Hello, America. It's me, Lisa.
And I'm a little pissed.
Our new President (and so far the U.S. Senate) is pushing forward with a plan to delay the nationwide switch from analog to digital TV broadcasting from its previously agreed-upon date of February 17 to a new cut-off of June 12.
Booooo!!!
As a member of the TV industry, I can tell you this is NOT good news for us. Right now it's costing us thousands of dollars extra to broadcast because we're currently emitting analog AND digital signals. We have to keep that analog signal running until the cut-off date. For bigger stations, this is not as much of a problem, but for a small station like the one where I work, it's very bad news. This D-TV switch was mandated by the government over three years ago, giving stations time to budget for the switch. Among other things, that budget includes converting all of our equipment (field cameras, studio cameras, lenses, sets, switchboards, etc.) as well as spending extra moolah on broadcasting those dual signals. Now with the economy on the decline and just less than a month to go, we might have to continue to broadcast both signals for four MORE months, which is NOT in the budget.
Now, from a consumer standpoint, why do you care if the DTV switch happens on time or not? Well, you might not. Maybe you're already set up; you got your converter box or you're already hooked up with Comcast, and you're all ready to go. Maybe you never watch TV anyway and you don't give a crap. That's fine.
But let's say you like TV. Here are a couple of the benefits that you as a TV viewer will enjoy: more channels, better picture and clearer sound.
Let's say you don't care about TV, but you DO care about energy conservation. Did you know that it takes about a fifth of the power to broadcast digitally as it does to broadcast in analog? So why is a President who says it's fundamental for America to cut down on its energy uses advocating a plan that will be costing America millions of dollars to consume five times the amount of energy that it could by making the switch now?
Here's why: the Obama administration is concerned because an estimated 6 million households still aren't ready for the switch.
Are you KIDDING ME?! Where have you people been??!!! We've been running nonstop promos, stories, and commercials on national and local levels for at least over a year (ever since I started working here) telling people what they need to do to get ready, and we've made it very clear when that deadline would be.
Now the government has run out of money to aid people with discounts on their converter boxes, and I honestly don't know whose fault that was. Maybe the government researchers didn't get an accurate number of how many folks out there are still using rabbit ears to watch the tube. I don't know. And if that's holding people up from getting DTV-ready, I'm sorry. But still, you've had over a YEAR to get this done! It's not like this snuck up on you and we all-of-a-sudden said, "Hey, by the way, you're gonna need to either get a new TV or a converter, or sign up for cable or you won't be able to watch TV anymore." We said that long enough ago that if people really wanted to watch TV, they would have time to get prepared, whether that meant getting help from Uncle Sam or saving up to buy a converter at the full price (somewhere in the ballpark of $50).
Grrrrrr this is frusterating. Sorry, I'm just ranting. I've gotta get back to work now.
At least a new Bachelor episode will be waiting for me online when I get done with work! :)
Until later!
Showing posts with label politics. Show all posts
Showing posts with label politics. Show all posts
Tuesday, January 27, 2009
Wednesday, November 5, 2008
Election Day
A day in the life of a local news producer. On Election Day.
12.00 AM NOVEMBER 4
I head in to work at the station. Our evening anchor and I get together a game plan for the live local news cut-ins I'll be producing for her during election night between the 6:00 and 11:00 newscasts. We brainstorm ideas for local experts (mostly Purdue professors) to bring in to talk about different aspects of the election, like economy, race and gender, and political history.
12.30 AM
I spend the morning putting together our first news show of Election Day 2008.
4.00 AM
My anchors arrive. One will be heading out to a voting center where she'll set up a live shot for us to use during the morning show. We do a quick review of the line-up before she leaves with the videographer.
5.00 AM
We go on the air for a two-hour show. Looks live everything is going smoothly at the voting centers. We get interviews with the first voter at our live site and talk to some local high school teachers who are conducting an exit poll with their students. All good stuff!
7.00 AM
We go off the air. I put together a plan for our first two local cut-ins, which include more live-shots.
