Local Television News Grunt
I had a long history of being hired and re-hired at a local television station over the years in Bend, Oregon. Long ago, when I was attending the community college back in 1997, the television station was where I had my second job after the US Navy.
My first job was at a beer distributor, working all night and loading up semi-trucks with pallets of beer cases and wine. I was tired of working all night, and took a shot in the dark to apply for a job that was not available. I printed off my resume and went to the television station and asked if I could speak with the News Staff Director.
It turns out I was in the right place at the right time. The News Director said the reporters and television anchors needed an assistant to help them prepare their shows while they concentrated on the news content.
The next day I came in for an interview with the News Director and the station’s General Manager, who was a pretty intimidating guy for me to talk to. I still had the mindset of respecting authority, almost a fearful respect, drilled into me from my military years. He reminded me of an admiral or captain, and I felt as if I needed to be standing at attention instead of sitting at a table.
His office was very statesman-like — surrounded by trophies, plaques and pictures of important people. His boisterous voice had me sweating in my seat with my eyes wide open.
“There are two roads ahead for you. I can stick you in the production room, where you don’t need an education, helping broadcast the news shows,” he said. “Or I can put you in the newsroom where you need to at least be attending college.”
I told him that I was intending on continuing on with college, and what better way to learn the industry than actually working in the industry. I told him about my history of studying engineering north of Chicago when in the Navy. “The sailors who came to the trade school from the fleet did so much better than me because they knew what it was like to be on a ship.” I said. “I had no clue what it was like being on a ship. Working for you is going to give me this type of insight when I transfer over to the University of Oregon.” He hired me.
I think that was one of the luckiest job moves that I ever did, and it would end up leading me down a long path of study while working in small market TV up until the end of my 20’s. It was the perfect job for college. After attending school all day, I’d arrive to work around four in the afternoon. I would print the scripts, one set for the director, and the other sets for the anchors. Then I’d cue and label the appropriate tapes for the newscast. Moments before the newscast I turned on the studio lights, attached the magnets to the weather board, position the cameras, and cued up the teleprompter.
During the newscast, I operated the teleprompter for the news talent and ran between the control room and studio when needed. When the newscast was over, I’d shut everything down until the next show at six and eleven, when I’d repeat the tasks.
The job helped me maintain the student lifestyle, and I eventually got more and more involved with the arts. This was about the time when I auditioned for that punk band at the Evil Sister, then played that part in the ‘Equus’ play. It was also when I helped Student Life promote music shows that were being held at the college auditoriums.
I had really good friendships with the production crew at the station. It was perhaps the coolest time to work in television, just right before the digital revolution, when cameras were huge in size and SVHS tapes where all over the place. Master Control operators would hunt for satellites that were bouncing back New York signals, beaming down the news feeds, programming and sports reels.
We would get sneak peaks of popular shows before broadcasts, including watching episodes of Seinfeld before they hit the air. I would compare the experience to like working in a log cabin in space.