Monday, March 2, 2009

Memphis visit

I had such a wonderful experience at the RTNDA Memphis trip this weekend. All that planning was definitely worthwhile.We had a blast, despite the massive amount of snowfall and unplowed highways. We were able to visit four stations in Memphis (ABC24, WMC, WREG, My Fox Memphis). The main thing I walked away with (as dually noted by my colleague Conroy Delouche) was how happy these Mizzou alum were. Everyone seemed satisfied with their jobs. It helps that, according to FOX 13 executive producer, Bill Dobilas, the citizens of Memphis are big on local TV news. He sites a 70% citizen watch rate. It was nice to hear positive reinforcement esp. following Kent Collin's class which has recently been focused on back up plans and how stations are changing (in negative ways) to adapt to the recession. We met with FOX 13 producer Mallory Trenor, ABC 24 meteorologist Henry Rothenberg, WMC producer Rob Edwards, WREG reporter Omari Fleming and WREG producer Kristen Jones. Visits like this one remind me of the importance of journalism and my passion for broadcast news excellence. 

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