Mediola

The future of broadcast news

Jack Wiegman emailed me this most gracious note:

"In addition to criticism of the (dead/dying) journalistic machine, I would enjoy seeing hints of what journalistic entrepreneurs might create as new possibilities. CBS will never come back so what should we build in its stead? Will we ever have small teams of journalists contracted to regional newspapers and broadcasters?

You speak of career as finding positions on large teams. Is that all there is? Is there no hope for the solitary journalistic entrepreneur? How does an individual in a small town write for the international market? Who (if anyone) is succeeding at this? Is stringing dead?

Do you have comments on Herd Effect? You know the scenario: Emerging reporters feel they must limit themselves to rewriting their competitors. Is it reasonable to encourage newbies to research and write their own darn stories for a change?

There once was a journalistic concept of writing the truth no matter what. Is this a bad career choice?

Thanks again. Your newsletter is magnificent!"

Thank you, sir. I wish I had taken assignments from you years ago.
I am going to try to respond to these issues while keeping the focus on what it means to you, as a working stiff in the media jungle (including you freelancers).

Have your own best way of doing your job? Good luck.

I've always been one to learn a job, and then find the most effective way to perform it to achieve the best result, both in terms of quality, efficiency and cost-effectiveness.

I'm sure most of us, once given an assignment, are taught to perform it, and then over time, develop our unique style of getting the job done. And I'll bet lots of us have gotten in trouble because we dared to "do our own thing". I know I have.

I want to illustrate the absurdity of getting in trouble for doing a good job in a manner different from the way the boss would do it himself by telling you two stories from my career.

Many years ago, when I was in my mid-20's and working at WCBS-TV, I was considered by successive managements as an ace producer/writer. Often I was assigned to function as what was known as an "associate producer" (newsroom titles were determined in contract negotiations with the Writers Guild of America). What it meant at WCBS-TV was that on a 3pm to 11pm shift, for example, when reporters would come in with raw footage for the 6 and later the 11, I would work with them to shape the pieces for air.

In those days, things were very different. Average story length was 2:30 to 3:00. Stories were shot on 16 millimeter film. The footage had to be processed when it came into the shop, which took about half an hour. You would then be assigned a film editor, and he would rack up the footage on a projector, and screen it for you. You viewed it in real time. No stopping, or going back and forth. You sat there with a stopwatch and made notes. I was very good at this. My notes contained in- and out-cues of every potential sound bite, the essence of every sound bite, the quality of the sound bite (I rated them using a star system), and detailed descriptions of all the b-roll. As soon as I was done screening, I would outline the script, putting the sound bites in order of appearance. I would then type the outline and give it to the reporter. We'd review it, and the reporter would sit down to write the script. While the reporter was writing the script, I would make notes for the film editor on what b-roll would be going between and over what sound bites. I would then discuss the look and flow of the piece with the editor. The editor was thus able to get started cutting the piece while the reporter was still writing it. This system was unusually efficient at the time, and it enabled me to turn out at least two pieces for each broadcast. While the editor was cutting, I would leave him alone in the edit room, and only stop in to see how things were going every 15 minutes or so. My specialty was feature pieces, and mine always had a special flair.

Here was the problem. While the editors were working, I would spend periods of time going down to the cafeteria getting coffee, hanging out at my desk, and schmoozing with my colleagues in the newsroom. I'd read the paper or a magazine, or chat on the phone. This infuriated the news director, although I wasn't aware of it. One of the assistant news directors was Marty Haag, a legendary name in local news, and a wonderful man. Marty felt one day it was time to warn me that I was being watched, and stopped by my desk. "Look busy!" he told me. "What do you mean?" I responded. "Ed can't stand it," Marty continued, "that you're just sitting around not doing anything." Ed was the news director, Ed Joyce. I replied, "Marty, I have two pieces in production right now. I don't believe in breathing down the editor's neck. I'm plenty busy." Marty closed: "Danny, just look like you're working on something."

Marty warned me several times. As far as I was concerned, my productivity was close to double that of everyone else doing the same job. And the news director knew it. I chose to ignore the warning. In my case, nothing happened. That's story one.

Story two is many years later. I'm not going to mention the name of my boss, because it would be politically stupid, and because I actually hold him in high regard and don't want this story taken out of context. I will say that this boss is now the executive producer of a prime time newsmagazine, and in my opinion turns out an excellent show.

In this particular unit I was a senior, and my boss was executive producer. My job was to generate story ideas for a prime time news magazine.

