South Carolina State University communications students interested in working in television were treated yesterday to the high-energy and straight talk of Michael Raffaele, news director at Columbia's WACH Fox 57.
Raffaele did not mince words about what skills and potential he seeks in news reporters and producers.
With reporters he says there are three things he looks for:
1. Passion for the job, you must love news
2. To be on camera as a reporter or anchor you have to be engaging, you have to command people's attention
3. Writing. "If you can't write, you cannot communicate," Raffaele said. "I don't have anything for you."
He added: "If you can write, you can get your foot in the door. It's the foundation."
In producers (the people in charge of particular newscasts in terms of organizing and arranging or "stacking" stories), he also wants young people who are passionate about news, have strong writing skills and who have good news judgment. "You need a sense of what's big," he said.
"You have a better chance of playing in the NFL than being an entertainment reporter," he said. "You want to be on ESPN, you have a better chance of playing in the NBA."
There are some 210 television markets in the U.S. Raffaele said the small markets are the places to start, to get experience and try to move up to bigger cities from there.
A native of Orange County, N.Y. (an hour from New York City), he began at WACH-TV in Columbia last fall. Prior to that he gained TV news experience in Allentown and Johnstown, both in Pennsylvania where he was an executive producer and assistant news director, respectively.
Then he moved to West Palm Beach, Fla. where he was the assignment editor.
"Tornadoes and Elvis, that's all you have in Tupelo," he quipped.
Then last October he came to Columbia, which is TV market No. 74.
He told the students that there is a shortage of news producers. "Producers are gold," he said.
"I will give you three news releases and you will have 30 minutes to write three news stories from them," he said of the reporter test.
Raffaele is all about training young broadcast journalists to help them get better and move on to larger markets if that's what they desire.
One of the first things he says he asks an applicant is where he or she consumes the news.
The veteran newsman emphasized to the young people that in broadcasting you have to start somewhere and you will have to pay your dues, whether in small markets and odd work hours- or both.
"The road to your next level will be through local news," he said.
Recent SC State communications graduate Andrea Butler worked at WACH-TV for a few years. She made her way up from part-time to full time as an online content producer. She recently left TV news for a public relations position at Morris College in Sumter, S.C.
"Andrea could write and write well," her former boss said.
Michael Raffaele is a very busy man and very straightforward in what he seeks in the young talent he hires at his Columbia station. But he also seems very approachable, so SC State communications students should keep him in mind when looking for a position in television news. Be able to write well and be familiar with local TV news and especially the content put out by his station.
He will like that and you will have a better chance to get job consideration!
Many thanks to Professor Alicia Pryor for bringing Raffaele to campus! More on him can be found on his LinkedIn site.
A few more takeaways from this talk:
--Raffaele says his reporters are MMJ or multi-media journalists. This means they regularly shoot and edit their own stories
--His reporters are also expected to tweet at least five times a day
--Concerning shooting, editing and doing live reports, he says he is willing to train his reporters in these areas
--All WACH-TV reporters and anchors are on two-year contracts
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