8.00 AM
The first two cut-ins done, I produce a third version for my male anchor to record before he has to leave on assignment. Then it's time to get on the phone and try to line up some interviewees for tonight's cut-ins.
9.00 AM
Done with my phone calls, I finally leave work and head to church, where I cast my vote and chat with my pastor. A sweet old lady gives me an "I Voted!" sticker, which I stick on my bag. I would wear it, but I'm just going home to change into my PJs anyway.
10.00 AM
I finally wind down and go to bed, setting my alarm for 4 PM.
4.00 PM
The alarm jolts me awake. I am amazed how fast those six hours went! I hit snooze once before rolling out of bed and checking my email. Looks like we've got a couple more guests lined up to come in and talk election for the cut-ins.
4.30 PM
Shower time. I'm really excited and pick out a super-cut (if I do say so myself) outfit to wear, motivated by the fact that people will actually see me tonight as opposed to most of my normal work days.
5.00 PM
I turn on our news channel as I get ready to go in to work. Looks like things are still running like clockwork for the voting centers!
6.00 PM
I arrive at the station and wave off the first round of comments and questions about my presence there. Yep, I'm here early. Yep, I'll be here all night. Nope, I don't mind. It's fun. I watch the 6 PM newscast from back in the control room.
6.30 PM
We go off the air. The evening anchor and I plot out the first cut-in, which will happen at 7:25, and I sit down to put together the newscast.
7.20 PM
It's twenty after?!! Slowed down by the fact that I can't use my own desk (our daytime producer is using it to run his software that comes up with our numbers for who's winning each race) and that I can't check my own email, I have to keep running back and forth to ask questions that I could've asked from two feet away if I had been able to use my own desk. Plus, the reporter's desk I'm using is filled with their own clutter, and you know how that is. I need MY clutter. Oh well! I get the scripts printed and sprint down to the control room to get them to the director.
7.25 PM
We go on the air. Everything goes pretty well.
7.30 PM
We go off the air. I return to the newsroom and pow-wow with anchor and directors to hash out a plan for 7:55.
7.45 PM
We're on a roll. I'm already thinking about what comes next at 8:25 as I print off the 7:55 scripts and get everyone ready to go back on the air.
8.00 PM
Off the air. The newsroom becomes a hectic crazy train of reporters and videographers coming and going, people from the sales department are answering phones, and production and engineering personnel trying to fix problems with our live shot's audio monitoring. The next few cut-ins come and go in a blur. They don't really get easier; instead, the simple fact that time will march forward whether you're ready for it to or not is a driving force to get through the next couple of hours.
10.30 PM
We go off the air from out 10:25 cut-in.
"One more, right?" I say to the evening anchor, who nods and suggests we meet with the evening producer to see how she wants us to work the last cut-in so that it transitions smoothly to the 11:00 newscast. We find out she's already written what she wants in that cut-in, so my job (for the moment) is done! I grab a slice of pizza from the breakroom and watch some of our broadcast before starting work on the morning show line-up.
11.05 PM
It's official. National news outlets call the race for President, and it's a historical moment. I watch John McCain's sweet, gracious speech as he concedes to Barack Obama, who will become the first person of color to be elected President of the United States.
11.30 PM
My boss brings me to her office so we can discuss what the morning show should look like. By this point, my brain feels like a sloshy mess of mush in my skull, but I try to keep it functioning long enough to get through this meeting.
11.55 PM
A few more reporters, production people, and videographers gather in my boss's office to watch as Obama gives his speech from Chicago. It dawns on me that this may be one of those moments I tell my kids or grandkids about somewhere down the road.
12.30 AM NOVEMBER 5
My boss and I get back to the reality that is the local news, and map out a plan for the morning show. I share it with the reporters who are now returning from their interviews with local race winners and losers, and we all get to work...a mad little frenzy of typing and reading out loud to ourselves. It's really weird to be in this environment, with people all around. I look forward to the time when everyone goes home, leaving me in the familiar quiet of the newsroom at night. The "election day high" wears off, and I notice I'm yawning a lot. I shake my head, hoping for my second wind to kick in soon.
