thumbnail of 1965 National Association of Educational Broadcasters Convention; Career Planning and Employment in Educational Broadcasting
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Before testing one two three four has a look now testing one two three four. What we're getting are oh yeah I will. Testing one two three four Testing one two three four. Testing one two three four we give it up just OK. I think concealment Testing one two three four one two three four test OK. It was just where you said you have you meter right here for five action at which the prospective employee learns of dozens and dozens of places to send his name and credentials though at times we will be able to give you some information. This is not a session at which managers can learn of some hot names that are on happy in $25000 jobs and are willing to go down to 60 to 50. In order to work at your station we hope however to make you aware of the prospective
employees across the country. I will speak for a few moments and I already have and then I will introduce to you Dr. Hugh Cordie who is head of the radio television department of the University of Illinois as well as President of the Association for professional broadcasting education which is an association of institutions of higher ed with Radio-TV commitment and he will describe you the type of training that one receives at a university. Though I suspect that many of you are university people. And then Bob Reed who is associate director of the communications center at the University of Hawaii will describe to you some of the problems he has had in searching for people. And I'm hoping that you managers can learn from it as you look for people and I'm hoping that those of you who are interested in working in educational broadcasting will also learn as more come in. There are some chairs around the corner. Oops.
In that room right there so as they come in could they guide and tell him where the chairs are. Thanks. As time goes on more and more when one says he is in the educational broadcasting or wants to get into educational broadcasting it is becoming less and less meaningful. It is like saying I'm in the army. It's like saying I'm I work for the government the TV is known as a specialty or educational broadcasting excuse me is known as a specialty to those that are not in it. But as we find people looking for employees they don't come in and say Do you have somebody interested in educational broadcasting. They want certain backgrounds and certain types of people. And this is why as the younger person starts out and starts gaining experience he has an opportunity to train himself in any one of a number of areas. They are generalists in educational broadcasting and there will continue to be some we
hope. However as employers go out and look for the under $10000 a year people. And even over in certain special areas they're looking for certain types of specialists now. I would like to talk to the younger set. And by that I mean a less experienced set or those that are. Considering pursuing a career in educational broadcasting. And we'll be back to you managers shortly and it's wonderful that you're all mixed up so nobody knows who anyone is. For those who want to go into educational broadcasting we suggest that there are a number of avenues that you can traverse. You can go to a trade school in any one of a number of metropolitan areas and learn television or radio production in a matter of weeks and you can become very proficient. If you have a very pleasing personality and a nice face and a deep voice and a on camera projection that is pleasing. You might not need any training at
all. If you want to be an announcer and nothing more. Remember the production techniques can be learned anywhere the best place to learn them is in a television studio that is broadcasting closed circuit twenty five hundred mega cycle or broadcast operation. You can go to a university and obtain a bachelor's degree in speech journalism drama communication arts or whatever the particular university offers majoring in radio and or television. Mass Communications or what have you. At the university you will receive studio training as you would at the trade school sometimes a lot better sometimes not as thorough. And you will receive academic training that will be important to you later when you look for your first job with a bachelor's degree or a master's degree in communications we have found that the degree itself is not as important as it will be three years after that when you're considered to be Program Director. And I do
mean to say that advancement can be fast. You can get a job at an educational station as a graduate from high school and if you have the stuff you won't need anything because you'll learn in six months and go on. So let's say basically without further ado that these are the three major avenues you can get trade school training which is sometimes excellent. You can get university training which will likely be profitable to you soon after you're out. Or you can just get a job in any TV station or an educational radio station or a closed circuit installation. The most important thing as in other areas of broadcasting or mass communications is experience good solid experience and we don't necessarily mean the production of a single program with wooden mock up cameras in a studio out in the woods and sometimes this is the only kind of training that you get but.
Those of you that write resumes and write letters for prospective employment this doesn't make too much impact. Now I'd like to describe very quickly the types of operations that are available and what kind of people are being sought now and what kind of people are going to be sought in the future. You're in the right racket if you're looking for work in educational broadcasting by the way because the demand for people is going to increase. But as it does increase it will increase for qualified people. And this is I'm now talking about the. Statement I made before when you say I'm an educational broadcasting. You have to be more specific. School systems operate any number of broadcast operations. They are licensees in about 33 cases. Public school systems they have twenty five hundred mega cycle systems which are low power low range broadcast stations and they have extensive closed circuit installations there are about 800
now in colleges and secondary schools it's expected that that number will double. People are in demand but the people who are hired in these installations are school people. Not in the sense that their ex teachers but they are education majors and the superintendent who assigns a television installation to his liaison man television liaison coordinator is the new job is just made and that coordinator is looking for people with a school background. If you are interested in public education you might do well to get teacher credentials teach for one or two years in a classroom and then go to an area where there's a television installation and you're in. You are in demand. It's pretty tough if you come in with the delusions of broadcast television and you come into the school with the Hollywood feeling and it doesn't swing with the teachers the way Mary dotes might. Colleges look for people who can teach college courses.
