A two pack a day habit will kill you; and we're not talkin' about cigarettes

I've written numerous posts about the red flags you should look for when job hunting. They range from the typical (whack-job News Directors) to the financial (companies that throw nickels around like manhole covers) to the psychological (newsrooms in which employees look as though they're currently in the Bataan death march.)

But lately there's something subtle that has been sneaking into our business, sort of like Congress clandestinely earmarking funds for a museum honoring racoons into a bill designed for NASA.

It's the two package a day habit. Yes, even more deadly than the one-man-band trend, this daily requirement is doing more to suck the quality out of a news product than anything.

As a reporter I always worked with a photographer and luckily never had to shoot my own video. In most places I was required to do one package each day, and pick up a few vo/sots or vo's.  But there was a time when we had a new News Director who had the blood of a beancounter running through his veins, thinking that more was better. He noticed I was usually done by four o'clock with my package of the day, and thought I was killing time at my desk on the phone. In reality, I was trying to set up stories for the next day, since the Assignment Editor would usually hand out a steaming pile of manure to anyone who didn't have a story set up.

So I started to get two packages a day. Why? The answer from management was because I could do it. (Ironically, my ability to write fast and manage time came back to bite me.) Thoughts of quality headed headfirst into the dumper, as I was now racing the clock every day, slamming stories together with little thought to the style I had always brought to the table. Many times I'd be driving home thinking one of those two stories could have been great... if only I'd had the time to make it so.

Over the years I always saved the best packages that I turned. I have lots of tapes in the closet. But I never saved a single package from the time period when I was required to do two packages per day. None of them were up to my standards. Sure, they were acceptable, but they lacked the special elements that would take them to the next level.

So, how can you prevent yourself from ending up in this position?

Well, if you go through a ND change like I did, you're stuck until you can move on. But if you're looking for another gig, it's imperative to find out if management requires two packages each day. (And if it's two packages a day in a one-man-band shop, run like hell.) Trust me, the quality of your work will go down if you end up knocking out multiple packages. And if you're a rookie, you're not going to learn much. In both cases the following is true: you can't do good work if you don't have time to think. Creativity cannot be rushed. Your muse doesn't punch a clock, and if you ask her to do so she'll get ticked off, fold her arms and sulk, then go into vapor lock. A muse is a high maintenance creature.

Some stations have more red flags than a Russian May Day parade. Some are huge, some not such a big deal.

This is a big deal. Be afraid. Be very afraid.

When looking for a job you should avoid any station that requires its reporters to do two packages each day.

And one more thing... if you're a News Director reading this, and you're one of those people requiring two packages from your reporters, you're doing three things: pushing quality people out the door, not attracting the best reporter candidates... and, oh yeah, chasing away your viewers.

Top lies heard by recent graduates

Time once again for our annual warning to those leaving the hallowed halls of higher education for the world of broadcasting. You can get your life started! Keep those rose colored glasses on because everyone is wonderful and decent and your first station will provide Disney bluebirds to do your laundry. And surely those people offering jobs wouldn't lie, would they?

Sorry, but when hiring entry level people many News Directors turn into married men at a singles bar. Nothing is off the table when it comes to the con job they'll pull on trusting young people. Some make politicians look like amateurs.

I'm not trying to scare you kids, but simply warn you that you're about to enter a minefield filled with people who, should they ever go to confession, will rack up enough Hail Marys as penance to keep them tied up praying for a week. Sorry, but not everyone has your best interests at heart.

Luckily I'm here to expose the tricks of these ne'er-do-wells and hopefully spare you from two years of agony.

So, in no particular order, here are some of the greatest lies told to new graduates.

-"We'll start you out as a producer and eventually move you into reporting." This one's right up there with, "My wife doesn't understand me and I'm getting ready to divorce her so we can run away together."

This is the classic bait and switch designed to fill holes in the staff. The most common are the "producer to reporter" track and the "reporter to anchor" track. Trust me, if you start as a producer, you'll likely never see a day as a reporter. And then, how do you make a reporting tape to get out?

-"You don't need to have a lawyer read that contract." Which of course means you sure as hell do need to have a lawyer read that contract. If a manager tries to talk you out of legal advice, that's because there's something bad in the contract that a lawyer would find.

-"You have to sign right now or I'll give the job to someone else." Any decent manager out there will give someone time to sleep on an offer. Any manager who doesn't isn't decent.

-"Our company doesn't give outs." Do a little research,  and chances are you'll find someone in the company who has an out clause.

-"We don't need to put that in writing." Selective memory is a common disease among managers. Six months down the road you'll remind him that he promised to make you an anchor and for some reason he can't seem to remember doing that.

