Maybe we can call this a "must-read" for anyone just starting their careers or thinking about getting into media. But by the time this post is over, it might be less of a "must-read" and more of an "avoid at all costs" read. Let's see how this bad boy goes...
I remember when I first left Lethbridge College and wanted to get into the "real world". It actually took me three months to find that first job. And to say it was a painful wait would be an understatement (just ask my parents, who had to put up with me moping around the house for that three months). But finally, Lloydminster came calling and I never looked back.
The interesting part about this is that I never really expected to get into the big cities right off the hop. Don't get me wrong, I applied EVERYWHERE. Even did a few interviews and had a few news directors keep in touch over the years. But, after doing my practicum in Red Deer and listening to my teachers tell us over and over and over again, I knew the likelihood of getting a major market gig straight out of school was slim to nil. But you'd be surprised how many new journalism students think they are "the exception" and that they're going to bypass the small towns and cities to land that perfect gig.
I had a conversation with a young lady not too long ago about this actually. She was dead-set that she was going to get on CTV here in Calgary right off the hop. She figured she was better than everyone else in her class and went so far as to say she was already better than some of the reporters on most TV stations in Calgary. I was a little beside myself. Confidence is one thing; ridiculousness is another. I told her she'll likely have to start in a place like Lloydminster or Yorkton, work her way up to a Lethbridge or Regina, and then maybe in a few years she'd be able to get to a major market. Nope. The smallest she's willing to start at: Saskatoon. Good luck with that.
By no means am I saying don't have dreams, kids. All I'm saying is set realistic goals. Ask just about any reporter/anchor in Calgary about where they've been and they'll give you quite the list. I was actually pretty lucky to have been given a kick at the can after just over a year-and-a-half in the business (two stops). And believe it or not, after a while, I knew I wasn't ready.
It's one thing to BE in the market, it's another to be ready for it. For radio, the expectations and workload are insane. You have to be an expert in everything, from council and school board to crime and the court system to business and agriculture. When I went back to Medicine Hat in 2008, it really allowed me to brush up on some of that stuff that I was flying by the seat of my pants on earlier in my career. I was able to go to councils, school boards, courts, you name it, and do it at a much slower pace than what happens in Calgary. It also gave me a keen understanding of how to develop stories at a much slower pace. In my first stint in Calgary, I was pounding out stories left, right and centre, but I'm not 100% sure I knew what I was talking about half the time. Going back to the smaller city, it allowed me to understand the processes a lot better. When you understand the processes, you can more fully develop the stories as you have a better understanding of how everything affects everyone.
But the most important thing (to me) that you gain from working in the smaller centres is you get a better appreciation for not only the industry, but the way you connect with people. And you would be surprised how often that can come back to help you when you're sent out to a smaller town to do a story. You're able to throw on the "small town charm". But that also helps in the city, because people tend to gravitate to that as compared to the "hard-nosed reporter" that you can't say two words around because it might be on the news that night.
Two words come from this: trust and integrity. You can learn how to build both of those in a small market so that when you get to the big city, it's almost second nature to you. Or you can start in the big centre, and if you flub up, best of luck to you in picking up the pieces of your career. Think of it as a poor man's "traveling the world". You get to see some places you normally wouldn't get to see. And who knows, maybe you'll actually like it there and decide to stay a while.
Sunday, September 30, 2012
Sunday, September 16, 2012
Small Town Kid In The Big City
It's always bittersweet going back to some of the smaller cities and towns I've lived in or had a past in when on assignment. On one hand, it's always nice to catch up with some of the people I haven't connected with in a while. On the other, I'm never there for something good. It's always bad news that I'm covering when I'm going somewhere out of the city.
It's a tough dilemma to be a part of. Being the small town kid in the big city has its challenges within city limits. Many people question where I'm actually from because of how many contacts I have in rural parts of the province. All I can say is that I'm "from Southern Alberta". You send me out to areas I've worked or lived before and it can be a little crazy because I'll probably know someone or know someone who knows someone.
I have three bones of contention when it comes to covering stories in rural parts of our fine province. In no particular order:
#1. Bad News Is The Only News
Why does it feel like the only time I'm in some of these centres is when it's bad news? The only time I ever went to Vulcan for a news story? Bunty Loose's murder. Claresholm? Triple-murder/suicide. Sparwood? Kienan Hebert's kidnapping. There's much more to these communities but unfortunately, we only ever seem to go out there when tragedy strikes. But do people in the "big city" truly care about those stories? It would be an interesting discussion that's for sure. Even something like the ongoing Events Centre debacle in Medicine Hat: should that be garnering attention in other parts of the province?
#2. How Media Is Perceived
It's always interesting being out in rural areas with the hard-nosed reporters. Some of them expect to be treated the same way that they're treated in the city. Unfortunately, that's not how it works. And some of those reporters don't like it. They want quotes NOW. This is one area where I'll give RCMP some leeway. A lot of the smaller detachments don't have the man-power to have a "media relations" person, let alone someone who has any sort of media training. So they tend to keep quiet until the Calgary or Edmonton offices come in to help out. Yet some reporters despise that. The same can be said with how we handle area residents. It's hard to explain but rural residents can be a little more weary of media than those in the city. They're simply not used to the cameras and attention. So, in many cases, you have to approach it a little differently. Again, it's not welcome with open arms by some reporters. And a "bad attitude" by one media outlet can ruin it, leading to a negative reputation for the entire batch. To my fellow reporters, I'm not saying "don't do your job", I'm just saying you might be best-served to proceed with caution as it, more times than not, will get you a lot further than throwing a little hissy fit.
