Thank god there was no internet when I was first coming up in the biz.

[interloper]

We've been hiring some new folks at our station and has become the practice by the rest of us, the first thing we do is Google their name for a pic or basic info about their professional background.

The last few newbies through the door, while they got the job, have a horrendous amount of Internet baggage. Blogs full of inane anonymous crap about them. Some might be true as to reasons why they left previous employers. Other bits of info are probably just those looking to be mean.

Still, I shudder to think what it would be like for me starting a new job and knowing all of my new fellow employees know about the newspaper articles and blog comments about my personal past. One reporter here has been accused of breaking up a marriage or two at the last two stations she worked by dating officials she covered on the job. One had a DUI issue. Another was accused of dating the news director and then getting fired when their affair went public!

Even here on Medialine, which is much tamer than other forums, we see examples of this and it goes to the heart of how there is a growing dark side to people and new technology which can be very unfair. Especially if it is true but has nothing to do with their actual job performance.

[The Mockingbird]

Because breaking up marriages of public officials hasn't ever interfered with work as a journalist.

http://www.laopinion.com/media_archive/20070801/080307_PRI_1A_Mirthala33.jpg

[MOCR]

:eek: :eek: :eek:

[Spike]

Originally posted by The Mockingbird:
Because breaking up marriages of public officials hasn't ever interfered with work as a journalist.

http://www.laopinion.com/media_archive/20070801/080307_PRI_1A_Mirthala33.jpghttp://newsimg.bbc.co.uk/media/images/41158000/jpg/_41158325_villaraigosa_203body_getty.jpg

[miss hap]

iNTERLOPER, do you mind me kicking it old school with the small "i"?

You're back, baby. Missed you.

So a co-worker's boyfriend (we'll call him Spike) lived with a guy who sold drugs, lots of drugs. Spike and his roommate got busted, charges dropped against Spike. But now this guy can't get a new job thanks to Google and the local tv station that called his old apartment "a virtual drug den" with a full screen CG of his mug shoot.

Information never leaves the tubes that are the internets. Good advice.

[ August 09, 2007, 05:25 PM: Message edited by: miss hap ]

[Randy Steinman]

Great to see you, 'loper. Don't be a stranger.

At the other end of the scale, I'm really tired of these self-promoting on-air types who spam the 'net trying to celebritize themselves. (I have no idea if celebritize is a word -- I just made it up.)

I know of a certain un-named station in a certain un-named market where most of the younger anchors/reporters have their own Yahoo! fan clubs and their own Wiki pages.

A couple of them even have their own dot.com sites, and the majority of them seem to be nothing more than self-adoring self-promotion. The inside stuff that is often written on these sites obviously comes from the person themself -- or a close family member.

Here's a simple truth: Typical viewers honestly don't care enough about 'teevee personalities' to run web pages devoted to them. Who has the time?!? I'd be willing to bet that 80% of internet fan clubs (for teevee types, at least) are started/maintained by the reporters/anchors in question.

I admit, I'll do searches. I trust my 'b*llsh*t radar' enough to know what to believe. But when I receive a T&R from an unproven wannabe with their own dot.com, Yahoo!, or Wiki page... red flags begin waving immediately.

[s'news]

And yet the Randy Steinman Web site is really cool. Check it out.

[upandown]

Yes, but when one googles iNTERLOPER...one gets Wikipedia, and a definition from the American Heritage Dictionary.

I don't post much, anymore, small 'i'...but welcome back.

[upandown]

Incidently, that small 'i' was a typo, you know.

[Signature on File]

The days before the net...ah! how good they were!
Remember when you actually had to research a story by going down to City Hall or the library to get background info? None of this "google" stuff. That's why you never saw any fat reporters.....no lunch and lots of leg work. :D

[ August 12, 2007, 07:50 AM: Message edited by: Signature on File ]

[Pro]

And also a LOT more jobs! When I started there was no Internet and cable wasn't really a factor (I actually started in "the biz" two years before CNN). That meant a lot less competition and fewer sources for news. To paraphase Mad Max..."You want news? Come watch us". :D

[interloper]

Originally posted by Pro:
And also a LOT more jobs! Actually there were fewer jobs. At best, only three or so stations in a market doing news. Usually fewer and even then, only a six and 10/11 show.

None of the morning shows were around in their newsier formats. Again, one or two stations did that. Usually none.

More jobs? There are more now but the job experience requirements have dropped dramatically.

I remember CNN, during their start up, passing out resumes at the local college to every graduate because they were in desperate need of bodies. Nothing has changed.

Back to the topic, Yet another hire through our doors and lots of laughter over her embarrassing bloopers posted on the Internet. She even has some of them linked from her home page as if it's something she is to be proud of.

[The Mockingbird]

People make mistakes. It's a universal.

It doesn't matter that you had an on-air moment go horribly, horribly wrong. It doesn't matter that it was your fault.

What matters is that you learn from the experience.

There's hope for just about everyone, too; word has it the "boom goes the dynamite" guy stuck it out and got a lot better.

[Pro]

Originally posted by interloper:
</font><blockquote>quote:</font><hr />Originally posted by Pro:
And also a LOT more jobs! Actually there were fewer jobs. At best, only three or so stations in a market doing news. Usually fewer and even then, only a six and 10/11 show.</font>[/QUOTE]Maybe more overall "jobs", but I'm not so sure that it is that much greater. There has been massive layoffs in broadcast television botgh on a local and national level, since the early 1980's. I daresay that most networks or station have gone through that....many several times.

And while there are more overall jobs (I'll concede that point) how many of them are now "entry-level"? Before the age of cable or the Internet, you'd have to go to the very small markets to find ANY television news job that didn't require experience - and was willing to pay for that experience.

[ August 13, 2007, 12:16 PM: Message edited by: Pro ]

[interloper]

Yes, "entry level" is not what it once was.

Salaries across the board in local news television have historically been below par until one could get a job in a large market.

Total number of jobs now is much higher despite layoffs and belt tightening.