Class of
2008
Bio: Elex Michaelson is a freelance reporter filing regular reports for San Diego 6 News, The CW. He reports for all the station’s newscasts on everything from breaking news to politics to business stories to human interest features. He also writes original stories for the station’s website, http://www.sandiego6.com
In May 2008, Michaelson graduated top of his class from the Annenberg School of Journalism at the University of Southern California. He earned the university’s highest designation--Summa Cum Laude—while earning degrees in both broadcast journalism and political science.
While at USC, Michaelson anchored and reported for Annenberg TV News. In that capacity, he was selected as a finalist for the William Randolph Hearst Foundation’s college broadcast journalist of the year award.
During the 2008 presidential primary campaign, Elex served KNBC Los Angeles’ primary political intern. There, he helped interview Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, Sen. Ted Kennedy, and Gov. Mitt Romney. He also reported from both the Republican and Democratic debates in Los Angeles and contributed on-air analysis to “Super Tuesday” Election Night coverage.
Last year, Michaelson was named one of the top 11 interns in the entire NBC Universal Corporation. He spent the summer in Washington D.C. working for NBC’s affiliate feeder service, Newschannel. Michaelson reported from the White House, the Supreme Court, and Capitol Hill and interviewed leading politicians including Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid. Michaelson’s reports aired in NBC markets across the country.
While interning at KNBC Los Angeles in 2006, Michaelson mostly covered the gubernatorial election between Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and his challenger, Phil Angelides.
Michaelson began his intern career reporting on entertainment for KTTV’s “Good Day LA,” where he conducted interviews with celebrities and wrote daily copy.
During his first three years at USC, Michaelson served as host and managing editor for the “Platforum” debate/discussion show on Trojanvision. In his senior year, he hosted “CU@USC”, USC’s celebrity interview program.
Michaelson is recepient of the Herb Klein Scholarship, USC’s highest for political reporting, for a “Platforum” broadcast that focused on Afghanistan and Iraq War veterans now enrolled at USC. Michaelson won the Richard Drake Slocum Scholarship for political commentaries he contributed to the Daily Trojan.
Outside of television, Michaelson is especially proud of his charity work on behalf of his Fraternity. He co-founded the Get Hands On Campaign, a celebrity t-shirt campaign that promotes breast cancer awareness. Stars including George Clooney, Keira Knightley, Samuel L. Jackson, Sheryl Crowe, and more than twenty others contributed shirts, and Michaelson was featured on NBC’s “TODAY” Show, “Access Hollywood,” “E! News” and inside “People” Magazine. The campaign earned more than $80,000, the largest Fraternity philanthropic project on record.
Awards: USC’s Outstanding Scholarship Student (2008)
Hearst Award for Top College Broadcaster National Finalist (2008)
Herb Klein Scholarship for Top Political Journalist (2007)
Richard Drake Slocum Memorial Scholarship Winner (2007)
ATVN positions and duties: Anchor, Reporter, W/S/E, Floor Director, Sports Reporter
How did ATVN prepare you for your current job?
First off, all the technology (iNews, Avid) is the same at my current job and at ATVN.
More than that, it prepared me for the daily deadline pressure and how to think in terms of video. Being able to “one man band” in a few hours at ATVN when no one wants to call you back makes it seem like a piece of cake when you have a photographer, editor, and willing interview subjects to work with!
What is your advice to aspiring journalists?
BE AGGRESSIVE- There are more journalists out there than jobs available and if you don’t ask questions and stand out, someone else will. Our job is to find information, if you are timid and uncomfortable seeking out sources and coming up with new ideas, maybe this isn’t the right profession for you. Most people are nice and willing to help, all you have to do is ASK! Even if they are not so nice, you have to find a way to charm them anyways.
INTERN-ATVN can prepare for the technical execution of a news broadcast, but there is nothing like being around a real, professional working newsroom and the contacts that go with it. Still, it is easy to get lost in the bureaucracy of the newsroom.
You need to realize it is not the working reporter’s job to provide an educational experience for you. It is your job to make their work easier for them!
Instead of simply asking “what can I do to help” (which means they have to work to think of something for you to do), take it upon yourself to suggest things to do. Or, just do them!
If you work your butt off, don’t ever be uncomfortable asking to shoot a stand-up every time you go into the field. They may feel weird at first, but the more you do them, the better you will get.
Having a great deal of professionally shot stand-ups at the end of your college career will make your tape stand out from the competition. Ultimately, the most important thing in getting hired is how strong your resume tape is.
LISTEN-USC and your internship is filled with some of the smartest people you will ever meet. When you go out on your stories, you will meet some of the most extraordinary people on the planet.
It is natural to tense up, feel intimidated, stare at your list of questions, and try not to mess up when around them. Resist that urge. LISTEN to what they tell you. Chances are, it is more profound than what is on your paper. They will give you better sound bites if they feel you are engaged in a genuine conversation with them, and you will become a smarter and more well rounded human being. Isn’t that why we go into this profession to begin with?
What are the top three skills college journalism students should be working on in order to be prepared for their first broadcasting job?
1. Listening- look above for more
2. Telling stories like a human being- practice explaining the story you are talking about to your non-journalism friends. Then, realize how different that is from your script. Don’t fall into the trap that you sound like a news robot, nobody wants to hear that.
3. Read and Watch Everything-Aspiring film makers study the greats, as do musicians and painters. Why should journalists be any different?
There are reasons people like Brian Williams, Scott Pelley, Charlie Gibson, Tom Brokaw, Katie Couric, Diane Sawyer, and others get to where they are at. Study them--but don’t copy them. Figure out how their skill sets can make you better, not how you can impersonate Tom Brokaw (trust me, I’ve tried. The voice is harder than you think).
What is the most important thing a college journalist should know when he or she is trying to negotiate his or her first job?
Contrary to what people might tell you, you are a human being that deserves the ability to eat at least a cracker or two.
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