Thanks to everyone who has shown support for my application process - from those in the Houston media to bloggers.
Please comment your critiques on my cover letter for the Imaginator job. Think of it as your way to let KIAH and other TV news managers know what you are thinking. Considering what the job is calling for and the tone of the job description, should I cuss more? Be more rock and roll? Talk myself up more? Use proper spelling and grammar?
Here it is:
I saw a bumper sticker on Loop 610 last weekend that read "TV Sucks: Ride a bike." While I am not much of a bike rider anymore, I have to say much of TV does suck including local news. News viewers are not turning it on as much, not tuning in, only dropping out.
We can change that.
For NewsFix to work, you're going to have to hire someone like me who is tuned into the Houston community (even more rare, I am a native Houstonian). Things that work on TV/radio in Houston...only work here. Did you ever see a Marvin Zindler report?
My blog has more than 20,000 unique readers a month. I was voted top Twitterer in Houston by the Houston Press readers for 2009. Keep in mind that I am only some dude with a free blogger.com account...imagine what I could do with a damn TV transmitter!
My bosses at KTRK used to say Mike McGuff is the best at merging television and the web. That's why I'm the only person in Texas to have two Lone Star EMMY Advanced Media Awards to my name in two years. Not only that, but I also won First and Second place in Best Online/Special Content from the Texas AP in the same year!
But before you throw my resume out because "I have too much TV experience" keep reading. What I'm saying is you need a guy like me who knows what's really going on in Houston and is connected. There are people in this city who would love to contribute to the newscast. Want investigative reports? Groups like Texas Watchdog are doing the journalism, NewsFix could provide the time. Want to know what hot new restaurant is going into that old famous building in Montrose? Swamplot has your answer. Want the latest society scoop, Culturemap knows.
I'm the one to bring all these parties together and actually get it on TV so viewers aren't being subjected to some guy giving his opinion on high gas prices in the predictable "man on the street" interviews. Don't even get me started on live shots at night where it looks like the reporter is reporting from their closet.
Speaking of the online world, you could totally dominate with what I can do. Wanna experience how much I know about online? This cover letter was crowdsourced. Yeah, I took reader suggestions from my blog for ideas on this letter. You think Tribune is getting buzz off NewsFix? Well so am I! In fact, I want to bring in a camera to record my job interview with you! This is why the trades and news sites as far as Seattle pick up my coverage of the coming KIAH revolution.
Together we can stop the brain drain and BS in local news. Hurry up and call me, the viewers are dropping like flies out there from boredom. Don't let that be on your conscience.
As promised, if I get called in for an interview, I would like to bring in a video camera for at least part of it to be shown on this blog (it would be great to get a few minutes of the NewsFix pilot on mikemcguff.com too). I'm also considering the dress code. They want rock n' roll so I was thinking about slinging my electric guitar around my shoulder and heading into the job interview. I guess that is for another post though.
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- Mike McGuff resume
- KIAH 39 Imaginator job: Help me apply for it
- KIAH 39 dumps traditional newscasts
- NewsFix pilot debuts to KIAH 39 staff - terrorists referred to as 'bozos' in story CONTACT: Leave me a Houston or Texas media news tip | COMMENT: Click to leave your thoughts on this post here