2.30 AM
Finally, everyone goes home, and it's just me. I put on some music and eat a big Gladware container full of spaghetti and meat sauce I brought from home. My second wind finally hits, and I slowly but surely piece the morning show together, bit by bit.
4.00 AM
The anchors come in. I have the show all written and work on editing all of my videos. I'm actually ahead of schedule! The anchors think the show looks great (it ought to, for the extra time I spent with our superior planning it out and all the brain power I've had to muster to get it all together).
4.30 AM
Time to print scripts. i finish up the last of the videos and head back to the control room for the start of the show.
5.00 AM
The newscast goes well. At this point, my second wind is wearing off, and my brain is getting mushy again. I realize halfway through the show that I've been in this building for 12 hours.
7.00 AM
We go off the air. I print off the morning cut-in scripts and realize I still haven't checked my email.
7.15 AM
My last email is from the assistant news director. It says someone will try to call me Wednesday morning at 7:15. I look at the time, then immediately look at my phone, like I expect it to ring on cue.
It doesn't.
I decide to wait until 7:30 and then call it a day.
7.30 AM
Still no phone call. I email the assistant news director back to say that I didn't hear anything from this person and that I'll try to get in touch with them tomorrow.
The phone rings.
I answer, hoping it's the guy who wanted to schedule an interview. But it's not.
"Hello," says a woman's voice, "I'm sorry, but I just had to call in and complain because I think this morning's election coverage was terrible. I watched for 20 miutes and didn't see anything about a bunch of the elections."
Does this lady realize we cover election results for like 9 counties?
"OK," I say, "Which elections were you concerned with that you didn't see?"
"County commissioner--everything!!!" she replies. "I'm heading in to work and I don't even know who my new boss is going to be. So I just wanted to call and complain because I thought it was terrible."
"OK, thank you," I say. Thank you for taking what I've been working on all night, crapping on it, and flushing it down the toilet. If you work for these people, then I guess you'll hear the results once you get in to the office, huh? We've been running these results in a live crawl at the bottom of our screen all night and into the morning, and it's on our website. If you're really such a kiss-ass that you need to know the results before you head in to work, there were plenty of other ways we provided to help you find what you were looking for. Thanks for being a total bee-sting at the end of my fourteen-hour work day.
Oh well.
7.45 AM
I'm out. I suggest possibly keeping the crawl with our local results up on the screen all morning, laughing off the complaint with, "I can't do everything for everybody...figure it out yourself!" and head out the door with my usual sing-song "Have a great day! See you tomorrow!"
The election day high and it's second-wave energy boost have both completely worn off as I get in my car and drive home.
I'm glad it's not this exciting every day. I think it'd be a little too much to handle. That being said, I just LOVE election day! But I'm always very glad when it's over.
12.00 AM NOVEMBER 4
I head in to work at the station. Our evening anchor and I get together a game plan for the live local news cut-ins I'll be producing for her during election night between the 6:00 and 11:00 newscasts. We brainstorm ideas for local experts (mostly Purdue professors) to bring in to talk about different aspects of the election, like economy, race and gender, and political history.
12.30 AM
I spend the morning putting together our first news show of Election Day 2008.
4.00 AM
My anchors arrive. One will be heading out to a voting center where she'll set up a live shot for us to use during the morning show. We do a quick review of the line-up before she leaves with the videographer.
5.00 AM
We go on the air for a two-hour show. Looks live everything is going smoothly at the voting centers. We get interviews with the first voter at our live site and talk to some local high school teachers who are conducting an exit poll with their students. All good stuff!
7.00 AM
We go off the air. I put together a plan for our first two local cut-ins, which include more live-shots.
8.00 AM
The first two cut-ins done, I produce a third version for my male anchor to record before he has to leave on assignment. Then it's time to get on the phone and try to line up some interviewees for tonight's cut-ins.
9.00 AM
Done with my phone calls, I finally leave work and head to church, where I cast my vote and chat with my pastor. A sweet old lady gives me an "I Voted!" sticker, which I stick on my bag. I would wear it, but I'm just going home to change into my PJs anyway.
