Mat Mendez joined Frank N. Magid Associates, Inc. as a Consulting Associate in early 2015 within the company's Media Strategy Group. In this role, Mat works to the benefit of local newsrooms across the country, aiding senior-level consultants and news managers in the application of market research to coverage strategies that best showcase each station's unique news brand. Prior to this, Mat was the Assistant News Director at his hometown station, KRCR-TV in Redding, CA and a digital journalist at WTVD-TV in Raleigh, NC. Before WTVD, he was a freelance field producer and desk assistant for ABC News in Los Angeles and New York, and an intern for KABC-TV in L.A. While at USC and ATVN, Mat was on the front lines of some of the biggest stories to hit Los Angeles, including the Sesnon Fire in Porter Ranch, a Metrolink train crash, and the hit-and-run that killed a USC student in March 2009.

Awards: 

Emmy Award certificate for contributions as field producer to “Good Morning America”

Hearst Journalism Awards Program – Second place: TV News, Add’l award for Best Use of TV in News Coverage

Soc. of Prof. Journalists, “Mark of Excellence - Photography” First place - Region 11/National finalist

L.A. Press Club – 1st Place, Best Student Newscast

Scripps Howard Foundation, “Top Ten Scholar”

Outstanding Broadcast Journalism Undergraduate - USC Annenberg

The bottom line on this question is you need to be good in all areas, very well-rounded, experienced, and eager to grow and learn with the times. That said, these skills are in demand:

1. Multiplatform writing - you will need to feed on-air, online and social, and be deft in doing so. 

2. Shooting, with and without professional gear. Your iPhone is powerful. Use it! Got a GoPro? Use it too! 

3a. Want to be on-air? Be active in your standups, and creative in your storytelling.  

3b. Producing or management more your thing? Aside from excellent news judgment, an insatiable news appetite, and knowing how to keep a show moving, take a quick trip to the business school and learn about what a brand is and how best to support and reinforce it. Trust me, it’ll come up

News anchor, reporter, producer, W/S/E, assignment editor, floor manager, and Twitter. Lots of Twitter.

There’s nothing like learning journalism by doing journalism. ATVN is as real as it gets in a college environment. The experience is what you make of it. And if you take advantage of what ATVN has to offer, you will be well-prepared to enter the working world.

Do as much journalism as you can stand...and then do more. Do internships, do ATVN...do everything and anything. Ask questions until you feel like an idiot for asking so many questions. And don’t forget to stay in touch with those you’ve worked with in the past...ESPECIALLY if they offer to help you when needed.

Go in with a plan...know what you want and what you’ll settle for, and most importantly, don’t accept something that doesn’t feel right. If you’re getting railroaded into a quick decision or pay that’s not comparable to others in the market, make sure you take a breath and think twice.