How do TV news stations find their stories and decide whats worth covering?
Tell us a little about yourself and your experience.
I have worked for WCTV for just over two years.
I also monitor multiple sources for breaking news throughout the day.
If something happens, its my job to get our crews to the scene as quickly as possible.
What drove you to choose your career path?
I always credit my Grandfather.
I think it was that constant exposure to news that drew me in to the field.
Im also an extremely curious person.
I constantly asked why, and was always wondering how things worked as a kid.
I cant think of a better job than one that requires you to ask questions everyday!
How did you go about getting your job?
What kind of education and experience did you need?
I actually started college as a meteorology major.
Through our meteorology program, I met our stations Chief Meteorologist.
He came to me asking if I was interested in working part-time as a fill-in weather forecaster.
While an education is certainly required in this field, experience and connections go a long way.
I have a degree in Information and Communication Technology fromFlorida State.
Its a newer degree that takes some classes from the communications program, and some from the IT program.
This allowed me to take classes such as mass media law and social media management.
Before college, I was part of a TV and film production program at my high school.
What kinds of things do you do beyond what most people see?
What do you actually spend the majority of your time doing?
I spend most of my time searching for potential stories we could cover.
I also spend a lot of time reading through police reports and court cases.
Florida has a very open public records law.
I also spend time everyday planning coverage of future stories and events.
What misconceptions do people often have about your job?
That the people who work at competing stations are mortal enemies.
What are your average work hours?
I work a fairly normal 40 hour work week.
Because our evening newscasts run from 5pm to 6:30pm, I usually work from about 9:30am to 6:30pm.
Im considered to be on call just about all the time.
We can also have extremely long days if there is breaking news.
What personal tips and shortcuts have made your job easier?
It makes it incredibly easy to find updates on things going on in each of the towns we cover.
I also make extensive use of searches and lists inTweetdeck.
What do you do differently from your coworkers or peers in the same profession?
What do they do instead?
I act as sort of an air traffic controller for our newsroom.
New technology and social media have certainly changed the way local news operates.
One thing weve been experimenting with over the past few days isMeerkatandPeriscope.
This new idea of streaming live video to social media is something weve never seen before.
Whats the worst part of the job and how do you deal with it?
Stress and the emotional toll of some of the bad stories we have to cover.
Journalism can be an extremely stressful job, especially in TV.
We have a number of extremely tight deadlines throughout the day.
You have to remember the important job you have of keeping your viewers informed.
Then theres the emotional part of the job.
We cover some of the worst possible things to happen in our area.
Other times, we have to share some of those details to tell the whole story.
It can be tough to read those details, and sometimes the stories hit close to home.
I think everyone deals with it a little bit differently.
The easiest way is to leave as much of it as it’s possible for you to at work.
Whats the most enjoyable part of the job?
I think my favorite part of the job is that Im always learning something.
Through the stories we put on the air, you learn about interesting people and groups in our community.
We often have to do background research on different topics when starting to work on new stories.
What kind of money can one expect to make at your job?
Or, whats an average starting salary?
Starting out in local news?
Most likely barely enough to get by.
you’re free to certainly make more when moving up to other stations in larger markets.
You wont find many people working in any form of journalism for the money.
We do it because we love it.
How do you move up in your field?
Hard work and experience.
Like just about any business recently, journalists have had to do more with less.
That means occasionally stepping in and helping do something that is not part of your everyday job.
Those who are willing to help out and complete several different tasks will stand out to employers.
What advice would you give to those aspiring to join your profession?
A lot of people will tell you dont.
Sometimes theyre joking, sometimes theyre not.
Working in local news is stressful and challenging.
Its also extremely rewarding if you truly love being able to tell a story each and every day.
Everyone who wants to work in news dreams of covering the biggest stories in the biggest markets.
Youll get there eventually, but you have to put in your time in a small market.
If youd like to share your career, email us at[email protected].
Title Photo byWellPhoto(Shutterstock).
