And we're rolling in three...two...one..."Welcome, Shmoopers, we're coming to you live from the Internet, where an educational website is attempting to explain just what exactly a TV reporter is, and how people might go about becoming one. 

Several key witnesses have been identified, and our field researchers are now receiving reports on salary, working conditions, and other relevant pieces of data that may finally explain how this profession works. Then stick around after the break for our discussion portion: are killer bees making killer trees? How to keep your home safe from arboreal insect attacks."

 

News Channel 8 reporters pride themselves on always being the first people to arrive at the back of the line. (Source)

Lights, camera, action. It's not exactly Hollywood, but the life of a full-time TV reporter is about as close as you can get to living a low-budget, poorly-paced action movie. Sure, you won't be there for the actual murder, but you might be the first to arrive on the scene. 

That is, first after the victim, the killer, the police, and any witnesses. Okay, so you're more like eighth to arrive, but that's a whole lot sooner than the rest of us. And we'll definitely tune in to see you do it.

Reporting the news isn't all fame and glory, though. There's a great chance that the vast majority of your work will be reporting on little more than the weather and city music ordinances. There's an even greater chance that only a few people from your local area will ever see you do it live. To top it all off, you won't be paid well—the average annual salary is $37,674 (source). 

Of course, there are a few things you can do to improve that salary, but the top two on the list are a whole bunch of moving and a whole bunch of sticking with it through the tough times. So, flexibility and perseverance.

 

When they told him he'd be reporting on small things, he didn't think they were being quite so literal. (Source)

Almost all aspiring TV reporters need to start small, and starting small means spending time in small towns reporting on small things for small audiences. Only once you've put together a good portfolio can you hope to leave all your friends and family behind for the big (or more realistically, medium-sized) city, where a bigger and better job awaits.

In the meantime, you're going to need to attract a decent following online, so put that on-camera charm to good use. Most TV reporters also double as magicians, somehow able to appear bright-eyed, clean, and impeccably well-coiffed, despite having woken up just thirty minutes prior. The news never sleeps, and if the news isn't sleeping, you're not sleeping. Saturday at 5:00AM? Tuesday at 12:00AM? Anytime on Christmas? All fair game.

Working those kinds of hours for such mediocre pay can be taxing and stressful, and sometimes the story being covered adds insult to injury. 

You know that guy who got to hang out with a room full of puppies, for the story on the cuteness of local puppies? Well he's the same guy standing in a poncho at 3:00AM, with a broken umbrella, dodging hail the size of garden gnomes. You may control how you discuss the news, but you'll rarely control what the news actually is.

Still, it's not all relocation and hailstones. TV reporters typically have a high level of job satisfaction despite the difficulties, so there's clearly something rewarding about broadcasting the news. And if you do make it to the big time, then you're looking at a career that might include awards, riches, book deals, and legions of dedicated fans.

Sure, that may never happen, and you may well work as a TV reporter for only as long as it takes to get into a more lucrative field of broadcasting, such as producing or anchoring. But imagine being the person who first introduces the world to the aliens that just landed in Michigan, or demonstrating to an audience of millions how Apple's new invisibility cloak works. How great would that be?

We can't say that those things are definitely going to happen, but if they do, somebody has to be the one on the scene showing the rest of us what's what. If you play your cards right, that someone could be you.

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