By this time I had had a great deal of experience with news magazines, network, syndicated (as executive producer) and more. And I was trained as a prime time senior producer at 20/20 by the brilliant Av Westin. I was good.

I'm a neatnik. I'm very organized. I keep databases, neat storyboards on my wall that are kept fresh by my PA, and I hang artwork and keep sculpture in my offices. No mess. No clutter. If you need to know what's up on a given story, show or idea, I just call it up on my computer and I can give you whatever you need to know. Timelines, budgets, scripts, the works.

At this particular show, I was happy to have a huge office with wraparound windows that overlooked 6th Avenue in Manhattan (the Avenue of the Americas). It was a very pleasant space.

Bad move.

The appearance of my office drove the executive producer up the wall. In retrospect, I think I understand why, and it had to do with how we came up in the business. It's so simple. I came up as a producer. My boss came up on the assignment desk.

My idea of how you develop ideas for a news magazine is you want the segment producers to "own" the ideas, so you structure a process whereby as many stories as possible are generated by the producers. This is hardly controversial. Producers submitting "blue sheets" with story ideas at 60 Minutes dates back 3 decades. It worked for Don Hewitt. It worked for Av Westin. And it never failed me. That's not to say all stories come from producers, but if they don't, you have to "sell" the story to the producer, because if they don't "own" it, it won't be good.

My boss believed that the guy in charge of story ideas generated the story ideas and assigned them. Very different approach.

One day I got a call from my agent. "So-and-so (the executive producer) is up in flames because you hardly have any stories on the story list." This was prior to the scheduled premiere of the show. What? I told my agent, "What is he talking about? There are 65 stories on the list and about 17 are in production." My agent replied, "Are you serious?" I said, "He's got the list on his desk. Is he out of his fucking mind?" My agent: "Well, whatever, your ass is in trouble, you better fix it now."

I thought I had stepped through the looking glass. I had to figure out how to strategize this. But I didn't have much time, because about 10 minutes later the executive producer stormed into my office. This was his first visit to my office since I had moved in.

He was in a rage. I knew him well enough by this time to know that he tended to stew over a problem a bit too long, then erupt.

He immediately began to wave his arms around, pointing at my desk and floor and walls, and shouted "Why isn't your office a mess? Where are the piles of newspapers? There should be newspapers piled everywhere! You should be sitting there going through papers from every small town all over the country, as fast as you can, looking for stories to assign to producers! Why don't we have anything on the story list?"

"We have 65 stories on the list," I replied. "We're in great shape. The AP's are going through the papers. The producers are submitting ideas. You and I have been going over them. That's how I like to work. I think we're doing great. Do you want to sit down and run through the list now? Let's throw out everything weak and I'll find replacements."

He wheeled around and shouted over his shoulder, "This office better be a mess, and fast!"

Well. The chief finance guy stopped in and said "Why don't you just put some old papers around here and there?" He had obviously been clued in.

So that's what I did. I viewed it as part of my overall artistic environment. I collected some local newspapers, and made some designer-y piles, and placed them on the floor and on one of my wall units. On my desk I kept a neat pile of that day's papers.

And you know what? It made no difference. This particular executive producer decided for himself that I was a powerhouse operations and administrative senior producer, but not tiptop when it came to editorial matters. Of course I played along to keep what was a very well paying job. And he lost a major editorial resource because he couldn't imagine that there might be more than one way to do a job.

And when he lost his job, I was kept on by the next management group.

So what's the lesson? What do you do when you have your own best way of doing your job?

Here's what I think. First, keep in mind that this is a very delicate matter. Do your job exactly the way your boss wants it done until you are certain you have a more efficient, more creative, more whatever, plan. Test the plan in a manner such that your boss cannot possibly discover you're not doing things just his way. Then sit down with him or her, and pitch your new technique. Begin by complimenting your boss until just after it seems you sound like the town's biggest kiss-ass. Praise how well you've developed your skill set under your boss's tutelage. Then, tell him you have developed an idea or two of how you can do the job not better than his way, but more effective for you, that will be more efficient, generate a better product and heighten your productivity. Please understand that you must not convey the impression that your way is better than the boss's way. It's just your way, and the boss will get what he wants, plus.

But be careful. This issue is a minefield. Determine in advance if your boss is open to new ideas. Most are not. I said, most are not. If your boss rejects your idea, you can be like me, and risk your job and reputation, and do it your way anyway. You can do things the boss's way and work while feeling resentful, or you can strategize a move out of that shop.