You'll see on resumes. I am willing to teach. You'll see in job specifications some teaching. If you are interested in university work and you're interested in getting ahead you would do very well to stay in graduate school just as long as they'll have you for as long as the money holds out. And have patience. The more degrees you can stash away the better it will be in later years. If you're interested in university work. If you're interested in community broadcast television you're in a separate world and many of the stations about which we hear most often are community stations Boston Chicago Pittsburgh San Francisco Los Angeles St. Louis and that famous place etc.. The people in these stations are not operators and I mean it in both a Machiavellian sense in a television sense. These are people with advertising backgrounds know how savvy they are not necessarily school people but the people in demand
now at community stations and more so in the future. Two new jobs are opening up now that these first ten years have gone by and we have stations on the air. Development man. People come in time and again and they say I'm looking for a development man and this is a high paying job in educational television a development man gets programs funds for programs he's involved with fundraising and the guts of the station's future. These men are hard to come by they often come from the commercial world. But when an educator has development savvy he's got it made. In commercial broadcasting if you want to be a station manager come up through sales in educational broadcasting if you want to be a station manager. And by the way up to this point people have become station managers from being everything from shoe salesman school superintendents because there was nobody there. But as the field develops there will people be people there come up through development public relations
community action a community activity program sources. That's the guts of a community station if you want to be manager of University Station get a doctorate and be a professor for three years interested in television. If you want to be the manager of the school station get into the school system and now the reasons are obvious. At a school station the questions are what the superintendent said and what the Board of Education budget is and who's was just appointed to be chairman of the high school science department TVs right along with that. We know a television establishment where the salary scale is that of science teachers because they don't know where to put it. You're hung up on the Board of Education Policy. If you work for a state station you're interested in state legislature. The manager of the station is often a state appointee. You will be a state civil servant there's a big difference between working for a state as a civil servant and working for a school system and working for a community station which is often like working for a summer theater on Cape Cod.
If you want it. Bill did you want rest aid station if you want to put it in the budget for nine hundred sixty eight. There is a vast difference among these types of operations and they the personnel reflect these differences so when you say I want to get an education in broadcasting at this point you may be saying I don't care what kind of operation it is. But if you get into a school station if you get involved with instructional broadcasting you're likely to be involved in it from then on because you'll be a school man if you haven't had any experience. It's good to get in anywhere and do it for a year and a half because then you're negotiable. OK I would like to ask now that we describe that Dr. Corder described to you a university training program for those of you who are at universities or are thinking about the vast expense or thinking about teaching at universities. Here's a chance for you to see how academic a university program
is versus how mechanical The president of APB and head of the prominent University of Illinois Dr. Cody. Thank you very much Rick. At the 40th annual convention of the an ATV in Austin last year a five member panel considered three basic problems relating to this problem we're addressing today. Professional Training for educational broadcasting. They tried to pin down what do we have now. What ought we have. And how can we go about achieving what we ought to have. But I missed that discussion. I understand that the panel was not too happy with the professional training programs that now exist in radio and TV departments in the United States. Do many of the courses are of the how to do it variety. The programs are almost always oriented toward commercial broadcasting commercial broadcasting has as its basic
objective entertainment while the main objective of educational broadcasting is the understanding of reality not escape from reality. Only 33 institutions offered specific courses in educational television. Well these are a few of the criticisms that were leveled a year ago at the 100 plus institutions offering majors in radio and television. And the discussion of what do we need to develop two fundamental requirements were cited for personnel who will work in educational broadcasting. They split it down they recognized that this problem of educational television is a little like well I work for the government they too recognize this and they said we see these two fundamental differences first of all we see people with a basic interest in television and we think those people must be familiar with the principles goals and
