Jack MacKenzie speaking in front of a COM310 class at Elon University.
By Oliver Fischer
Oct. 6 2017
An excellent resume may not help you stand out from the crowd, but showing personality and initiative might. “If you can’t make yourself interesting you might struggle,” Michael Clemente said.
Clemente is a network news executive who shared advice during an Elon reporting class about the field of communications alongside television news consultant Ken White and vice president of Penn Schoen Berland, Jack MacKenzie.
White works with individuals to improve their storytelling and writing skills, while MacKenzie specializes in communication strategies for corporate, political and entertainment clients.
The landscape of news media is changing in favor of younger people seeking to enter the communications field. “There are opportunities galore,” White said. “You have skills that present staff don’t have.”
Older generations are finding it hard to keep up with the increasing importance of social media in the newsroom. “You would be a welcoming relief,” White said. “People like me look for people like you,” Clemente said.
“If you’re a journalist of any type, you’re a first class passenger.”
- Ken White, television news consultant
Storytelling for the news can sometimes be challenging and slow down the writing process. Clemente said that reporters making slow progress should consider the basic elements of their story. “It’s thinking clearly and making it interesting and putting it down on paper.”
Ken White and Michael Clemente sharing advice about the field of communications.
Reporters should not fall victim to click-bait storytelling that warps the truth to get attention. “That’s the problem with the Vice or some of these other places,” Clemente said. “It might have a kernel of truth, but then they blow it into something that I can’t stand by a few days later.”
Being a journalist also means carrying a lot of responsibilities. “If you’re a journalist of any type, you’re a first class passenger,” White said. It is also more important than ever to provide context in your stories. “Context is more king than content itself,” he said.
White said that news media tend to serve the wrong audience and sometimes forget to follow basic news values, such as being more critical of the 2016 presidential election candidates. “You gotta be aggressive,” he said. “You really gotta hold elected officials accountable.”
Simply covering what happened is not always enough either according to MacKenzie. “Don’t cover the process, cover the news.”
MacKenzie said there are three essential traits you need to succeed in the field of communications.
- Young
- Scrappy
- Hungry
Apart from that, MacKenzie’s advice was to read a lot and show that you are knowledgable. “Say something they don’t expect,” he said.
In the following video, MacKenzie explains the disparities between the reporting of local news stations and the community that surrounds them.
Oliver Fischer Article Archive 
You must be logged in to post a comment.