10.00 AM
I finally wind down and go to bed, setting my alarm for 4 PM.
4.00 PM
The alarm jolts me awake. I am amazed how fast those six hours went! I hit snooze once before rolling out of bed and checking my email. Looks like we've got a couple more guests lined up to come in and talk election for the cut-ins.
4.30 PM
Shower time. I'm really excited and pick out a super-cut (if I do say so myself) outfit to wear, motivated by the fact that people will actually see me tonight as opposed to most of my normal work days.
5.00 PM
I turn on our news channel as I get ready to go in to work. Looks like things are still running like clockwork for the voting centers!
6.00 PM
I arrive at the station and wave off the first round of comments and questions about my presence there. Yep, I'm here early. Yep, I'll be here all night. Nope, I don't mind. It's fun. I watch the 6 PM newscast from back in the control room.
6.30 PM
We go off the air. The evening anchor and I plot out the first cut-in, which will happen at 7:25, and I sit down to put together the newscast.
7.20 PM
It's twenty after?!! Slowed down by the fact that I can't use my own desk (our daytime producer is using it to run his software that comes up with our numbers for who's winning each race) and that I can't check my own email, I have to keep running back and forth to ask questions that I could've asked from two feet away if I had been able to use my own desk. Plus, the reporter's desk I'm using is filled with their own clutter, and you know how that is. I need MY clutter. Oh well! I get the scripts printed and sprint down to the control room to get them to the director.
7.25 PM
We go on the air. Everything goes pretty well.
7.30 PM
We go off the air. I return to the newsroom and pow-wow with anchor and directors to hash out a plan for 7:55.
7.45 PM
We're on a roll. I'm already thinking about what comes next at 8:25 as I print off the 7:55 scripts and get everyone ready to go back on the air.
8.00 PM
Off the air. The newsroom becomes a hectic crazy train of reporters and videographers coming and going, people from the sales department are answering phones, and production and engineering personnel trying to fix problems with our live shot's audio monitoring. The next few cut-ins come and go in a blur. They don't really get easier; instead, the simple fact that time will march forward whether you're ready for it to or not is a driving force to get through the next couple of hours.
10.30 PM
We go off the air from out 10:25 cut-in.
"One more, right?" I say to the evening anchor, who nods and suggests we meet with the evening producer to see how she wants us to work the last cut-in so that it transitions smoothly to the 11:00 newscast. We find out she's already written what she wants in that cut-in, so my job (for the moment) is done! I grab a slice of pizza from the breakroom and watch some of our broadcast before starting work on the morning show line-up.
11.05 PM
It's official. National news outlets call the race for President, and it's a historical moment. I watch John McCain's sweet, gracious speech as he concedes to Barack Obama, who will become the first person of color to be elected President of the United States.
11.30 PM
My boss brings me to her office so we can discuss what the morning show should look like. By this point, my brain feels like a sloshy mess of mush in my skull, but I try to keep it functioning long enough to get through this meeting.
11.55 PM
A few more reporters, production people, and videographers gather in my boss's office to watch as Obama gives his speech from Chicago. It dawns on me that this may be one of those moments I tell my kids or grandkids about somewhere down the road.
12.30 AM NOVEMBER 5
My boss and I get back to the reality that is the local news, and map out a plan for the morning show. I share it with the reporters who are now returning from their interviews with local race winners and losers, and we all get to work...a mad little frenzy of typing and reading out loud to ourselves. It's really weird to be in this environment, with people all around. I look forward to the time when everyone goes home, leaving me in the familiar quiet of the newsroom at night. The "election day high" wears off, and I notice I'm yawning a lot. I shake my head, hoping for my second wind to kick in soon.
2.30 AM
Finally, everyone goes home, and it's just me. I put on some music and eat a big Gladware container full of spaghetti and meat sauce I brought from home. My second wind finally hits, and I slowly but surely piece the morning show together, bit by bit.
