On Monday, our class had the opportunity to discuss and absorb useful information from Bill Carey. Mr. Carey has been in the broadcasting and journalism industry for a significant amount of time. Working on projects such as Touchvision, as well as an up and coming small town digital arm ‘Rosebud’, he has an incredible list of accomplishments. In addition, he has worked with well known stations such as Channel 2 and PIX. That being said Mr. Carey spent some time with us discussing ways to pull ahead in this industry.

A key component of his lecture was the importance of being a storyteller through ones writing. Being the strongest writer in the room ensures that you have a leg up on the competition. The three main components of writing that were presented were to: 1 Know your material 2 Use emotion/connect 3 Have storytelling fundamentals. It ultimately comes down to ones ability to draw the audience in and to make them want to stay for more. Mr. Carey emphasized, “Good writing doesn’t come from adjectives and adverbs”. Reasonably, adding ‘fluff’ to a story will not make it good, it is the content the matters and most especially the delivery.

A huge takeaway from this discussion was that what one needs in order to succeed in this industry is already inside of them. One has to be brave enough to step out of their comfort zone and to turn that switch on. Mr. Carey stated, “If you open your mouth and know what you’re talking about, people will listen”. The desire of any journalist or news broadcaster is to get the attention of their audience. In doing so people will begin to view oneself as a reliable source and a strong reporter. Bill Carey gave great insight into ways in which we can push ourselves forward. It was incredible to see someone so accomplished, remain invested in the future of the industry.