Welcome To The Hot Jobs Powered By Talent Dynamics For September 27th

A little slower week on the job search side of things. Nothing to read into it. We have two confidential searches one for a producer and the other a reporter and weather fill-in. The reporter role is an excellent way for someone thinking of going the weather route long term to get their feet wet by doing it.

This week I wanted to talk about News Director openings. So far this year we have conducted 18 news director searches. The number really surprised me! We haven't seen that many searches, looking back at 2023, we did 17 searches the whole year. The timing of ND openings has changed a lot from when I was an ND. I used to call the time between March and July the silly season for News Directors where a bad book would come out and firings would follow. The last few years we have seen fewer and fewer openings, especially in the top 50 markets, why is it? It seems stations are more willing to stick with managers who are good even if a bad book happens and the managers aren't looking to move, as we know moves are expensive! Don't get me wrong there are some ND openings that have been open for awhile! Many journalists see the job of the news director as thankless, funny years ago we said the same thing about assignment editors, my have times changed!

The perception is ND's are less involved with journalism and more about meetings, HR and managing up and some folks want no part of that. Depending on the company, there is truth to that thought. We are also at the point of seeing retirements and the next generation of leaders starting to move up and their priorities are different. Also, companies are going internal more and more moving news directors from market to market. It can become harder to get into some groups as a ND then it used to be. Like in any job, ultimately it comes down to who you are working for and the relationships. Will the silly season as I call it come back? Who knows, given the challenges in 2025, my guess is no. But I wouldn't put money on it! Now here's the rest of the list: Welcome To The Hot Jobs Newsletter Powered By Talent Dynamics For September 27th – NewsBlues.com