Small Town Satisfaction

Have you ever noticed how people are rarely satisfied? Their job is never good enough, where they live isn't big enough, people don't treat them well enough, and the list goes on and on seemingly without end. It's almost as if we've all been programmed that way.

I work in a smaller television market, one that's considered a 'starter market' for fresh-out-of-college journalists looking to get a leg up into the next big gig. Did you know the average journalist has about 6 jobs in his/her lifetime? That's not the life for me.

I've never been one to consider hopping from job to job, criss-crossing the country in an attempt to rise to the top of whatever market I landed in after graduation. No, that's not like me at all. In fact, I always saw myself finding a job in a small-to-midsize market and turning it into a career, choosing to make a name for myself in one area rather than spending a lifetime trying to rise above the other thousands trying to do the same thing nationwide.

Maybe I'm crazy for being content working in a 'starter' market. Maybe I'm crazy for being attracted to the little world I've started building around that. Or maybe, just maybe, I'm one of the few people in this world who doesn't constantly question a good thing. Maybe I'm one of the few who doesn't think bigger is always better. Maybe I'm just a small-town girl who's content to keep it that way.

I don't think there's such a thing as staying in one place too long when you've found everything you want and you can see even more things that you didn't know you wanted. Not wanting to 'move on' from something isn't a sign of fear as so many would like to believe. No, it isn't fear at all. At least not in my case.

I believe I've found my niche in the world, and all the 'you're crazy' looks I'm bound to get from the people just itching to get out of here won't phase me at all. I'll just smile and nod my head, encourage them in their endeavours and continue to build up my small world.

One Step Forward, Two Steps Back?

Remember when I walked through that door? Well, I'm about to walk back through it... in the other direction.

Yep, you read that correctly. I'm backtracking and will soon find myself working on the morning show for the third time. You see, the girl that I trained as my replacement quit yesterday leaving us down two producers.

We've been operating with one less producer than we actually need for the past month. We have one who produces the five Monday through Wednesday and the weekend shows, and one of our reporters pulls double duty as a producer on Thursdays and Fridays.

So now everything is being all fruit basket turned over to make ends meet... and once again I'm the one getting screwed. Don't get me wrong. I really enjoyed working on the morning show, and I still think it has a lot of potential once the higher ups overcome their evening shows close-mindedness and start supporting it as well. But I was just getting into the swing of the 6:00 and 10:00 and this feels like a setback.

I feel like I'm being a baby. Heck, I know I'm being a baby. I mean, one producer up and quits, leaving us very short-handed. The way things are being shifted around is the best that could be done. I know that. But I think I deserve my moment of self-pity, even though it's been all day.

There are a few consolations.

1. I don't have to deal with the stress of election night.

2. I get to see the concert I wanted to see at the Peanut Festival that I wouldn't have originally.

3. I got to produce an evening show during AP awards week.

Politics, Shmolotics

Forgive me for the lack of posts lately. It's not that I haven't had time to write a decent post. I haven't had anything to turn into a decent post.

I haven't had any profound thoughts, work has been ordinary and the news has been mundane unless you're interested in politics, which I'm not. In fact, November 2 can't get here fast enough in that respect. I'm so sick of the commercials, especially one in particular that I wish I could find online and share.

But I can't so I'm going to do my best to describe it for you...

Terry Spicer is standing in front of a map of the United States. He points out where his county is... then points out D.C. where the president lives... then California where Nancy Pelosi lives. He proceeds to say he doesn't know much about her or California... and that he's only been there twice, once to watch the University of Alabama win the National Championship. Then the commercial ends.

What?

It's the dumbest political commercial we run. Why should I make my decision based on that useless geography lesson? But then, as one of my coworkers pointed out the other day, political commercials aren't made for the intelligent.

Life of Me V

It's AP awards week, which basically means that I want my shows to be bright spots in the haze that is news.

Everyone has been working extra hard, over-thinking things that should be standard and trying to cram an hour's worth of material into 30 minutes all in an effort to pull off something close to perfect.

Sounds good in theory, right? The reality of the situation, though, is that when it all boils down to it everyone is trying too hard and therefore things go wrong.

Take Wednesday... the 6:00 looked great on air, but the talent couldn't talk! Overall it was an amusing show. How could it not be when the main anchor mispronounces the same word three times... the weatherman calls a tropical storm by the wrong name... and the sports guy says 'wivalwy week' and 'sexteen'?