4.00 AM
The anchors come in. I have the show all written and work on editing all of my videos. I'm actually ahead of schedule! The anchors think the show looks great (it ought to, for the extra time I spent with our superior planning it out and all the brain power I've had to muster to get it all together).
4.30 AM
Time to print scripts. i finish up the last of the videos and head back to the control room for the start of the show.
5.00 AM
The newscast goes well. At this point, my second wind is wearing off, and my brain is getting mushy again. I realize halfway through the show that I've been in this building for 12 hours.
7.00 AM
We go off the air. I print off the morning cut-in scripts and realize I still haven't checked my email.
7.15 AM
My last email is from the assistant news director. It says someone will try to call me Wednesday morning at 7:15. I look at the time, then immediately look at my phone, like I expect it to ring on cue.
It doesn't.
I decide to wait until 7:30 and then call it a day.
7.30 AM
Still no phone call. I email the assistant news director back to say that I didn't hear anything from this person and that I'll try to get in touch with them tomorrow.
The phone rings.
I answer, hoping it's the guy who wanted to schedule an interview. But it's not.
"Hello," says a woman's voice, "I'm sorry, but I just had to call in and complain because I think this morning's election coverage was terrible. I watched for 20 miutes and didn't see anything about a bunch of the elections."
Does this lady realize we cover election results for like 9 counties?
"OK," I say, "Which elections were you concerned with that you didn't see?"
"County commissioner--everything!!!" she replies. "I'm heading in to work and I don't even know who my new boss is going to be. So I just wanted to call and complain because I thought it was terrible."
"OK, thank you," I say. Thank you for taking what I've been working on all night, crapping on it, and flushing it down the toilet. If you work for these people, then I guess you'll hear the results once you get in to the office, huh? We've been running these results in a live crawl at the bottom of our screen all night and into the morning, and it's on our website. If you're really such a kiss-ass that you need to know the results before you head in to work, there were plenty of other ways we provided to help you find what you were looking for. Thanks for being a total bee-sting at the end of my fourteen-hour work day.
Oh well.
7.45 AM
I'm out. I suggest possibly keeping the crawl with our local results up on the screen all morning, laughing off the complaint with, "I can't do everything for everybody...figure it out yourself!" and head out the door with my usual sing-song "Have a great day! See you tomorrow!"
The election day high and it's second-wave energy boost have both completely worn off as I get in my car and drive home.
I'm glad it's not this exciting every day. I think it'd be a little too much to handle. That being said, I just LOVE election day! But I'm always very glad when it's over.
Thursday, October 2, 2008
Don't Vote.
I don't even know if there are 5 people who read this blog, but just in case, I thought this might be the best way to get people to see this video. I apologize in advance because the language is PG-13, but the message is a good one.
The deadline to register to vote in Tippecanoe County is October 6th. That's Monday.
And if you're already registered, please don't forget to actually go vote on Election Day. I always almost forget even though I work in a building where we talk about elections like 24-7.
And seriously, if you care about ANYTHING, please vote. It's important. I don't spend my night at work putting stories about local, state, and national candidates and their opinions just to fill time between commercials.
Actually, that's not true...I have to fill the time between the commercials with SOMETHING. But it might as well be information that helps you decide how to get the things you care about taken care of.
Just watch the news for like two minutes every day and get informed. Or read one article on the internet. You don't have to be an expert, just get familiar with what's going on. The information is definitely out there, and it doesn't take much time to do it!
Don't vote. Unless you care about anything.
The deadline to register to vote in Tippecanoe County is October 6th. That's Monday.
And if you're already registered, please don't forget to actually go vote on Election Day. I always almost forget even though I work in a building where we talk about elections like 24-7.
And seriously, if you care about ANYTHING, please vote. It's important. I don't spend my night at work putting stories about local, state, and national candidates and their opinions just to fill time between commercials.
Actually, that's not true...I have to fill the time between the commercials with SOMETHING. But it might as well be information that helps you decide how to get the things you care about taken care of.
Just watch the news for like two minutes every day and get informed. Or read one article on the internet. You don't have to be an expert, just get familiar with what's going on. The information is definitely out there, and it doesn't take much time to do it!
