Do You Want A Career in Television?

Do You Want A Career in Television? Here's What You Need To Know
Communications today: Little security, lots of turmoil	You must be very careful about choosing a career in communications. It is a risky choice. Secure jobs in television are vanishing. Radio jobs are fragile. Many stations are music services, and the owners suddenly change the formats and the employees executing those formats. The circulation of many daily newspapers is stagnant or eroding. On the other hand, there may be growth in weekly newspapers, certain online services, new media, niche magazines, and some areas of marketing and public relations. You have to be very careful about investing in a broadcasting career, particularly if you are interested in the on air jobs of television and radio. Broadcasting can be enjoyable, very interesting at times, and even exciting. But there is no guarantee of a professional payoff after you have successfully completed your college education.
An alternative: Become proficient in communications, and bolster your main (non-communications) career choice	Another alternative is to learn communications skills to increase your chances of success in another field. Often you can greatly increase your chances of reaching your goals if you know how to radiate your message. Understanding how the communications media work and also being able to broadcast and write are valuable secondary skills. Even if your profession is not in the public arena and you would not personally benefit from publicity, you may be able to use these skills to help a volunteer group, church or club that you care about. A psychologist becomes better known by taking calls on a radio program. A chef raises his community profile by presenting a recipe once a week on a television newscast. A pediatrician --- after all the years of training at the finest medical schools and hospitals --- may be able to boost his or her career by preparing a simple column of medical advice for parents. It may be offered free to a small, but local, publication whose editors are looking for content. The pediatrician's name is established with patients and potential patients. It's not just a marketing device. The parents reading the material, regardless of whether they ever contact the doctor, are obtaining valuable advice that may help them take care of their children.
To be successful in communications, you must be constantly studying the basic techniques and honing your skills	Your career begins the day you decide this is something that you are really interested in. Fundamentals are critical. If you intend to write, report, edit and produce, you must: Master grammar. Master spelling. Master the techniques of (nonfiction) writing. Photographers must excel with stills, video and computer graphics. You should develop an understanding and a critical eye for all communications. What is the same old thing? You must avoid cliches like the plague. What stands out as different? As memorable? Is that honest? Is that accurate? Is that ethical? Identify how people --- reporters, anchors, photographers, writers, promotion producers, engineers, sales persons and executives --- are doing what they are doing. You must know what they are not doing, too.
Chose a college with extracurricular communications opportunites and professional internships	You probably want to pick a college with a communications curriculum. The content of the communication classes must be current and up-to-date, if it is going to help you prepare for a career. Some people chose to major in other liberal arts subjects such as Political Science, History or English, and learn their broadcasting "on the job" at the campus stations. Which ever curriculum path you prefer, you still must pick a college with strong extracurricular communications opportunities and professional internships. You must be able to actively practice and develop your skills. Generally, it is very hard to prepare for a television or radio career at a school with no broadcasting facilities. If you are going to a huge school, you may not have the chance to get the experience you seek. There may be a mass of applicants interested in the radio or television station, but only a comparative few students get a chance to actually participate. As you look at the possibilities early, make sure you fully understand how the station is operated, who controls it and what sort of programming it does. You absolutely must be able to intern and/or work part-time at a professional television or radio station while you are in school. Your college must have the connections to place you as an intern. You must be able to travel from the campus to the station (a car, mass transit, etc.) Without access to internships, it would be very unlikely for you to make a personal connection to get into broadcasting and get hired. An internship is an important opportunity. Geography is a consideration. If you are able to intern at a major market station and establish relationships there, you have a much greater chance of eventually getting a job there. You need to learn how the business is currently being done, build your professional skills and make contacts and friends. Friends and allies may be more valuable than a winning resume or audition tape. It is very hard to be hired some place without a personal connection.
Monitor your professional growth	You want to be continually defining and developing your own style of writing, announcing, shooting. It's a constant process of monitoring how you are actually performing. Especially for on air talent, it is so easy for your family and friends to be supportive and rooting for you to succeed that they are presenting only the positive side. They may well be overstating things. They are less likely to advise you frankly about weaknesses, items you must improve. These are the areas you need to know about the most. One strategy is to constantly monitor your work. Check the airchecks and tapes. It is so easy to be deceived about something you were involved in. There is a rush of excitement. Something may have been seen on air that you have no idea existed. Consider building notebooks and logs of your performances and specific things you do or do not want to do again. Consider investing in your career with the AP Style-book for the basics of usage or perhaps Merv Block's Introduction to Newswriting.
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Since 1981, the top television executives and newspeople have shared their insights and lessons learned with The Rundown. This newsletter has reported weekly on local television news, programming, and community service projects. This material now fills a massive archive of 6,000 pages --- easily the largest record of hometown television's activities.
	Copyright 1999, Standish Publishing Company.

Do You Want A Career in Television? Here's What You Need To Know

Do You Want A Career in Television?
Here's What You Need To Know