Want to be a TV news producer or reporter? Be prepared to wear multiple hats. Mary Ellen Hardies, who produces the 6 p.m. newscast at WCMH-TV in Columbus, Ohio, does a lot more than assemble a rundown and write lead-ins.…
More than one hat
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Sam Donaldson, who has spent most of his long career at ABC News covering politics, said he’s “apprehensive” about some of the campaign coverage on radio and television this year, suggesting that journalists haven’t been tough enough in questioning the…
Get a job
You’ve heard it before. A news director will give you just 30 seconds to make an impression with your resume tape. Turns out that may be a generous estimate. “My rule is ten seconds or less,” news director Neal Bennett…
The new career track
For years, aspiring TV journalists have been told to expect to start in a small market where they’ll do it all–report, write, shoot and edit. Then they could move up to bigger and bigger markets, where eventually they would only…
Getting online video right
The second annual Emerging Video Services study, conducted by Leichtman Research Group, Inc., includes some fascinating findings: Online video usage is still very weighted to young males, ages 18-34 and the growth in online video overall was primarily among both…
Ten tips for writing TV news
People who think writing TV news is easy have probably never done it well. What’s easy (unfortunately) is finding examples of BAD news writing–“simplistic, cliché and shallow,” says Jessica Grillanda, who teaches at Cambrian College in Ontario, Canada. Getting it…