Also I'm coming up on my 4 year anniversary of my return to @MorningEdition I've been thinking about some of the lessons I've learned as a producer, throughout my 14 year career.
First: Listen more than you talk. This is a hard one, and you may think you're doing it but it's the most essential thing in journalism (and listening for EVERYTHING is so key to being an audio producer)
2. Reach out to the people you admire. Chances are they would love to share what makes them passionate about what they do & hear about their experiences of overcoming obstacles, persisting, succeeding. It's incredibly inspirational & you never know when you'll need inspiration.
3. Learn from every tasks, even if they don't *feel* important. I learned so much from transcribing tape about how to ask questions. Booking guests is the bedrock of broadcast journalism. There are few people in any of the positions you admire who skipped these steps.
4. Be kind to everyone. This is a major life lesson - but showing gratitude for the people who help you - the engineers who fix your tape, the person who offered to help you troubleshoot, anyone who does anything that HELPS you. Be kind to them. They will save your butt.
5. Learn to accept constructive criticism, even if it doesn't always feel constructive. I promise, there is something you can learn about yourself from it even if it's simply that you are strong enough to be kind.
6. Always have a bag packed, ready to go & travel light. When you're hauling gear through a hurricane, or get called to head to the airport at a moment's notice, you will thank yourself for being prepared.
7. If you find yourself in a position of influence (however small it may be) lift someone up. Help advocate for their pitch, bring a diverse perspective to the table. IMHO these kinds of actions matter so much for the future of journalism.
8. Have regular meaningful conversations with lots of different people - different socio-economic backgrounds, races, political persuasions, gender identities, religious traditions. The conversations won't always be easy, but the perspective gained is worth it.
9. Read everything. Subscribe to a newspaper but don't forget to get out of the journalism bubble.
10. Always ask yourself "What am I missing?" and then figure out how to un-miss it. Are you missing a critical perspective? Confirmation of a fact? The pronunciation of someone's name? It all matters.
And I'll leave it at that (for now)!
And I'll leave it at that (for now)!
