Back in the Saddle

"Absence makes the heart grow fonder, but it can also make the heart (and mind) forget. I’d forgotten what a thrilling, adrenaline-pumping, challenging, varied experience being a TV reporter is. It all came back to me in June as I returned to KPIX/CBS5 to work as a fill-in reporter," said member Simon Perez, an assistant professor at Syracuse University.

"I’ve been away from local broadcast news since 2011, when I left KPIX to begin teaching broadcast journalism at Syracuse University. But with the gracious agreement of the management at 855 Battery Street in downtown San Francisco, I came back for two weeks in June to stay on top of the latest technology and practices and to maintain street cred with my students.

“'When was the last time you carried a tripod and camera Professor Perez?'

“'Two months ago. Next question.'

"My time away gave me a fresh perspective  — you might say a newcomer’s eye — to view and appreciate all that is done in local TV news. Here’s what some of you who are still in the business might have forgotten, given you’re going through the grind every day.

The Thrill of the Chase

"Few industries move at the pace of local TV news. Next week, next month, next semester, next year are all suitable time frames elsewhere. Not in TV. Knowing there’s a hard, immovable deadline at the end of the day forces you to make decisions about where you can go and what you can include in your story. It’s always there, hanging over and influencing every move you make. If you look at that deadline as an opponent, it can be kind of fun to see who wins. Making deadline with a pretty good story is a victory you can achieve every day.

The Power of Teamwork

"In teaching, the audience is the students. Professors are on their own to keep the audience engaged. In local TV, reporters have to satisfy not only the viewers, but also the rest of the team back at the station. Take a moment to consider all the people you satisfy: giving a heads-up to the Web crew about the latest details on a story, recording a tease for the producer’s cold open, performing a mic check before a live shot for the folks back in electronic news gathering. Oh yeah, you’ve also put together an entire story, in many cases, with the help of many of those teammates, as well as the assignment desk, writers, the comrades in graphics and video editors. Really, it’s one big team that puts on the show.

The Variety

"Just when you think the routine of “morning meeting –-> newsgathering –-> editing –-> live shot” gets too, well, routine, stop and think about how different every day really is. In two weeks, I learned:

•    There are companies that rent sports cars to really rich people for $13,000 a day;
•    Some gay people felt excluded from Gay Pride Weekend events;
•    Twitter, for all its cutting-edge genius, can still get hacked by a teenager.

"Really, what other job stretches your capacity for learning like this? These are the stories you get to tell non-TV friends over dinner. How many of those friends come back with anything half as interesting?

"Sure, there are a lot of frustrations to working in local TV; this isn’t meant to be a Pollyanna’s recitation of all that’s wonderful. But I can tell you, sometimes it’s good to come up for air and take a look around at what this job offers."

This item was originally featured in the October 2014 local newsletter.