maumann
Well-Known Member
I'm going to break my thoughts into several different posts, in order to keep from being confused with Ragu.
What did I learn as a broadcasting major? How to cue up 33 and 45 records and make smooth transitions/seques, the difference between monodirectional and omnidirectional mics, how to read a "hot clock", how to run a board with twist pots, how to erase and record on carts, how to splice reel-to-reel tape (I have the block somewhere), how to record (without sound) and edit by hand Super 8 film, how to hand-record log entries and monitor transmitter readings, how to carry a wooden tripod, a 1-inch video recorder and a bulky full-size "portable" TV camera.
And I'll bet that's the case with almost any job -- my drafting major roommate at Fresno State who laboriously hand-drew screws and camshafts on a drafting table with an mechanical pencil and templates is probably using whatever has replaced CAD.
Exactly NONE of my "physical radio skills" exist today, unless you find a museum. And even my voice has lost its timbre. Last time I was in an actual radio station, everything was tap and touch on a computer monitor. When I got let go from Turner Sports in 2017, I called Doug Turnbull at WSB for fun and asked if he needed a fill-in traffic reporter. But they didn't have a single cashette machine to listen to my last air check.
So technology that was cutting edge in 1977 was useless within no more than 15 years, which -- along with the terrible pay and working hours -- was one reason why there were so few 30-year-olds in radio news in 1988. I became, in essence, a dinosaur. I should be extinct. But Darwin's theory applies just as much to journalism as evolution: Adapt or die.
Now the good news: What I learned in the news and script writing and copy editing clashes has always been transferable, whether I was typing on a manual, an IBM selectric, a Trash 80 or a Dell laptop. The AP Style Guide, the 26 letters, punctuation and spaces haven't changed significantly over 45 years -- and if anything, I was a darn sight better at it by then from sheer repetition and deadline pressure. Those skills have been invaluable, whether I was on the air, in print or on the Internet.
The only thing that has changed was the technology used to transmit the message. And that will continue to be the case. The world is speeding up, not slowing down. Whatever you're doing now is going to change dramatically. And all you can do is use your core skills to get a leg up on the next big thing. Don't be a dinosaur.
What did I learn as a broadcasting major? How to cue up 33 and 45 records and make smooth transitions/seques, the difference between monodirectional and omnidirectional mics, how to read a "hot clock", how to run a board with twist pots, how to erase and record on carts, how to splice reel-to-reel tape (I have the block somewhere), how to record (without sound) and edit by hand Super 8 film, how to hand-record log entries and monitor transmitter readings, how to carry a wooden tripod, a 1-inch video recorder and a bulky full-size "portable" TV camera.
And I'll bet that's the case with almost any job -- my drafting major roommate at Fresno State who laboriously hand-drew screws and camshafts on a drafting table with an mechanical pencil and templates is probably using whatever has replaced CAD.
Exactly NONE of my "physical radio skills" exist today, unless you find a museum. And even my voice has lost its timbre. Last time I was in an actual radio station, everything was tap and touch on a computer monitor. When I got let go from Turner Sports in 2017, I called Doug Turnbull at WSB for fun and asked if he needed a fill-in traffic reporter. But they didn't have a single cashette machine to listen to my last air check.
So technology that was cutting edge in 1977 was useless within no more than 15 years, which -- along with the terrible pay and working hours -- was one reason why there were so few 30-year-olds in radio news in 1988. I became, in essence, a dinosaur. I should be extinct. But Darwin's theory applies just as much to journalism as evolution: Adapt or die.
Now the good news: What I learned in the news and script writing and copy editing clashes has always been transferable, whether I was typing on a manual, an IBM selectric, a Trash 80 or a Dell laptop. The AP Style Guide, the 26 letters, punctuation and spaces haven't changed significantly over 45 years -- and if anything, I was a darn sight better at it by then from sheer repetition and deadline pressure. Those skills have been invaluable, whether I was on the air, in print or on the Internet.
The only thing that has changed was the technology used to transmit the message. And that will continue to be the case. The world is speeding up, not slowing down. Whatever you're doing now is going to change dramatically. And all you can do is use your core skills to get a leg up on the next big thing. Don't be a dinosaur.
