One Man Banders Are Quitting [Archive] - MediaLine's Open Line Forum

Sigonfile

Mar 28th 2008, 06:36 AM

In our Market, the No. 1 station hired it's first OMB about 6 months ago. Rumor has it that he's had enough. Too much work and pressure and low pay. Discussing it today with co-workers, I heard that several other markets are losing their OMB's for the same reasons. Well, it sounded like a good idea to save money with management, but it isn't working out so well. I guess you need more time to write, shoot, edit, and front a "live shot' all by yourself.

TAFKA wacowx

Mar 28th 2008, 06:44 AM

It's not like they are now going to hire two or more people to take on the job that one person did...they will just find someone who is willing to work for the money they are offering. Sure, there may be a lot of churn due to the demands of the job, but as long as there is someone willing to do the job for the salary offered (and with the number of schools turning out grads, I guarantee there will be), it will remain as it is.

Cost-saving measures like OMBs are here to stay whether we like it or not.

Mar 28th 2008, 06:48 AM

Cost-saving measures like OMBs are here to stay whether we like it or not.
Whatever is the cheapest route is the one managment will take; quality is long gone in any shop that hires OMBs.

The Mockingbird

Mar 28th 2008, 07:00 AM

OMB's are the undocumented worker slots of your newsroom, so I'd expect turnover to be immense. Basically, an enterprising college kid without a tape takes a crappy job for a few months and builds a resume.

The problem is, OMB jobs aren't a career. They're "interim" until you find something better, or get more experience.

The problem is, ALL the jobs in the bottom 200 markets are becoming that way: a job you take until you can earn your dues and get a real job. At some point, everyone realizes that, for the vast majority, there is no career here, or if there is -- is one that requires total life commitment.

No thank you!

NewsMom

Mar 28th 2008, 09:08 AM

[quote=The problem is, OMB jobs aren't a career. They're "interim" until you find something better, or get more experience.[/quote]

That's it, exactly. Those jobs will always have high turnover.

trunky

Mar 28th 2008, 09:15 AM

"ALL the jobs in the bottom 200 markets are becoming that way: a job you take until you can earn your dues and get a real job. At some point, everyone realizes that, for the vast majority, there is no career here, or if there is -- is one that requires total life commitment."

yep. basically. And damn, it doesn't even take long to come to the realization.

wx or not

Mar 28th 2008, 11:55 AM

We had an anchor who once remarked that OMBs are like dishwashers at restaurants. They clean up messes, make everything look nice, but get no credit for their hard work. And they tend to work alone.

TVMattNYC

Mar 28th 2008, 12:21 PM

The problem is, ALL the jobs in the bottom 200 markets are becoming that way: a job you take until you can earn your dues and get a real job. At some point, everyone realizes that, for the vast majority, there is no career here, or if there is -- is one that requires total life commitment.

Well said!

SamG

Mar 28th 2008, 04:19 PM

I remember we had a couple OMB when I started almost two decades ago. Now we have none! OMG! You're right, they're all quitting. :)

NotImpressed

Mar 28th 2008, 06:58 PM

I remember we had a couple OMB when I started almost two decades ago. Now we have none! OMG! You're right, they're all quitting. :)

LOL. The people who rage against OMB's apparently can't see the writing on the wall. One guy is about to quit? Aw. I bet they only get 100 tapes begging to replace him.

Desert Rat

Mar 28th 2008, 07:14 PM

Sad to say, here is the only question that matters..

Did your station continue to put out a news product even though those folks quit?

Bet the answer is "yes"....and will continue to be "yes" for a long time to come.

If the answer ever changes to "no", then all the station will do is eliminate the news department.

Sigonfile

Mar 29th 2008, 05:39 AM

Your right Desert........One news room did fold.

Chicago Dog

Mar 29th 2008, 08:34 AM

If the answer ever changes to "no", then all the station will do is eliminate the news department.

Uh, where have you been? KGTV? KRON? These places are not only losing people, they're cutting newscasts.

MyracleMan

Mar 29th 2008, 08:42 AM

That is sad, Desert, but you're right. Management is only concerned with the bottom line and the end product. What it takes to get there is irrelevant. Which is why this business chews up talented grads fresh out of college and drives them out of the biz. Only those who are able to withstand the grueling hours and low pay stay... and they are not necessarily the most talented.