Working For A Verbally Abusive Boss

A couple of weeks ago, I heard about an astonishing incident that occurred in the Good Morning America control room. The story came to me from a staffer who was not a direct eyewitness, and I wanted to confirm it before discussing the matter here. I couldn't.

My source told me that the executive producer, Shelly Ross, "fosters such a climate of fear, I doubt anyone will talk period".

She was right. I called the ABC News press office for a comment, but they wouldn't return my calls.

Then, Page Six, the gossip page of the New York Post, ran the following item:

GMA Rising

Maybe Turnover is good. "Good Morning America" is closing the ratings gap with "Today" even though it recently lost four key staffers who were unhappy under executive producer Shelly Ross. "People just can't take it anymore," said one source. Two writers left, Joe Reid and Federico Quadrani, as well as veteran news editor Al Wasser and ace segment producer Tom Martin. "We have an enormous number of talented people at 'Good Morning America,' " an ABC spokesman said, "and we couldn't be more proud of the show."

Very good spinning by ABC. They're closing the ratings gap, and before anybody discovers that the staff is "unhappy" and very unpleasant things are happening as a result of the executive producer's behavior, we'll do damage control by pointing out that we're very proud of the show and the staff is very talented. FYI, Page Six consists largely of items planted by sources to promote themselves or achieve some PR goal.

The story my source told me was that Joe Reid, who wasn't just a writer, but was the head writer, a central position at GMA, quit on the spot without giving notice.

But the next resignation is the most amazing story I've heard in my career.

I'm not clear on the time frame, but at approximately the same time, the person described to me as the GMA "SENIOR News Writer (who sits in the control room right next to Shelly), after three years, ripped his ID off from around his neck, threw it at Shelly, and QUIT ON THE SPOT ... DURING THE SHOW!"

He threw his ID badge at the executive producer. That's rage. We've all had bad bosses, and some of us have had verbally abusive bosses. But to throw something at your boss? What sort of behavior elicits this kind of loss of control in a person who I would guess is not prone to any sort of violence? After all, he worked in a live control room supervising the scripting of a constantly-changing two-hour daily news program--one that has been engaged in a high-profile ratings battle. So he was cool under pressure.

Another source on my jungle drum network told me, "Shelly Ross is a NOTORIOUS bitch ... EXTREMELY verbally abusive, vindictive, and prone to temper tantrums."

Well, you don't work for GMA, but perhaps you have a bad boss -- one who is verbally abusive. What can you do?

There are two pieces of advice I want to give you. Both are very simple.

1. This is the difficult choice. Quit. Do not work in an abusive environment. The emotional scarring that will take place will make you ill--colds and flu in the short term, heart disease and cancer in the long term. Depending on your life situation, strategize your departure. If you are single and do not have any dependents, get out now. If you are married and your spouse is working, get out now. Don't wait to find another job. Get out. Or, if you're under contract, and can manipulate being fired for a reason that will not put a black mark on your record, do that in such a way that they have to pay you out for the remainder of your contract. Just get out. Trust me, it's worth the risk. I've done it more than once. Financial difficulties are a lot more fun than daily name-calling and being screamed at.

If you have family responsibilities, give yourself 3 months to find another job, and look aggressively. Get out after those 90 days.

2. Here's how you manipulate an abusive boss while you're working for one: understand that your boss has low ego-esteem. Your boss is like a schoolyard bully, who is the victim of physical abuse at home. Your boss lacks self respect.

Take time every day -- every day -- to drop in on your boss and tell him/her how much you respect him/her, and why. Bullshit your brains out. Make up whatever you want. You can't praise him/her highly enough. No amount of bowing and scraping will seem excessive to an abuser. Your mantra is "respect the bully...respect the bully...respect the bully".

Your shop will still be a nightmarish place to work, but I'll wager a dollar you'll be off the radar screen.

Do You Think You Should Feel Loyal To Your Company?

The short answer is no.

Lots of us are very conflicted about this. Your company and your boss demand your loyalty.

You should do everything you can to convince them that you are absolutely loyal. Never act unprofessional.

But should you feel loyal? With one exception, loyalty to your company or your boss is plain dumb.

Do you think your company is loyal to you? An amusing question, no? Do you think your boss is loyal to you? This is where the exception comes in. If you have a true mentor in the company, then you should be loyal to him/her, but not the company. To the mentor.

