A place to vent

I work in a television market that's small, to say the least. But there's potential here, which is why I accepted a job here. However, there's also a lot of animosity between coworkers, a situation I haven't come across in three previous stations.

I'm what is called an "anchor" in TV news jargon. In the most basic sense, that means I "anchor" a newscast. I'm the face of the morning newscast at my station. But I don't just read off a teleprompter; I'm here at 2 a.m. each weekday morning to help producers out. You see, I also spent time as a producer, even scoring an Emmy nomination in a Top 20 market. So, I suggest story additions, different ways to stack the show, help write and answer any questions my learning producers may have.

Once the show wraps up, I have several more responsibilities. I'm also a one-man-band reporter at my station. That means I brainstorm ideas, shoot video for stories, conduct interviews for stories, write the stories and edit the video for them. This can all get pretty intense from time to time, as it is a lot of work. I'm salaried, though, so my employer benefits from my workaholic tendencies.

Here's where there's a problem. None of my coworkers work like I do. The evening anchors are lazy and don't even bother reading any of their scripts before air time. They rarely (perhaps once every six months or so) provide stories for our newscasts. When they do, they don't shoot or edit their stories; a photographer does that for them. Fellow reporters do as little as they can to get by and the meteorologists (the weather people) work about six hours a day.

Clearly, I'm not exactly happy in the situation. That's what this blog is for: venting about a work scenario I can't do much about and that no one understands. Hopefully, you'll enjoy getting an occasional glimpse into TV news -- and the drama behind the cameras.