PR vs TV

There's a journalism purging going on these days. You know who I'm talking 'bout. Journalists fleeing like boat people to corporations, private companies, guv'ment jobs. They're leaving print and broadcast in droves, in search of a better life out West.

Any place where they no longer have to hear about becoming a "Swiss Army knife" or "jack of all trades" who has to "do more with less" and "adapt" and "converge" and "work more for the same pay." Who wants to do any of that when you can work Monday-Friday, eat a lunch that's not balanced on your lap in a live truck, and enjoy both Thanksgiving AND Christmas off? Journalists usually have to choose one or the other because in case you haven't noticed, there's about 10 of us left per newsroom. And that's in the major markets.

Many of my friends and former colleagues have landed squarely on two feet, working for Yahoo, Gap, Cisco, Comerica Bank, private institutions of higher learning. Places where people have offices and windows to the outside world.

I recently spoke at a 'lunch and learn' event at Edelman, a PR firm that represents mega companies like Merck, eBay, and United Airlines. I went over the basics of how things work for me in TV news and what someone should do if they want to get my attention. Besides running behind my live shot naked. That seems to be frowned upon in most circles. 

I noticed key things that helped me better understand why people leave journalism and go into PR. Things like a smiling receptionist and candy bowl in the lobby. Things like good pay and benefits. Things like entire rooms dedicated to the X-Box and "creative thinking." Things like soft couches and natural light. People who look like they're ready to step into a J. Crew ad. People who smile. People who laugh. People who don't look like their eyes are going to roll back into their heads and down their backs because of the ridiculousness of it all.

Just an observation about life post-journalism for some people. I'm sure there are horror stories about those who've left the business and regret it and spend every night curled up under a desk drooling and trembling. And of course, there are some shiny happy people left. Like Frank Somerville.

Comments

[The best kept secret]

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[Keith [aka Bob Smith on Facebook]]

From what I see happening in the business with local KPIX and their Early Edition newscast with the letting go of John Kessler, I totally understand what you are talking about here. However, what is happening is that the media business is doing what businesses in America have been doing for the past couple of years, and that is, downsizing. This is why corporate America is boasting about record profits, when we are in the middle of a recession/depression. Any business major knows that the largest expense of a business is labor, so when you can significantly decrease that, but still produce your product, whatever that may be, from goods to journalism, then your bottom line will certainly increase. When you think about it, should the local news anchors REALLY be paid $500,000 a year [Dana King, KPIX] or the former anchor with KGO and then KNTV, Terilyn Joe, who was making over $450,000 a year when she was with KGO? Yes, Terilyn Joe was a great newsreader, but there are plenty of people out there who can read a teleprompter well with a little training, who would be happy to do the job for $100,000 a year. Even that seems ridiculously high for such a glamorous job. Also, although you mentioned going into corporate America, and liking the candy bowl and the smiling receptionist in the lobby, along with the corporate types walking around in their J Crew clothes, and liking those things, well, that can be good but being stuck in an office for 8 hours a day isn't exactly great either. A reporter who is always going around in a news truck, seeing different things, and being out in the fresh air meeting new and different people, well, that certainly sounds a lot better than being stuck in an office. Getting back to the news a bit, although you can pretty much pick up any journalism major who can talk and is photogenic [Vicky Nguyen, Thuy Vu, Terilyn Joe, etc] and with a little training, put them in front of a teleprompter, I will admit that the up and coming "eye candy" that is out there would not exactly provide a comforting atmosphere during a crisis. For example, a couple of weeks ago, at KPIX, while Sydnie Kohara was on vacation, they actually had Elizabeth Wenger, the traffic girl, fill in as morning news anchor. Now, imagine if we had had another 9/11 or an earthquake happen during the newscast [9/11 DID actually occur during the morning newscast 9 years ago], can you imagine Elizabeth Wenger being the go-to anchor person keeping it all together? I don't think so! This is exactly why Elizabeth Vargas did not make it as the co anchor for the ABC Evening news several years ago, and was replaced by Charles Gibson. America wanted someone with stature and who provided a semblance of knowledge of what they were reporting about. This is also why CBS Evening news was number one in the ratings when Bob Schieffer was the anchor before Katie Couric took over. Of course, their ratings went down as soon as Katie took over, because she just doesn't provide that commanding stature that someone like Bob Schieffer, Charles Gibson, Tom Brokaw have. Anyway, The grass always looks greener, but seldom is.