The TV reporter who did not belong on the air
“You have a very emotional woman on the line,” Anne said. “She has just been fired from her job as a television news reporter and wants to set up a Zoom call.”
A few moments later, there was Sarah, a 25-yearold with tears running down her cheeks. It didn’t take long to figure out why she was let go.
“The only job I ever wanted to have since the time I was a little girl, watching the news on TV, was to be a television news reporter, sitting in the anchor chair, all those bright lights, surrounded by happy, nice, intelligent people,” she said, sobbing, in a squeaky voice that had no place on a television news set.
So, what went wrong? What happened? How did she even get her first job in television?
The answer to that question began when she was a journalism major at a small, Southern college. “I got good grades, send out demo videos, and after graduation was hired by a TV station in a very small market. They gave me a year’s contract.
“But I only worked there two horrible months! People in the newsroom were not nice, some of them laughed at me, and no one offered any coaching.” OK, and then?
“I sent out some of my best demos and a larger station convinced me to quit my job and join them, explaining they had trouble finding anyone who wanted to move to their area of the country. I’ve been here only two weeks and they just fired me, saying that I am not qualified to be on the air.”
So, how bad was Sarah? She sent me links to some of her news stories and demos from college.
She fumbled constantly; her voice was irritating and her appearance was not professional.
I asked if her college professors had suggested finding some other area of media to work in, and to forget about being on-air talent.
“No, I was only encouraged to live my dream.”
The odd thing was, that when we just talked, her speech was pretty normal. However, conducting an interview, or on the news set, it was as if a different person was speaking. Her voice was robotic, mechanical, not natural.
She seemed completely unaware or in denial of these significant limitations on her ability to function as talent in a television newsroom. Instead, Sarah asked, “Do I have a wrongful termination case against these stations?”
A former TV anchor explains how this happens
“This is not a rare situation,” said now retired Bakersfield news anchor Don Clark. I worked with him for several years, on air, as a consumer and legal affairs reporter.
“Several aspects of Sarah’s case stand out,” Clark observed. “First, television news departments aren’t the happy places, filled with friendly, supportive people that she envisioned. These are rough, highly competitive, unforgiving environments. Anyone who expects to be coached is in the wrong place.
“Next, while journalism schools across America do a good job teaching technical skills, true talent as an interviewer or presenter — personality, voice, diction, the ability to think on your feet and ask probing questions — to some extent, you have it or you don’t.
“It does not matter what color, race, ethnic origin, all of the onair people we see on any network news program have normal rates of speech and sound as if they are just talking to us, personally. They do not have an artificial, “This is my television voice,” that is anything but natural.
“Additionally, there is a great lack of truthfulness at many broadcast journalism schools. Faculty are often former radio and television journalists and know who’s “got it” and who doesn’t. In my experience, only a handful will level with the students, not wanting to challenge their dreams, or lose tuition income for the school. It is a builtin, unethical, conflict of interest and does real harm, allowing false expectations to build.”
And, Clark’s recommendation for Sarah?
“While she can’t see it now, the stations have done her a favor. There are lots of jobs in radio and television where she can use her education. Sarah needs to explore, not a lawsuit against former employers — which could damage her reputation once her name is out there, online — but putting her college degree to good use in media-related fields.”
Contractual and employment law issues
Filing a wrongful termination suit would be a non-starter, in my legal opinion, because electronic media contracts with “talent” almost always contain a “termination for cause or no cause” provision.
In fact, she is lucky that the first station didn’t file suit against her for breach of her employment agreement, abruptly leaving them!
Her best bet is to meet with an employment counselor who specializes in media and to forget about litigation. Maturity is in recognizing that we can’t excel at all things. At her age, she has the time to find that right niche.