But in any given job, mentor or no, when the budget crunch comes, or it's cancellation time, or your unit gets sold, it's bye-byes for you. Do you think the company, in the form of HR, or some ranking executive, gives a shit? They don't. Your mentor may, but he's got to do his job, and if that means you're out, then you're out.

A good media boss will try to help his people in job searches. Since I like to name names when it comes to screw-ups, I'll mention two men who over the years have proven to be true mensches in doing what they could to help laid off employees find work: now-retired but former executive producer of 20/20 and World News Tonight Av Westin, and current Dateline NBC executive producer David Corvo.

Here's the bottom line. Your loyalty is to YOU. This topic came to mind because of a recent session with a client, who has the good fortune of working on staff (non-contract) at one of the media conglomerates with all the benefits and an annual bonus, and also has an offer on the table from a competing corporation. This fellow would be perfectly happy to stay with his current company, but the offers they've been giving him for his next step up have been somewhat more laterals, and in one case, an offer came along with a decrease in pay. Now, this guy has been showing this company that he can jump into a new job, assess what's going on, quickly develop big-picture solutions, turn them over to implementers, and move on. This guy has huge value. But because HR doesn't have appropriate opportunities open right now, he's getting antsy. So he looked around.

And along came the other offer. Now...does he tell his current employer about the competing offer? He thinks that's going to piss them off. They'll think he's betraying them. Very foolish to feel that way. Look out for #1, OK?

They've told him they're not going to let him go, but he's worried if he doesn't locate a solid move up in his company soon, they'll dump him.

Well, that's not going to happen. He's got to maneuver the two companies; he's got to come from a place of understanding that he's really in demand, and make it clear to both companies that he's got two great opportunities, and he's got to decide which is the better career move.

Using strategies like "putting air" into the process--holding off one company--stalling them--while applying strategic pressure to the other to put an equal offer on the table is critical.

Look for a third opportunity at the same time. Deal with HR as little as possible. Bond with the hiring executive as much as possible.

Do everything you can to "equalize the offers". This means putting on paper the dollar value of the offers, the benefits, the value of the jobs in moving you along your career path--every plus and minus. When you decide, your goal is that if you leave a company you've been with, you want them thinking "How did we let him go?"

Thanks, But No Thanks

I was speaking with a client this morning about a meeting she had just come out of--one we had strategized the night before. At one point I said "And be sure to write....", and she interrupted me and said, "Of course, I always write thank you notes as soon as I get home after a meeting". She's a very talented executive producer with a fantastic track record.

One thing I've noticed since starting my coaching, strategy and leadership endeavor is that thank you notes seem to have vanished. I want to make something very clear: if you don't write thank you notes, you're shooting yourself in the foot.

The way I've become aware of this breach of career strategy is that of all the people I see and speak with doing complimentary consultations, virtually none of them write me a thank you note. And when I say write me, I mean have proper stationery, Crane's for example, and hand write a thank you note and put it in the US mail. That's proper etiquette. Second best is a business letter sent through the mail. Last choice, but still acceptable, is an email thank you.

But a handwritten note on stationery, which if you can afford it should be printed on Crane's quality paper, probably with a cream or ecru color, with your name and address engraved, and matching envelopes, has a significant impact on the person who receives it. It shows them you have class and manners and stand out from the crowd.

Include in your thank you note one or two specifics you took away from the meeting that were meaningful for you. Express again in brief the essence of the message you sought to convey at the meeting.

The same content holds true for a business letter and email. Write them well. Don't just spell check. Examine your writing for the Strunk & White of it. In emails, no lower case informal stuff. This is about politeness.

I'm talking about career strategy. Those of you who don't write thank you notes are simply rude. You need to change course at once.

Boss Talk. You Listen.

Stop thinking when you're talking to the boss. Listen to him or her. Carefully. I'd like you to read the following article to tune in to a critical piece of strategy.

This article is from a newspaper advertising section out today, but the point it makes is really important:
_____________________________________________

The ability to be a good listener -- an underdeveloped skill for most -- can be an employee's most valuable asset in the workplace.

If you want to move up the corporate ladder, then you'd better improve your listening skills, says Don Sharp, president of Sales Concepts, Inc., based in Roswell, Ga. The most important thing you can do is ask questions and get answers.

There is a big difference between hearing and listening. The person who listens to co-workers, clients and others has an advantage.

