Interview with a Media Professional

As I've said before, I interned at News 12 in Augusta last summer
in the promotions department. I recently conducted an e-mail interview
with my old boss. Bonita is the promotions director at News 12 and My 12 TV.

Here are the questions and responses from the interview:

As promotions director for a news station, what are some of your
daily activities?

My daily activities change constantly because things get added each day.
The things that I have to make sure our department handles are: the daily logs have to be filled with promos and public service announcements. This has to be done by a deadline and is a very tedious task. I have to make sure our events that we are sponsoring are getting what we promised in our proposal and that involves checking to make sure the promo is running, the news covers the event, and it is on the
website or linked. I have lots of ongoing duties from pulling contest winners, submitting payroll, submitting purchase orders and any paper work that is required by corporate. If breaking news occurs I have the task of prioritizing tasks for my already busy staff. We have to react to news as well as get our current duties completed. If an employee is having difficulties I am the go to person to help solve any work related problem.

How is working in promotions at News 12 different from any previous
marketing or promotions experience you may have?

Marketing a television station is not a routine type of job...this industry is always on ready. We are always expected to react and promote ourselves. This job is fast paced and can easily burn you out if you don't pace yourself. Some other marketing jobs are fast paced but not so minute to minute deadline. News can get old fast so we have to react fast. My other marketing job that I can compare to my current job was at an agency and it was a group of producers and we had our projects as far as 6 months out. That was a more work at your own pace kind of job and of course it was a smaller group of people and the atmosphere was not as
stressful.

Do you ever use any types of media other than TV promos/PSAs to
promote News 12 and its events? If so, what?

Yes we use magazines, newspaper, radio, billboards, and any other
mediums that we target for whatever we are promoting.

What is the most successful campaign or sponsored event News 12 has
produced? How did you measure its success?

Our Time To SCare event is one of our most successful event. It is a
Halloween event for inner city kids and it is well attended because the parents need a safe and friendly environment and we provide that along with great entertainment. The event continues to grow in attendance and it makes all of our sponsors happy and that in turn makes us happy.

What kind of promotional materials or media did you employ for this
campaign or event?

We promote on our own air, we use radio and we submit the event to newspapers and magazines for publication in October events...and of course the best promotion is word of mouth and it definitely works for this event in that community.

In your opinion, what is the most successful way to promote a
sponsored event or community activity?

The most successful way to promote a sponsored event is give the
promotion enough time for people to see it and/or hear about it. My rule of thumb is..."it takes people a week to see something is going on and another week for them to comprehend it", so with that said, we usually promote an event at least 2 weeks of promotion. Also giving viewers the benefit of knowing what the event is for, and making the event something the average person would want to support. How does it benefit the attendee whether it is giveaways, supporting a great cause, etc.

Do you have any advice for upcoming professionals interested in the
news promotion field?

Just be flexible and able to adapt to a fast paced environment. Detail
oriented and organizational skills are a must. Writing and editing skills are much needed but can be developed within the job, but it is good to have some writing know how, especially for news promotion. Don't come into this industry to get rich...it is known as the "all flash and no cash" industry. Although there are some people making good cash but it is not a guarantee.