Don't vote. Unless you care about anything.
Wednesday, September 3, 2008
rants of a small-time news producer
(Warning - I'm pretty upset.)
OK.
I hate when people spout their opinions with blatent disregard for anyone around them who may not agree with what they say.
Working at a TV station, especially during an election year, it could go without saying that politics naturally becomes a topic of conversation during the newscast. And my show's production crew happens to have quite a few people who are passionate and opinionated about what they believe politically. Most of them share similar beliefs. I tend to hold the opposite viewpoint of the majority in the control room, and this has been increasingly difficult for me to deal with. Here's why: I am also passionate and opinionated about what I believe, and I also like to argue for the sake of argument. But I am also responsible for choosing the content of the newscast. So what happens is, I voice my opinion in response to the numerous opinions so eagerly shared around me, because it feels wrong to just sit there and have to listen to someone else's remarks without getting to add your own. But then those people call me out for putting content in the news that supports or is related to my personal beliefs, even though 9 times out of 10 I add stories that have nothing to do with my point of view, my political alignment, or my own personal beliefs. Most of the time, my preferences are not at all represented in the news. But when they are, I get a hard time for it. I get called "bias." And that's something that I take to heart, because I am very passionate about balanced and fair news reporting and I take very seriously my responsibility to balance my shows.
Here's the hardest part--the person who gets me the most upset, who makes the most arbitrarlity judgemental comments, who says things that offend me, who doesn't want to hear or respect MY opinions and beliefs even though I have to listen to all of HIS, is also the person that at one time I felt like was my closest friend there. And in the past few months, I feel more and more like he isn't really my friend, because he doesn't respect the fact that I have different beliefs and that I am entitled to those beliefs. He speaks condescendingly and gives off the attitude that no intelligent person would dare disagree with him.
I have NO problem with people having and sharing opposing opinions. But I don't think you should EVER make someone feel stupid for having an opinion or a belief that is different than yours. Isn't that what it's all supposed to be about here? And especially if someone is your friend, shouldn't you be all the more willing to respect--even if you don't accept--that person's point of view?
What really stinks is that I could argue all day with this guy and it wouldn't matter because he is the kind of person who finishes an argument with "you're stupid." Which makes me realize that all the intelligent arguments in the world wouldn't make a difference because they still wouldn't make him RESPECT (again, not "agree with" or "accept," just "respect") my beliefs. And so I often just give up debating altogether because I know it's pointless and it's going to get me nowhere.
If I didn't value this person as a friend, I wouldn't care this much. But the fact that I consider him a friend is what makes this bother me a lot! I have been thinking for months now about talking to him about it, but I'm just afraid he would think I'm being really lame and then make fun of me for it, or get mad and defensive and then get everyone else to gang up against me and act all weird around me. But I guess if he does either of those things, he really ISN'T my friend after all, and then the problem will be solved anyway because then I won't have to care about what he says. It'll just make my job suck a little bit. Because one of the things I liked best was working with people I love.
Anyway, this has really been stressing me out for a long time now, but it all kind of collapsed in on me mentally and emotionally this morning. It just gets to me after awhile, because not only do I feel like I have to single-handedly defend my personal beliefs, but I also feel like I have to defend the content that I put in the show, as well as stand up for the news reporters when the production people rip them apart for "stupid" news and "stupid" video and "stupid" writing. Because it's easy to bash someone else's work when they aren't there to defend it themselves, and when you're not the one who has to go out and cover all kinds of tedious meetings and fundraisers and then put everything together in an understaffed department. It just sucks to have to be the only one sticking up for myself or for others...ALL the time. Every day. It's wearing me out.