structure of public education as a sort of subjugated to that they sought to subheadings that they should understand principles of communication and they should understand how people learn. Then they turned and tried to pin down another group here. These are people who have a basic interest in education and they concluded that this group cannot contribute to educational television without an awareness of television's essential advantage as a medium for mass communication a visual and aural information. Then they decided that regardless of the category here four important elements should be contained in any undergraduate broadcasting curriculum it should include a principals of communications course. It should include some instruction in mass communications in society. It should include understanding the medium. And now here we get into this area not too much how to do it but enough how to do it in the way of techniques production courses so that
it can be effectively used. And then fourth and finally an in-depth study of a problem in the particular student's area of specialisation and considering how this training can be achieved the consensus among the panel in those participating in the discussion was that undergraduate studies shall be in liberal arts and sciences with professional specialization taking place at the graduate level. This was a practical panel however and they also observed that graduate courses are usually much less self-sustaining than undergraduate courses and therefore they concluded that the financial support of undergraduate courses was a sufficient reason to continue to offer professional training on this level too. So ideally they'd like to see it occur on the graduate level but practically and realistically we're probably going to see it occur on the undergraduate level. Now during the past summer Chalmers Mark was director of educational television stations
division of the NEA. Evie summarized the need for this type of trading letter to the president of the APB e he stated. Now that we're getting settled down here I want to begin with you to address ourselves to what is becoming a critical situation a situation in which I think you will share our concern. One of our biggest problems and he tv right now is a shortage of capable management personnel. We have at least 12 top programming and station management spots open at salaries from 10000 to 25000 and we're having trouble getting qualified candidates. Now we know that these are not jobs for new graduates. At least five to ten years of first great experience in station operation is a must for any of the sort of jobs. The situation now shows obviously we didn't recruit graduates into a TV as fast five to 10 years ago as we're needing them now. But now that we realize the problem we clearly must attend to solving it for the future. For one thing we must do more
to strengthen the liason between teaching and broadcasting groups so that colleges will know more quickly and accurately our immediate as well as long range personnel needs and ATV managers can share our concerns widely so that we can develop a better way nationally of attracting and holding good people right out of college and TV curricula can keep up to date on the TV broadcasting practices nationally. In a later letter Marcus estimated that 10000 persons are working full time in educational broadcasting with perhaps 2000 a year expansion forseen for the next five years. Now against this admittedly hastily sketched backdrop let me now spell out what I'll label loosely as a rather typical professional training programme that an increasingly large number of APB IIT institutions are offering and then let me turn to an examination of a number of
majors on the undergraduate and graduate levels in our schools today and finally offer a suggestion or two for recruiting personnel for ATV. The professional program without getting down to specific care in radio and television in many of our AP B institutions rests on three pretty general beliefs about education one that the liberal education of the student primarily in the Liberal Arts and Sciences is fundamental to his future success in the media and should constitute the major portion of his experience. And now we're talking about whether that future is going commercial broadcasting or educational television. We think the same thing applies here too that a student should become proficient enough in the studio or production aspects of broadcasting and knowledgeable enough in programming management aspects of broadcasting so that he'll be able to enter the profession as a valuable employee after graduation and three that the liberal education in the broadcasting experience and knowledge
should be integrated in such a way to ensure maximum opportunity for success as a potential leader in the media. Basically we have. We looked on our job as a two pronged job. There has to be enough training there that he can step in and become immediately valuable. But then we've got another job on it as far as many of us are concerned is the most important and that is looking ahead 10 years hence when he's going to move up into what I'll call the junior level junior executive level or the lower level of management. And later on so that really it's preparing for the first job but the major task the major problem here preparing for that job 10 years hence. Now the the liberal education. And here again I'm generalizing I'm looking over. I hope you'll appreciate the fact that
if we were to. On a board here at the front of the room indicate where radio television training is being offered throughout the country actually is being offered under 11 different umbrellas and it just be impossible to indicate all of these so I'll be guilty right off the bat of saying I'm generalizing and I'm taking what I think personally is the best pattern being offered by the AB B institutions. I think in most of these schools and therefore that I'm talking about you'll find that the liberal education of the Radio TV major will consist of at least three fourths of his four years of study. So you're not getting a technician here you're getting three fourths of a liberal arts major essentially and then the other year the last year of study here sometimes spent over some time spread out over all four years sometimes occurring only in the junior or senior level.