#3. Take A Geography Class
This one really bugs me actually. Let's start with general directions. You would be shocked at the number of times I've heard someone say Medicine Hat is in "southwestern Alberta" or that Lethbridge is in "central Alberta". So there's that. Then there's proximity. We've had a wild summer of weather and at one point, I remember reading multiple tweets that a tornado had touched down "in Taber". Nope. It was eight miles south of Taber. Or the fire last November west of Lethbridge, when some media outlets said that the "west side of Lethbridge was being evacuated." Nope. Some rural residents west of Lethbridge were being forced from their homes. Word choice seems to go out the door when it comes to rural Alberta and I'm not exactly sure why. It always make me cringe to see us providing misleading or false information, because what it does is burns bridges as we gain a negative reputation as a whole (as much as some people don't want to think so). An "aside" as well on this one: someone should teach a class on how to pronounce the names of some of these communities. Boils down to doing some research but they don't call Irvine ER-VINE. It's ER-VIN. And Picture Butte is most certainly not PICTURE BUTT. It's PICTURE BYOOT.
By no means am I trying to throw anyone in particular under the bus with these. I'm simply writing about some observations noted in my time in Calgary. It'd be interesting to see how we, as the media, would be perceived if we made a few changes to the way we covered the rural areas. Would we lose listeners/viewers/readers by talking about tsome of the positives? Would our coverage change if we changed the way we approached those areas? Would we gain more respect from those rural communities? I have no idea. But it's certainly something I think is worthy of discussion.
It's a tough dilemma to be a part of. Being the small town kid in the big city has its challenges within city limits. Many people question where I'm actually from because of how many contacts I have in rural parts of the province. All I can say is that I'm "from Southern Alberta". You send me out to areas I've worked or lived before and it can be a little crazy because I'll probably know someone or know someone who knows someone.
I have three bones of contention when it comes to covering stories in rural parts of our fine province. In no particular order:
#1. Bad News Is The Only News
Why does it feel like the only time I'm in some of these centres is when it's bad news? The only time I ever went to Vulcan for a news story? Bunty Loose's murder. Claresholm? Triple-murder/suicide. Sparwood? Kienan Hebert's kidnapping. There's much more to these communities but unfortunately, we only ever seem to go out there when tragedy strikes. But do people in the "big city" truly care about those stories? It would be an interesting discussion that's for sure. Even something like the ongoing Events Centre debacle in Medicine Hat: should that be garnering attention in other parts of the province?
#2. How Media Is Perceived
It's always interesting being out in rural areas with the hard-nosed reporters. Some of them expect to be treated the same way that they're treated in the city. Unfortunately, that's not how it works. And some of those reporters don't like it. They want quotes NOW. This is one area where I'll give RCMP some leeway. A lot of the smaller detachments don't have the man-power to have a "media relations" person, let alone someone who has any sort of media training. So they tend to keep quiet until the Calgary or Edmonton offices come in to help out. Yet some reporters despise that. The same can be said with how we handle area residents. It's hard to explain but rural residents can be a little more weary of media than those in the city. They're simply not used to the cameras and attention. So, in many cases, you have to approach it a little differently. Again, it's not welcome with open arms by some reporters. And a "bad attitude" by one media outlet can ruin it, leading to a negative reputation for the entire batch. To my fellow reporters, I'm not saying "don't do your job", I'm just saying you might be best-served to proceed with caution as it, more times than not, will get you a lot further than throwing a little hissy fit.
#3. Take A Geography Class
This one really bugs me actually. Let's start with general directions. You would be shocked at the number of times I've heard someone say Medicine Hat is in "southwestern Alberta" or that Lethbridge is in "central Alberta". So there's that. Then there's proximity. We've had a wild summer of weather and at one point, I remember reading multiple tweets that a tornado had touched down "in Taber". Nope. It was eight miles south of Taber. Or the fire last November west of Lethbridge, when some media outlets said that the "west side of Lethbridge was being evacuated." Nope. Some rural residents west of Lethbridge were being forced from their homes. Word choice seems to go out the door when it comes to rural Alberta and I'm not exactly sure why. It always make me cringe to see us providing misleading or false information, because what it does is burns bridges as we gain a negative reputation as a whole (as much as some people don't want to think so). An "aside" as well on this one: someone should teach a class on how to pronounce the names of some of these communities. Boils down to doing some research but they don't call Irvine ER-VINE. It's ER-VIN. And Picture Butte is most certainly not PICTURE BUTT. It's PICTURE BYOOT.
By no means am I trying to throw anyone in particular under the bus with these. I'm simply writing about some observations noted in my time in Calgary. It'd be interesting to see how we, as the media, would be perceived if we made a few changes to the way we covered the rural areas. Would we lose listeners/viewers/readers by talking about tsome of the positives? Would our coverage change if we changed the way we approached those areas? Would we gain more respect from those rural communities? I have no idea. But it's certainly something I think is worthy of discussion.
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