fshorr's blog

I really enjoyed last week’s guests. Both men do the same job, but the way each one got there was quite different. Even though it can be frustrating, I kind of like the fact that there really isn’t a blueprint for success in this industry. Everyone seems to have a different story of how they got to where they are, and once again being in the right place at the right time seems to be a common thread.

With the increase of media outlets, it’s definitely true that less people turn to local news for sports coverage, especially in major markets like Boston where there is already a degree of oversaturation with sports news. Mike Lynch discussing the niche he has carved out finding high school stories and local human interest pieces like the one he mentioned just really reinforced cardinal rule of how important it is to somehow be able to tell them something they don’t already know. Maybe viewers aren’t tuning into channel 5 for Bruins coverage, but instead to hear about the 15-year old soccer phenom out of Beverly. Either way, they are tuning in.

One thing that Larry mentioned was how important being versatile is. We learn from taking 524 just how important and necessary versatility is. One week we are sitting behind the anchor desk, the next week we are responsible for the audio. I also learned how important versatility is this summer at my internship. Even though I am getting my degree in print, I wanted to do a television internship so I would have a hand in both.

As much as I enjoy these seminars, sometimes they depress the hell out of me. After listening to Mike and Larry, I feel like I should break up with my boyfriend and buy the first ticket out to Cedar Rapids, Iowa, because apparently I’m going to have to live in the middle of nowhere and have no social life. However, Mike’s story does reaffirm the notion that there is no formulaic approach to success in this industry, but both men spoke of a lot of personal sacrifices in terms of family life. I think it’s harder as a female because at least in the beginning, women can’t just run back to work after having children. Even though missing family time is difficult, both Mike and Larry are so adamant that their jobs are the best in the world, so at the end of the day, it must be worth it.

Local sports coverage? I don’t watch it; everything I need to know about college or professional sports can be found online in an instant, and game highlights are usually produced with better quality (and given more airtime) on ESPN or NFL Network. Larry said it himself, “Nobody’s going to wait until 6:20 to hear from me and Joe.” But what really concerned me was his station’s use of the mantra, “turn and burn.” That made channel 7 sound like they were going through the motions, block after block, day after day, without too much emphasis on trying new approaches or mixing things up. Larry said he wasn’t even sure why the system was successful, and at times he sounded frustrated with the amount of air time dedicated to sports. He isn’t the only one…

I took a relatively useless internship in the sports department at a local TV station last year (my bosses all knew professor Shorr so naturally I was the subject of much abuse), and the one thing that stuck with me was how frustrated the producers were. “They don’t care about us, nobody cares about sports at this station,” is something I heard more than once. Or, “Three minutes?! How are we going to get this down to three minutes?!”

Don’t get me wrong, Larry and Mike seemed to love their jobs (although I thought they rubbed that fact in our faces a bit, to be honest), but I’ve never found a reason to tune in to local sports coverage. Maybe I’d watch if I was a Boston sports fan, instead of a displaced Yankee. But I know Ricky is a Boston guy, and it doesn’t seem like he watches too much either.

It sounded like channel 5 had been making an effort to set themselves apart with “high five” or “fast five” or whatever it’s called, but I hadn’t heard of that feature until the seminar, and I’ve been living in this market since I was seven. But again, it sounded like Mike and Larry were enjoying their careers and earning a decent salary, so who cares if I’m not watching?

Margot — I’ve also noticed the theme of the juggling act between career and relationships, and I absolutely agree that it’s probably harder for women. It sounded like Larry and Mike got off easy because they have “understanding spouses.” But I’d like to think it can go both ways — maybe you’ll make it big and you boyfriend will become a house husband!

Joe briefly touched on what I think was the most important part of the seminar, when Mike said that there will always be a place for local sports even in a market like Boston. Obviously finding a niche like Mike and high school doesn’t hurt, but as Joe pointed out, there will always be a need for simple things like an interview with an athlete that would most likely get cut from an ESPN highlight.

