Blindingly Obvious Careers Advice for 2009

FIRST POSTED AT http://www.theconversation.wamu.org

I was amazed to find that my American University class in Multi-Media Management,starting in mid-January, is already fully subscribed.

Believe me, despite the Great Depression 2, candidates who want to forge a media career in 2009 are still valued, whether its radio, TV, web, print, or all of the above, so long as they have important stories to tell.

As a journalist, manager, and coach, I have learned to distinguish between those aspiring to be famous (or at least recognized by their moms) and those who have something to say based on what they have discovered.

If its all about you, as encouraged by some of the commercial media, then forget it. If its about the stories you want to tell, jobs are still available (assuming you can write), but here is some quick advice.

Don't just rely on your own friends, do your own reporting. You can write stories beyond your own group (Twitter, Facebook,etc) to garner outside interest in your writing. You can overcome shyness and track down strangers who may be able to shed light on your story, ask them relevant questions, and reproduce the answers in a way which accurately reflects their responses. This way, you'll shed new light and new information on issues, not merely replicate the gossip of others. Contrary to contemporary belief, the ability to duplicate other people's reporting does not make you a 'journalist'.

The market for media jobs is fiercely competitive, so it helps to concentrate on pulling together a brilliant letter and resume. Do your best writing. When sending me a resume, the ability to spell my name correctly, and demonstrate some understanding of the programs my radio station airs with a brief description of what they contain goes a long, long way. Showing up knowing where you are, and what the organization does, is a surprisingly easy plus.

In order to survive, you need to know why you are in this competitive industry. You should have a one year, five year and ten-year career target, with the single-mindedness, energy and talent to attract recruiters who are faced with tough choices.

Even today, good journalism is not simply a job. Its a vocation.

The American Forum on Obama and the press

Watch Mark hosting the American Forum on C-SPAN here, or listen to it on WAMU.ORG here.
*Sponsored by the American University School of Communication and WAMU 88.5
Politics and Pundits: The Promises of the New Presidency
and the press. Guests: Bob Schieffer, host of CBS News' Face the Nation and chief
Washington correspondent, CBS News
Dotty Lynch, executive in residence at SOC and CBS News
political consultant
Tom Rosenstiel, director, Project for Excellence in Journalism
Gebe Martinez, regular contributing columnist, Politico
Tony Romm, editor of politics@theEAGLE

Washington is in for change in January, with the election of Sen. Barack Obama as president. What will the effect of the most covered presidential campaign in history be? Who will be the players for the next four years? What were the key media moments? Were the media stricken with Obamamania, as has been charged? Or, were they even-handed in their coverage of an unprecedented wild ride of a political season? A statesman of broadcast news, a political consultant, a media analyst, a columnist, and an up-and-coming politics writer will look at these questions in an American Forum **live on WAMU 88.5** just a week after the election.


Mark McDonald
American Forum Moderator
Director of Programs, WAMU 88-5 FM
Broadcast Journalist in Residence, American University

Get a big shovel

First posted at WAMU's The Conversation

A lot of our favorite radio shows would never have survived the "focus group" stage of inception. Car Talk springs to mind. Prairie Home Companion is another. Some hard-nosed statistician would have shot them down in flames.

But by the same token, you can't just sit down and open the mic. These days, the least a successful start-up public radio production takes is a great idea. Try big resources, investment, and a high degree of blind faith. Not to mention gall, guts, opportunism, deluded optimism, stubbornness, and a high degree of nerve. Then there are all the potential competitors for your favored time-slot who will try to shoot you down before you get started or rubbish your show's quality, and some of them have bigger microphones and much deeper pockets than you.

And, then, the acid test - will listeners even like it? Our own Diane Rehm managed to do it virtually alone, with just the support and encouragement of her closest colleagues.

So its sad to hear this week of 11 economy-related layoffs at Chicago Public Radio, one of the boldest and most imaginative outfits in our dysfunctional public radio family, and the news that NPR are shutting down two relatively new programs, "Day to Day" and "News and Notes"among other big cutbacks.

Chicago have been experimenting with "Vocalo.org", a swash-buckling new format aimed at younger and more diverse audiences who allegedly pass on the traditional rigidity of NPR. The nersayers are already accusing station management (who are taking pay cuts) of wasting core money on the experiment, hence the need for the cuts.

NPR wanted more variety and diversity in midday conversations, hence Day to Day and News and Notes. But a lot of big stations stuck with the established talk shows citing the strong audience numbers for those programs. I never had a prime-time slot for either on Channel One, but we aired them both on HD Channel 3.

Not that any of these new enterprises were in every sense failures. Its more a recession-driven need to retreat to the tried and trusted and away from experimentation which drives the decisions when economic reality beckons in public broadcasting. These days, some purists also question the proportion of investment being made by industry leaders in trying to get out ahead of the innovations in "new" and "social" media and whether its at the expense of high quality programs which might work on any given distribution platforms. You decide.

Its a sad fact that despite the diversity we have in our programming line-ups nationwide, only a handful of shows survive without heavy handouts from their sponsoring stations or from corporate partners. So the next time you think about starting a gardening show, think twice. You'll likely need a wealthy backer, and a strong stomach, as well as a big shovel.