Bosses in DC Give Up On TBD: Layoffs For Staff, And Bold Local News Experiment To Become “Niche Site”
So much for thinking big. Albritton, the company that launched the bold and inventive new local news site TBD.com, has quietly decided to pull the plug. According to Washington City Paper, Albritton's execs announced layoffs and plans to morph TBD into "a niche site on arts and entertainment." Wow. So much for reinventing local news.
Local Newsers: Miserable on the Job, Desperate on the Beach, and The Return of Ramen Noodles
John P. Wise
This week's deeply honest and revealing post by John P. Wise has gotten a lot of local newsers thinking about the atmosphere in newsrooms across the country--about how the pressures from the top to make that damned money machine work again has trickled down to the producers and overnight editors and reporters and photographers and control room crew, making everyone flat out miserable.
And when I saw a tweet online from a Pacific Northwest winery about their upcoming employee summer Barbeque, complete with ribs and Pinot Noir, I was reminded of what it was like to work in local news just a few years ago: at times, it was a hell of a fun place to be. Then travel budgets evaporated, photogs lost their overtime, and along with that came a make-sure-the-crew-gets-lunch-even-if-you-miss-the-interview mandate and, as John so brilliantly described it, a complete lack of interest in the people doing the work.
Welcome to San Diego! Clothing Allowance? Ha! No. But Hey, Here's Your Camera and Tripod.
Today, a post about one-man-bands in San Diego is good reading, as is the photo that goes along with it. A reporter who's just landed that San Diego job at a top station, only why is this woman not smiling? Not long ago, snagging a gig at KGTV would be a pretty sweet move. Now, it's almost a one step forward two steps back maneuver, with reporters arriving from smaller markets only to find the first part of life in the big city: learning to shoot your own stuff.
And then there's life after the job, after the layoff, after the cliche-ridden conversation with a manager who's gotten too bored letting people go to even bother coming up with a new, personal way to talk to someone. And in a flash, you're on the beach, as they used to say in better times.
But as Gina Callaghan tells us today, it's a scary place to be, where talent, skills, and smarts don't automatically translate into paying work. I think all of us can help each other out, and I urge you to visit LocalNewser's companion site, CoachReporter, where we've just posted an article from a business coach on a key topic: how do you take a resume that tells employers you're absolutely qualified to work in a dying industry, and translate that to the emerging digital industry that's replacing it? We know we can do the work, but how do we show that?
Other coaches will be offering advice and suggestions on rebooting careers and, as Ann Nyberg says, navigating the change that's surrounding us.
DISPATCH FROM THE FRONTLINES: Gina Callaghan
I hope that package of ramen noodles in the kitchen remains sealed.
In a strange way, keeping those noodles together means the strands of hope on which I base my future employment will also remain intact.
In June, I was laid off from my job as a Web producer at a local TV station. Between the festering stench that is the American economy and a contracting media industry, I didn’t harbor any great sentimental thoughts about the business. That chapter is finished, so move on.
But where does one move?
Many employers in the “real world” value writing skills, the ability to work in a deadline-driven environment, flexibility, multitasking, good time-managers – all attributes found in your run-of-the-mill newsroom staffer.
However, many of those same people will balk at hiring a newsie for several reasons. A common red flag is when interviewers ask, “You are used to a fast-paced newsroom. Do you think you can adjust to a different way of working?”
Oy! The unofficial motto of the media business is “adapt or die.”
Of course, the above only applies if you are lucky enough to get an interview.
Then, there is age. One recruiter, impressed by my resume, looked off to the side and said, “I don’t want to get sued but I think my client might say someone with your, uh, background might find it challenging to work with people just starting out. And the site is all about music and pop culture.”
Huh? Never mind the fact that I worked at Fox, home of “American Idol” and did a stint on the National Enquirer’s copy desk.
“How old do you think I am,” was all I could blurt out. Didn’t get the job. (By the way, I am over 30 and nowhere near death).
Sure there are some relevant job postings out there. I sit home, chain-smoking in an old bathrobe, zipping resumes to that black hole called: [email protected].
And then there is the rest of the day. I recently started a blog about cats, did some gratis social media consulting and enrolled in a class. Perhaps most importantly, I have learned that generic orange juice is $1.99 as opposed to the $3.99 and up for brand names.
Whether my next job is in media or a real-estate office, I realize this period is a good time to take stock of personal passions and chart a new course. However, like many laid-off news types, the more pressing issue is navigating the choppy waters of daily survival – and keeping those ramen noodles in the pantry.
