When CBS heard from their stations’ news producers that they weren’t being heard, the network leadership dove in deeper to find out why, and how they could be better.
You could make an argument that news producers are the Rodny Dangerfields of local TV news. They just don’t get no respect.
Anchors and meteorologists get the adulation and are well paid. Reporters get facetime, too, and depending on tenure, get recognized and maybe have a path to the anchor desk.
News producers, on the other hand, work in anonymity.
News viewers may not think about the role of the news producers, or who they are.
But in the newsroom, everybody knows who they are and what they do. And news producers have a path into leadership. Most news directors started as news producers.
News producers decide, direct and manage the content and its creation for the station’s daily newscasts.
“It’s got to be one of the coolest jobs out there,” says Kari Patey, who was named VP of producer development of the CBS station group last May, a new position for the network.
Patey was the news director for WCCO, the CBS O&O in Minneapolis that. But she has years of experience as a news producer in the Twin Cities, New York and cable news, and worked her way up to executive producer, assistant news director and news director.
She gets it.
“I love the newsroom,” she says. “It’s one of the greatest team sports that there is. I love being in the producer chair. Walk in with a clean slate and figure out what the news opportunities of the day are, and how to make them memorable and create understanding for your community.”
When you hear Patey talk about news producing, you can see why she was the choice to lead the charge for news producers’ development at the CBS stations.
“Kari is just literally the perfect person for this role,” says Jennifer Mitchell, the president of the CBS station group. “She is so passionate about the job.”
Patey says yes, news producers are not on-air or seen by their community, but they have the “ability to truly have impact. What an incredible opportunity for producers to have every day, the opportunity to make something that has a direct impact on their community.”
The reason CBS established this new role was because they were hearing from the rank-and-file news producers that they weren’t being heard.
“We do employee surveys and we heard loud and clear from producers saying that they feel like their jobs weren’t as valued as they once were,” Mitchell says. They didn’t feel as creative as they once were, she says.
“We listened,” she adds. Leadership at the network dove in deeper to find out why, and how they could be better, she says.
Patey’s challenges are to retain and develop the current crop of news producers at the CBS stations. And to attract and train the next generation of journalists into the CBS family.
Patey says she wants their news producers to know they’re being heard, “that we do see you and we do want you to stay with this company. And we do want you to design that growth track with you, figuring out what the next role they’re trying to strive for.”
As to recruitment, Patey created a video that put a face on the CBS producers talking about what they do, show their purpose, passion, energy and drive, and how they rally their colleagues in the newsroom.
“I made the video to give people eyes on the role and the passion of those driving our newscasts,” Patey says.
She says she was moved by the producers talking about their supportive culture at CBS and wanted to showcase that.
“I thought they were great spokespeople for that,” she says, “It’s already harvested a few random reach outs with people on LinkedIn, and CBS recruiters are using it to give prospects a sense about the culture within CBS stations.”
“We’re just getting started here,” Mitchell says. “The best part about this job is that it’s a new role. We’ve said to Kari, this is yours to build, so the role will continue to evolve over time, depending on what the need is, in terms of supporting and investing in our producer population across CBS stations.”
Mitchell says Kari’s looking under the hood, doing station visits, developing training tailored to each station, based on their needs and her assessments.
“It’s something we’re going to continue,” Mitchell says.
Kari Patey shares her thought on what makes a good producer:
- Good producers know the power of pictures and words. Their rundowns target community impact, action, change plus create space for storytelling that makes us feel something.
- Good producers are aware and curious. They’re always reading, watching and sampling content across all platforms not because they have to, but because they want to in order to be of great community service. They ask questions and find answers to promote clarity and understanding.
- Good producers are resilient. The industry is moving fast. Being adaptable and open to change are key to success.
- Good producers are captains who know the news is a challenging and rewarding team sport. That demands producers be decisive communicators, listeners and partners. Producers must always be anticipating, problem-solving and meeting deadlines to help other team members execute their mission.
- For students, you may make a good producer if you consider yourself as the following: curious, organized, creative, thorough, deadline driven, team spirited, community focused (we > me), open yet skeptical, a strong writer and an active listener.
New Jobs Posted To TVNewsCheck
CLICK HERE to see new jobs posted to TVNewsCheck’s Media Job Center including openings for a reporter in coastal California and a media salesperson to work remotely.
Comments (0)
Reader Interactions