If you follow this blog, or my Twitter, or even my Tumblr, you’re probably well aware that I love the entertainment industry. Whether it’s movies or music or books, I’m a huge fan of both being entertained and creating entertainment. I knew at an early age that entertainment was where I wanted to work, and I started as quickly as I could to build a portfolio that would be entertainment worthy.
I started the only way I knew how: by writing album and movie reviews for my high school newspaper. From there, I reviewed concerts, and eventually ended up interviewing Three Days Grace when I was 15. I made contact with bands including Japandroids, as well as numerous local bands and concert promoters. I had a music and movies column in our paper. I took all of those experiences with me to Kent State, where I worked as a tech member and associate producer for The Blurb, TV2′s Portage County-centered entertainment show. All of those experiences led to me being TV2′s programming director this past semester, where I oversaw all five of our entertainment shows, plus the development of one brand new show for this coming semester.
And, of course, I had that Warner Bros. Records internship in the midst of all of that.
So, I think it is obvious that entertainment is my true love. However, having said that, I’m changing things up this coming semester: I left my position as programming director, and I’m going to be working as TV2′s executive news producer for spring 2013.
I think news is important. I think for me, showing that I understand news just as well as entertainment is important in establishing credibility and in building connections. Reporting on celebrities and new music might be fun, but it doesn’t always have a lot of substance. And, while news doesn’t always have substance either, it is still important. It’s not what it was even fifty years ago, with booming newspapers and three main channels, but its evolution is what makes it so important.
While working as TV2′s executive producer, I will be working to unify all five of our televised newscasts. This means that I will be looking at things from how we open ours newscasts to how we tease stories within them to how often we have graphics. While each day has a different producer, and each producer certainly has his or her own identity, we are also creating one product under one brand. You can see where my past publicity and advertising experience is going to come in useful: Not only is the news itself important, but its packaging is going to become a priority.
This also means you can expect just as many advertising and public relations posts this coming year and especially this coming semester, but it also means that you will definitely be getting more news insight! It’s all in an effort to be a well-rounded journalist, regardless of whether that takes place is a television newsroom, an entertainment office, or an advertising agency.