College Papers vs New Websites
New competition in the world of college media. It used to be that campus papers pretty much had a lock on their market. But now Campus newspapers face competition from a company that had helped many of them with their websites: mtvU’s College Media Network. As media bistro summed it up in their Daily News Feed this morning, “Now representatives of mtvU have introduced a network of Web sites called Campus Daily Guides, customized for individual colleges and clearly targeted to the same online audience as college newspaper Web sites.”
Is this a bad thing? Or does it just expand college journalists experiences? Who would you rather write for?
Inside Higher Ed offers perspective from a competitor stance HERE.
Funny thing is I always thought working for the college newspaper was about gaining experience and learning about deadlines. A taste of what the career holds. I never thought about college newspapers relying on advertising dollars to survive. Shouldn’t these important learning tools be paid for by the university and not need ad dollars to survive?
It’s an interesting discussion and potential new learning experience for young journalists in a world of mass competition.
Many of you are… and that’s okay. I’ve been there. So have most of my friends. So I decided to research burnout in TV news producers. But what I found also applies to everyone working in TV News.
You can read my full Thesis on Burnout HERE
or for a short summary, check out my article at TV Newslab
Don’t fret. There are things you can do to help yourself without quitting your job or even the profession. Read my next post…