But the point trying to make here is that concentration in the major area will range from a required total of thirty to thirty six semester hours. Or if you were to convert that to quarter hours somewhere this 45 to 60 quarter hour range I'll be the first to admit that there are still a few institutions that permit students to carry in excess of this range and instead this 25 percent 75 percent were bordering on the 33 and a third are two thirds. But keep in mind this is an improvement it hasn't been too many years ago when we were bothered. We had a guilty conscience as about 50 50 and then I'm afraid that we were guilty of the traits will approach the studio or production training at these institutions as provided in a fairly well-equipped studios with a variety of equipment and facilities. Representative of the types that are used both in industry and in educational broadcasting and in this area may I assure you that the number of how to do how to do it courses are happily happily decreasing each year. Important is the increased
proficiency in techniques maybe to the undergraduate student of broadcasting. We think it's essential that his horizons should be broadened beyond the confines of the college classroom and the immediate program objective. We think it should have the opportunity to study the basic principles of our economic system as it applies to broadcasting to desex communication messages of the mass media to discover their ethical and emotional appeals to investigate the psychological and sociological responses of the audiences in terms of their desires and needs and to examine the special responsibilities of the communicator to these audiences. His educational experience should include the development of professional standards of performance and decision making. Now here we're talking about preparation primarily for commercial broadcasting but the important point that I'm trying to establish right from the outset here is that this though we are training and it is for a commercial career as well as an educational career. You'll see that it's it's founded
philosophically here in a in a in a basis they can apply to to either commercial broadcasting or to educational broadcasting. Now in addition to the basic core of courses all of these institutions will there will be certain courses the principles are the introduction to broadcasting course almost invariably will be required they'll be of basic laboratory. Television laboratory or sometimes you'll find it broken down into studio operation and control room operation in addition to this basic core of required courses that all of us will require of our majors. You'll find most of us permitting students then to go ahead on an elective basis and specialize in news in the production direction in writing. Just to cite a few of the possibilities let me point up the student with an interest in news for example when it will include courses on news writing
advance news writing or public affairs reporting radio and TV news cinematography within the major and I think significantly you'll find the advisors within these programs encouraging that news major then to go outside the department and to pick up on the elective basis advanced courses in history economics political science to name a few to round out this undergraduate program. Now the point of trying to establish here is that this basic pattern of education for commercial broadcasting that we've been using for years really adapts extremely well to the needs of the student specializing in educational and or instructional broadcasting. For example in addition to the basic core of required courses. A student within our department can elect such courses as as educational broadcasting or educational uses of television and radio planning in producing educational programmes. These courses within the department then
courses in psychology of learning history of American education philosophy of education outside the department normally within a college of education department. It seems to me therefore that the DTV ITV made ITV major can be physically and economically developed in the existing departments of radio and television. And we welcome your help in the task. I think basically here we've we've been I stick my neck out I think we've been unfairly accused as far as this entertainment taint that you often throw at our direction. And if you would come and look at the courses and then if you would go and talk to the students that we've graduated you'll find there are damn few of them working on entertainment programs. Instead you'll find them staffing the news departments they'll be doing they'll be doing the educational programming activity for the local commercial station they'll be doing the cultural
enrichment program they'll be doing the documentary type. And every once in a while like in our at our institution we have a Charles de Laney that. Goes from from the classroom to the network and ends up as a producer director but not on entertainment programs. No he's assigned to produce and direct me. The professor So the point I'm trying to make I think often we're unfairly criticized because of this entertainment orientation and really the orientation does not exist in the training program nor in the practice as far as the graduate is concerned once he moves out into the into the industry. Now in closing let me quickly examine the personnel pool in the 1060 census. The US found ninety four thousand seventy seven experienced broadcasters and I never knew how to interpret this figure and ninety thousand eight hundred fifty eight of them working in broadcasting I hope this doesn't mean that we have almost 4000 unemployed in broadcasting now.
