My journey through journalism

Goodbye News, Hello Marketing

Most people who know me are probably sick of hearing me talk about it at this point. But I’m finally getting a chance to sit down and write a blog. It’s been a long time coming. I just wanted to take a few minutes to reflect on the last 21+ years.

I’ll start from the beginning. In 1995 as I was preparing to graduate from Southeast Missouri State University I thought it would be cool to go into broadcast journalism. Keep in mind there were no options for this at the time at SEMO and I was about as introverted as they come.

However, I persisted and landed a behind the scenes job at KMOV in 1996. A year later I landed my first on-air job at WOWL in Florence, Alabama. I remember in those early days thinking by the age of 30 I was going to be back in my hometown of St. Louis and an Emmy Award winner. Neither happened. But none the less, I had a load of fun along the way.

We ended up in West Lafayette, Indiana for more than four years before settling in southern Illinois in 2004. WSIL and the management here gave me opportunities I never thought I’d achieve. I was named co-anchor of News 3 This Morning in August 2004. I held onto that position for almost 15 years before deciding it was time for something new.

I know (and believe me I’ve been told repeatedly) that I should have never been in the position I was. It is the perfect example of hard work prevailing over talent. I am not saying this to be self-deprecating, this is the reality of my situation and one of the factors that lead to my decision to leave.

There were other things too. While many people view being on TV as something glamorous, that’s really not the case. Don’t get me wrong, I wouldn’t trade the past 21 years for anything. But young journalists and those who want to get into the business need to know the pay isn’t great; especially starting off. You’ll work holidays, weekends, nights, during snow storms, tornadoes, earthquakes. You have to be there. Again, I’m not complaining, but this year will mark the first Thanksgiving I’ve had off since 2002.

I’m still wrapping my brain around my new reality and getting acclimated accordingly. I’ve been working for Idea Creative Marketing on a freelance and part-time basis since 2015. In August of 2018, I went into the office for a reality check/pep talk on getting into marketing (I had several interviews but either I wasn’t right for the position or the salary wasn’t enough).

My new boss, Whitney, laid it out and presented a plan that piqued my curiosity. As I dove into the profession, I started to love it and my passion for the news waned. I knew I could not keep doing both jobs, working many days up to 16 hours.

My wife, who has been so incredibly supportive since before I even got a job in TV, encouraged me to make the move. I don’t know that I would have ever gotten that first job in TV news had she not pushed me so hard. Now I’m on to a new adventure with her by my side cheering me along.

So there you have it, a quickish overview of why my journey and why I decided to change paths at age 46. Thank you all for the support as well. I appreciate it.