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The Uber Talented, Roving Television Reporter

Name: Jennifer Madigan
Age: 26
Occupation: TV News Reporter/Producer
Place of Residence: Ottawa, Ontario
Employer: The A Channel
Interests: Anything outdoors (skiing, skating, rollerblading, surfing – when possible), reading, dance, photography
Favourite Quote:  “Success is the ability to go from one failure to another with no loss of enthusiasm.” - Sir Winston Churchill
"Dance like nobody's watching; love like you've never been hurt. Sing like nobody's listening; live like it's heaven on earth."

What are the gigs?

Madigan works in front of the camera, on the camera, and behind the scenes. She does everything from capturing and reporting television news stories as a videographer, to booking guests as a morning news show producer. It goes without saying that she is kept busy with a multiple list of responsilities. And it's absolutely essential that she can adapt to different work situations and use a wide range of equipment and technology. In addition, a sense of initiative helps get her job done. “As a videographer my job is to find story ideas, and then shoot and edit my own stories,” says Madigan. “Sometimes I get sent out with a cameraperson and then I just have to worry about finding our contacts, doing the interviews, writing the story, and then helping the editor put it together. It’s nice to have an extra person with you, especially during complicated stories. But I also enjoy the creative control when I get to shoot and edit on my own.” Any extra time is spent helping other producers with their story writing, or looking for new story ideas.

What's in a day's work?

As a reporter, Madigan's day starts with catching up on the days news from various sources. By 10 a.m., she is meeting with the other staff and reporters of the six o'clock news to decide what story will be covered that day. “Once your story is done and you’ve finished your 'live hit' your job is done for the day,' says Madigan. Working behind the scenes can be more time demanding. Keeping up with the pace of a steady news show requires a lot of stamina—and you go home only when all the work is done says Madigan. “In the morning there are newscasts every 15 minutes for the first hour-and-a-half and then every half hour for the other hour-and-a-half,” says Madigan. “As a morning show producer I get to work at 4:00 a.m. I spend the first two hours scanning the wires, CNN, papers, radio...as well as the previous night’s newscasts for story ideas. Then I decide what I want in the show and have the editors cut them for me. Then I write, write, write.”

Whatever happened to 9 to 5 jobs?

“This job doesn’t end when you leave the building” says Madigan.  “I’m always looking for ideas and guests as I go through my daily routine. I also help with special projects like producing Remembrance Day specials and Election specials.”

Who is the boss?

As a reporter, Madigan works closely with producers and assignment editors at the A Channel in Ottawa. There can be some freedom in choosing stories to cover, but a reporter's story ideas are not always aired. “The real creative freedom comes in the field,” says Madigan. “You can put your story together however you see fit (although it is usually vetted by a senior producer before you get into an edit bay to cut it together).  As a videographer you get to be really creative because you are picking the shots you think will work best with your story and you get to edit it all together. You’re encouraged to come up with visual metaphors.” 

“As a producer you have total creative freedom,” says Madigan. “The News Director is your boss but you ultimately have control over your show from day to day. A show like the morning show is fun because you can basically think of something you want to do and do it! Outrageous and fun are part of the game!  Want your hosts to rappel from  your building – no problem! Just find somebody to help them do it!”

Why you want these jobs:

They are incredibly diverse and offer opportunities to meet with a wide range of people and do a wide range of slightly crazy things. “This summer I walked through a hemp maze, learned about soya underwear, followed the path of police dogs into a swamp (in heels), spent the day waiting with firefighters, and baked cookies in a hot car,” says Madigan. Television press credentials can also get you through a few doors or behind a few velvet ropes. “As a reporter I get out to events that I wouldn’t normally go to,” says Madigan. “I also get to tell the story of people you might not ever meet.  Everyone has a story and I love pulling it out and presenting it.” And being nosy and inquisitive is strongly encouraged. “In this job it’s my duty to ask all the questions you might want answered,” says Madigan.  “I have a lot of questions!!”

Why you might not want these jobs:

It's a tough industry, says Madigan, that involves constant, tireless devotion to telling great stories. “I always loved telling stories. That may have come from a father who loves to talk!” If you are shy, meek, risk averse do not apply. “I’ve always tried to go out on a limb for this job,” says Madigan. “From writing bizarre cover letters to get noticed, to doing unpaid internships in London, England, and leaving my job in Ottawa to do a three-month contract in London, Ontario. I try to take any opportunity that comes to me. Things are rarely easy in this industry so why make things harder for yourself?”

C'mon, got any tips?!

“Take chances!” says Madigan. “If you want something, just go for it. And if you are doing an internship don't just sit back. Ask to do more. Do what you can to really get the most from the experience. The same goes with school.” While studying journalism at Carleton University in Ottawa, Madigan also worked as a teaching assistant for a television reporting course.

So, how about Katie Couric's groundbreaking recent promotion?

“For so long the heavyweights in news have been men,” says Madigan. “Walter Cronkite, Peter Jennings, Peter Mansbridge...have been the faces for their networks and you turn to them during major world events.  I think it will be interesting to see how Couric does in that position.  I can’t remember a major news event when I’ve watched a woman lead the coverage.”

Talk the talk:

Just keep it real and keep reeling in those viewers. Apparently, an internal CNN memo in the fall of 2002 encouraged anchors to use fresh slang to hook younger viewers. Words such as “flava” and “ill” were suggested.

(From the American Journalism Review, November 2002).

Walk the walk:

It's worth it to check out the Global Television “Broadcasters of the Future” awards, “a series of scholarships designed to encourage and aid talented and enthusiastic Canadians toward establishing or furthering a career in the Canadian broadcast industry.” (See Canada.com for more info and to download forms).

