PLANNING FOR GROWTH IN YEARS OF RESTRICTED RESOURCES

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CLASSROOMDEVELOPING A SUCCESSFUL RÉSUMÉTAPE: A GUIDE FOR STUDENTS OFBROADCAST TELEVISION NEWSJonathan J. Lloyd, Florida State Universityjjl02@fsu.eduCatherine A. Luther, University of Tennesseecluther@utk.eduThis paper was presented at the Broadcast Education Association2003 Conference in Las Vegas, NevadaAbstractThrough an examination of survey responses from news directors representing differingmarket sizes and areas of the country, this paper explores what current news directorsconsider as positive and negative aspects of a résumé tape. Its primary purpose is toassist in providing students of broadcast television news with a broader base ofknowledge regarding the development of a successful résumé tape.When teaching an upper level broadcast journalism course, the instructor often findsthat the central question looming in the minds of most students throughout thesemester is: “How do I find my first job in broadcast news.” For many graduatingseniors, it is inevitably the on-air television position that is sought. They know,however, that they will be going up against a large number of applicants, some of whomight have years of experience. For these new graduates, in addition to a clearly writtenrésumé, the main job-hunting arsenal is the résumé or demo tape. Much has beenpublished in the area of constructing an effective written résumé, but material on howto create an effective résumé tape is limited. Such advice is usually found in a section atthe back of a general broadcast news textbook and the section tends to be rather brief.Instructors are often left to giving advice based on their first-hand experience or generalknowledge.The purpose of this research is to provide broadcast news instructors and theirstudents with a wider and more contemporary base of knowledge regarding whattelevision news directors are looking for in a résumé tape. It explores in a systematicfashion what television news directors consider as positive and negative aspects of arésumé tape. Hopefully, the information garnered will assist students in developing anappealing and competitive résumé tape in their quest for that often-elusive on-airposition.BEA—Educating tomorrow’s electronic media professionals 30
Rationale and MethodIn speaking to graduating broadcast news students, it has become evident that manyshare certain concerns and questions with regard to the construction of a résumé tapeand the attainment of a job. They have stated that these concerns and questions havebeen prompted by rumor-based ideas circulating among the students. Included arerumors of news directors responding favorably to gimmicks and gifts. Candy stowedaway in the tape casing or party favors included with the tape apparently are suggestedas noteworthy gimmicks. Funny stand-ups, scented thank you cards, or scriptedmonologues describing personal qualities are also portrayed as effective. Students areled to believe that enclosing a glossy photo will help in attracting attention.Mixed advice apparently is abounding in terms of the organization and ideal lengthof a résumé tape. Many are horrified by the rumor that regardless of the length, newsdirectors make decisions based only on a miniscule amount of actual tape viewing.There are stories of news directors who already know what look and sound they want.It is said that if an applicant does not possess what is sought in both areas, within fiveto ten seconds his/her résumé tape is ejected.Students ask—Is there any foundation to such rumors? Should I include a photo ofmyself? If a news director only looks at five to ten seconds of tape, how do I preventmy hard work from being ignored before it even gets started? Certain textbook authors(e.g., Mitchell, 1993; White, 2002) have given helpful advice that relates to the aboveconcerns, but the advice tends to be rather general in nature and brief. This researchintends to go beyond the advice given in these textbooks by presenting informationobtained from news directors currently working in the field.In order to gather qualitative information from news directors about what they lookfor in potential hires, a survey was developed and sent via e-mail to a random sample ofregistered members of the Radio and Television News Directors’ Association. Thesurvey questions were as follows:1. What tape format do you prefer (VHS, BETA, etc.)? Why?2. What role does video quality play in your decision?3. What qualities tend to attract you to an applicant?4. What should not be on a résumé tape?5. How should a résumé tape be organized? (Ex. montage, 3 packages, anchor, slate)6. How long do you usually view a résumé tape?7. What is one (or two) of the most common résumé tape problems you see?8. Comments?The choices of questions were based on an understanding of what has been publishedon the topic in past publications and on a sense of what students are eager to learn orhave clarified. The open-ended nature of the questions allowed news directors to be aswordy or as brief as they desired. Of the 160 contacted, 49 news directors representingmarkets of different sizes and coverage areas responded to the survey questions.ResultsConsistencies were found among the news directors in terms of how they respondedto the survey questions. Comments that tend to represent what a majority of the newsdirectors wrote in their responses are presented under each question-related heading.31Feedback September 2003 (Vol. 44, No. 4)
Page 5 and 6: The Telecommunication Arts degree p
Page 7 and 8: principally studying in the evening
Page 9 and 10: Appendix ADepartment of Telecommuni
Page 11 and 12: WTBUa. Digitalb. Maintenancec. Repl
Page 13 and 14: Appendix BI. Telecommunication Arts
Page 15 and 16: Please be aware of the following: I
Page 17 and 18: B. In-training Courses1. Initiation
Page 19 and 20: IX. WTBU-TV MissionA. To serve as a
Page 21 and 22: CLASSROOMEMAILING THE NEWS: RADIONE
Page 23 and 24: WOUB, Ohio University, Athens, Ohio
Page 25 and 26: • use software designed for writi
Page 27 and 28: Final Grading Scale for the Semeste
Page 29: Oct 23 Act I Script conference and
Page 33 and 34: dubs from a clean Beta or DVCPRO ma
Page 35 and 36: y stating, “I would rather see a
Page 37 and 38: I like the montages on a tape first
Page 39 and 40: and regions of the country, consist
Page 41 and 42: Commission] may revoke any station
Page 43 and 44: The new law also declared, “The F
Page 45 and 46: have written policies regarding can
Page 47 and 48: 3) How did you handle such requests
Page 49 and 50: academic publishers have considered
Page 51 and 52: CLASSROOMHOW BROADCAST STUDENTS DES
Page 53 and 54: “character” of the desired acti
Page 55 and 56: mood, tempo, and intellect. The sty
Page 57 and 58: should be the natural result of the
Page 59 and 60: DiscussionThose who teach scriptwri
Page 61 and 62: ESSAYTHE MAN IN THE MIDDLE:EDDIE FR
Page 63 and 64: ESSAY‘BIG’ ISN’T ‘BAD’Bob
Page 65 and 66: OUTSIDE THE CLASSROOMBROADCASTERS-I
Page 67 and 68: • A voice over (VO) by Jason Broc
Page 69 and 70: Mike Latta, Chief Photographer. “
Page 71 and 72: REVIEWFrankland, M. (2002). Radio m
Page 73 and 74: BEA NEWS2004 Convention Program Cha
Page 75 and 76: BEA NEWSChairman, Founder of CMU’
Page 77 and 78: BEA NEWSIndiana Moves More Courses
Page 79: THANK YOU to the following individu

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