We seem to think we get attention when we talk, but that's not really the
case, says Dr. Madelyn Burley-Allen, founder of the Dynamics of Human Behavior in Wimberley, Texas. Our listening skills get put on the back burner. But the good listener receives a lot of benefits.

Listening levels
Burley-Allen describes three levels of listening. The more developed a person's level of listening, the more aware and perceptive the person can be.

Level 3 listening is the lowest level characterized as an unconscious state of being, or an unawareness. A person comprehends only about 5 percent of a conversation, and often is plagued by misunderstandings, misinterpretations, negative feelings and fear.

At Level 2, there is still some unconsciousness, but the biggest barrier is semantics. According to Burley-Allen, there are more than 10,000 meanings for
the 500 words we use most often in the United States, which causes a lot of problems for both the listener and the talker.

Level 1 is the highest level with active listening allowing for mutual respect, trust-building, empathy, reaching for a higher level of intelligence and creative thinking. The employee who actively listens to his manager will be seen in a more positive light. He or she will be able to build a positive relationship and will be perceived as responsible and also a good communicator.

Hearing aid
Sharp offers two key points for improvement.

First, you must want to listen,Ó Sharp says. ÒSecond, you have to feel that what the other person has to say is more important than what you have to say.

Burley-Allen says a person should always keep in mind what it feels like to be ignored. You can then make a commitment to listen. Also, keep in mind that it is difficult to remember without listening.

Memory and listening go hand-in-hand. If youÕre truly listening and do not understand something in the moment, be aware that youÕre not comprehending and ask questions, says Burley-Allen. Sharp agrees.

ÒMost people donÕt ask questions, they make assumptions. If you donÕt know exactly what a person means, ask. Open-ended, probing questions, like who, what, why, where, which and how, will get you answers, Sharp says. ÒRemember, a person can lose an order from talking too much, but no one ever loses a sale from listening too much.
_______________________________________________

To summarize in my lingo, if you're going to manage your manager, you have to understand his/her personality type, you have to put yourself in his/her shoes to the extent you can, and you have to understand with crystal clarity what he/she tells you in conversation.

So stop thinking and listen. I do this all the time. If I miss something because I drift away for a moment, I ask politely for it to be repeated so I'm sure I've got it. What you think when your boss is addressing you is of little importance. When asked what you think about some assignment or criticism you receive, you should respond by complimenting your boss on his/her insight and wisdom, and say you'll go right into action as directed because you're on the team, and that if you have any questions, you'll stop by for elaboration. Never give away your true feelings during a meeting with the boss unless you truly don't give a shit about your job, or he's your father.

M21 Magazine Q&A's Dan For PROMAX

In the summer 2003 PROMAX convention issue of M21, published by www.c21media.net, editor Kris Sofley says she "comes face to face with career strategist Dan Cooper who has some good advice to offer".

I'm reprinting this interview because of its value in understanding what I brand "job crisis management". Kris "gets it". Here is M21's introduction:

Intense competition, diminishing budgets and a continuum of acquisitions, mergers and new network launches have contributed to the television industry's precarious work environment, especially in the marketing and promotion sectors. Now more than ever before, junior, middle and even senior management personnel are formulating strategic career growth plans while also learning the importance of corporate politics, mentoring and networking.

So when M21's Kris Sofley met career strategist Dan Cooper, a former senior producer for 20/20 and member of the Fox News Channel launch team, she asked him for some free career advice.

M21: Let's say a young promotion staffer learns that his boss has jumped ship to another network, leaving the department in a state of chaos. As network executives clamour to hire a replacement, what can that young staffer do to ensure his future with the network?

DC: ÒRegime changes are times of great risk. But he can survive -- I survived three consecutive regime changes at a Fox unit in an executive position, so I know it can be done. YouÕve thrown some curve balls into the equation, and they need to be caught.

The typical chaos that fills the leadership vacuum: this isnÕt only terrible for the emotional state of the staffers in the unit, news of the chaos travels throughout the company, and thatÕs bad news for the current statf. It ushers in the letÕs-clean-house mentality that gets passed on to candidates for the new top job slot. Sadly, some of the staff will never recover from the chaos period. TheyÕll become permanently disaffected and will be dismissed. And itÕs corporate management thatÕs to blame for this.

Here are the rules: do not, at all costs, including losing friends, participate in the bitching, moaning and slacking. If you have good contacts outside the unit, lobby with them, share your concern about keeping the unit focused, and that your loyalty to the company will transfer to the new boss. When the new boss shows up, the ass-kissing festivities will commence. I want you to observe the boss closely, and listen carefully to her words and guide yourself by them. YouÕre going to speak of loyalty and continuity.

