So, today we ended the day with a bit of a downer.
But you know what? I have a confession to make:
Sometimes, I really like negativity.
I know, I know - I can already see all of you who know me snickering - "sometimes"!?!
And it's true - when it comes to my overall outlook on life, I may tend to tip the scales in favor of cynicism just a tad more often than not - a quality of which I assure you, I am not proud.
However, my propensity for seeing the glass half (or admittedly, as much as 3/4) empty makes me that much more appreciative of those wonderful few who can assess an unfortunate situation and come out smiling, convinced (at least on the surface) that the best is yet to come.
Paul Spellman is not one of those people.
His forecast for the TV news industry was anything but sunny. The stories, though at times visually entertaining, are essentially unimportant, overly simplistic and about "the silliest things". It pays you too little and works you too hard for the amount of personal reward it generally fails to deliver.
Poor Paul, his demeanor roughly resembling that of Steve Carrell in "Forty Year-Old Virgin", just could not catch a break. He worked his butt off to get a "one-man band" job that ultimately ground him into not only a financial, but a physical and emotional hole, only to move on "up" to a position that was somehow even less gratifying than the exhausting one he'd risen from.
And to make matters worse, his less than chipper personality hardly condoned the feel-good response that local TV news so often seeks. "I just come across as very serious," he said a bit resignedly, referring to how just his on-screen presence brought a totally somber air to what was intentioned to be a perfectly lighthearted piece.
Paul is now a lawyer, and he insists that it's only for the money insomuch that the money in TV News wasn't enough motivation to stick with something he didn't enjoy. It's probably all for the better, seeing as the first impression he engenders tends to suit his current job-title moreso than it ever would "news anchor". Nonetheless, I couldn't help feeling a bit sorry for Paul, who had to resign from what had once been such a fervent passion to a job in which he seems mildly content, if not slightly disappointed.
"Even Worse Than We Had Hoped" is the title of his book - very telling, I'd say, of the anchor-turned-lawyer's oddly good-humored cynicism.
But sometimes you just need a hearty dose of negativity to move on forward. Yes, it's true, I fully believe in the power of a good, long whine.
And with my boundless positivity, it's hard to believe, I know.
Thanks for blogging about my visit. I really enjoyed getting to talk to your class.
ReplyDeleteMy assigned task was to present something of a reality check about the TV news business, but I hope I wasn't too much of a downer. As noted, I sometimes come across as a bit more negative than I really am (although resembling Steve Carell's 40-year-old virgin will bring anybody down), but I would never want to dissuade people from getting into TV news if that's really what they want to do. I just feel it's better not to start out with too many illusions.
A few illusions is okay, of course. In fact, how would we get by without them? Like the one I have about "Even Worse Than We Had Hoped" becoming a bestseller. Helps me get out of bed on cold days.
Send me an email (through the book's website) if you want a copy. I'll send you a free one as a thank you for relishing negativity. The book is heavily edited, so it's much more entertaining than I am in person.