Today marks 11 days left at Fox 11.
Its been an extraordinary experience. Everyone I've had the privilege to work with is awesome. My co-workers have been patient, kind to me, and willing to teach me a brand new set of job skills. Its a really good group of people.
Even though this job was short in its tenure, I've gotten the opportunity to learn how to produce a newscast. Plus, I've gotten the chance to show that I can successfully make a career change (working as a news producer is very much a career change compared to programming a radio station and working as an on-air talent).
The most extraordinary part of my time at Fox 11 is seeing how professional and together everyone has been knowing its about to end. It won't end for people who watch each day. Viewers will still get their news at 9 p.m. plus two new hours of programming in the morning. But, it will look different and will feature a different cast of people delivering the news stories on camera. Most people won't know the blood, sweat and tears that went into putting together the newscasts prior to February 1 with a small, hardworking, dedicated staff. It will be done by a different company and different people at that time. The newscast will also be in high definition for the first time.
The part that will end is the group of people who work together now. Some are getting hired at Raycom (the company that owns KOLD and will be responsible for producing newscasts starting February 1), some at other stations in Tucson, some in other cities, and some will be going on to other jobs other than in television news.
One thing that has been unusual is the open nature of finding employment. There hasn't been a day that has gone by since mid-November where I haven't heard co-workers ask each other things like "Did you get a new job?" or "How's the job hunt going?" and get to hear real candid conversations. I've never experienced anything like it.
It was a gamble for the company to hire an inexperienced producer and it was a gamble for me to take on the job. I'd like to think the gamble was a successful one for both sides. I'm grateful that I've had the opportunity even if its only been for a short time.
I work nine of the last eleven days. I imagine it'll be a one of a kind experience.
