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| "That means you do everything yourself--shoot your own video, edit yourself, write." |
GS: Your parents supported you?
AT: Yes.
GS: What does your father do?
AT: He's a periodontist. He also teaches at UCLA.
GS: And your mom?
AT: A dental hygenist. She works at my dad's office two days a week and teaches one day a week.
GS: Why did you pick Northwestern?
AT: It has the top broadcast program in the country.
GS: How old were you when you finished at Northwestern?
AT: Twenty-two.
GS: How did you land your first job?
AT: Like anyone in this business, when you get out of school, you send out a ton of audition tapes. I sent them all over the country, to points north and south, east and west.
GS: How many?
AT: Probably more than a hundred.
GS: How long did the job search take?
AT: I was looking for six months.
GS: How did you feel during that time?
AT: You run the gamut of hopefulness every time you send out a tape to despair every time you don't hear back.
GS: Did you make followup calls?
AT: Oh, yes!
GS: To all of them?
AT: Only the opportunities I thought were more promising.
GS: What did your application packet consist of?
AT: A cover letter, resume and a tape containing stories I had done.
GS: What was your expectation? That stations would be lucky to have you?
AT: No, my program at Northwestern did a good job of not letting me feel that way. It would have been irresponsible for them to tell me that I'm coming out of the top school in the country and everyone's going to want me. Frankly, that's not the case, and they didn't let us believe that would be. It's a competitive business. I graduated in September of 1991 from Northwestern. At the same time thousands of other people were graduating, and there are only so many jobs. There are some 210 markets across the country, staffing anywhere from 10 to 100 people each. That's in every area, not just reporting.
SYDNIE KOHARA is a 6 a.m. weekdays news anchor for KGO-TV, and co-hosts Marketplace, a half-hour weekly business program for working women. She graduated from Louisiana State University with a broadcast journalism degree. Kohara started as a reporter at WSFA-TV in Montgomery, Alabama. She next moved to reporting and anchoring for KCRA-TV in Sacramento before coming to KGO in 1989.
GS: What proportion is in reporting?
AT: I don't think it would be accurate to lump market 210 with New York or Los Angeles and take an average. In my newsroom about a third are reporters.
GS: Where did you live during your job search?
AT: At home. I was working part time in an accounting office for a family friend of ours whom I had worked for during summers in high school and college.
GS: What was your first TV job?
AT: It was a one-man-band reporter. That means you do everything yourself--shoot your own video, edit yourself, write. It was in Sioux City Iowa, at the time the 137th market in the country. I had never been to Iowa before. My mom and I packed up and drove out to Iowa from L.A. PAGE 3
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