Will Report for Food
We may not be exactly beloved by the community at large, but damn are we journalists resourceful, especially when the mortgage has got to be paid.
A group of laid off Los Angeles Times journalists has banded together to create The Journalism Shop, a collection of stellar reporters left on the beach by cutbacks and buyouts who want just one thing: to work. "The Los Angeles Times' loss can be your gain," the site's 'About Us' reads. "Our interests range from freelance magazine journalism to book writing, deep project research to report design and writing. We encourage you to tap into our vast reservoir of experience and skill to bring to your own projects the caliber of journalism that helped make the Los Angeles Times one of the nation's top newspapers."
Award-winning journalists hanging out a shingle and saying, simply, "hire us." It says a lot about where we are as an industry. A similar site, ProPhotographyNetwork, offers the same services, or as Matt Randall says there, "We will shoot anything, anywhere, for anyone."
Do local television types want or need to do the same? Are we on camera types satisfied with the work our agents are doing? Would a "TelevisionProducersCollective" help? These are the kinds of ideas we can talk about at LocalNewser's companion site, where I hope to offer peer coaching and mentoring to journalists who could benefit from a little guidance given the crazy world we're working--or, like the ex-Timesers, not working--in.
Report: TV News Job Loss Slows-But at What Cost?
The headline, surely, seems encouraging-- TV Job Losses Could Be Slowing.
For those of us hanging on to local news jobs--or hoping to find one--any sign the storm is letting up means we can envision climbing up out of our storm cellars, evaluating the damage, and beginning to rebuild.
But I question whether the study reported by MediaJobsDaily can really be described, as Rachel Kaufman suggests as "signaling good news for all who are still hanging on."
The research, by Vocus, a company that specializes in selling software to public relations companies, suggests that from January to June, "on-air TV news experienced a net job loss of 401." Great! Then, the details: "1,006 fewer TV journalists were working," (Not Great) "while 605 entered new positions."
Here's where the rainbow over the hill starts to fade, at least for me. Who lost those 1,006 jobs? From my own direct experience, I can tell you many of them were among the most talented and experienced broadcast journalists working in the country. And from reading the "Who's News" posts on ShopTalk and elsewhere, I can tell you the people who seem to be finding work are, predominantly the just out of college or just-jumped-150-markets-from Eau Claire" variety, and that means while job losses may technically be slowing, the overall picture remains bad.
Experience: out. Salaries: headed down. And there's little to suggest that will be slowing anytime soon, if ever.
Let's crowdsource this. Leave a comment below if you've had layoffs and hires at your station. Did green replace gray? Go ahead and name the vets, but let's not pile on the newly hired kids, who can't be blamed for jumping at a chance of starting in a big market. Let's leave their names out of this.
But we can tell a bigger story if we all report what we know directly from our own newsroom families.
So...are the job losses slowing? And even if they are, is this "good news?"
Lost in the Layoffs: The Non-Reporters, Non-Anchors Who Don't Make the Paper
I can't operate a switcher to save my life. In fact, in all the years I've been in and around control rooms, they've never failed to give me the creeps (the low light and monitors, glowing buttons and standys and takes and, of course, all that shouting) I've always been far more comfortable out in the middle of a hurricane or elbowing my way into the pack to get my mic in front of some indicted public official.
But the honest truth is this: if I lose my job, odds are it'll get mentioned in the newspaper (I treasure my New York Daily News headline: No More Joyella in Mudville upon my departure from WNYW).
But lay off the entire control room, and not only will the newscasts look darn bumpy that night (you can just forget that quad box and custom wipe you were hoping for), but the people who lose their jobs will almost certainly not be mentioned in the next day's paper.
Unless, of course, it's "15 laid off at Channel 6--but fear not, it's nobody you know...the wacky weatherman's safe, the salty and avuncular anchor's hanging on for another day, and that cute morning traffic girl will be back in the morning in that news-director-ordered tight sweater. The layoffs? Just some, you know, behind the scenes people."
Very rarely does the firing of a longtime but unseen employee merit mention in a newspaper by name. It happened recently when Alan Henney, a weekend assignment manager at WUSA/DC put himself on "permanent furlough" and left the station with a blistering memo that suggested that the station's longstanding tradition as a home of serious journalism was in danger, if not dead already.
