PLANNING FOR GROWTH IN YEARS OF RESTRICTED RESOURCES

Similar to the other news directors surveyed, Shawn Harkness, Assistant NewsDirector of Ohio News Network in Columbus, Ohio, considers physical appearance assecondary to good writing and delivery skills. She contends:The biggest challenge of hiring someone for their first job is tryingto judge their potential to develop. I was always looking for someonewith good writing skills, the knowledge of how to find and developstories, and a good on-camera presence. Clothes/hair/makeup are allfactors we will probably have to work on once an entry-level employeestarts, so they aren’t crucial factors from the very beginning. But it isvery important to have a positive attitude and ambition.Mona Alexander, News Director at WFMJ-TV in Youngstown, Ohio emphasizes theprofessionalism aspect:I’m attracted to candidates who demonstrate that in addition tohaving good skills will make a good employee. I could write my ownpaper on how important this is and how students completely overlookit. You think of me as a news director and someone who potentially cangive you a job. But we are more than that. We are people who(arguably) run the largest department in big companies. We needpeople who share our goals, who care about the welfare of the entireproduct(s) and the success of the company. More than anything, I wantpeople who really want to be journalists and not just on television.Those are the two biggest shortcomings I see when I talk with students.They try to impress me with what they’ve learned and bring me intotheir world. I need them to come into mine.Although responses to what news directors look for in a potential candidate werehighly correlated, responses to what material they believed should not be included in arésumé tape were somewhat varied. Thus, a sample of the varied responses that,overall, tended to be repeatedly made is provided.Material to ExcludeOne of the important points made by most of the news directors is not to includeanything but the best work. Eric Huseby, News Director at KVIA-TV in El Paso,Texas explains that an applicant should not include “anything that’s not a strongexample of [his or her] very best work.” He writes,I view a tape as the best five to seven minutes of an applicant’s career.Everything should reinforce that thought. Some rookies will includethe only example they have of a live shot, or an anchor gig, just to showthey can do it. DONT! If you’re not up to speed in one category oranother, don’t put it on tape. You’ll stand a better chance of convincingme in an interview that you’ll be able to learn and grow in a weak areaif you don’t prejudice me by showing a bad example.Shawn Harkness, Assistant News Director of Ohio News Network in Columbus,Ohio, advises potential applicants to “avoid re-tracking someone else’s package. Even ifyou completely rewrite the script, it is difficult to impossible for someone watching atape to know what you did, and what someone else did. I would rather see a collegestory where I can easily tell what you contributed than a glossy piece I have to try andfigure out.” Mark Baumert, News Director of the Nebraska Television Network, agreesBEA—Educating tomorrow’s electronic media professionals 34