But the most important thing youÕre going to do is make a presentation to the new boss of all your projects. Start with what your mission was and then what you accomplished. Describe your innovations; reaffirm your loyalty to the company and to your new boss. And clearly articulate that your mission now is to establish continuity and apply your extraordinary skills to the vision of the new boss. YouÕre going to make it clear that youÕre a doer; you know how the place runs -- that knowledge is invaluable to the new boss -- and that you can be her go-to person and that youÕre discreet. If asked to assess the old boss, say nothing negative. If asked about the chaos, say it was all regrettable, but you were too busy to pay any attention to it and made it your business to have nothing to do with it. Make it clear that you want the company to be your home. Ask tor a first assignment. Nail it. But remember, ultimately you will be leaving the company, willingly or not, so youÕve always got to keep up your resume and contacts. ThatÕs the nature of the business."

M21: Your boss of the past five years, whom you adored, is fired and someone youÕve never heard of comes in to Ôturn the shop aroundÕ for the network. Do you try to bond with the new department head or do you start polishing up your resume?

DC: ÒThis one is easy. You keep closely in touch with the boss you adore, hope he lands a fabulous new challenge, and follow him there! As I said previously, regime changes are times of enormous career risk. First choice is stay with the winner. If for some reason thatÕs not possible, the alternative is both bond with the new department head and have a professional service rewrite your resume.

Follow the steps I mentioned earlier for how to ingratiate yourself with the new boss. And by the way, flirting is out. With regard to your resume, I recommend Resume.com, whom I use (and pay, I have no connection to them), and I would recommend against wasting money on "resume blasting". The only response youÕll get is from companies who want you to pay them to run job searches. IÕm finding that the major job boards like Monster.com, Hotjobs.com and the rest arenÕt delivering the goods right now, for whatever reason. Very few good opportunities are posted. WeÕre back in the age of making direct contact to potential employers, networking, using the Internet in innovative ways to deliver your message and any other guerrilla marketing techniques you can devise to position yourself as a most desirable hire."

M21: Everybody and their brother started their own Ôboutique design firmÕ in the past year or two, and while the independence is appealing for many, others find it hard to let go of that steady paycheck. How does someone know when itÕs time to go solo and, conversely, what steps can people take to buy more time at their present job?

DC: ÒThe best time to go solo is when youÕre young and hot and donÕt have children yet. Those are your prime risk years. It can certainly be done later, and itÕs done all the time. But later in life, if youÕve got a family, youÕre betting their future. Ask yourself some hard questions. Does your spouse have a solid job with good medical benefits? Can you, or you and a partner, put together a business plan that will generate a sufficient business loan to allow you to lease your technology as well as pay for staff, administrative and advertising costs? Most important, are you so hot in your region that clients will leave their current vendors and come to you? Can you attract the artists and editors you want, pay them and give them benefit packages?

While youÕre still working for The Man, put your business plan together. Check the website www.entrepreneurialconnection.com for great advice, and make it mandatory to visit www.sba.gov, the US Small Business Administration web site. ItÕs a tremendous resource. Then, when youÕre ready to make your move, make sure your web site is listed in every directory, such as YahooÕs business category directory. Be sure you appear under your category in your area. And optimise for search engines with Web Position Gold 2.0.

And as tempting as it is...donÕt over-animate and lose search engine position!Ó

M21: What about those people who are just now entering the job market. With the continuing saga of a soft advertising market combined with a weakened economy and further splintering of the television audience, what steps should young marketers take to make themselves more attractive or valuable to potential employers?

DC: ÒMarketers often overlook the most important Ôfirst ruleÕ of marketing and thatÕs knowing the importance of marketing ourselves. ItÕs something weÕve all been told a thousand times -- weÕre our most important life product. Easy to say, but what specifically can you do to land the job in a tight market? How are you going to differentiate yourself from a thousand other marketers looking for work?

Jack Trout and Steve Rivkin, authors of Differentiate or Die: Survival in Our Era of Killer Competition give a list of differentiation techniques on the Trout & Parners website, www.troutandpartners.com. And while I wonÕt go through all of those techniques now, Trout does say that a one great way to differentiate yourself is by being first and suggests, 'the trick is to be first with a good idea': Well, you can do thatl Bring one good idea for the company you are interviewing with as a way of setting yourself apart from the other job candidates. Do your homework, research the company and its current market position and come up with one of the finest ideas youÕve ever devised for that interview. Rather than focusing on getting the job, make your goal to be the first interviewee who presents a good idea"

M21: Are there any other tips or words of wisdom you can share with our readers regarding career strategies, Dan?