It happened again when KARE/Minneapolis parted ways with a behind-the-scenes player considered the "heart and soul" of the KARE newsroom, Senior Executive Producer Lonnie Hartley. His layoff was made newsworthy when the entire newsroom, led by talent with connections to print writers, voiced their outrage.
For most, though, it's pink slip, then silence. You walk out the door you've been reporting to for decades, and as far as viewers know, nothing's even happened. I know it's part of the downward spiral stations across the country are in. Only the lean have a shot at surviving. Got it. And yet, there's something about all the pity pouring out for the poor dethroned anchors and reporters, who, after all, have their name to fall back on.
On this blog, the most popular comments continue--even months after the fact--to involve a laid off weatherman in Denver, and fired reporter/anchors in Washington, DC and Tampa.
DeDapper Media CEO (and ex WNBC reporter) Jay DeDapper
This week the New York Daily News reported that former WNBC reporter Jay DeDapper's started his own production company, DeDapper Media. I applaud Jay and wish him well. I've done the same thing myself, and I'd be the first to admit that having any kind of "name" is one card to play when you're up against it. "The jobs, they're not just disappearing and they'll be coming back; they're disappearing permanently," DeDapper told the Daily News' Richard Huff. "There will be very few places in journalism on television for good people."
The advantage to having a name, is being able to use it to find the next thing. "The idea is, basically for 20-some-odd years, what I've done more than anything else is tell stories for a living," he told the News. DeDapper has contacts and he's a known entity. And when a guy like Jay DeDapper decides on a new path, that itself becomes worthy of a news article, which never hurts when you hang out a shingle and start looking for business.
The laid off TD isn't so lucky. Brilliant in those dimly-lit control rooms, working magic on a Sony MVS 8000 ("I can give you eight boxes, but we don't have eight live sources") but separated from the control room, then what? No newspaper mention, and no clear next step. No, they're not storytellers like reporters, who can find other ways of assembling information and telling stories, whether its for a production company, a PR firm, or as a TV pitchman. Had there not been an injustice of Epic Proportions, I'd be playing the role of a TV type on the new season of HBO's True Blood (I'm not bitter, mind you, just disappointed. I don't carry a grudge).
So how does the live truck op, the satellite engineer, the camera operator or the TD sit down, stare at their resume (which shows a clear flow from college to today that screams "I'm damn good at what I do!") and think, this only gets me the job I just lost?
Rebecca Zucker
Rebecca Zucker is a San Francisco based executive coach and partner at Next Step Partners, a firm that specializes in guiding clients through career transitions. She says in the current business climate, about a third of the firm's business involves helping clients answer that question, "now what?"
"Formulate a hypothesis," she says. "Even a crazy daydream." What was it you wanted to do before you ended up in local news? Actor? Pastry chef? Try and remember. Zucker asks her clients to think back to the peak experiences--outside of work--in their lives. "A time when you felt like you were thriving, alive, confident, competent and at the top of your game," she said. The exercise involves looking at those times and figuring out what made them so special. Was it intellectual or artistic challenge? Was it cooperation or collaboration? Whatever it was, these are the keys to your own personal satisfaction, and knowing what they are will help you figure out what kind of work will make you happy. "The reasons (those experiences) felt so great were because you were completely expressing your own values," said Zucker.
Zucker urges clients to read Herminia Ibarra's book, Working Identity, which offers tips for mid-career professionals on reinventing themselves--and enjoying the result. Key piece of beginner's advice? "Don't try to analyze or plan your way into a new career," write Ibarra. (Take that you over-analytical technical directors and producers!)
Zucker suggests trying out new ideas, even a bunch of new ideas. If you think it could be pastry chef, figure out who you can invite to lunch for an informational interview. Does it feel natural? Could you see yourself doing that kind of work? Attend a conference or a class. Small steps. "They'll find out which doors they want to shut, and where they want to dive deeper," says Zucker.
Oh. And here's a big one: don't obsess about what others are telling you. What would you do for a living if your friends, former co-workers, spouse, and family didn't get a vote?
On the Links: Innovation (Not TV) and Layoffs (TV) Anybody Seeing a Pattern Here?
The future--and the fallout--on the links today.
A few stories on innovation, and as I've been telling you, they're not coming from local TV: newspapers, and (seriously?) the oldest of the old line, the AP.