A Good Ole' Fashion Ruckus Starting Reporter

Name: Alex Dobuzinskis
Age: 29
Occupation: Reporter
Place of Residence: Los Angeles, California
Employer: Los Angeles Daily News
Interests: Reading and running.

What's the gig?

Dobuzinskis is a hard news, municipal reporter covering the Santa Clarita beat for Los Angeles County's largest regional newspaper and the second largest paper for the MediaNews Group. The dynamic job changes depending on what's happening in the suburban region of L.A. County. “Right now, this involves going to county Board of Supervisors meetings in downtown Los Angeles and writing about what goes on there that might affect Santa Clarita [like] jail and zoning issues,” says Dobuzinskis. Most often he tries to get out in the field to see what's going on firsthand but sometimes relies on the phone for getting information from his sources. “It's not always bad to turn out a story in an hour and half by letting your fingers do the walking.”

Skills required:

Here is the big news: the most important thing you need in order to be a good reporter just might be common sense. “The funny thing about journalism is that the skills are very basic, which can sometimes make a reporter feel uneasy about job security because it seems that anyone can do it,” says Dobuzinskis. “With the Web, now more and more people are indeed getting involved.” But Dobuzinskis advises to take pause before moving into the blogosphere of citizen journalism without any acquired credentials. There are certain subtleties of the craft that should not be discounted. “Having seen the kind of schlock that gets posted online sometimes by moonlighting journalists, you start to realize that there are certain skills to being a journalist beyond typing fast and knowing how to look things up on the Web,” says Dobuzinskis. “Objectivity is a skill that has to be developed. So is the ability to ask good questions in an interview.”

So, should you go to J-school?

In journalistic writing, there are a few high standards that need to be adhered to that can be learned in higher education. And journalism schools are becoming increasingly specialized, offering concentrations in everything from art reporting to new media. But some reporters come to journalism from a different backgrounds and some of the skills required can't be taught. Dobuzinskis came to the career with a degree in Communications from Simon Fraser University (just like a wine sales rep featured in this blog). As with most jobs where you are so often dealing with the greater public, having a sense of confidence is imperative. “I've heard it said that a good way to see that a reporter knows what he or she is doing is to look at the quotes used in a story,” says Dobuzinskis. “Colourful quotes means the reporter got a source to speak to the heart of an issue during the interview, soft and boring quotes means the interviewer was probably a little too timid or didn't know who to talk to.”

Who is the boss?

While reporters may sometimes get the reputation of being ruckus starters, they actually have to deal with a lot of authority in their positions. Newspapers are multi-tiered operations with editors operating at various levels. Dobuzinskis deals mostly with the editor of the Santa Clarita edition of the Daily News, a roughly four-page “wrap” that is folded around the main edition of the paper and delivered exclusively to Santa Clarita residents. But his higher-ups also include the city editor for the main office in the San Fernando Valley and the editor-in-chief of the newspaper.

Why you want this job:

This is a job for those who love their words and use them profusely, but who also are passionate about staying on top of the news. Dobuzinskis definitely has the writing bug. “It's fun to see something real that's happened and to write about it, or to write about an issue that's going to affect people.” And for people who get bored easily, journalism can offer a certain dynamism. “The other good thing about journalism is that you're usually writing about something new every day,” says Dobuzinskis. “Which is not to say that it still can't get monotonous sometimes.”

Why you might not want this job:

If you want to be a newspaper reporter, prepare to pound those keys. News doesn't always happen within business hours and the job can sometimes require long hours. “The workload is high,” says Dobuzinskis. “I often turn a story a day, plus two for the weekend.” Also, sensitive souls may want to avoid the slightly hard-edged reporter's life. “A person might not want this job if they have trouble keeping their personal feelings about something out of whatever it is they're writing about, especially when it comes to politics,' says Dobuzinskis.

How to get this job:

A sincere sense of curiousity is an essential prerequisite for this job. “The best way to succeed in journalism is to just learn about as wide a variety of topics as possible,” says Dobuzinskis. And it's never too early to start getting your reporting published. Dobuzinskis' golden tip:“starting with the local newspaper or a student newspaper, generating some good clips of your best articles and attaching those to a resume when you apply for your first paying gig.” Practicing some R & R is a good idea. Reading and writing as much as possible will pay off in getting into this industry. “Pay attention to how things are written in major newspapers or magazines and adopt some of those same techniques in your writing,” says Dobuzinskis. But he also advises on keeping a wide scope and maintaining career options within the different media forms. “It's inevitable that there are going to be a lot less pure newspaper reporter jobs in the future, and a lot more jobs where a person will need to mix different media, such as audio, video and writing, to tell a story,” says Dobuzinskis.

Okay, so what are the perks?

City newspaper reporters get an inside view of politics, city news and events. And, every day, they are interviewing interesting personalities. Dobuzinskis recently interviewed actress Jodi Foster about a home reconstruction project she had undertaken in the Los Angeles Valley.

Talk the talk:

Of course in this industry, lingo runs amok. But here are a few terms to get you started.

Hard news: the nitty gritty stuff. City news, politics, crime, etc...

A lede: the first paragraph of a news story that describes the who, what, when, why and how.

Nut graf: not to be confused with “nut grab” this is the paragraph of a story that contains the essence or theme. It should make the reader care about reading the whole article.

Kicker: the last sentence of an article that introduces a new idea or offers a quick sum up.

Walk the walk:

“There are some organizations that pair experienced journalists with novices for mentoring,” says Dobuzinskis. “Do that, and get plugged into things in your community by looking at calendar listings to figure out things to write about. Sometimes a conversation with a friend or a stranger can generate a story idea.”

There are a wide range of online resources for looking into starting a career in journalism. A couple to start the search are The Poynter Institute, The Canadian Association of Journalists (CAJ), Journalism Net, and Media Bistro.