How I Survived ATVN (And How You Can do it Too)

Dear Future ATVNers and Producers:

Because this semester at ATVN has been such an amazing experience, in terms of both work and personal experiences, I feel the best way for me to address all of you future ATVNers and producers is with an open letter to you all about what I've learned this semester, what I wish I had learned in preparation for this semester, and my recommendations to those who still have a few good semesters ahead of them here. 

First, a little backstory about my time working at ATVN prior to becoming a producer. In all honestly, I was never as involved at ATVN as I wanted to be. I started off on the assignment desk my sophomore year, then spent a year as a multimedia journalist before becoming a producer. Though I did spend most of my undergraduate career working at ATVN, I was never as passionate or involved in the program as I wanted to be, mostly due to the fact that I was pre-med and completely consumed with the classwork in my science classes. About halfway through my undergraduate career, I decided I didn't want to work in news. Naturally, I automatically wrote off ATVN as something that I didn't need to be doing to advance my career. This mindset that I didn't need ATVN completely held me back from gaining more experience here that would've ultimately helped me. 

That said, my biggest piece of advice to any and all future producers and ATVNers is to take ATVN seriously, even if your role at ATVN isn't a reflection of what you want to do in your career. All of the most valuable lessons I've learned at ATVN haven't been about producing the news- they've been about leadership, organization, teamwork, working under pressure, and learning to both give and take criticism well. I promise you, every bit of effort that you put into your newscast every week pays back tenfold in terms of the experience you take away from it.

Now, some advice just for all of you future producers. Your first couple of newscasts will be rough- they'll feel stressful, impossible, and completely chaotic. Don't let that discourage you or let it affect your attitude about producing. It'll get better with time and practice and, yes, practice really is the best means of improving. No one completely nails their first gig lead producing, so don't sweat it. The less you let yourself get stressed out throughout the day, the easier it is to handle the really stressful situations when they arise (let's say, huge news breaking around 4:45p.m., when you've already written the entire top of the show and only have one MJ available, who is already totally swamped and editing the entire A block of the show...I may or may not know this from personal experience). So stay clam, stay focused and, most importantly, stay positive.

However, the most imporatant (and cliche/seemingly irrelevant) bit of advice I have for you all is this: just have fun. Honestly. If you can bring a positive, lively attitude to the newsroom every day, even for that 8 a.m. morning meeting, then you can tackle almost anything that comes your way that day. And, better yet, everyone else will be more motivated to do their best work if they enjoy being in the environment you help set the tone of that morning.

And thus conclude the lessons I've learned at ATVN. Keep my advice in mind when you're working, and you'll go far. Even if you don't, I'm pretty sure you'll end up learning many of the same things I did, if only through trial and error. 

And one last thing- enjoy your time at ATVN, and at USC in general. It flies by. Soak in all of the advice and life lessons you can before you graduate. Chances are, you'll be glad you did.

Stay classy ATVN,

Jess