Desert Rat

Mar 29th 2008, 09:37 AM

Chicago dog,

I'm just pointing out the obivious, in my opinion...

Thinking that a mass exodus of OMB's will somehow change the thinking of station management is insane, in my opinion.

Agreed Myracle Man,

That's why eventually I see the future of local news moving to the web. If reporters were smart, they would learn how to shoot and edit now because eventually the only two and three man crews sent out on stories will be at the network level only.

Chicago Dog

Mar 29th 2008, 09:40 AM

Thinking that a mass exodus of OMB's will somehow change the thinking of station management is insane, in my opinion.

You're right. It doesn't change their thinking: they're just replaced. Ask Mike Sechrist or Steve Sabato. Better yet, talk to the bloggers they hired. Whoops! There's no more bloggers at WKRN!

College graduates taking over? Please. Don't you think that would be the norm already? Reporter life expectancty would be only a year -- just enough time to wait until the next batch of graduates come begging for a job. Every station would have OMBs that last only a year. That's not how the vast, vast majority of stations run now. Why are you all crapping your pants that this is the way it's going to be in the future? Get a grip. The only reason you should be worried is if you suck at your job.

I can't understand why people here can't seem to figure out that only the cheapest, last-place stations will move as is described.

Desert Rat

Mar 29th 2008, 09:50 AM

The Gannett stations have started the process of introducing VJ's to their newsrooms.

Last I checked, they are a pretty stable corporation....

Also their shop, in my market, is number one and has been for years. Don't think that all of their shops are in last place either.

David R. Busse

Mar 29th 2008, 11:56 AM

I remember we had a couple OMB when I started almost two decades ago. Now we have none! OMG! You're right, they're all quitting. :)

Sam, if you are really an EKU flag-waver, then go back to Richmond some time and ask to see some of Professor Wellman's tapes from 25 years ago. He was the finest one-man journalist I have ever seen...a world-class reporter who, if he had been so inclined, could have been a network news cameraman or editor.

Wellman was proof to me that the first prerequisite for successful "one man band" journalism is to have a rock solid work ethic....something difficult to find today, no matter what the profession.

If a lot of today's "vj's" are finding the work load much too great, I am not surprised.

Wellman (and a few others of his era) thrived on it.

Rosenblum

Mar 29th 2008, 01:06 PM

We find more and more people who can VJ who can VJ well and who want to do it. For those who don't want to do it, that is fine, but one cannot guarantee that they will continue to find the kind of work or pay they used to find. The industry is changing and this is one change that is inevitable over the long run.

Chicago Dog

Mar 29th 2008, 01:41 PM

The industry is changing and this is one change that is inevitable over the long run.

Of everyone here, Michael, you're the last person from whom anyone in this "industry" take advice. You don't work in the industry. You haven't worked in the industry for nearly thirty years. The stations that hired you are failing miserably.

Take a hint, Mike.

Sigonfile

Mar 29th 2008, 01:54 PM

The OMB I spoke of is leaving a "Gannett" station.

Rosenblum

Mar 29th 2008, 01:58 PM

Dear Chicago Jellyfish

On the contrary, it is you who don't work in the industry.

You may have seen a story about my work in the news business in last week's Wall Street Journal...if you read the Wall Street Journal.

I hoped to see you in Chicago last week.
You never showed up.
I am not surprised.
I hoped we could have a man to Jellyfish talk.
now...swim away.

Of everyone here, Michael, you're the last person from whom anyone in this "industry" take advice. You don't work in the industry. You haven't worked in the industry for nearly thirty years. The stations that hired you are failing miserably.

Take a hint, Mike.

Chicago Dog

Mar 29th 2008, 02:20 PM

Out of curiosity, Mikey: what is it you do in "the industry" again? I mean, aside from poor analogies comparing pencils to cameras.

And why on earth would I pay around $2,500 for a four-day sermon about "how to shoot less boring vacation video?" Well, around $2,500 -- which isn't including the cost of the camera, the laptop, the software, and the actual vacation itself.

Kinda makes a maximum payout of $1,000 a drop in the bucket, doesn't it?

Rosenblum

Mar 29th 2008, 03:19 PM

read the WSJ article..or have someone read it to you.

I did not ask you to pay anything.

I was in Chicago for four days and gave you my address, down to the floor number.

I wanted to meet you man to man.

What I got was man to jellyfish.

I waited.

You never showed up.

Four days and you never showed up.