At this point I just find it amusing to talk about relationships, but here’s my quick take from this week. The relationships in local sports are a lot more interesting. As both presenters pointed out, going to barbershops, coffee shops and other places of local congregation are extremely important. You have to find out what the locals want to hear about, so your relationship in a sense is with the community more so than athletes. In local sports, as Rick points out, your relationships are with kids and probably their parents who are just excited to be interviewed and possibly be on T.V.

Another thing that caught my eye is that being a local guy appeared to make both guests more humble and/or down to earth. During the go meet the guest time, Mike actually wandered into the student section and began engaging us. He reached a connection with everyone, whether it was naming your high school mascot or talking with Dave Lombardi about broadcasters they both know. I don’t think poorly of any of our other guests, but this really caught me off guard and made me really respect Mike Lynch that much more. He even went out of his way to say goodbye to everyone, even if they weren’t paying attention to the conversation.

Final point, Margot is right, these things can be terrifying. I’m probably the oldest one in the room minus our guests and Professor Shorr and for the most part you all are graduating. I’m that much behind the power curve. But like she said, it must be worth it based off the enthusiasm our guests showed.

A few weeks ago I had the pleasure of serving an 80+ year-old woman named Natalie Alickman at Legal Sea Foods. It was around 4:45pm, a time when the restaurant is slow and the staff is transitioning. Alickman was visiting Boston from her home in Boca Raton. It was around the time when the fried chicken and beer controversy within the Red Sox organization was at its height.

Because the restaurant was so slow, it gave me a chance to speak with her. She asked me what I was doing and I told her that I was a Sports Journalism student at Boston University. My answer sparked an hour-long conversation about the Red Sox and sports in general. At the end of our conversation she told me that she could hear the passion that I had for sports in the way I talked about it and I could hear the passion that she had for Boston sports at 80 years-old even while living in Florida.

I bring up this small anecdote because I could hear the same passion from Mike lynch and Larry Ridley as they spoke last week during our seminar. I especially identified with Lynch who spoke about his experience at a young age, reading the sports page, just as I had before I went to my elementary school classes. Ridley didn’t grow up in Boston but he still had the same passion for sports having grown up in the south.

The most telling comment he made was regarding his early career when he would use free burger coupons to feed himself while making $15,000 a year. Now having worked at Channel 7 he, “is buying burgers out of his own pocket.”

After her meal was over, Natalie asked me to sign her sheet of paper saying that she wants to have it when I make it big in the sports industry. It is local sports, those stories that go beyond the highlights, as Joe mentioned in his response, that instill the passion that lasts a person’s lifetime.

Side Notes:
I noticed that this was the first time one of the guests made their way past the first row of seats and made it a point to come talk to us. The most enlightening part of the seminar was when Lynch came into one of our circles of conversation and got in on the discussion.

I suppose the reputation of most local anchors and or reporters is one of the stereotypical boisterous, obnoxious and overtly dramatic one. They seem to take on the role of doom bringer and make the viewer feel as if the world is falling apart right around them when talking about school board elections; like I said, extremely sensational and too much so at times.

When these two men, both veterans in their respective on-air fields, they were engaging and inviting. They spoke to the class and did not speak at them; something that I felt had been missing from making these seminars truly enjoyable. And when they did speak, their statements had substance and not just fluffy filler that so often times gets associated with local broadcasters. Perhaps I am placing too much merit on the movie, “Broadcast News,” where the production was more important than the substance to the point that nothing ever gets completed.

Getting back to the seminar with Larry and Mike, both men presented themselves in a confident manner, letting themselves reveal the ins and outs of this business, all while opening conversation up to the audience (our small class). You could instantly see why these men were successful in their fields, they were welcoming and their personalities were relatable to that of a good friend. They did not seem distant or withdrawn, but receptive and understanding.

Listening to these men talk during the seminar provided me a sense of what a really skilled reporter/anchor can do when trying to captivate and gain the appreciation of viewers: be yourself. Do not act like someone that you think might be perceived well by an audience, but really strive to find out who you are as a broadcaster. That way, when you do discover who you are as an individual in this profession, there is no acting and the job doesn’t stay a job, but an extracurricular livelihood.