Possibly some but not much help in this particular in this particular area. My guess would be that well they are experienced broadcasters they've moved over into another area in the one survey of American colleges and universities that offer work and television Neven. It has been conducting this for quite a few years now reports that one hundred twenty seven institutions here responded this particular year and. Hundred twenty six of those we can get some indication with regard to the number of students we have currently in training of the this hundred twenty six offering an undergraduate degree one institution by the way throwing this off offers only a master's program. But the one hundred twenty six offering an undergraduate degree reported a total of three thousand five hundred twenty seven junior and senior students majoring in broadcasting. This with an increase of two hundred thirty three then the preceding year and
60 schools had seven hundred seventy three students studying for the Master's degree. This was an increase of one hundred eighty and the doctoral degree offered by 17 universities. And there were last year one hundred eighty students studying for this degree an increase of 52 over the previous year so that I think taking what's available in the in the national school and taking a quick look here assuming on the junior senior level we should get a feed here around eighteen hundred a year from our colleges and universities from the undergraduate program on a master's level will probably be lucky to to feed into the pool around 500 students a year and the doctorate program with currently a hundred eighty unrolled. Things are going to be tight here for quite a few years to come. On this particular training level now I think possibly that we we did goof a bit by not
looking ahead 10 years ago and letting people know about the opportunities that would today be available in the TV on ITV having missed that opportunity. I think there are specific things that we can do. I hate to make this comparison but in commercial broadcasting the NABJ has faced up to this and they've done certain things. They put out career brochures. These were two typical ones that within the last couple years what we're what they're doing in cooperation with the APB e here is trying to get to the high school student. And at this level when decisions when many career or initial career decisions are being made they're trying to get this particular story to the counsellors. And this is a a large program anymore in the high school level. And I think the TV and I TV we may be overlooking a good bet here. Another thing
another possibility as have you ever heard of national scholarship a National Educational Television scholarship. And I think here that they have and maybe has done a terrific thing. Set up two annual scholarships that health fellows memorial scholarships one for an undergraduate student one for a graduate student there pinned to the. They're trying to pin down the student the undergraduate student who's preparing for a career in commercial broadcasting and the other one for a graduate student that's looking ahead to this. Here again another idea that we might consider on this particular level internship programs I would say would be a third possibility Caribbean Broadcasting Corporation. As for the past three or four years offered this kind of in turn CHIP program at their television stations I've had two of our boys on this one. The first year and this past summer another
lad at a used in station terrific experience as far as the lads are concerned. That's a good recruiting device. It gives the commercial broadcaster an opportune opportunity to look over our better majors early in the game and do a little weeding here and a final thing and this one in the summer is this. Thank you Mayor you may not agree with that right. Thank you thank you. I would hope that the an ATV if it is really serious about this problem of recruitment. Wow would give consideration to a complimentary registration. As far as our students are concerned they're. From all I've been able to put together. They have the reduced annual membership fee but I can see no reason in the world if we are trying to identify a bright young radio TV people in trying to encourage
them to get set or ATV or ITV. One of the most wonderful recruiting devices that we would have would be to let institutions pick out two or three of the bright ones and allow them to come to the Annual and E.B. meeting to share your concern with your current problems. And I think this finally would also but also be a terrific recruiting device. Thank you very much. Going to ATL. Thank you we thank you. You see the universities do care and so does a PPE by the way. PPE is a independent agency but it is affiliated with the National Association of Broadcasters. And when you see an AB convention commercial you'll probably know that a PBS meeting at the same time they have some very interesting meetings. When I was up before I forgot to give you the second type of person being sought now and more in the future by community stations.
And that is the in-school coordinator development man and in school coordinators somebody with a public education know how you can buy membership into a in the head of a teaching fraternity. I mean the buy in a nonliteral sense somebody who would be accepted who can handle teachers and have workshops and be an educator. They are beginning to cry for salad in school coordinators and savvy development man these are the community stations which face life. In a rather brutal fashion. We have for you who are seeking jobs or developing careers which is perhaps a better way to put it. And for those of you who are looking for qualified people and I put the adjective in so that all of you are looking for work won't swop us. We have what we hope is a counseling service. This means that those of you who don't know us at Anybody who are interested in training or where you turn around or what kind of a
resume you should have or whom you should contact. Write to me write to Dr. Cordy get get your questions answered and keep writing until they are when you come to Washington drop in and see us. And this is a personal invitation from me. And since Dr. Corder has suggested a complimentary registration I'll go ahead and say he's open to two letters asking for advice I know really he is. Educators have a funny way about them they want to educate and sometimes we have to remind ourselves of that. With all else that they do so please contact us I can't now go into how to fill out a resume or what kind of resume is best for you or whether you're in school man or what you really are want to be and I can't say to the managers Here's the way you find different types of people. I have a station manager here and I want to talk to you because he came in when he needed people about eight months ago and he hasn't found them yet which shows you how proud we are of our counselling service.