It would be nice to win an award, though.

Think of Me

Nowadays you can't turn on a t.v. without seeing an internet dating commercial, and if you're like me you're probably thinking something along the lines of desperate. At least that's what I used to think.

A match.com or eharmony commercial would interrupt my favorite show and I'd all but scoff, thinking I'm not desperate enough for a relationship to resort to the internet.

But then I started really looking at myself and my options, and what I realized was pretty astounding but not all that surprising.

I don't go out. I'd rather stay at home or hang out with a few close friends. The few times I do go out, I don't really socialize with new people. In fact, I suck at meeting people. I get all shy and don't know what to say and usually just end up sticking with the people I already know.

The friends I have now are people I had class with, people who lived in the same building as me or people I work with. I'm out in the real world now so meeting people through class isn't an option. I've tried to be all neighborly with the people who share my complex, but they don't return the favor. And dating a co-worker is a definite no.

So what's a girl to do when she reaches that point in life when she wants to meet someone worth putting her heart on the line for?

A friend of mine recommended a more localized internet 'dating' site, one that didn't charge a membership fee and that people from this area use. I filled out a questionnaire and set my limits on who could contact me, i.e. must be single and not just looking for sex.

I have to admit, I was pretty skeptical at first. I looked through most of the profiles I was matched with only to be disappointed... until I clicked on Chris' page.

I read his bio and about his interests and saw that we shared a lot of the same values.

I looked through the few pictures he'd uploaded and thought, 'hey he's pretty cute.'

I rounded up my mom and got her to come take a look and offer encouragement for me to send him a message.

No joke, while I was looking at his page contemplating whether I should write him... the message indicator popped up... with a message from him.

We started messaging each other through the site. Then we exchanged phone numbers and moved to texting.

After awhile of that, we decided to go on a first date. I was so nervous, but it was unlike any other first date I'd been on. There was none of that awkward silence or question time to worry with. We'd already done the usual first-date interviewing via the internet.

We've now been together 9 months.

Using the internet to meet a potential significant other isn't something I recommend for everyone, especially young people [they need to learn how to have real relationships outside of their phone/computer]. It's something people like me - immersed in their career and not wanting to meet someone at a club/bar - can use to put themselves out there. It opens up a line of communication that might not otherwise be available.

It's a way of taking that talking phase [whatever that means] to the next level. It's a modern way of playing the field.

So the next time you scoff at an online dating site, think of me.

The Curse of Clumsiness

What happened: Remember when I almost killed myself on my stairs? I was demonstrating the flying leap I took over the last three steps to save myself... in flat shoes, on flat ground.

Results: Possibly sprained/broken/severely-bruised right foot/ankle.

What I need: My blue ice pack [from when I busted my left ankle as a cheerleader].

Where it is: The laundry room at my parents house, an hour's drive from here.

Solution: Frozen Butter Peas.

That's what I call improvising.

Life of Me IV

Something almost as exciting as the day I got to love on a giraffe, even if they are gay, has happened.

I can now edit at my desk at work!

I used to have to wait on an edit bay to open... or kick someone out of an edit bay to work on my video. That added probably 30 minutes to my total work time per show.

So now, I have more time to play around on facebook [and maybe update my blog more frequently].

It's the little things in life.

Behing the Scenes VII

One of our reporters has started wearing one of those magnetic bracelets that's supposed to help with your balance. The conversation that sparked up in the newsroom following this discovery was extensive and included a copious amount of insults. I wish I'd had a way of recording it in its entirety so you could share in my amusement, but seeing as how that's not possible you're just going to have to settle for the most memorable moment.

Executive Producer: I have a bracelet, too, except mine is much prettier and I'm not gay.
Reporter: You want to know why I'm not gay? I like girls.
Me: That's a good cover.

History in the Making

For the past 10 weeks, the world has watched as countries have come together for a common goal: freeing 33 miners from the underground chamber they've been trapped inside.

For 10 weeks, 33 men waited beneath the earth for complete strangers to rally together to reunite them with their families.

It's amazing the power adversity has. It can bring people of all different nationalities, faiths and skin color together, or it can render them farther asunder.

