Class of
2006
Bio: Shawna Thomas has lived in three of the four largest cities in the United States of America. She grew up in Houston, TX (4th largest city and Market #10). She did many things such as Girl Scouting (12 years) and cello playing (six years). She then went to college in Washington, DC (Market #8) and graduated from the George Washington University ( U.S. News and World Report Ranking #52) with a degree in Political Communication. While she was in school she worked for Fox News (don’t hate) and after college she lobbied for the meat processing industry (don’t hate). She then attended the University of Southern California ( U.S. News and World Report Ranking #27) in Los Angeles (2nd largest city and Market #2) and learned what school spirit was all about (Fight On!). She also learned what journalism was all about spending two years in the basement of the Annenberg building. What some people don’t know is the best part of her week while in Annenberg was directing the Thursday night newscast. That part was fun. The school gave her a graduate degree in journalism (worth approximately $80,000) and NBC News gave her a job as a News Associate in New York City (1st largest city and Market #1) . She has since worked for the Today Show and on NBC’s Network Desk. She currently is back in market #8 working for Meet the Press. If you watch the credits you’ll see her name. Her mom does this every Sunday.
ATVN positions and duties: Executive Producer, Producer, Writer, Shooter, Editor, Occasional Reporter, Technical Director and last but certainly not least Director
How did ATVN prepare you for your current job?
My knowledge of iNews and Avid has helped a lot. Many people who have been entrenched in the system don’t really know how iNews works because no one ever sat them down and taught them. Though I’m not allowed to edit here (because of union rules) the fact that I understand Avid and I can sit down with an editor and tell them exactly what I want makes them respect me more.
Also interviewing skills that I honed at ATVN (and Impact) have been invaluable. Even though I’m not a producer (yet), I’ve gotten sent out to other parts of the country to do interviews and knowing how to make someone comfortable and get the needed bites under a deadline has come in handy. (By the way, when you have a professional cameraman, making the interview look good is WAY easier.)
What is your advice to aspiring journalists?
Don’t get discouraged, especially in the network world. Everyone starts off with a job where you’re not doing what you feel you are capable of. The key to it is to try to impress everyone with your enthusiasm and/or thoroughness. While you are impressing everyone with your enthusiasm and/or thoroughness, make sure you get to know all those people’s names. When a position opens up, you want people to think about you for it.
Also have a plan. I went into the News Associates program at NBC with a couple of clear goals. One of them being, “do a rotation in DC.” From the first week everyone knew I liked politics and I wanted to be in DC and now I’m working for Meet the Press. Now that I’m here I’m letting everyone know that I want to help cover the 2008 campaign. I’m meeting people and I’m making quite the nuisance of myself. In a good way I hope.
What are the top three skills college journalism students should be working on in order to be prepared for their first broadcasting job?
1. Writing of all kinds. Don’t forget that the Internet exists and every news program is going to have you writing stories, emails to listservs, copy for the website and blogs. I recently got an email that everyone at all levels ( P.A. to Executive Producer) of the Today Show are going to be expected to blog about the show at any given time.
2. Knowing different ways to research and find stories. Pitching is a way to get noticed. The Senior Producers know you exist when you’re sending them emails with well-thought out and well-written pitches. I don’t even work for Nightly News but I’ve pitched multiple stories and while none of them have been done, I always get an email back saying they are impressed with how well-written the pitch was.
3. Not just sucking up, but knowing who to suck up to.
What is the most important thing a college journalist should know when he or she is trying to negotiate his or her first job?
Read the contract carefully and make sure it’s situation you can deal with for the time frame they’re asking for.
What prepared you most for your current job?
ATVN throws you into journalism. A couple of weeks of training and then get out with a camera and a mic and get the interview. Not being scared of just jumping into a situation was probably the best preparation for the multitude of tasks I’ve already been asked to do.
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