I mention this because he wrote to me. A while back before I asked him to be on the panel which I didn't read the defensive mode. He had been in the office going through files having long discussions with us on the people that he needed and he and we were able to help him as he'll describe you and he wrote me said I notice with some irony that you're running a program on employment and I shall attend with more than the usual interest. So I said Would you mind sitting at the head table and here is Robert Reed to tell you managers what problems he encountered and to tell you who are starting an educational broadcasting what not to do and what to do. Bobbery. I suggest that perhaps for those of you who are searching for jobs the younger members that you're in the wrong place really. This afternoon
there's a session in the Baltimore room from 315 to 450 which is on research. The third paper to be read there is titled a behavioral analysis of radio and TV station manager. I think perhaps if you went there you would find out what we do or how we behave. And perhaps that might be very interesting this session I'd like to attend it myself find out how I behave at any rate for those of those managers there are some in the room and those people who are seeking employment. I would like to adenovirus somehow with what has been said previously if I understand that created correctly we have 800 people coming out of the colleges and universities bachelor's degrees about 500 Emmys every year in this general field. We have at least 10 Ph
Ds maybe 15 coming out throughout the country. It was an impressive list. I have been searching is records indicated for personnel in a peculiar place to Hawaii. On account of the fact that we have eighteen hundred people taking in to be a five minute Emmys and I'm seeking to get people to come to a why how come I got such a problem. We've got the sun the surf the sand the little girls the beaches. They got all this personnel. I maybe I don't have a problem. I'd like to. Be the point of all this. But we are attempting in Hawaii to build an educational television system and network. We do have a live girls we have to Haitian dancers. We have a multi-racial population we have an exciting project the end of the two year building period which will be about a couple of million dollars later we will have a state wide network. The terms of
coverage the largest statewide network in the United States. And I do remind you because the Chamber of Commerce insists upon this that it is the 50th state. Perhaps that's the reason I have a problem. But at any rate we will have and do have an exciting problem yet. I come before you. Those of you who are seeking jobs and those managers will recognize some of the problems that I described and this is by the fact that we are turning out people in spite of the fact that we are that we have. In my case that peculiar local situation I had a problem filling some position. Perhaps this all boils down to what do I look for and I will try to generalize here and terms of most managers. When I look for an advocate of what through an application to join I Step three basic things I guess. One of the guys got to be a human being or the girl. I don't mean just walk and talk but I think we've long since got past the situation where we're looking for the angry young man
we're going to solve all of Education's ills by television or by radio. I need a humanist. A guy who relates to his fellow man who hasn't got a peculiar problem. A man who has either gone through psychoanalysis. All our man who is has a wife who listens carefully or something but who doesn't bring his problems to me because God knows I've got enough of my own but I need a humanist somebody who can relate to someone else. A guy who is a common ordinary decent human being. First of all I don't want the Madison Avenue character with a attache case from the Brooks Brothers tie. Who is going to come in and tell me what he can do how he can do it and how great he is. A little humility sometimes helps a bit. Neither do I want the guy who is the humble.
I'll do anything as long as you give me a job somewhere in between the two extremes. Is the guy who can relate. The guy can cook and relate doesn't have a chip on his shoulder against the world isn't trying to solve all the world's problems by television or radio but recognizes what they are and recognizes how we can relate in a team approach in education television or radio station. The second thing I guess I look for is dedication. What in the devil are you doing in the business. Why do you want the job. I look for a guy who can work 80 hours a week and I'll pay him for me. I look for a guy who has a knowledge of educational broadcasting who knows why he wants to be in the field who has settled this in his own mind who has a built in desire to work. A dedication a dedication to the job a dedication to the reason a dedication of the philosophy of education a broadcaster and also a guy who
has a little bit of history and background in education television so he knows a community station so he knows what a public school station doesn't so he knows what a university does and also peculiarly I would like him to know what in the hell he is applying for in my station and in my situation who and what he can do for our operation. In some ways this means he's got to know a little bit about the opportunity and the station for which he is applying and constantly I get people in my office who I think you have a television operation here. I'm very interested in it would you tell me all about it and maybe I will apply if you know why what we are doing why we are doing if you just read a little literature. Read the newspapers or something. Then came in and said I think I might be able to help you because I have a peculiar talent and I would assume that you might need that count because as I've read you've done some of those although you were trying to do this and so on rather than coming in cold with no knowledge. But I just want a
job so dedication. I've had a boss who interviewed candidates for. Jobs by asking what can you do for me and not to paraphrase Kennedy or anything but that really what above boils down to what can you do for the station you are going to apply to. I'm not talking to the younger set. You're not going to get rich in TV or in education broadcasting in educational radio. There's a lot of psychic income and I would hope that this dedication this dedication to the cause as we say he's got religion this thing would permeate and be the second main qualification that I look for a candidate. Obviously the third is he has real qualifications. The thing the doctor again is doing and what do I look for there and I think most Asian managers look for first of all some training some skills some background. He started as a floor assistant he pulled cable. He went to a floor
manager and went to a cameraman. He was an announcer. He worked up to a director or an assistant director a switch that he directed. And he became a producer director and so on. There is a sort of a rank in the production area which you can rise and the program area. Has he done some of these things and has he sort of gone up the ladder. I get resumes constantly in which a guy with some self as a producer director turns out that he's never run a can. Anywhere time in his life but he wants a job as a producer director because someplace along the line he got that job at another institution or at another agency or another situation. How I don't know. He must been the greatest salesman in the world. So I looked for some of the scales some of the dreams but basically the educational background of the same thing the dot but he was talking about a liberal arts background a generalist and individual who has a solid understanding of
many fields of endeavor but is not an expert in any single subject discipline is not a scientist is not a humanities specialist. He hasn't got a master's degree in history but he's taken a history course or two and a liberal arts undergraduate level. Obviously the university situation we come to the old bugaboo of degrees is that Brady a wreck also said there it becomes in our particular situation because many of our top jobs are faculty rank and there is some teaching on the side and some teaching responsibilities we have some minimum which we must must adhere to. Masters degrees by all means and preferably Ph Ds. I guess the third thing in the qualifications I look for is his background and does he fit into this peculiar situation. Will he become a member of the team. What are his strengths what are his weaknesses.
