The Ugly Truth About TV News

Television seems to many like such a glamorous career.  The lights, the camera, the action.  The celebrities, the politics, bearing witness to important moments in history.  It all sounds so intoxicating.  And we all go into it thinking that we will change the world.  We will hold people accountable and expose all that is wrong in society.  We will make a difference.  But this week the ugly truth about television journalism has been exposed in a horrific way with the on air murders of WDBJ reporter Alison Parker and cameraman Adam Ward.   It is not all glamour and glitz.  It is a raw and extremely competitive business.  It requires long, unpredictable hours and many holidays spent away from family and friends in not so glamorous locations.   We spend our days calling families who have lost lost loved ones, sitting through hurricanes in dank, dark hotel rooms and living out of our cars so we can be ready for 5am live shots.  We see people in their most difficult moments and, because we are all human, often play the role of therapist, adviser or advocate for people who have found themselves entrenched in the latest news story.

But the real dirty little secret about this business:  Very few people that work in television news ever make any significant amount of money.  Most live in small towns barely able to scrape by.  Or for those of us that were lucky enough to start out in the big city we scrimped and saved to live with 2 or 3 friends in some far out apartment, spending our few free hours everyday commuting.

I hear from a lot of kids who want to be just like Alison Parker.  They want to be on television.  They want to make a difference. And this is what I tell every one of them – you have to have the “news bug” in you.  You have to want to run towards the fire when everyone else is running away.  You have have an insatiable curiosity.  You have to have guts and charisma and most of all you have to work hard.  Just over half the people who enter the journalism program I attended actually graduate.  And now, 14 years out of college, I can count on one hand the number of people who still work in the business.  That is because this career eats people up and spits them out and at some point those who are wiser find an easier path.  Journalism is a thankless business.  But I wouldn’t trade it for the world!

This week I have truly been reminded of why we all decided to take up this difficult path.  To make a difference.  So many of my friends and colleagues have posted their thoughts on the horrific events of this week.  And it feels like we all belong to a special fraternity.  We know what Alison Parker’s job was like. We know how hard she worked.  I always say that the friends you make in this business are so much closer than other friends because we spend so much time together covering so many difficult stories in such highly competitive environments.  And I know the team at WDBJ felt that comaraderie.

My heart goes out to the loved ones of everyone involved.  We as a community of journalists all feel your pain.  I hope all of my friends and colleagues will hug their loved ones a little tighter this weekend and put those phones away, even just for a few minutes.  Let’s remember that we sometimes are competitors but we always are a family of people who want to change the world and believe television news still has an impact.  Every time a tragedy like this happens I hope something good will come out of it.  I hope we cover these stories in a way that will make a difference so we can all be proud of the sacrifices we have made to work in TV news.