Jellyfish.

I said, 'we all want to see your work. We're here in Chicago for four days. Tell us the time and the channel so we can see your work'

No work

There IS in fact no work.

Come on jelly....

swim away...

blubbb blubbb blubbb

Out of curiosity, Mikey: what is it you do in "the industry" again? I mean, aside from poor analogies comparing pencils to cameras.

And why on earth would I pay around $2,500 for a four-day sermon about "how to shoot less boring vacation video?" Well, around $2,500 -- which isn't including the cost of the camera, the laptop, the software, and the actual vacation itself.

Kinda makes a maximum payout of $1,000 a drop in the bucket, doesn't it?

Chicago Dog

Mar 29th 2008, 03:26 PM

Mikey dodges another question. Can't say I'm surprised.

Mikey, if you were a "man," you wouldn't have done something so incredibly asinine as accuse me of being anti-semitic and then not offer an explanation as to why or an apology for your incorrect claim. I'm amazed that I have to go over this with you again.

Here's the long and short of it: why would I want to meet up with a guy with a proven track-record of lying and cowardice? What makes you think I'd actually do something like that? Are you that dumb? Wow!

So, once again, we come full-circle. Let me put it in bold type for you, since you seem to have missed it -- again:

What is it you do in our "industry?"

Why is it you can't answer a single question without turning it into something totally unrelated?

You certainly are a good candidate for Adult ADHD studies.

SamG

Mar 29th 2008, 03:29 PM

Sam, if you are really an EKU flag-waver, then go back to Richmond some time and ask to see some of Professor Wellman's tapes from 25 years ago. He was the finest one-man journalist I have ever seen...a world-class reporter who, if he had been so inclined, could have been a network news cameraman or editor.

Wellman was proof to me that the first prerequisite for successful "one man band" journalism is to have a rock solid work ethic....something difficult to find today, no matter what the profession.

If a lot of today's "vj's" are finding the work load much too great, I am not surprised.

Wellman (and a few others of his era) thrived on it.
My point was just that a OMB or "VJ" is not a new idea. I've worked with a number of them. My station elected to do away with them a number of years ago in favor of reporter/photog teams. The problem with those is you sometimes end up with reporters who don't know how to edit (or refuse to admit it), so at crunch time you're tying up a photographer to edit when they could be out shooting breaking news.

As for "Professor Wellman", I actually had him in a class... with him as a student. He was coming back to finish his degree. He's also been my station's "Expert" on election nights.

OMBs have their place and are not, in their own, bad. An entire newsroom of OMBs I don't think will work, but a couple???? Why not?

Rosenblum

Mar 29th 2008, 04:07 PM

Dear Jellyboy

I have worked in the new business for many years.
My resume is easy to find.

Yours is not.

In fact, I am pretty sure you don't even work in the biz.

I think you are in your mom's basement, writing all this stuff.

Got it right, didn't I?

I know I did.

blubb blubb blubbb

Mikey dodges another question. Can't say I'm surprised.

Mikey, if you were a "man," you wouldn't have done something so incredibly asinine as accuse me of being anti-semitic and then not offer an explanation as to why or an apology for your incorrect claim. I'm amazed that I have to go over this with you again.

Here's the long and short of it: why would I want to meet up with a guy with a proven track-record of lying and cowardice? What makes you think I'd actually do something like that? Are you that dumb? Wow!

So, once again, we come full-circle. Let me put it in bold type for you, since you seem to have missed it -- again:

What is it you do in our "industry?"

Why is it you can't answer a single question without turning it into something totally unrelated?

You certainly are a good candidate for Adult ADHD studies.

Another side

Mar 29th 2008, 04:34 PM

... return to the topic for a second.

There's an assumption being made that I'm not sure is valid. I'm not sure people who click on news websites watch the video. And if that's true,it's obviously a big problem for TV.

When I first started my local news website, I worked up a plan (much of it coming from advice and discussions on previous VJ threads here on Medialine) and sent it to 20 people I know for their feedback. Included was my intent to buy a high-grade video camera so I could post video.

Of the 20 people,16 said they seldom watched video on the news sites they currently go to. They are content to just read the stories ... they don't need or want the video.

I was floored. Then I considered my own habits. I go to ESPN.com and CNN.com daily, sometimes more than once a day. And seldom, SELDOM do I ever watch the video. I don't think I have EVER watched ESPN video on its website.

