One Crazy Month

The month of August has definitely been one to remember. I left my old job at WTRF-TV in Wheeling and I found a new position with a Publishing Company, Guide Book Publishing to be exact. I'll be working as an Account Sales Representative. I have never done anything like this in my life, but I look at it as a new opportunity.

August started off great. Two good friends of mine got married at the start of the month. I am really happy for the both of them. I remember the first night they met at Miami almost four years ago. I can't believe how time goes by so fast. It was a great wedding and I'm glad I was a part of the celebration.

My dad just recently went into the hospital. His foot as been really bad. I won't go into the details, but he was not doing well when he was admitted a few days ago. He's looking much better now and hopefully he'll be able to come home soon. He gave my mom and me a bit of a scare this week with his health, but I'm glad to see his health improving. Obviously, those are the cliff notes for the month of August. Perhaps in due time I'll be able to go into more detail about all of these events. For now this will do until my next entry.

Remembering a Legend

This is a very sad day not only for the journalism field, but for our country. The legendary Walter Cronkite died at the age of 92. Cronkite retired before I was born and so my generation never saw him report the news on a daily basis. However, my parents told me he was one of the best when it came to telling a story, almost as if he were in the living room and was part of the family telling everyone the news of the day. He covered it all.....the assassinations of JFK, Martin Luther King, Watergate, and the Vietnam War to name a few. Cronkite was the historian for many milestone world events.

Lately, I have been extremely frustrated with the news business. There have been many layoffs and cutbacks at news affiliates nationwide. It seems massive amounts of content is preferred over good quality news. I think we're too caught up in how fast we can get something on the air as opposed to using creative ways to capture the viewer's attention. I have worked for a CBS affiliate in Wheeling, West Virginia the past 2 years. Recently, I resigned from my position as an anchor and a reporter. I truly enjoy the work in the news business, but I could not bring myself to walk through the doors everyday where issues of overtime and staffing trump what news we need to cover for the day. I have had one of my worst weeks both personally and professionally and I won't go into those matters. Just when I thought I couldn't stay in the news businesses any longer, Cronkite's death reminds me how important news is and it's a public duty to inform.

Everyone should take notes of Cronkite's career even if you're not in the news business. He reported stories with precision, thoroughness, and he was honest to the public. Those are qualities we should all try to emulate.

Another Weekend

I talked to some of my very close college friends over the phone the past few days. It's great to hear from them. I can't wait for my vacation coming up the first week of June. I plan on seeing my friends who live around the Chicago area. I feel that miss out on a lot when I have to work weekends here at the station, but it's alright. This is a great learning tool and this gives me experience.

Scott finished the 11 o'clock newscast early tonight. It's great not having a ten.

Hopefully we'll get out of this economic slump soon. It seems things have been picking up in the last month. Layoffs have decreased, but the unemployment rate is still very bad.....the worst in about 25 years. Oh well, have to stay positive and hopefully there's a new opportunity out there for me.

Anyway, back to work.

My first blog

I am really excited to start blogging. I look forward to writing more entries in the near future.