Newsroom Notes: The TV News Staffing Problem

This is the first in a series of columns on the news business that will appear on Tuesdays.

It’s a problem that has become obvious to any regular news viewer: there are fewer and fewer faces on your local TV newscasts.

In Duluth, evening news anchors at two separate stations have made temporary moves to morning newscasts. At another Minnesota station, a news director did morning weather. And just about every station, big and small, has a couple of openings.

It’s not because of job cuts. It’s because stations can’t fill positions fast enough.

Many of the factors behind the issue have been well-documented, especially by talent agent Ty Carver in his viral “Extinction Alert” post last year.

But as a person who has decided to take a break from the TV news business himself, I feel there’s one major issue that hasn’t been discussed enough: ever-growing job descriptions.

Each traditional job in a TV newsroom is tough enough on its own. Reporters need to learn how to generate enterprise story ideas, think critically about what they’re covering, and write quickly for multiple platforms. Anchors need to perfect the art of relating to viewers and learn how to look good on a budget, every day. Photographers need to learn how to shoot great video in stressful situations, and get it on the air quickly. And producers need to learn how to use graphics systems and modern sets to showcase every story, along with the trivial detail of researching and writing much of the content in the newscast.

When I started in the business 20 years ago, most roles in newsrooms were targeted to one major skillset. We had reporters, anchors, photographers, and producers who focused on being the best they could be.

That has changed over time.

In the 2000s, many newsrooms realized the potential of creating more reporters by converting some photography jobs into multi-media journalist (MMJ) positions that handled reporting, shooting, and editing. It is a solution that can work well if done right, but it takes new hires longer to grow into their position because they have twice as much to learn.

Meanwhile, stations have always had the question of how to utilize weekend news, sports, and weather anchors during the week. In the past, they usually filled out their workweek with several weekday reporting shifts. Some of those weekend positions evolved into anchor/MMJ’s, combining three skillsets.

Then, some anchors were also asked to produce their own shows. That’s four skillsets.

And, of course, there’s digital — social media, the website, the mobile app, etc. In most newsrooms, everyone has a role in digital efforts.

So that’s five skillsets that could each be their own standalone jobs, combined into one position.

Here’s the problem: To be qualified for an anchor position, you need to have some previous reporting experience in a TV newsroom. But if you’ve worked in a TV newsroom before, you know that anchoring, producing, reporting, and photography are a lot of things to combine into one workweek.

So the qualified applicants don’t apply.

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What’s the solution?

First, no more ridiculously lengthy job descriptions. Ensure that every job posting combines no more than two of the four functions of reporting, photography, anchoring, and producing. That means you could have an anchor/producer, an anchor/reporter, or an MMJ, but not one that combines three or four skillsets. (Maybe a new hire can add additional duties once they are settled in.)

Second, have realistic expectations for new hires. It’s not fair to expect an inexperienced MMJ to create the same amount of content as a reporter-photographer team. Assign new MMJ’s to simpler stories and have reporter-photographer teams get the more complicated coverage.

But above all, remember to treat everyone as humans and make safety the top priority when assigning staff.

If we hire good people, treat them well, and give them the time to develop their skills, we’ll all be better in the long run.

Jon Ellis has worked in small-market TV news for 20 years in assistant news director and producer positions.