I just want to know what's happened (or, what's happening.) The video -- obviously, there's exceptions -- is unnecessary. I don't watch it. And on those rare ocassions when I do watch video (Usually right here on Medialine) I find myself wanting it to hurry up and be over.

Anyway, just a thought. I'd love to hear from Rosenblum on this, and anyone else who is working at a station that is attempting focus more strongly on the web.

This, of course, spells doom for both newspapers AND TV news (assuming my experience is typical, and I'll be the first to admit that I don't know if it is.)

Desert Rat

Mar 29th 2008, 05:03 PM

Another Side,

I agree with your point, that television is still the place to go for video. However, I do believe that if you make your website THE only outlet for news video, you will get people in droves.

About 6 months ago, we did a live cutin of a car chase. Because of how it ended (horrific crash) we didn't put the end on TV, but did put the end on our website. It generated a large amount of hits. I do believe if TV stations ever put video for stories only on their website, the people will follow.

If a practical way is ever implemented to access websites through your TV and becomes commonplace in homes....in my opinion, it will be game, set and match for local TV news.

Pinkie

Mar 29th 2008, 05:15 PM

Another Side hit on something I've noticed for awhile, because I really don't watch video on the web unless I absolutely need to. In fact, I sometimes get frustrated because I'll see a headline I am interested in and click on it, only to find that it's video. Then I usually just find the text version of it.

As far as the stations that are putting more emphasis on the web, I don't work for one but I do regularly check out sites for stations that do. What I find is they are typically more difficult to navigate. If you advertise that something is only on the web, you may get more hits. The problem is, watching video is not helpful for those who just want to skim the news, rather than sit for an hour and watch video.

Kelvin Hemholtz

Mar 29th 2008, 07:44 PM

"Whatever is the cheapest route is the one managment will take"

That's a great quote. Of course it's their job to make money. I have always put it this way: Management is like water running down hill. It seeks the path of least resistance.

adam & doctor drew

Mar 29th 2008, 08:05 PM

Another Side,
About 6 months ago, we did a live cutin of a car chase. Because of how it ended (horrific crash) we didn't put the end on TV, but did put the end on our website. It generated a large amount of hits. I do believe if TV stations ever put video for stories only on their website, the people will follow.

misleading example, IMO.
a lot of people like to watch a trainwreck.

but I'd guess 99% of video that stations put on a website is nowhere near that dramatic.

John M.

Mar 30th 2008, 06:49 AM

When I first started my local news website, I worked up a plan (much of it coming from advice and discussions on previous VJ threads here on Medialine) and sent it to 20 people I know for their feedback. Included was my intent to buy a high-grade video camera so I could post video.

Of the 20 people,16 said they seldom watched video on the news sites they currently go to. They are content to just read the stories ... they don't need or want the video.

How old were the members of your focus group? I wonder if the results would differ if the respondents were younger.

I don't go to local TV sites for information at all. I go to the local paper's site or the weather channel's site. I do visit CNN.com and I do watch videos but not the packages, only excerpts of raw video. Elliot Spitzer's resignation speech is a recent example.

I do find myself watching more video on the Internet -- instructional videos, network TV episodes, news events -- that I never thought would become regular net surfing habits.

Video has its place on informational web sites but in different ways than it's used in TV newscasts. Traditional media are used to serving as gatekeepers who edit information for readers' or viewers' consumption. As more people distrust or simply lose interest in the edited versions of news they see in print or on TV, perhaps a way to win them back is to offer more unedited material so that viewers can apply their own filters if they refuse to believe ours.

Sigonfile

Mar 30th 2008, 07:28 AM

Is it still Gannett company policy that when you leave one of their stations, you have to turn in all of your "used" coats, jackets, and shirts with the station logo's on them before you get your final check? They held my final check until I turned in my winter LL Bean coat.

WOS

Mar 30th 2008, 04:29 PM

Guess they don't believe in cooties....

Roy Hobbs

Apr 3rd 2008, 05:10 AM

Geeze Mike, I would have come to see you if I knew were in Chicago...especially if you were buying lunch.

And Dog, I hate to enlighten you but college graduates ARE being hired for many reporting jobs that formerly went to journalists with small and even mid-market experience.

And Chicago is probably next, given WMAQ's penchant for hiring 25 year olds with major market experience earned in the trenches of El Paso and Alpena.