And in fallout, more layoffs, layoffs, layoffs, and another new Content Center. If there's one thing I'd bet on, it's that anything in TV called a "Content Center" will not be a Google-like hub of innovation, but rather a Kafkaesque exercise in overworked, underpaid newsworkers churning out the unwatchable on air, and the unreadable online.
Simon Owens at PBS' MediaShift reports from Miami on an experiment in hyperlocal community reporting/blogging underway at the Miami Herald, where the paper teams up with local bloggers. Again, don't count newspapers out in all of this. They're doing way more experimentation (out of necessity, sure) than TV stations.
Ian Crouch at Neiman Journalism Lab reports the AP's acting all new media-ish with plans to crowdsource its coverage of Sonia Sotomayor's Senate Judiciary Committee hearings next week. (Not sure what crowdsourcing is? Oh. What am I going to do with you?)
Paul Farhi at the Washington Post reports on a "reorganization" at WRC/DC that sounds so painfully familiar--the debut of a "content center," and the layoff of legions of writers, editors and technicians.
Michael Roberts at Westword in Denver has the latest on talent and tech layoffs at KDVR, including top weather guy Chris Dunn.
James Rainey at the LA Times has a strange, but fascinating piece on the to-the-bone layoffs at FOX O&O KTTV: "And now it must be said of the Fox News affiliate in Los Angeles: So diminished. So wretched."
WTVJ/Miami Local Newser: "I Hate Today, Hate It, Hate It, Hate It"
South Florida media blogger SFLTV has had plenty to write about in Miami/Ft. Lauderdale over the last year or so, from a potential Post-Newsweek eat-and-destroy operation involving NBC O&O WTVJ, to the standard SoFla anchors acting strangely. (See SFLTV for ongoing coverage)
Today, SFLTV put the latest this way in an emotional tweet: "WTVJ is dead."
As the site quoted an unnamed WTVJ staffer about the day's developments: "I hate today. Hate it, hate it, hate it."
WTVJ, rich with a storied history of journalism dating to the earliest days of broadcast news, is not, technically dead. The onetime mighty Channel 4 became the not-quite-as-mighty Channel 6 in a misguided signal swap years ago, but the real destruction was more recent. The looming--and ultimately failed--effort by Post-Newsweek to buy WTVJ and create a major market ABC/NBC duopoly led to a mass exodus of talent. Many saw Ocean Drive-style neon writing on the wall, and decided to get out before they were fired when the new guys took over.
In the end, the deal collapsed. But WTVJ remained understaffed, fueled with a sense of uncertainty, and a melancholy for the end of a long run of big names doing big, real news. Suddenly, WTVJ seemed like any other station, or worse, like a really bad one.
Today, SFLTV reports, an anchor layoff involving longtime morning anchor Kelly Craig, news reporter-turned-sports anchor Andrea Brody, and reporter Joe Carter. The blog reports the station's weekend morning news may be eliminated as well.
WTVJ: Selling Its Experience (Ah, How Times Have Changed)
I'm not ready to throw an epitaph on the mighty TVJ calls. But it's obvious to anyone who follows local news what happens to a strong station that is let to decay through lousy management, underfunding, and, in NBC's case, a seeming lack of interest in being in the O&O business anymore.
The Miami market (where I've worked two tours at Post-Newsweek's WPLG) had long been a destination market: a place where young reporters could land and learn to be fast, talented, and worthy of a trip up the market ladder: a market that made careers. It was also, and maybe more importantly, a market where those Miami-bred network newsers could come home to, sink some roots and do solid, serious reporting on issues ordinarily ignored by flashy, cotton-candy local news. A faded newspaper ad puts it best: once upon a time, WTVJ bragged about the longevity of its people: "Our 11 o'clock news team has lived here for years. So it's only natural that they have a better idea of what's going on."
When did that idea get stale? Is Miami now nothing more than a stepping stone market?
The Who's Who list of heavyweight reporters and anchors who rose to the top, then returned to Miami is long and filled with bold-faced names. Sadly, the trend seems to be coming to an end, and the sending of three more TVJ-ers to the loading dock to pick up their Emmys and plaques says it all.
Can anyone build a real career in any market anymore?
Ex-KPRC/Houston Anchor Wendy Corona: "Blindsided," Now Suing (Says Houston's "Hair Balls" Blog)
Ex-KPRC Anchor Wendy Corona
The economic savings of offloading big-name talent may now carry an unexpected pricetag: the lawsuits. Former KPRC/Houston anchor Wendy Corona's filed suit, according to the entertainingly-titled Houston Press blog "Hair Balls: "Former KPRC Channel 2 anchorwoman Wendy Corona is suing her former news station, alleging breach of contract and defamation."