A lot of times, people just don't know what they're talking about in general. Now I've moved on to our viewership. People call in asking why we only covered a story in the morning but not at noon or in the evening. Well, if they'd been watching any time during the ENTIRE DAY BEFORE, they'd realize we ran that story in every newscast--why do you think it was on this morning?!! Another guy calls in to say that police around here are racist because a white guy leaves his kid in the car while he's in the store and nothing happens, while a hispanic woman leaves her kid in a Walmart and there's a search warrant out for her. Well, if this guy watches the news more than once a month, he'd know that the woman has been ALL OVER the news because she ABANDONED her son...as in, never hoping to see him again!!! And then we have the folks on the opposite end of the spectrum who call in to tell me that they think there should be a law that bans the speech of foreign languages in public places, because "how do we know they're not saying something bad about us?" I don't know, maybe you should LEARN A FOREIGN LANGUAGE AND EDUCATE YOURSELF!!! People call us to ask if they're going to get cancer from living by a wind farm. People call and tell me about how they saw Bigfoot while they were hunting. People call at 2 in the morning to ask me why a Mexican immigrant gets hired for a job while they are home unemployed. MAYBE YOU SHOULD GET SOME SLEEP AND LOOK FOR A JOB IN THE MORNING INSTEAD OF STAYING UP ALL NIGHT COMPLAINING TO ME!!!
Apparently, I'm not allowed to have an opinion. I just have to listen to everyone else's, no matter how misinformed I think THEY are, and give everyone the equal opportunity to express themselves while they display a total lack of sensitivity for the fact that maybe someone else disagrees with them. But no, apparently to some people, their opinions are as good as fact, and I'm just supposed to accept that. And if I don't, then I'm stupid, or bias, or unpatriotic, or racist, or out of my mind.
I devoted most of my college academic career to studying various topics of media and political science. I guess that's why I'm the producer and can make intelligent, fair decisions about how to put together a show. I devoted my heart to Jesus, who blesses me every day. I guess that's the only reason I have any patience to deal with the stuff I get thrown at me at work every day. One of the things God wired into my personality is a huge capacity for acceptance. Accepting people and ideas that are different than me. It just frusterates me that it's so hard for other people to be accepting sometimes.
God, help me to accept the struggles that face me, too! And please give me the patience to do it! Amen!
It feels a lot better just getting all of this out. I'm sorry to anyone who actually read all the way through it; I'm sure it took a long time. But thanks for listening, if you did read any of this!
Whew. I feel better.
OK.
I hate when people spout their opinions with blatent disregard for anyone around them who may not agree with what they say.
Working at a TV station, especially during an election year, it could go without saying that politics naturally becomes a topic of conversation during the newscast. And my show's production crew happens to have quite a few people who are passionate and opinionated about what they believe politically. Most of them share similar beliefs. I tend to hold the opposite viewpoint of the majority in the control room, and this has been increasingly difficult for me to deal with. Here's why: I am also passionate and opinionated about what I believe, and I also like to argue for the sake of argument. But I am also responsible for choosing the content of the newscast. So what happens is, I voice my opinion in response to the numerous opinions so eagerly shared around me, because it feels wrong to just sit there and have to listen to someone else's remarks without getting to add your own. But then those people call me out for putting content in the news that supports or is related to my personal beliefs, even though 9 times out of 10 I add stories that have nothing to do with my point of view, my political alignment, or my own personal beliefs. Most of the time, my preferences are not at all represented in the news. But when they are, I get a hard time for it. I get called "bias." And that's something that I take to heart, because I am very passionate about balanced and fair news reporting and I take very seriously my responsibility to balance my shows.
Here's the hardest part--the person who gets me the most upset, who makes the most arbitrarlity judgemental comments, who says things that offend me, who doesn't want to hear or respect MY opinions and beliefs even though I have to listen to all of HIS, is also the person that at one time I felt like was my closest friend there. And in the past few months, I feel more and more like he isn't really my friend, because he doesn't respect the fact that I have different beliefs and that I am entitled to those beliefs. He speaks condescendingly and gives off the attitude that no intelligent person would dare disagree with him.
I have NO problem with people having and sharing opposing opinions. But I don't think you should EVER make someone feel stupid for having an opinion or a belief that is different than yours. Isn't that what it's all supposed to be about here? And especially if someone is your friend, shouldn't you be all the more willing to respect--even if you don't accept--that person's point of view?
