Earlier this week I received an email from a senior at Lakeland High School in Rathdrum, Idaho, who was enrolling at the University of Idaho to major in journalism next fall semester. She is writing a research paper titled “Why is your future career choice right for you?”
He listed 25 questions such as “What led you to choose the profession?”, “How many years of school did you go through?”, “Who was your inspiration?”, etc. Question number eight was a common question I received. , “What are your recommendations for someone considering this career?”
My answer? Apply for the internship.
This is how most producers, photographers, reporters, and presenters get their first job. The absolute best way to start your journey into the world of broadcast journalism is by working as an intern.
It’s your first honest way to take a look inside a working newsroom and understand how the TV business works. Many of the things you learn on the job are not necessarily the things you learn in the classroom. Not everyone who works in television news graduated with a degree in
The good news is that most TV stations in the country offer internships. The bad news is that most, if not all, are unpaid. But I promise you that the lessons you learn and the people you meet will be invaluable in the future. And here’s a little fact, sure it’s about what you know, but sometimes, it’s more about WHO you know when it comes to landing your first paid position.
In addition to not getting paid, you will be doing jobs that no one else wants to do. Plan to answer phones, listen to scanners, record videotapes, and transcribe verbatim interviews reporters conducted earlier in the day—things that don’t involve sitting at the anchor desk or holding a microphone.
To get started, simply call or walk in to your local TV news station and fill out an application. Do not call the newsroom and ask for the News Director of the lead anchor. You can call the newsroom and ask if they take applications and if they can direct you to the right person to talk to. If you’re ready to move, you have over a thousand TV stations to choose from. There are more than 200 television markets in the country, each broken down by household.
For example, the number one market in the country is New York. New York has an estimated 7.5 million TV households, which is just over six and a half percent of the country. Moving down the list after New York are Los Angeles, Chicago, Philadelphia, Dallas-Fort Worth, San Francisco, Boston, Atlanta, Washington DC, and rounding out the top 10 is Houston, Texas.
The size of the market depends on how many TV households there are in that specific city. Spokane, Washington is the 75th market with about 419,000 television households. To give you some perspective, the smallest market in the United States is Glendive, Montana at 210. It has fewer than 4,000 TV households. Number 209 is North Platte, Nebraska, with just over 15,000.
In most cases, each city has at least three television news affiliates; ABC, CBS and NBC. You will also find FOX and CW. Unless you live in New York, you won’t find CNN, MSNBC, or Fox News.
Another requirement to apply for an internship is to be enrolled in college. I had three internships during college and for each internship I earned college credit, between 3 and 6 credits.
So, if you want to be the next Peter Jennings or your hometown’s assigned general reporter, the best way to get started is to get an internship and see firsthand what goes on in a real-life newsroom.