-"You might have to pick up a camera once in awhile." Look around the newsroom. If there are seven reporters and one photog, chances are "once in awhile" will be every day.

-"We have big plans for you." (See married men in singles bar technique above.)

-"We only do three year contracts." Too bad, because you only sign two year deals. No rookie needs to sign a three year deal. And chances are there are people in the company who have two year deals.

There are of course other lies regarding moving expense, makeup and hair allowances, and putting you up while you find a place to live. Just keep in mind that you're entering the real world, and sadly, there are a lot of people out there who will take advantage of you.

As Bruce Willis would say, "Welcome to the party, pal."

Exit strategy: Can you leave the business?

Lately a lot of young people I know are leaving the business for private industry. Many are going into public relations or some sort of marketing position.

Of course this happened with my generation as well, but usually when people were in their forties and simply tired of the grind. These days it seems to be different. People are tired of the ridiculous workload, shooting their own video, managers who are jerks (the most common reason), and low wages. It is sad when I get calls from people in their twenties already giving up on their dreams; not because they don't love journalism, but because the business has become too painful to endure.

Regardless of the reason, the big question many face is this: Can I survive without a journalism career? For many of us it's a narcotic; a big story or killer live shot can give you a rush like no nine-to-five job can ever provide. So what happens when you trade a newsroom gig for one in the "normal" world?

And here's the other big question: If I don't like the normal world, can I get back into the news business?

First, let's talk about what happens to people who leave the business for the private sector. (And yes, I've done this, so I've had the experience.)

The biggest change is the pace. You might go from two packages and a live shot each day to a PR job in which you're required to write one press release in a week. What the hell do people do with the rest of their time? (This also happens to soldiers coming back from war, by the way.) Suddenly you're sitting at a desk with no chance of leaving the building. You're watching the clock. You're given one week to do an assignment what would take five minutes. You like the new paycheck but you're bored out of your mind. How do you deal with it? Some can't and go back to news. Some manage to downshift and come up with new ideas for their new jobs. (Imagine going to your boss and asking for more stuff to do.)

The other big change is the lack of creativity. Suddenly you're not turning a phrase in your copy or trying to think of a clever standup. Now you're looking at pie charts and making mailing lists. Your muse is about to drive you nuts; she wants you to do something, anything, with a blank page but you have no assignment.

The key here is to find a creative outlet. Write fiction (it's what I do when I have down time), do some articles or a column for a newspaper, make pottery, paint. Create something. If you do nothing creative from nine-to-five, it's imperative that you do something on your time off.

Finally, the biggest change is the type of people you're surrounded with. The free-wheeling personalities of the newsroom and sarcasm are gone. The wicked, dark humor we use to deal with all the bad news we cover is nowhere to be found. The relationships are more businesslike, not as close as those in a newsroom. You go to an office party and you're not the least bit interested in what people are talking about, and, hardly anyone is keeping up with current events. The unique camaraderie you had in the newsroom doesn't exist.

Now, let's get to the re-entry question. Many people assume that once you leave a news job you can't get back into the business.

Bull.

I've done it, plenty of others have done it. If you're talented, that talent doesn't vanish because you took some time away from a newsroom. Just make sure you save all your tapes. You make think you're done with this business forever when you walk out the door, but if it runs through your veins you may someday want back in.

200 sports openings

This is from Sports Illustrated's website today:

"Fox Sports 1 is expected to make around 200 hires."

Sports jobs are hard enough to get, so this is a real bonanza.

Stranger than fiction, or, how to fake your own death for eleven years

Every once in awhile I get an assignment that is truly bizarre. In this case, I've been working for Inside Edition on a story about that Pennsylvania woman who disappeared eleven years ago and was presumed dead until she turned up in Florida.

Turns out going off the grid is as easy as writing a novel.

In this case, Brenda Heist (and you gotta love the irony of the last name) simply re-invented herself as a cleaning woman in Pensacola, Florida. Yesterday we spent a lot of time with one of her clients, a kind-hearted woman named Sondra who took her in when she said she needed to get out of an abusive relationship. She said her name was Lovie Smith (yeah, same name as the Chicago Bears coach, but Sondra didn't follow football.) She paid everything in cash, bought cars with cash, covered her tracks, developed trust with clients in the community. Even though she left a husband and children behind she told Sondra she was a widow and had no kids. Sondra became close friends with her and had no inkling she was being conned.

This is a wild story and if you get a chance check it out on Thursday's episode of Inside Edition. I'll post the link here after it airs.