I love my job and I hate my job

Working in the media can be very rewarding, there are times when I wonder if they realize that they are paying me to do something I probably would do for free. Then there are the days when I wish I had stayed in college and never took a job in news. I really think it is rude and thoughtless when we are sent to interview someone who just lost their family member or a close friend. Do you really think a person wants a camera shoved in their face following a tragic event. However this is how it works, there are people out there who wish they had my job and would do anything to get my job . Everyday I am approached by someone asking how do they get a job like mine, I use to enjoy answering that question the first 10,000 times, and if you don't believe me just ask anyone in the media they will tell you they get the same questions. If I may give you a little advice, If you could look for another profession please do. We are the first responders, during a disaster, except all we are armed with is a Camera or a pen and a paper..We don't have safety suits and we don't carry guns (or at least admit to it) and everyone is not making a shitload of money.

I have seen almost every way there is to die, Body parts, burned parts maggot covered parts. There are days when I only get one hour of sleep because we have to feed the news monster... When it rains we are standing outside telling you its raining, if its snowing and 20 below zero we are standing in the snow telling you its snowing and if it's 110 degrees outside we are standing there telling you you could fry an egg on the sidewalk as if you are too dumb to look out the window and see what the weather is. So what make me say I can't believe they pay me for working in the media? Its the 1% of the stories I cover that make a difference and the story that give you a adrenaline rush like no other for me gun play gives me a rush I can't begin to describe, capturing that 20 seconds of video that makes you say wow!!! Or beating my competitor to a breaking news story, and covering real news. But when a bridge collapses in China and management wants us to find a local angle to a story that took place in China that really pisses me off. Weekend news is the worst there is at best two photographers on duty so you don't get the real good local stories but never fear they cover the same story on Monday because Mondays are the "quick find the newspaper" we need a story day!

The fourth branch of the government

The media, we have the power to sway a vote, convict a criminal guilty or not, trigger investigations, stop wars (sometimes) and create a false fear. The public has learned via the media to fear the black man and although some outlets have a policy of not mentioning the race of a suspect, there are other ways of mentioning someone's race, for example lets say the suspect was Asian the reporter will mention something like the suspect is well known in Chinatown and has lived there all his life... Or my favorite race mentioning without mentioning race is the suspect was last seen running toward an area that you know only a certain race lives like in the black part of town, I mean really, what is the chance that a white man was seen running into the projects after shooting two people. Another thing you may not notice have you ever listen to the double standard when it comes to blacks? For example if a crime or something negative was mentioned in the newscast that person more than likely will be called Black, However if that person had done something good they would be referred to as an African American.... Think about it Black on Black Crime is bad an African American Church is good...The Black Community is bad but the African American community is usually good. If you don't believe me just watch the news....We are taught to believe black is bad.. I do not plan to go on a rant about race I just want to open your eyes and your ears when you watch the local and national news.

The news has changed over the years, in the beginning when the news was run by newsies, where they you take two or three days to work a story. Thing are so different now everything is run by corporations and news consultants who don't have a clue what real news is... There was a time when reporters would go out and search for and dig up great stories, now when we arrive at work we are handed the morning paper and are forced to chase a story with absolutely no broadcast value or visuals so what you end up seeing is a bunch of talking heads and some file footage instead of getting three days to turn a story the are usually allowed 5 hours...This is why he media get the story wrong sometimes, because deadlines come pretty quick and not every reporter checks every lead... Most of the time we wait until some other station breaks a story so we can quote an unknown source there by absolving ourselves of any responsibility.

Why do we need the media?

Case and point, there is a case making its was through the judicial system where a man who may or may not have committed a murder he was found guilty 14 years ago by a San Francisco, California Jury. Just recently he was set free because it was determined that the prosecution withheld evidence that may have proved his innocence, so he was deemed factually innocent and set free. This man is now suing he system asking for 100 dollars a day for the last 14 years something around 500,000 not much when you spent the last 14 years in prison. The state is requiring this man to prove his innocence in order to get compensated for his false imprisonment.

This is a strong reason why we need the media!

Welcome to the Antimedia.com Blog

I have been in working in the Broadcast media since 1990, I have many awards in my profession and have been considered very good at what I do....I will refrain from giving you any personal information about me or where I work for obvious reasons, but this blogger is my attempt to vent and hopefully add some clarity to what it is we do in the media. I can tell you this I am a cameraperson and not a writer you will read some run on sentences and possibly many other minor even major grammar errors so please don't hassle me about proper English .

What theantimedia is...is a leak in the system you see not everyone appreciates how the media portrays things in the world and how we are suppose to be objective but most of the time there are subtle slants placed on everyday news.

Lets look at the Scott Peterson trial for example this is like the white version of the OJ trial, with all the homicides why do we give a shit about this murder... I am missing the whole point here, thank God the judge had the sense of mind to ban cameras from the courtroom because this would have become a three ring circus oh wait... too late.

Local media sucks is one of the shirts we offer on http://www.cafepress.com/theantimedia because there has been a consistent breakdown of local news. I know I live it in 3D. I am on the front line when it comes to getting the finger while out in the field, and if one more person spits at me I am going to loose it!

While I believe that it is important for the media to keep government in check with a sort of checks and balances some stuff is just bizarre..I will be back with more input later if you have any comments please feel free to post.