Corona, who arrived at the Post-Newsweek station from sister station WPLG in Miami, claims she was "blindsided," Corona's attorney, Jan Fox, tells Hair Balls. "One day she was on the air and the next day she wasn't, without notice. It's terrific damage to your public reputation to suddenly be jerked off the air due to circumstances beyond your control."
Corona's asking for lost wages, benefits and undetermined payment for damage to her reputation.
And Now, at the Risk of Sounding Insane, Let Me Say It: All is Well
Yes, It Does Look Bad. No, We're Not Doomed.
It's going to be okay. One way or another, we will all be fine. Take a moment and let that sink in.
Now, sure, yes. Spend a day in a newsroom--TV or newspaper, doesn't matter--and you'll find most people are just not in the "it's okay" mode right now. The news at the top of nytimes.com at this moment? "G.M. Notifying 1,100 Dealers That They Will Be Dropped." That's 1,100 fewer sources of revenue for local television stations across the country, and not exactly the gust of desperately needed fresh air the sales folk were lighting candles and praying for. And yet, today, I insist, it will be okay.
Ariane de Bonvoisin's new book, "The First 30 Days," suggests that times of change happen--because we either make the change or, in local news these days, it's made for us. And yeah, that's scary. When P. Kim Bui was laid off last year, she feared for more than just her career: "When I got laid off, my whole world crashed. Journalism was and is my life. This is what I was meant to do and all of a sudden, I had someone telling me I could no longer work." And she's not the only one, not by a long shot. I received a lot of supportive feedback for my recent post about the loss of a my journalist's identity and the fear that I might never get it back.
Ariane de Bonvoisin: "The First 30 Days"
Ariane de Bonvoisin argues "life is on our side," and that if you can get through the first 30 days, you can not only survive, but thrive. "The first few days and weeks are often the hardest, most emotional time. It's when we have the most questions, emotions, doubts and fears, and when decisions need to be made. This is also the time when we are most in need of direction, information and support."
Direction, information, and support rarely comes in the pile of paperwork HR hands you on your way out the door. It can come in the form of loving support from friends and family, and with the help of Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn, it can come from social media connections and networking. There is power in talking and brainstorming. It can also come more directly from a coach.
Coaching, in this case, does not mean picking up the phone, calling your agent and bitching about the lack of leads, the loss of work, and the generally sucky state of the business. And it's not necessarily surfing the couch at your therapist's office.
It can be refreshing a resume that's looking a little too, well, 1999. Deborah Brown-Volkman, a coach to senior corporate executives, says "no one is going to give you a chance to explain yourself. If you want a job, it’s up to you to prove that you can do it. Your resume is your proof." And if you're trying to translate a reporter's skill set to a new line of work, like PR or social media, re-writing your resume to make your case will be critical. A little professional help couldn't hurt.
As Brian Curtis at KXAS/Dallas reported this month, an executive coach can help you reinvent yourself by developing a personal brand beyond the "guy/girl from the news" and, as Curtis writes, "understanding who you are and what you need."
Julia Stewart
A coach can help you leap from what you know--to what you never thought possible. As coach Julia Stewart puts it: "your skills are just as valuable as ever - maybe more so - the need for your skills is just showing up differently." Stewart says the trick in coaching laid off journalists is getting past the past--and to the future. "I might shift the conversation away from what's being lost to what you really want. That's usually where the opportunities are and there are probably more opportunities than ever for journalists. Or I might ask, what do you see as the biggest problem that the media has and how could you help fix it? Or what does the world/your
community/your family/etc need most and how could you help with that? After the big questions, you can narrow down to actual opportunities and that's where it gets fun."
Maybe it's the dream you put off--and off--because you couldn't break away from what always seemed like a pretty decent gig: bigshot TV reporter or anchor or news director. "But I'm Channel 7's..." Well, now you're not. So what are you? Maybe it's time to get back to that crazy dream. What was it?
P. Kim Bui: Loss, then a New Direction
For P. Kim Bui, it was a move onto the internet, though she made the move without the help of a coach. "I write a lot about feeling lost in my own journals and I wonder if having someone to help me think things through would help. It definitely would have helped with my initial panic and depression." Those feelings, coaches like Stewart say, are absolutely part of the process: "Self image can be the biggest hurdle and it can take some time to get over it. It's not unusual to feel grief over something like this, although it may show up as anger or depression."