What really stinks is that I could argue all day with this guy and it wouldn't matter because he is the kind of person who finishes an argument with "you're stupid." Which makes me realize that all the intelligent arguments in the world wouldn't make a difference because they still wouldn't make him RESPECT (again, not "agree with" or "accept," just "respect") my beliefs. And so I often just give up debating altogether because I know it's pointless and it's going to get me nowhere.
If I didn't value this person as a friend, I wouldn't care this much. But the fact that I consider him a friend is what makes this bother me a lot! I have been thinking for months now about talking to him about it, but I'm just afraid he would think I'm being really lame and then make fun of me for it, or get mad and defensive and then get everyone else to gang up against me and act all weird around me. But I guess if he does either of those things, he really ISN'T my friend after all, and then the problem will be solved anyway because then I won't have to care about what he says. It'll just make my job suck a little bit. Because one of the things I liked best was working with people I love.
Anyway, this has really been stressing me out for a long time now, but it all kind of collapsed in on me mentally and emotionally this morning. It just gets to me after awhile, because not only do I feel like I have to single-handedly defend my personal beliefs, but I also feel like I have to defend the content that I put in the show, as well as stand up for the news reporters when the production people rip them apart for "stupid" news and "stupid" video and "stupid" writing. Because it's easy to bash someone else's work when they aren't there to defend it themselves, and when you're not the one who has to go out and cover all kinds of tedious meetings and fundraisers and then put everything together in an understaffed department. It just sucks to have to be the only one sticking up for myself or for others...ALL the time. Every day. It's wearing me out.
A lot of times, people just don't know what they're talking about in general. Now I've moved on to our viewership. People call in asking why we only covered a story in the morning but not at noon or in the evening. Well, if they'd been watching any time during the ENTIRE DAY BEFORE, they'd realize we ran that story in every newscast--why do you think it was on this morning?!! Another guy calls in to say that police around here are racist because a white guy leaves his kid in the car while he's in the store and nothing happens, while a hispanic woman leaves her kid in a Walmart and there's a search warrant out for her. Well, if this guy watches the news more than once a month, he'd know that the woman has been ALL OVER the news because she ABANDONED her son...as in, never hoping to see him again!!! And then we have the folks on the opposite end of the spectrum who call in to tell me that they think there should be a law that bans the speech of foreign languages in public places, because "how do we know they're not saying something bad about us?" I don't know, maybe you should LEARN A FOREIGN LANGUAGE AND EDUCATE YOURSELF!!! People call us to ask if they're going to get cancer from living by a wind farm. People call and tell me about how they saw Bigfoot while they were hunting. People call at 2 in the morning to ask me why a Mexican immigrant gets hired for a job while they are home unemployed. MAYBE YOU SHOULD GET SOME SLEEP AND LOOK FOR A JOB IN THE MORNING INSTEAD OF STAYING UP ALL NIGHT COMPLAINING TO ME!!!
Apparently, I'm not allowed to have an opinion. I just have to listen to everyone else's, no matter how misinformed I think THEY are, and give everyone the equal opportunity to express themselves while they display a total lack of sensitivity for the fact that maybe someone else disagrees with them. But no, apparently to some people, their opinions are as good as fact, and I'm just supposed to accept that. And if I don't, then I'm stupid, or bias, or unpatriotic, or racist, or out of my mind.
I devoted most of my college academic career to studying various topics of media and political science. I guess that's why I'm the producer and can make intelligent, fair decisions about how to put together a show. I devoted my heart to Jesus, who blesses me every day. I guess that's the only reason I have any patience to deal with the stuff I get thrown at me at work every day. One of the things God wired into my personality is a huge capacity for acceptance. Accepting people and ideas that are different than me. It just frusterates me that it's so hard for other people to be accepting sometimes.
God, help me to accept the struggles that face me, too! And please give me the patience to do it! Amen!
It feels a lot better just getting all of this out. I'm sorry to anyone who actually read all the way through it; I'm sure it took a long time. But thanks for listening, if you did read any of this!
Whew. I feel better.
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