Studying and working in the media industry is an ever-changing landscape that requires consistency, quality, and resilience to stand out from the crowd and achieve your career goals.
Last Monday in our media storytelling 1 class, Matt Tompkins, host of Matt in the Morning on Omaha’s 101.9 the Keg spoke to our class about his journey through his media career. Matt said when he started attending the University of Nebraska Omaha he was unsure of what he wanted to study but eventually found an interest in Journalism and Mass Communication.
“This is the opportunity to try everything you want to do,” Said Matt about college.
At UNO, he learned basic skills like editing and keying with final cut pro and looked to expand his skills in real working environments by interning at places like KFAB. Through his internships, he networked with many people in the hope of being notified of job opportunities and sometimes even doing work for free to show that he was dependable.
Matt said it is important to learn as many of the jobs behind the camera as possible as it could save your job. Being able to write, edit and shoot makes you far more valuable of an employee and therefore more indispensable, especially in the current state of the media industry.
Matt encourages those going into this field to have an ongoing personal project like a podcast. Matt said to set a goal for your podcast and focus on it and be consistent on uploading new episodes.
“The biggest mistake people make in podcasts and radio is trying to entertain everyone,” said Matt.
Have a target audience and don’t be concerned with narrowing it down he said. Having a project like a podcast allows you to grow your skills on your own, show consistency and talent to a potential employer.
Social media, video, photo, audio are all parts that are layered and needed now said Matt.
MAV Research 