DC: "Life in the early zeros is going to be a series of career changes for each of us. WeÕre all going to go through periods of pain and hopefully periods of glory. Each of us needs a career strategy, and we need to be ready to implement crisis strategies. When opportunities arise, we must be wise, never rash. When thereÕs an earthquake at the office, when itÕs time for a life change, take a breath and step back. Make a plan. Put yourself in your bossÕs shoes and try to imagine what pressures heÕs going through.

Never lose sight of your God-given gifts and their great value, and your great value and dignity. Your office may be a mess and your boss a horror, but you have the power to change your relationships with your superiors. You also have the power to find another place to work where your work is recognised and rewarded emotionally and monetarily. But you have to deliver the goods. ltÕs in your hands."

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When you have a problem with your boss, or your colleagues, or any other work-related problem threatening your job, the best advice is NOT to shut up and do your work. You CANNOT succeed by keeping your head down. When you hear that from a friend, parent, spouse, agent, whatever, IGNORE THEM.

Hear my credo. This is what I have branded "job crisis management". When you have a job crisis, you GO TO WORK strategizing a complete turn-around in your situation. Use the "Three M" process: Moves, Meetings & Memos. You can survive and prosper in the media jungle.

Everybody Gets F*cked

This is a story about Don Hewitt and This Is Spinal Tap. Ultimately, it's an important lesson: everybody gets fucked. I've told this story many times, because it's important to grasp its significance in the media jungle. This is also the first entry in this web log that draws on my real-life career experiences, warts and all, names named, to convey essential elements of media career strategy.

Tonight I watched the 35th anniversary episode of 60 Minutes. It wasn't much of a compilation. Watching it, if you're under, say, 35, you would have no sense of the greatness of this series. 60, as it's referred to by insiders, was created by Don Hewitt 35 years ago, and Hewitt is the executive producer to this day. 60 is the most successful series in the history of television. It may seem hard to believe, but for many, many years, 60 Minutes was the #1 TV show, week in and week out.

Hewitt invented the magazine form, and is the greatest true story teller in the history of the medium. No one has ever come close to Don Hewitt in shaping a script, developing a story with conflict and resolution, and wielding unimaginable power as a broadcast journalist.

Hewitt is being forced out of his job by CBS management over his now-muted but recently vigorous objections--being replaced by a younger executive producer, for whatever reason.

When I got my first job after college as a news writer at WCBS-TV, my goal was to be Don Hewitt some day. Decades later, the man who single-handedly made more money for CBS than anyone else is getting fucked. And, as I know Hewitt has pointed out to CBS management over the years, he has worked on a salary all this time. If he had owned 60 Minutes, and packaged it for CBS, like any other series packager, he'd be a zillionaire today.

I know of, and took part in, another time when CBS, in the person of Bill Paley himself, fucked Don Hewitt, at a time when 60 was cruising at #1. And I can tell you virtually no one knows this story. This is where This Is Spinal Tap comes in. Spinal Tap, which Entertainment Weekly crowns the #1 cult movie in this week's issue, is really the end of the story. The story begins with my phone ringing, and Harry Shearer at the other end of the line.

The time is the early 1980's. I knew Harry Shearer, "Derek Smalls", through Joel Siegel, Good Morning America's movie critic. When we first met, Harry was a member of a comedy group called The Credibility Gap, along with David L. Lander, Michael McKean, and Richard Beebe. We came to know each other a bit, and during the year Harry spent as a cast member on Saturday Night Live, when I was a senior producer at 20/20, I helped once or twice in truly inconsequential ways with bits he was working on. Harry flattered me with his regard for my work. He is, of course, brilliant, and truly respected by the great comics we enjoy in movies and on TV.