How does he fit in to the strengths and weaknesses that we have in our own shop and really take responsibility and really assume responsibility and you have to tell him 10 times to do the same thing or will he do it on his own with a great deal of responsibility. For this reason the university situation obviously the three areas that Rick talked about of the trade schools people off the street high school graduates are not particularly applicable. We look for the college graduate community stations a little bit different and some public school systems and some public school educational television and radio stations. It's also different but we like the university situation for a minimum of a B.A. or b.s. also in this matter of curriculum. Where do they come from. Speech Radio TV colleges of education or whatever. This is important. And then there's a last sort of thing that I look for in
this qualifications. As I indicated training is one of overall education of the applicant. The third thing does he fit into the already established team that we have going now. You can place a heck of a lot of emphasis on the term producer bash director. I can be underline producer. He may have a tremendous amount of ideas and ability to tie some program together but is not a very good television director on the other hand the producer director can be a tremendous television directed who might grow into ideas. But I submit it's 10 times easier to get a producer than it is a director a chimpanzee can be taught to switch. It's very difficult to get someone who can think. Well the fourth major thing of his qualifications I guess is a peculiarity of mine and this is where the managers and I sometimes get into arguments. Many managers will not hire anyone on their staff who is better than they are. And I sort of approach it from a different tack.
This is the reason I am in that position and this is the reason I want the man to do a better job than I can do. Obviously this raises problems in my job security goes down but boy when we have a dynamic station there might be a lot of internal squabbles and fights and I might have two or three or ten guys after my job. But we will have one of the best dynamic stations. I dont mean to encourage the young people in the room to come up and say man I know I got it. I'm ready to fight and I'll take over your job tomorrow. But I do mean in the higher levels of the producing and the production managers and the program managers. If these guys can't program a station better than I can. And if they are in a better production manager than I am then they do not I do not want them on the staff. I know that many managers disagree with this and they will say no I am the Pope and I can do everything and I want people who will be a
reflection of me. I submit this is their Iranis attitude but then this is obviously subject to debate. So that is the fourth thing. Can the individual do a better job in his book your special specialty than I can. If he can then he's on our staff. Well the third thing I was going to talk about is how do we get these people and how do I look for them. One is obviously advertising to any Evviva the placement service which is excellent. There are more files in the NE be headquarters and believe me I know than in any other place in the country with qualified and in some cases I'm qualified people. But this is an excellent opportunity for manages to get personal and I would submit for those who are looking for applicants. But you could on the record shop spend a day in Washington and go through the files. It's a rather rewarding and also in some cases disappointing exercise. The second thing and this is probably most often
is by word of mouth. So as I was going to job sounds I was knows about it. It's passed around and eventually somebody meet somebody. This is probably the largest way within the Any be within that and within the other organizations as to how people find jobs. It's by word of mouth. The only thing there for the younger people in the room is to just keep your ears eyes open and attend any B i.e. arty and other regional meetings. Thank you very placed thank you thank you. That we get them from thank you is by tapping. Thank you. Managers talking to manager. Do you know. And going out seeking the man finding him tapping on the shoulder and saying hey how about it. Won't you come with our operation. Obviously this place is a little bit of difficulty between the two managers and but generally speaking I've seldom seen a manager or a director in this business who will
not stand aside. And in the interest of his employees say go with my blessing. You're on the ladder towards success because most managers in this business in fulfill my qualifications for a job applicant the first one that I mention they are human beings with a dedication and a relationship to what they are doing in this business. So in summary I guess I've still got a problem. I'm still looking for people. We fill a lot of the jobs a lot haven't had a chance to tell right that we have filled a lot of jobs and we have filled them in many cases through knowing about them at least through any B and A B unfortunately in some cases didn't get the fee that was there but that was either the fault of the the employee or the employer I don't know. But at any rate I still have a problem and I go back again to what the doctor protease said.
