The Price Point | During The Pandemic, Plenty Of Fortitude

This past week several general managers remarked to me how odd it was to have so few people in their buildings, yet how well things seemed to be working.

Just two months ago many had never heard of Zoom, nor contemplated employees using their kitchen tables as desks. One wonders how many are still wearing pajamas under those tables.

Still, the work is getting done. Salespeople are selling, news producers are producing, creative services directors are still creating, talent is still on the air, though in many cases each of those folk are working from the privacy of their own homes. I know of one case where a chief meteorologist handled breaking weather from his bedroom in the middle of the night, complete with his wife still under the covers. My wife saw it and was charmed.

Thanks to the wonder of the internet, I’ve been able to sample a lot of newscasts during this odd era. The quality of product continues to be very high, which is important, given the large number of new viewers now watching local newscasts. Some will like what they are seeing enough to become regular viewers after we return to normal. Who would have thought that?

If you read TVNewsCheck Editor Michael Depp’s insightful piece Monday about Dr. Seth Geiger’s new consumer news study, you know those viewers can mean great multiplatform opportunities for stations well past this event. Geiger is arguably the nation’s leading news researcher, so his words carry weight.

We’ve also learned other important things over the past few weeks. If there ever was doubt employees are our strongest assets, that should be gone. Engineers, to cite only one example, have repurposed, reworked and scrounged everything from laptops to boom mikes.

That same creativity, fortitude and positive attitude has been on display in every other department. It’s surprising how much work really can be accomplished, how many problems can be solved, how many stories can be covered, all while never going to the office.

There is no question this great experiment in unconventionality is going to change our business. Some things will never go back. I’m told at least one news producer has expressed how much more she gets done when uninterrupted. Her only request is for a second monitor, please. At the same time, working apart has also reminded us how much we need to be together.

Most people really do function best when they are with other people. Those face-to-face interactions are sorely missed. Sure, you can look someone in the face and share the same amount of information over Zoom, but the nuance is lost. There is also an energy that comes simply from being in the same room. Water cooler talk is merely an expression of the need people have for other people.

I suspect when this is all over, many staff members will be greeting each other like long-lost relatives. Years from now they will talk about the crazy things that happened in 2020, as well as the lessons learned that changed our business. They will also take pride in how well they performed; even how much fun it was to sometimes go to work in pajamas

Hank Price is a media consultant, author and speaker. He is the author of Leading Local Television, a handbook for general managers. He spent 30 years managing TV stations for Hearst, CBS and Gannett, including WBBM Chicago and KARE Minneapolis. He also served as senior director of Northwestern University’s Media Management Center and is currently director of leadership development for the School of Journalism and New Media at Ole Miss.