(Note: This showed up in the "comments" section but was so well done I wanted to put it on the front page. It was sent in anonymously, so I have no idea who to credit for this. But you rule, whoever you are.)
The Hidden Costs of the One-Man-Band Paradigm:
1) Wear and tear on vehicles:
With more feet on the street, vehicles are being driven all over the city increasing mileage and wear on the equipment.
2) Increased fuel consumption:
Again, with more vehicles traveling to stories, more gas is being consumed. Yes, a two person crew that is doing two stories would also travel to two locations; however, a good assignment desk would select crews that are working stories close to each other. It is not unusual to see two MMJ crews at the capitol doing different stories when one traditional crew already at the statehouse could cover both.
3) Additional dependency on assignment desk:
It is very difficult to research and make calls on a story while you are driving to a location. Ergo, MMJ’s are increasingly shifting that burden to the already busy assignment desk. While there was always some overlap, assignment editors are now doing their daily duties and the work that was previously shared with a reporter.
4) Lost / Misplaced Equipment:
Multiple people are now often sharing gear. Already stressed with new job duties, some things are coming up missing. Even if a utopian newsroom existed where everyone had their own gear, doing multiple jobs is distracting and expensive gear has a higher likelihood of disappearing.
5) Physical injury due to new duties:
Photography is a physically demanding craft. Even with smaller cameras and lighter weight gear, MMJ’s are still getting hurt. When you trip, it doesn’t matter how light your camera is…you’re going to get hurt. Now with an emaciated photographer pool, these injured MMJ’s are significantly impacting the efficiency of the newsroom paradigm.
6) Second or third tier talent:
As was mentioned before, given a choice, the vast majority of reporters will choose a shop where they can concentrate on writing and reporting. There are very few people out there who can and want to do it all. There are exceptions, but you always hear about the same people over and over; there are so very few stars.
7) Reporter burnout:
All of this has led to an increase in reporter burnout. They are worn out. Over worked and many simply don’t care. The product suffers. The de-facto message management is sending by implementing a one-man-band newsroom is that quality doesn’t matter. Reporters are hearing that message loud and clear. This is problematic because most reporters (the good ones) are ‘Type A’ personalities who want to win. They want to tell great stories. They are now in a situation where doing everything often means not being able to give full attention to finding out those nuggets of information or taking time to massage a track to get it just right or having to use out of focus over exposed video that looks even worst on a 16X9 HD TV. This is killing these aggressive reporters that want to win and are now in a situation they know will not allow them to win.
8) Overtime:
I saved the best for last. This goes to the supposed efficiency of the MMJ model. On paper it looks good to the accountants. On paper they are getting an increase in product. In reality they are paying time-and-a-half for it. A day in the life of an MMJ is long. Very, very long! Work flow is linear. That means that an MMJ must do A then B then C then D then E. They do have the luxury of doing B while the photog is doing A. They cannot do C and D while the photog is doing E. They must do A-E in order by themselves and it means a very long day. Rather than concentrating on writing a morning VOSOT or working on a web script, the MMJ must now fuel the vehicle, unload the equipment and ingest the video into the system. Now they can write for the morning show. Now they can finish that web script. Now it is almost midnight. $$$ But it looks good on paper.
4 comments:
Overtime - more than one station I know of has cut overtime. No, they haven't stopped staff from working overtime, they just aren't paying for it. Writing that web piece, posting a blog, doing a followup piece for the morning show - all done on the reporter's own time. This is a tacit understanding in many local newsrooms. In other businesses, you'd have a wage and hour complaint in a heartbeat. Not TV - reporters know there are 200 people lined up down the street waiting to take their jobs, so they swallow hard and work on. Not only are salaries comparable to the 80s, but you're afraid to put in the time on your weekly payroll sheet for fear they'll show you the door.
I've heard that from many people. Is it legal? Hmmmm... depends on the state.
Stations are going to have to re-institute the time-honored tradition of "comp time."
So all you reporters (and others) are paid hourly? In my last two markets over the past four years, I and every reporter in the company have been paid salary, so there is no overtime! We're paid the equivalent of eight hour days even if we just put in 12 hours.
You can be salaried with overtime or without. In some states there are still laws regarding the amount of hours of overtime that you can work as a salaried employee.
That's one reason you guys all need to have contracts checked by an attorney before signing.
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