Channel 39's New TV News: Good Lord, The Help-Wanted Ad

By Richard Connelly Wed., Aug. 4 2010 at 4:01 PM

Categories: Television

Living on the edge, with Channel 39

The lowly rated Channel 39 newscast, as we've discussed, is switching this fall to an innovative style imposed by its owner that features no anchors and lots and lots of cutting-edge stuff.

No, check that -- not cutting-edge, bleeding-edge.

That's the term used in the Tribune Company's help-wanted ad for positions here (we assume), and....well, we can only quote from it.

The TV revolution is upon us - and the new Tribune Company is leading the resistance. We're recruiting a solid team of anti-establishment producer/editors, "preditors", to collaborate on a groundbreaking morning news/infotainment format unlike anything ever attempted on local TV.

Don't sell us on your solid newsroom experience. We don't care. Or your exclusive, breaking news coverage. We'll pass. Or your excellence at writing readable copy for plastic anchorpeople. Not interested.

Oh, man: "anti-establishment," not caring about "solid newsroom experience" -- how edgy can it get?

Plenty, as it turns out.

Sell us on this:

-- Your fiery passion to help re-invent the '80's rooted, focus-grouped, yuppie anchors and a news desk, super Doppler ultra weather style

-- Your personal relationship with the internet, blogs, video-sharing, iPads, Droids, Blackberries, Blueteeth, Facebook & Twitter, and all things Modern Culture

-- You're in sync with the pulse of the streets, not the PC, Capital "J" journalism world

-- You live and breathe content -You know the difference between "buzzworthy"and "B.S."

-- Your greatest communication tool is a keyboard, your writing is "bleeding edge", and you realize that when it comes to the written word, less is more

-- You can survive and prosper in a modern, high brilliance standards "rock 'n' roll" culture where your supervisors are fearless and your peers are A-game "imaginators" with the highest of execution standards

- -You're an earbud wearing, app downloading, rss reading, podcast playing, text messaging, flip-flop wearing professional of any age or sex, with a real-world education, interests that are anything but mainstream, and the ability to translate your bent outlook onto the TV screen.

Break out the flip-flops, people. Unless you're one of those old people.