I had a chance the other day to spend some time with a Coney Island sword swallower and fire eater. Not a personal or professional coach by any stretch. But she helped me see something nonetheless. If I sat down--by myself--and tried to think my way from reporting local news to eating fire, I'd never get it done. I could read a thousand books on the process and the history and the economic upside, but when it got down to the nitty gritty--the you know, eating-the-fire part, well, that might've been a problem. As it was, I needed the one-on-one stop-thinking-and-just-give-it-a-try motivation to actually light that thing and put the flame in my mouth. The result: euphoria.
The Power of Coaching: a Journalist Learns to Eat Fire
I did it twice more. The rush came in part from doing something I would have--on my own--thought my way out of trying. My coach, covered in tattoos and ever so patient, showed me I had a talent inside I never knew was there.
We're all going through massive change. We will find our new paths. Some of us will even create the new model of local news and become very, very rich. Others will just hit the jackpot by discovering ourselves. Whatever: All is well.
Why I'm Questioning My Career, Questioning Myself, and Perhaps Unfairly Angry at Alan Ball
Alan Ball: Unfair, Yes, but It's All Your Fault
Alan Ball probably doesn't even know I'm angry. I mean, why would he? But I can't shake it. See, I loved "Six Feet Under," and have always considered Ball to be one of those unpredictable, bold, and truly brilliant storytellers that are just so rare in film and TV today. When Ball's new show, "True Blood," hit HBO, I watched, and thought it was amazing. Weird, funny, unforgettable.
So why am I mad? Oh yeah, sorry. Well, since I left my nice warm reporter's job in Miami at WPLG, I've been blogging away and engaging with new media gurus and pondering a digital future--all from my perch here in Brooklyn. Exciting, rewarding, but financially draining. I've put in hours freelancing at the New York Post, and started work on a new online channel devoted to wine and travel that will launch this summer, but as for the bottom line, well, it's been tight.
How is any of this Alan Ball's fault? Sorry. I'm getting to that. You see, I've been swimming in the ice cold water of New York's media world, where there are lots of journalists on the verge of hypothermia, but not many rescue boats with warm blankets. Nobody's hiring. And the gigs that come up--the interesting ones--well, they don't pay. (You know that "next financial model" stuff we've all been talking about? Yeah, well, the folks out there experimenting and trying new things...they'll let you in on the proverbial ground floor, and you'll feel connected to creativity and the thrill of maybe discovering a new way of telling stories, but the cell phone bill still won't get paid.) And that brings me to Alan Ball.
I've tried everything. I've met with marketing and ad agencies, figuring a good storyteller is a good storyteller, and reporters know how to boil things down and explain them, and the good ones really know how to write, right? Well, try telling that to someone even at a funky SoHo marketing shop. You get this odd stare and head tilt, as if they were a puppy that's just heard a strange sound. "But... you haven't worked at an agency..." And they can't get past that.
Oh. Rats. Alan Ball. Sorry. I'm getting there.
A friend who was unceremoniously dispatched from his reporting job at WNBC recently shared his experiences finding work as a talented reporter and writer in this environment. He thought to himself, "if there's one thing I know how to do, it's look into a camera and talk." He's found work doing commercials and acting.
HBO's True Blood: I Coulda Been a Star
So there I was a week ago in the oh-so-strange world of waiting my turn to audition for Alan Ball's "True Blood." The new season's in production, and one of the characters is a news anchor who does a weekly segment on vampires. Now, like my WNBC friend, if there's anything I know how to do, it's be a news reporter or anchor. I wouldn't really be "anchoring" so much as "playing one on TV." (And I wasn't the only out-of-work local newser who had that idea. Scanning down the sign-in sheet for the HBO audition session, I noticed five well-known names who were also giving the fake news a try)
While I have no real acting training, I thought I sounded just like an anchor during my audition. The casting agent sent me off with a cheery "have a great weekend" and a reminder to leave my phone number so they could reach me over the weekend if I got a callback.
And you now see where this is going. No callback. And I'm left to wonder: am I not even qualified to pretend to be a journalist now? I can't pass for one in fiction? I must admit it had me questioning everything, from whether I'd ever hold a mic in my hand again as a reporter, to whether I could hold out long enough for my inroads into new media to finally produce a paycheck.
Or, I could just blame Alan Ball.
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