This call was a stunning offer--mind-blowing. Harry had gotten a green light from CBS to develop a weekly late night satirical sketch comedy series to be seen on Friday nights at 11:30pm. Harry was offering me the line producer position. The job, as I came to understand it, entailed very specific functions. The format was to follow that of a radio series Harry had been doing. The show would run 1/2 hour, and would consist of 3 sketches. Each sketch would be topical, and would be a fictitious recreation of some event behind the headlines of the week. Each sketch would be set up with a 2-minute news piece reporting the true story the sketch was going to send up. For example, suppose that a meeting were arranged between French President Jacques Chirac and President Bush. They might be meeting to put their differences over the war in Iraq behind them. Chirac would come to the White House, and visit with the President. That Friday night, Harry Shearer, or another cast member (all now major stars) playing President Bush, someone else playing Chirac, would do a comedy sketch, politically outrageous, making a joke of the event.

As far as Harry was concerned, I was to create the news pieces to set up the comedy sketches, and to liaison with the network. That liaison with the network part of the job was the frightening part. The show was being developed by Jennifer Aylward at CBS, and when I was flown out to LA to meet Jennifer and hopefully win approval for the job, she made it very clear that what my job was all about was being the person through whom the network would communicate with Harry. Fair or not, Harry had somewhat of a reputation in the business as a "loose cannon", and Jennifer was shopping for someone to hold responsible for Harry's giving CBS what it wanted and when, and for feeding Harry the network's "notes" on the show. This job could be big trouble. Well, what the hell, who cared? This was enormous! Martin Short was going to be involved, Michael McKean of course, Penny Marshall, Albert Brooks, many more.

Time went by, as it does during development. Then, suddenly, everything changed, and here's where Don Hewitt comes into the story.

Coincidentally, Don Hewitt was renegotiating his contract. As I understood it, he wanted an ownership position in 60 Minutes. I am in no way privy to Don Hewitt's business; I'm relating what I heard. Short of ownership, which CBS would not give him, Hewitt wanted a deal allowing him to form a privately owned production company which would supply programming to CBS, and the first show he wanted to produce was a weekly late night sketch comedy series focusing on political satire. Apparently, Hewitt had been speaking with Jeff Greenfield, now of CNN, about working on the show with him.

Jennifer called me to tell me about all this. This wasn't exactly anything Harry Shearer wanted to hear about, and it was very depressing news to me. I was already in the package. I was so excited. I daydreamed about the show constantly. Now, Jennifer was saying CBS was going to marry the projects--combine Harry and Don. My resume was being sent to Hewitt for review. I figured I was fucked. Why would Hewitt pick me? He knew hundreds of producers who could make the news pieces, and he would certainly intend to deal with CBS management himself. He was responsible for the #1 TV series, for God's sake. Plus, I had been with 20/20 from the launch, not a plus, I imagined, in his view of things, and had no producer's reel, having been moved into senior management the week after the 20/20 premiere.

Then it occurred to me--strategy! Lobby for the job! But how? Who did I know? Boing!! I knew Jeff Greenfield! I had never worked with him; I knew him socially, and not well. But he had Hewitt's ear, and he was a phone call away. So I called Greenfield, and told him that Hewitt was going to review my resume, that I had already been in Harry Shearer's package, and that I really wanted the job. Greenfield said he would look into it. God bless him.

I heard from Jennifer that Hewitt had approved me. Greenfield had given him a solid recommendation. I was back in the game!

Now I'm going to cut to the chase, because after all, the title of the entry is Everybody Gets Fucked.

One week before Harry and all the comics were due to fly into New York for final rehearsals leading up to the premiere of the show, I received a phone call from Jennifer Aylward. She said she had bad news. It seemed that William S. Paley, founder and chairman of CBS, had just heard about the show for the first time. As I understood it, his assistant, Kidder Meade, mentioned the show in passing, and Paley stopped him and demanded details. Two things became clear.

One was that no American political figures were to be made fun of on CBS. The other was that Don Hewitt was not getting his production deal.

And there went one of the great opportunities I've had in my career. As far as Everybody Gets F*cked, I'm not talking about me, I've been f*cked a hundred times. I'm talking about Don Hewitt. They pulled the rug right out from under him at a time when he was delivering the #1 TV show. This is the lesson to remember. Michael Eisner grovels for his job. Unless, like Rupert Murdoch, you own the majority of shares, you get f*cked.

I have another story for another day about a project I worked on with Harry. When the time comes, I'll tell it.

And where does the story end? After recovering from the blow CBS dealt Harry, he put together, with Rob Reiner, Christopher Guest and Michael McKean, a mockumentary about a rock group.

The day it opened, I went to the noon show at Loew's Orpheum in Manhattan. I think I was the only one there. No one had ever heard of This Is Spinal Tap. After maybe the first 5 minutes of the movie, I began to cry. I laughed and cried until it ended.