I think that their honesty was another key part to this seminar’s success. Both men stated that getting into the market is possible through dedication and persistence, your time will come if you are willing to make the necessary sacrifices. With that said, people have often told me and I’m certain others breaking into this industry, that having a family is nearly impossible during the beginning stages of ones career. Thankfully, Mike and Larry both dismissed that notion saying that it can be done and they are both examples of it happening.

I appreciated the truth behind what they were saying. I never felt like I was being cheated out of what they really wanted to say, and, firmly believe that they did not hold back. Why should they? If we all continue on pursuing our goals and aspirations, some day in the future we might be asked to come in and speak to a group of students eager to learn and what in the world would we gain if not honest and forthright? Absolutely nothing…and I am extremely grateful that both Mike and Larry felt comfortable enough to talk to the class as adults and did not patronize us like little school children that could not cope with the dirty details of this business.

If anything should be taken away from this seminar is that this is fun, plain and simple. This is something that we are going to make the most of should we choose to continue on down the sports journalism path…what needs to be understood and often times I feel is not, is that we are enthusiastic young reporters covering what we love most…how hard can that be at the end of the day?

I’d like to expand on a point made in the first paragraph of the blog post. I’ve experienced both ends of the spectrum when it comes to local news. Growing up in Schenectady, NY (home of Pat Riley and Mike Tyson), my nearest local TV stations were in Albany, the state capital.

Albany is your typical middle class city that happens to be in the middle of the major Northeast cities. Boston is three hours to the East, New York City is three hours to the South, Buffalo is four hours to the West, and Montreal is four hours to the North. Being in the center means that our local sports do involve some New York and Boston major sports, but realistically the biggest teams that Albany’s seen have been the Firebirds (Arena Football), the River Rats (AHL), and the Patroons (CBA).

With that lack of professional sports, our mid-size local TV stations depend on high school and college sports. Going hand in hand with that, the parents and relatives who have students playing for those teams depend on the local coverage to find out how everything went that night. In that sense, local TV sports is very important. Our sports segments always last at least four minutes and are in every news broadcast.

On the other end, in Boston, the local TV stations’ coverage is an afterthought. The city has two major TV networks solely dedicated to Boston sports, several newspapers and blogs, and even an ESPN Boston department. Yes, the stations do have some importance to the outer lying cities, but when it isn’t Friday night, where can we see highlights from the local schools?

I can see the importance of local sports news, but I think the importance changes based on the size of the market. In the smaller markets, local sports is important to the families who have personal interests in the teams. In the big markets, it’s more important for the talent themselves who can use the position as a stepping stone to bigger and better things on the national stage.

That helps explain why the local stations (at least in Albany) have at least three sports anchors, led by one stalwart who’s been with the station for decades. The big city stations have fewer sports anchors, but they’re younger and more promising.

In my plans to become a play-by-play broadcaster, I’ve always considered being an anchor for a local station as a way to get in the door. I still consider it a viable option because I don’t see local sports going away any time soon. In the big cities, the pickings may be slim, but the mid-size cities will always need the coverage and can lead to the next big thing.

