February Sweeps

Tomorrow wraps up a month of grueling, tough work.

Tomorrow marks the end of the February ratings period.

For anyone who isn't familiar with the TV industry, there are four months (November, February, May and July) where Nielson records viewing figures for television programs. Ratings can really impact advertising sales, but the period also provides a sense of pride, hard work and creativity. In our newsroom, as in most mid-size markets, ratings are crucial.

and quite frankly, I've never seen a news operation work harder than our station this sweeps period. From sending reporter/photographer teams to the Panhandle for ongoing Gulf oil spill cleanup efforts, to riding along during statewide pill mill stings, to traveling all the way to Washington D.C. to cover a local soldier's ongoing battle with critical injuries sustained from combat.

Personally, I'm proud of our station's effort this month, and I'm proud of my own achievements. Every day, I enterprised new and different story ideas, I worked my beat and used my contacts to produce exclusive content. Several times I led the 6pm newscast, with an ordinarily dry and predictable beat. And while I'm satisfied with my own/the team's accomplishments, we are always finding ways to improve. That's why I love this industry. That's why i appreciate the four months out of the year when hard work really pays off, and the cream rises to the top.

To my dedicated and hardworking co-workers and managers at NBC-2, this "job well done" goes to you.

Training New Reporters

How quickly time passes. I cannot believe I've been with Waterman Broadcasting for almost two years!

The past two weeks I've spent a lot of time training new reporters. (We had five new reporters start since 2011. Good news!) It wasn't long ago I was learning the tricks of the trade from my fellow NBC-2 coworkers. At that time, I was the youngest reporter the station had ever hired. Now, nearly all of those coworkers have moved on to other markets and are very successful. Training my coworkers the last several days has been a great learning experience for me as well. It helps me to reflect on areas I could use improvement, and also skills I've worked hard to hone.

In honor of the new year, here's a list of skills I'd like to improve upon in 2011:

(1) Being a video journalist, I often get lazy with standups. This year I'll work hard to use demonstrative standups and liveshots.

(2) I also need to stay on top of my multimedia accounts. Twitter, Facebook and blogs, when used effectively, can be excellent tools for journalists. I plan to incorporate these mediums more.

(3) I'd like to incorporate more investigative digging into my daily workload. That could mean producing quick turn investigations or researching after my regular shift this year.

Here's to the new year!