Mailbag: Why are there no sports jobs?

Grape,

I'll be graduating next year and my first love is sports. I did an internship this summer and it seems as though everyone at the station told me to focus on news reporting instead, that there were no sports jobs and that there is a shortage of male news reporters. What, in your opinion, is the future of sports on local TV?

-Highlight Reel

Dear Highlight Reel,

Well, I hate to tell you this, but I agree with the people who gave you advice during your internship. While there are sports jobs and always will be, there has always been a glut of people who want them. When you factor in the fact that half the network jobs are either taken up by ex-jocks or sons of famous announcers (Joe Buck, Chip Caray) that makes things even harder.

Then you're fighting the consultant wars. About ten years ago consultants said that true sports fans get their sports from ESPN (I am and I don't) and that local sports should be totally local... and be presented so that it appealed to women. (If any consultant can tell me how to get my wife to watch sports, I'm all ears.) Then it became acceptable for a woman to deliver a sportscast, and that was long overdue. But then stations started canceling sportscasts, as consultants told them people were tuning out after weather.

But here's a real telltale sign. In the past year I have had two of my friends who were the primary sportscasters in major markets switch to news. They see the handwriting on the wall.

Can you make it in sports? Sure, but it will be tougher than making it in news. There is a shortage of male reporters and that will probably continue.


Hey Grapevine,

Just curious, but what happens to old resume tapes since they don't get returned?

-Green Reporter


Dear Green

Years ago stories were shot on 3/4 inch tapes, and those were used for resume tapes as well. Some stations returned them, but many used them as tape stock. I had one friend who told me that whenever his station was running low on field tapes, the ND would run an ad to replenish the stock. Nice, huh? And VNRs on 3/4 tapes never hit the air... they were grabbed and used as resume tapes by reporters. (You see, my generation was green long before it was in vogue.)

But fear not, the landfills are not overflowing with resume tapes. They are often used by the sales department, which has to bring copies of commercials to clients. Sometimes they are just put into a box and the staff can take what they wish, and use them at home to record stuff.

If anyone knows how to recycle DVDs, I'd sure like to know, cause these things are piling up in my office.



Grape Man,

What does the term "closet live shot" mean?

-Newby


Dear Newby,

A closet live shot is one shot at night in which the surrounding area is so dark you can't see anything but the reporter. The old saying is that "you could have been in a closet and the viewers wouldn't know" applies to this phrase.

You can see one almost every night in most markets.