I thoroughly enjoyed last week’s seminar with Mike Lynch and Larry Ridley. Both are extremely thankful for their job and both got to where they are now two completely different ways.
Larry’s story to success reminds me of what everyone is telling me I should do once I graduate. So it was nice to see Larry as a product of going from a very small market in the middle of nowhere and making his way to Boston. He should be the poster child for all aspiring college broadcast journalists. He just needed one yes, and he took off from that. I LOVED Mike Lynch’s idea of getting into the on-air business as Boston traffic: no one is going to let you in the first lane off the ramp, but once you get that little space you squeeze your way in and then you can make your way all the way to the right lane little by little. “Be patient, when you see it you’ll know it!”
Learning that it took Larry a good six months to a year, working five days a week for four/five hours a day to feel comfortable and confident to move forward out of small markets was a great bit of information. I think it is great to have a timetable for yourself to keep pushing on and hopefully up.
Listening to the speakers talk about accountability now with twitter and blogs was very interesting. Mike spoke about his source never letting him down when he broke the Terry Francona leaving the Sox story. Both speakers talked about how this business is about having good relationships not only with the players but with the people that surround the players every day because that is all they have now. It’s about their relationships and their presentation because there is no accountability.
When you have a story Mike told us to “Get it first but first get it right” – I think that is great motto to live by especially now in this business. I want to be considered a smart and serious reporter not so much a blogger, critic or tweeter.
I will defiantly take to heart Larry’s advice of always “smile, be nice to everyone because its who you know.” Understanding that just being there and being consistent and always being flexible is extremely important to a career, do whatever it takes. A huge advantage to this business now is being able to be versatile. And I am so thankful I go to BU for that. Because all our classes allow us to understand and operate all that goes into production and on-air broadcast. BU has given me the opportunity to tell employers that I am very versatile in all aspects of broadcast journalism.
It seems to me that working in smaller markets is easier as long as you take an interest in their kids. Larry talked about getting to know the high school coaches and they will feed you stories. Once you take an interest in them and their kids they will give you anything you need. Just going to the local coffee shop, hair salon, barbershop, and booster meetings will allow a reporter to know so much more about culture and what’s in the “now” of the small market you are covering, just listen to what they are talking about and you will get plenty of stories.
Jumping into this business is thrilling but a little bit scary I would agree with Margot when she talked about having to move away from all that she has known or what she is used too. Breaking up, moving on to something so unknown to follow your dreams. But listening to Mike and Larry they do shine a light on it talking about family and sacrifices. I would also agree with Margot when she stated that she thinks “it’s harder as a female because at least in the beginning, women can’t just run back to work after having children.” Even Larry admitted his wife was in the same business and gave her career up for a family. But after listening to both Mike and Larry I am extremely excited to get that one “yes” whether its in Midland, Texas, Minot, North Dakota or Sioux City, Iowa, I will be ready and well prepared.

I really appreciated Larry and Mike coming in to speak to us. It was just another story of hardwork and sticking to something that can eventually lead to bigger and better things. Especially Larry’s story, who started out at the bottom reporting for random things in Kentucky. But as he said, he loves his job more than anything, even before his glory days in Boston. It was a treat to hear his story of how he got started and it gives us all hope that if you stick to something, no matter where you are reporting at, that if it is your passion you must have that determination to believe in your dreams and goals.

The business is weird though. The people on staff in small market places know that the place they are at may only be a year or two stop. More than likely, reporting for high school football in Kentucky may not be a destination for a guy like Larry, and his employers are well aware of that too. It is important though for a guy like Larry to keep his long term goals in mind and be fully into the job that he is doing at the time.

What I learned most from Larry is that he said what he does, he doesnt consider it a job. I know a lot of people say the same thing. That what they want to end up having as a job is something they dont want to necessarily call a “job”. They want to say that it is something they truly love to do, and they have the same passion they had from day 1 when they first got into the business.

I also liked Mike Lynch’s story of how the news broke about Terry Francona. Both Mike and Larry talked about how important it is to keep a good relationship with the people you cover, the people you work for, and the people you work with. This is something that has been repeated over and over by almost all of our speakers this semester. The importance of establishing and maintaining relationships with people is so crucial. You never know when that guy you worked with could have an opportunity open up for you, and it is also important to establish the relationships with the people you interview and report on as well.

I also liked what Larry said about ESPN. They are as much help to ESPN as anyone, as the local guys are a good outlet of news for the big writers and reporters for ESPN. They have a two way relationship, which I never knew was so close, as they both relay messages and information to each other.

This was one of my favorite seminars. As David Lombardi says, we got to see how local guys can report, relate and establish relationships as well as a beat reporter or an ESPN reporter. It was also one of my favorites because of Larry’s story. Of how he came from the bottom and made his way up, a story we can all relate to somehow.