Luckily, the fabric that makes up the majority of the human population seems to have a thread of compassion woven throughout so that adversity seems to unite them against a common enemy.

In a world plagued by so much adversity, it's refreshing to see people doing something for others for a change.

We've been following the story of the trapped miners from day one. I remember breaking the story on the morning show. Tonight, we reported as the first miner was being loaded onto the shaft elevator.

Behind the scenes in the control room, we had the live feed pulled up and watched as he surfaced and the elevator was sent back down for the second miner.

I've seen some pretty awesome things as they were happening -the collapse of the World Trade Centers, a neighborhood in San Bruno, Cali., exploding into flames, and now this miracle. History in the making. Amazing.

Behind the Scenes VI

**I'm a few days behind on posting this. Forgive me for the delay, but seeing as how I'm no longer a vampire and see daylight on a daily basis I actually have some semblance of a life these days.

At the end of each of my newscasts, we run what's called a kicker. It's a happy story that leaves the viewers with a positive outlook since more often than not our shows are chock-full of negativity.

On Wednesday, I used a story about Elmo from Sesame Street visiting an elementary school in Baltimore, MD, as part of a reading initiative. Long story short - that annoying little red puppet was teaching kids how to read. [doesn't that give you warm fuzzies?]

We had some extra time to kill, so the talents were talking about other Sesame Street characters like the Cookie Monster and how they're classics.

In the course of this ad-libbed conversation, Oscar the Grouch was brought up. It went a little something like this...

Female Anchor: What about Oscar the Grouch?
Pause
Female Anchor: Oh wait, he works weekends. 
Male Anchor: [As the show is ending.] You're gonna be in trouble with Oscar.

[FYI, our weekend weather dude is named Oscar]

Just Another Day in the Newsroom... NOT

For those of you who don't know, I deal with news on a daily basis. I read and edit news stories for two newscasts five days out of the week.

It's very similar to what I used to do when I worked on the morning shift, just on a different time schedule and incorporating many more live and ever-changing elements.

With that being said, I only deal with news. We have a separate department that handles sports, but what happens when the main sports anchor calls in sick and the assistant sports guy is out of town?

You improvise.

I covered sports in college, but on the print side of the ballpark. Sports for broadcast is a completely different thing. Three minutes is the standard timing for a sportscast in my shows. The guys are completely self-reliant and figure out their timings on their own.

Yesterday, however, neither of our sports guys was here [for the aforementioned reason]. So one of the reporters was chosen to front sports. The web guy and myself were responsible for putting the sports block together for the early show. Then for the late show, the reporter and I worked to put it all together. We pretty much just guessed on the timings.

In the early show, we ended up being two minutes light at the end. In the late show, we had 9 seconds coming back to close out the show.

Sports is hard!

In Like A Lion...

If you live in Alabama then there's no doubt you're familiar with the battle over bingo that's been being waged since last year.

If you're not from Alabama but have been reading my blog for awhile, then chances are you've read a few bingo-related posts. In my most recent bingo blog, Political Pow-Wow, I addressed the issue plaguing the state, as well as what I consider the close-mindedness of people living in this area.

This past legislative session, an electronic bingo bill was introduced to the Senate. It was never brought to a full vote, but it didn't take long before murmurings of corruption began to simmer.

The federal government soon stepped in and launched a full-scale investigation into possible corruption surrounding the proposed legislation.

This morning, 11 people - state senators, lobbyists, an unnamed state representative, two bingo casino operators and one employee - were indicted on a combined 39 charges and subsequently arrested. The charges include conspiracy, mail and wire fraud, and money laundering.

The indictment, which is 65 pages long, was released almost immediately following the arrests, which is unusual. What's also unusual is the meticulousness of the document, which is chock-full of profanity as well.

There are many unanswered questions in this deal, questions that will likely keep the newsroom and my shows in chaos for at least the remainder of the week.

Unlike the days when Country Crossing was being raided...and not being raided...and possibly being raided, today wasn't all that out of the ordinary. In fact, it was fairly calm in comparison.

And if this is the beginning of the end of electronic bingo in the state, I have to agree with my sports guy: it's pretty anti-climactic.

We've gone from anti-bingo rallies with religous leaders shouting ill tidings... to pretty standard arrests followed by even more standard arraignments. The issue that came roaring in like a lion appears to be walking out meek as a lamb.