Blonde Highlights

Many times people ask me about careers in television news. My job as an anchor is just one of dozens of television news jobs. Every single person at my station is vital to putting together a newscast. I thought I’d introduce you to some of those people. This might be especially helpful for the high schoolers with an interest in a career in television.

VICKIE VAN VLIET - 13ABC Good Morning Producer
Hometown: Carmel, Indiana
College: Bachelor of Journalism from University of Missouri (Vickie says this is the only school to offer a Bacheolor of Journalism Degree.)
Age: Almost 23
Experience: Vickie worked at the NBC affiliate in Columbia, Missouri. She had the opportunity to produce, report, edit and even tried her hand at news photography. Vickie originally thought about going into magazine design. But as she learned about t.v. news it appealed to her that each day is different. She also liked being able to work with all sorts of different people and do interesting stories. That magazine background is even important to her current job as a producer as she enjoys creating graphics for the newscasts.She says the hardest thing about the job is combining all the details to make the finished product.

 One of these is Vickie in the 13ABC newsroom and the other is Mary Richards, courtesy Wikepedia, in her Minneapolis newsroom. Pretty close eh?

Job Description: The morning producer is a major factor in determining all the stories in the newscast and what order they appear. They have to manage where news crews are headed and communicate with the reporters and photographers. Vickie works from 10:30 p.m. to 7:00 a.m. to create the morning newscast while everyone else is sleeping. When I get in at 4 a.m. Vickie’s been there for…oh wait.. that’s math. No math here at Blonde Highlights. Let’s just say Vickie’s been there a long time by the time I get there. Furthermore, in job description mode, producers also keep their eyes on the satellite feeds to find compelling video from around the world while also tracking local stories. Also if you ever see that earpiece in my ear the person talking to me is Vickie. Probably telling me to wrap.

What Surprised Vickie about T.V.  That anchors don’t write all the stories.

Surprising Things About Vickie: She’s a football fanatic. And that she’s never seen The Mary Tyler Moore Show!

If You Want to Grow Up to Be Vickie: Producers like to be in charge and they need to be organized. You have to like to write and be creative. It’s also essential to be able to focus on a lot of different elements while under pressure and with rigid deadlines. You also have to get used to sleeping from 9:00 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Vickie’s Career Goals: Two tracts, either producer for live football coverage, or executive producer or Assistant News Director in top 30 market. Or win the lottery or marry Eli Manning.

Favorite Blog: Lifehacker.com (This is a tech tips for computers type blog. Vickie says it’s geeky. But since Blonde Highlights is geeky I’m going to check it out.)

(And to Blonde Highlights Readers I told Vickie you all were very nice people and not to be afraid. See Vickie, painless. Also if anyone has a suggestion as to what to call this new blog feature let me know. We’d like it to sound cool, and maybe like something one could tout on a resume. Emmy Awards are taken but you get my drift right? Like this month’s Blondie goes to… but see that’s a band, Blondie.)