Somewhere in this business someplace in this crazy mixed up educational broadcasting world that we're in we have got to think 10 years ahead. There's a grand old man of this organization by the name of Bronson who at this point is ill in Miami Florida. But about four years ago under a U.S. officer Grant he did a research and feasibility study with a team of people about this whole problem. He has been hollering about this now for 10 years. Where are the young people coming from and how do we get them into this business. It is a nationwide problem. There are more jobs available now than there are qualified applicants. And you can go through the halls and hear every manager says same thing. They have got positions open somewhere and out of this organization the Navy and either through a follow up to that branch or through a follow up to that study that was done has got to work toward the proselyte time the drawing in of the talented young people.
You want to make this operation grow out this survey for those of you who are seeking jobs is extremely important. I would recommend that you get a copy of it from any bee headquarters I think they're probably still a few left in the files. It is an extremely important document. It lists the job opportunities it lists the salaries it tells what you can make and what you can do and it lists the problems of our train of potential people. So I would hope perhaps that you might read that and also if I may say so. Some of my colleagues it would be a very interesting exercise for some of the managers to read. It is a problem we have more jobs than we have qualified people and for those who are sincerely dedicated sincerely interested in the principles and philosophies of education broadcasting all I can say is c'mon in the water's fine. We welcome them. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you Bob. We have a few moments I'd like to tell the managers one manager
looking for an assistant manager which is a relatively high position advertised in the Saturday Review which is a very interesting technique. Besides broadcasting in a couple of the other more obvious publications and his personal report to me was that the response was amazing. A network executive wrote to him and wants to go straight apparently. But that's very interesting and those of you if you've never seen back the Saturday Review with the personal sections they now have one called the employment opportunities. Look through it it's very interesting. Some wild things open up in education broadcasting necessarily. This ad brought some responses. The word of mouth that Bob mentioned is a very important part of any placement service we've discussed this at the NAACP and the fact is there are two services. The one in the files and the one that's word of mouth. Charlie Brown is looking for a job and it never goes anywhere except from one year to another. And he
gets placed if you can attend these meetings and come to us talk to us write to us come in. It's difficult I know because I REMEMBER WHAT DO I DO First nobody knows me and I come to conventions and I'm just another nothing. And I have as I am an individual member talk to us right here at the convention let's make an appointment. If you're a manager or a youngster getting started or you're about to retire from the military we have a lot of people of that sort of command they're retiring and they want to get into it. Please don't be afraid to contact us. I would like to introduce Dr. Kenneth sparks to you is on my left. A research specialist for the United States Information Agency who's experienced in every branch of communications going very capable guy. He was kind enough to be recorder for us today. And while I have the chance I want to thank Dr. Cordy and Bob Reed for being with us and taking the time to speak to us.
Now before I adjourn Is there any discussion or would you like to do it in private at some other time. Thanks for coming in and if you would be sure your name is on the card you might put down would you be interested in a session of this sort with a different program next year. Thank you. Thank you and thank you.
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Series
1965 National Association of Educational Broadcasters Convention
Episode
Career Planning and Employment in Educational Broadcasting
Contributing Organization
University of Maryland (College Park, Maryland)
AAPB ID
cpb-aacip/500-ng4gs08v
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Description
Description
No description available
Date
1965-11-01
Topics
Environment
Public Affairs
Media type
Sound
Duration
00:57:57
Credits
AAPB Contributor Holdings
University of Maryland
Identifier: 4357 (University of Maryland)
Format: 1/4 inch audio tape
Duration: 00:30:00?
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Citations
Chicago: “1965 National Association of Educational Broadcasters Convention; Career Planning and Employment in Educational Broadcasting,” 1965-11-01, University of Maryland, American Archive of Public Broadcasting (GBH and the Library of Congress), Boston, MA and Washington, DC, accessed March 29, 2024, http://americanarchive.org/catalog/cpb-aacip-500-ng4gs08v.
MLA: “1965 National Association of Educational Broadcasters Convention; Career Planning and Employment in Educational Broadcasting.” 1965-11-01. University of Maryland, American Archive of Public Broadcasting (GBH and the Library of Congress), Boston, MA and Washington, DC. Web. March 29, 2024. <http://americanarchive.org/catalog/cpb-aacip-500-ng4gs08v>.
APA: 1965 National Association of Educational Broadcasters Convention; Career Planning and Employment in Educational Broadcasting. Boston, MA: University of Maryland, American Archive of Public Broadcasting (GBH and the Library of Congress), Boston, MA and Washington, DC. Retrieved from http://americanarchive.org/catalog/cpb-aacip-500-ng4gs08v