The revolving door of local news talent
I've noticed in my local news area, there has been a revolving door of local news talent. The 6 pm news anchors on each station have been in place for a while (one dates back to the early 1980s), but the news reporters in 'the field' (who eventually make their way up to substitute anchors) , the sports anchors and the weather team are changing on what appears to be a bi-weekly period.
In September, one of the local news stations introduced three or four new reporters to their team (with no mention of the disappeared news reporters they hired in the spring), as well as a new meteorologist for the weekend. They've all been replaced already - 8 weeks in. There were two young cute gay guys (one on each news station in my area) I followed on social media. One left six weeks in, the other made it to eight weeks. On their social media, each said they left because 'broadcast journalism' wasn't for them (by watching their reporting and the mistakes and mispronunciations they made, I can't argue), and they each want 'new adventures'. There's definitely work for these two cute twunks in escorting and massage work !
I remember when news talent stuck with their local networks until they got national recognition and moved on to bigger jobs. (Meredith Viera, Dylan Dryer, Matt Lauer, Kristen Welker all got their starts in our local market). I guess those days are long gone.
| by Anonymous | reply 7 | November 17, 2024 8:30 PM
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I can’t imagine there is much prestige left in these news station jobs. The local news in my area is laughable anymore. Nothing but corporate PR, fluff pieces, and fear mongering about random crime.
| by Anonymous | reply 1 | November 17, 2024 4:33 PM
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The pay is abysmal and the hours are variable to the detriment of a social life or often sleep.
| by Anonymous | reply 2 | November 17, 2024 4:42 PM
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There’s two local stations owned by the execrable Sinclair media.
All of a sudden one poor sap, who’d been an anchor at one station or another for years suddenly decided to “retire”. They definitely got rid of him.
One of the Sinclair stations also got rid of their daily 10 pm news broadcast and instead have some community show talking about things that are of no interest to anyone.
The only two somewhat dependable, reliable local news broadcasts have anchors that have been there for many years.
I don’t watch any local news so it doesn’t much matter, actually. But, yeah, I’ve seen my share of new people on the local news, lately.
| by Anonymous | reply 3 | November 17, 2024 5:15 PM
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TV news reporting used to be a professional position. Now, unless it's with a major market, it's more of an entry level job. With the exception of a couple of old timers, my local TEGNA owned ABC affiliate looks like a college TV station. The news departments at the smaller market stations have been stripped to the bare bones. The reporters basically react to the police blotter, press releases, and narrate pre-packaged infotainment pieces from their corporate owners. All the cameras are robots and the anchors have to run their own teleprompters with a hand held remote.
I used to do a lot of temp and contract work, so I've spent time in almost every major corporate office in my city, plus a few of the TV stations. Almost every office I went to had their communications or marketing offices filled with people who used to work in local TV news. Once they figure out they're not going to be the next Gayle King, they use their connections to score an easier job that's more secure and pays much better. It always tickles me to see one of the local utility spokespeople interviewed on a newscast that used to employ them, and all parties act like they barely know each other.
| by Anonymous | reply 5 | November 17, 2024 5:53 PM
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They are paid 20 dollars an hour, the same as a Target sales associate
| by Anonymous | reply 6 | November 17, 2024 6:22 PM
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R6 The difference is Target is a job while news reporting / journalism was once considered a career.
| by Anonymous | reply 7 | November 17, 2024 8:30 PM
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