I am a fresh college graduate looking for a job and I know TV news isn't my first choice because of the money. Especially after reading the threads on this message board. I am pretty competant and take advantage of every opportunity I can, but when it comes to work, I would rather leave TV news as a last resort.
Where have all the shooters gone?
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Originally posted by queen of blue:
I would. ;DBTW - When I win the 177 million powerball tonight .... I'll be knockin' on the front door of said station in NC. Then it would just be for fun, and it wouldn't matter how much they pay me.Does anybody but me think they'd do that for FUN? Geez.
jajack71
Well-known member
Well you have college loans inexcess of 20 grand and a photog job that pays 24 grand. The problem with news is the money. I was on the outside looking inside for years wanting to be a photographer. Now that I'm a photographer at age 34 it's almost disrespectful what I make. I left a 50 grand a year job mainly because I hated it to do something that I love was to shoot. I don't know what these news stations are thinking about when they tell a photog the pay rate . If you are looking for shooters it can't be that hard we have tapes a mile long at my shop. The main problem is you get what you pay for. Most ND's and Chiefs want excellent photog's but want to pay a fast food manager wage. Get real treat people with diginity and pay them.I guess I should be sent to hell for wanting to eat a steak ever now and then?? At this rate news is going to be all freelance and pay just above min wage.
Birdy
Well-known member
When I first moved to this small market, the local NBC affiliate was paying $8.00 an hour. Even the local cable station paid more than that, and most unskilled labor was making more than that in the factories. There is NO WAY that I could afford to live and raise 2 kids as a single parent on that salary.
Maybe I'm just a jaded bastard...but I'm of the opinion that they just don't care. All they want are warm bodies, not artists. Sure, we do it for all those reasons and it means the world to US. But they could care less about any of that. I hope i'm wrong...but I don't think i am.
Sprite
Active member
Here's your answer: They're paying talent more and more, while paying photogs less and less when our pay should be more comparable. Talent may dispute that, but a photog's job is very physical. MY POINT - you're losing photogs b/c you're not paying enough and the good ones are leaving the news biz. Someone on this board recently IM'd me regarding an opportunity in Florida. I would LOVE to relocate to Florida, but the pay was 22K. That's a nosedive compared to the peanuts I'm making now. I'm a news shooter of 12 years. Do I really want to make 22K for the rest of my life? I can't live on that, and I certainly can't retire on it.
True Sprite...very true. Yet, again, do all of you think ND's and GM's care? They spend the money on the 'talent' because that's what they value most. I truly believe that they could care less about the level of talent or experience of a photog staff. They just want warm bodies.
jajack71
Well-known member
Hey Peter,
AMEN !!!
I think we all just have to go for other avenues in television. I really want to direct television news. I love shooting the best it what I've been doing since getting out of high school. My ND called me up and offered me an 8% raise and said that nobody is really getting that. It would be a great raise if I had a base salary of at least 16.00 per hour, but we had to have 12 brand new Sony XD Camers at 56k per unit. Well I can say that I don't have to share my gear and that's a plus. Revolt of the photo someone should do a small movie with that title.
AMEN !!!
I think we all just have to go for other avenues in television. I really want to direct television news. I love shooting the best it what I've been doing since getting out of high school. My ND called me up and offered me an 8% raise and said that nobody is really getting that. It would be a great raise if I had a base salary of at least 16.00 per hour, but we had to have 12 brand new Sony XD Camers at 56k per unit. Well I can say that I don't have to share my gear and that's a plus. Revolt of the photo someone should do a small movie with that title.
Most twenty somethings like the college kids in my town don't watch tv much less tv news. I hate to say it but its the truth.
People my age don't like to be intouch with reality anymore. They would rather get smashed, watch movies, and/or have a one night stand lol.
But even at our non news production company we had like 50 college age kids breaking their necks to get into the door for the position of fulltime editor. My boss told me that from talking to the guy who owns a graphic design firm down the hall that you can now get away with hiring college grads at 6-7 dollars an hour LOL. Ya they may stay for a month but anybody will get tired of that and leave and now you are losing money on rehiring and training someone to take their place.
I think a great revolution to tv news will be on demand video with less attention on the talent. Now with almost everyone with higspeed internet I would like to start a website for a city with 3-4 photogs and 5-6 reporters. It would be like a newspaper website but with local on demand video. And the key would be making the news faced paced and covering stuff that effects younger people.
People my age don't like to be intouch with reality anymore. They would rather get smashed, watch movies, and/or have a one night stand lol.
But even at our non news production company we had like 50 college age kids breaking their necks to get into the door for the position of fulltime editor. My boss told me that from talking to the guy who owns a graphic design firm down the hall that you can now get away with hiring college grads at 6-7 dollars an hour LOL. Ya they may stay for a month but anybody will get tired of that and leave and now you are losing money on rehiring and training someone to take their place.
I think a great revolution to tv news will be on demand video with less attention on the talent. Now with almost everyone with higspeed internet I would like to start a website for a city with 3-4 photogs and 5-6 reporters. It would be like a newspaper website but with local on demand video. And the key would be making the news faced paced and covering stuff that effects younger people.
We all know it was you who gave me a one star. There must not be a whole lot going on in Hippieville.
Or maybe you are just mad because you are one of those college grads I was talking about making only minimum wage running the desk.
Since you like humor so much, maybe I can get alot of people to prank call your news tip line.
Or maybe you are just mad because you are one of those college grads I was talking about making only minimum wage running the desk.
Since you like humor so much, maybe I can get alot of people to prank call your news tip line.
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