On August 1, Lisa Monahan an Investigative Reporter from KWTV came and talked to our class. She was by far one of the most interesting speakers in the class. She was a great public speaker and she was very informative for anyone interested in any career, not just a career in broadcasting. She told us about what her career has been like so far.
An average day for her consists of her actual shift starting at 9:00 am, but she actually starts her day much earlier than that by doing research for potential stories to pitch to her producers. On this particular day she had 2 potential story ideas, such as looking for people from Luther, OK who's houses burned down exactly one year ago to date. Another potential story for her was investigating a story involving a creepy man that had been seen a number of times walking around the sorority houses at OSU in Stillwater. She called her boss with her story ideas, and they told her to work on the story in Luther. She was then on the 4:00, 5:00 and 6:00 news, and then posted her story on the web.
Later the same day we toured KWTV. That was my favorite part of the class! It was awesome to tour such a nice and well known TV station.
We got to watch the News 9 Noon broadcast happen. It was so amazing to watch how it all happens! It is such a cool experience to get to see what happens behind the scenes. Everyone was so nice and they were so willing and eager to answer any questions anyone from the class had. It couldn't have been a better experience!
On August 2 Vance Harrison came to talk to our class. Mr. Harrison is the OBEA President and former Media Conglomerate Owner and Manager. He had a lot of useful information to offer to anyone in any media business, not just broadcasting. He talked about how media is slow to change. Newspapers haven't changed much. Radio didn't change anything until the 1950's until TV started. When TV started in 1950, nothing changed until 1960 when they switched from black and white to color, and then nothing changed until 2009 when analog switched to digital, when things went to High Definition.
Mr. Harrison talked about how the average newspaper has had to cut nearly 50% of its staff since 2000. The most informational part of his speech was when he told us what all of the information he had offered us this far meant for us. He said traditional media (newspapers, TV, radio and outdoor) only one of them is for sure in trouble; and the other three will be in trouble if they don't play their cards right. For example, newspapers ignored the digital age and that was their downfall. His advice is to not work for companies like Pandora, because they don't make any money, aside from advertising money which they pay back to the people that run the company, such as artists. Mr. Harrison said "old media is not dead, and won't be for a long time because of companies like Pandora, old media can monetize." He gave the example of a company like GM from 1971-1975 was the world's biggest company, right now it is bankrupt and we are all shareholders because the US bailed them out and now they have the big task of finding their way and re-defining who they are as a company, and they probably will, because they have some of the best vehicles on the road today. Then look at companies like Facebook, who didn't exist 8 years ago, Mark Zuckerberg was just a student sitting in a dorm, and now he is worth millions.
On the same day, Emmy Award winner Mark Norman, Director of Technology at OETA came and talked to us. Mr. Norman said he likes to focus on more educational programming focused in non-profit rather than reporting the news. He was a very nice man and he had a lot of good thoughts to offer, especially for someone who was interested in his particular field.
On August 5, we toured the National Cowboy and Western Heritage Museum. We had the opportunity to talk to Mike Edminson, the Public Relations and and Fundraising Director at the Museum. He was very informative about non-profit companies and what it would be like working for them. He said they mostly look for people who are good at a lot of different things rather than really great at one particular thing. The museum itself was also very cool, there are so many different artifacts, it is one of those places you could walk through all the time and always learn something new.
Later that same day, Jenny Monroe, the Edmond Police Media Specialist came to talk to the class. She had so much valuable input for people looking into the PR industry. She said she loves when journalists challenge her, and that journalists should go to the source, not just take the easy way out and call because people can tell you whatever they want over the phone. I found her particularly interesting because she is the closest of the guest speakers doing career wise, to what I could see myself potentially doing as a career one day. She was and entertaining and funny speaker with a great personality. She had a great way of telling stories, and the moral of what she said was that you can do whatever you want to do if you have a will and desire to always learn something new and to work hard.
On August 6, Dax Davis, the Program Director for Cumulus Communications and the Sports Animal came to talk to the class. He informed us on how radio is the lowest form of entertainment, the opposite side of the spectrum from Brad Pitt. He said radio is a very passive activity, no one ever thinks they "have to" listen to the radio. In order to captivate the radio audience, you have to give them a roadmap of what is coming up and happening next. Blended commission rates are what sales people in radio work off of, the more you can help sales partners, the more sales people want to include you, which in turn lets you (as a broadcaster) make more money.
Later the same day Jake Fisher, who owns his own advertising firm specializing in the Spanish speaking market came to talk to the class. He said when you're looking for a job, if you are looking for a sales job the job title is not going to be "sales person," it's going to be "account manager" or "consultant" so to know what to look for. He said to be in sales, or to be in any industry really, good things about your personality should be to be enthusiastic about the job, its never more important than in sales though. He said what motivates him and what he finds gratifying about the job is the opportunity to make a difference in the lives and in the business lives of the clients you work with. He said in any career, you should be pleasant, professional and persistent. He said you should be someone people want to talk to, you should dress professionally, and you should be persistent in contacting them, make them hire you.
On August 7, Dylan Buckingham a Sports Reporter for KFOR came to talk to the class. His main message was that you should never burn bridges in the broadcasting industry because you never know when a position will open up and they'll ask you to come. He also told us about how to be in the industry you need a thick skin, he said people will plainly tell you "you aren't who I would have picked" for a certain position, but you must continue on, show them your best work and eventually they'll come around and know you were the right person for the job.
On the same day Joe Kozlowski, for Creative Services at KFOR came and talked to the class. His main message was that a good idea always starts in your head. Mr. Kozlowski said TV stations are always looking for good writers, most people are looking to be on TV, but if you're willing to write they will hire you.
That afternoon we toured KFOR. There were some major differences between Channel 4 and Channel 9. It is amazing that something that seems so similar on TV could be so different on the other end. Not only was the station physically different, but the people (everything from their attitudes, to the way they dressed) were also very different.
On August 8, Matt Kemp, an Audio Engineer who does production commercials came to talk to the class. He was very interesting. I learned a lot about what all goes into the audio part of commercials, and there is much more to such a small thing that most people don't think twice about. But he explained to us that sound is a much bigger part of commercials than most people ever realize, it totally makes or breaks the perception an audience has with an advertisement.
Later the same day we visited Perry Broadcasting, Terry Monday, the Operations Manager talked to us. He has had a very intriguing path to his current career and he has a lot of valuable information for anyone looking to get into the business. We also got to walk around the station and see what the radio business looks like on the other side. I really loved how laid back everything seemed there, the people were very friendly and again very willing to answer any questions anyone had. I really enjoyed the experience.
Oklahoma City Media Tours has been a very interesting class. It has been a whirlwind, all happening so quickly! I would definitely recommend this class to friends, even though I'm not looking to enter the broadcasting side of mass communication I have learned so much in such a short amount of time. I appreciate all the people we have had the opportunity to listen and talk with and the tours were so information in and of itself. It is a side of media not many people get the opportunity to experience and I feel very fortunate I have had the opportunity to see the other side and learn the ins and outs of such a fascinating industry.
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