People who have known me six or more years know that I worked for about three years creating a new cable access facility for the nearby city of Medina and the school district. It was perfect for me because, given my varied broadcast background, allowed me to really cover everything from engineering to production to air talent. When I was hired there was nothing... not a single camera.
I left that job for several reasons. The first was that I had to answer to politicians, and sadly they had their best interests in mind, not the community's. The second was money, specifically that they didn't want to pay me what my contemporaries locally and nationally were making. When one of the asshole committee members told me I was working in this area as a choice (with references to his "poor" teacher salary), that was the last straw. It didn't help that so-called "professional educators" refused to acknowledge me as a professional. The high school principal actually said she considered me "one of the kids" in a discussion about why I didn't have time available for her pet projects.
I loved that job though, because I was able to be creative and improve the community by communicating things they might not otherwise see. I never played into the small town/big fish bullshit, but people knew me and they appreciated what I did. It was a good feeling to see you're having a positive influence on people, however small.
Anyway, one of the things we talked about, in conjunction with my counterparts in the adjacent cities, was putting court cases on TV. For one thing, it was good TV, well before the realty craze got out of hand. I did a reality doc on life in the crowded high school that was really huge, so I knew we were on to something that would both entertain and inform.
The committee members shot it down. Why? Because of differing political views they had with the elected judges. Of course, they had no problem being on TV themselves in city council and school board meetings, but no judge. Fucking assholes.
A lot has happened in the six years since I left, the most obvious thing being that they were able to move into a new facility in the new high school.
Wouldn't you know it, today on one of the local broadcast stations, a fairly lengthy package about the popularity of the cablecast court cases, now showing.
As the story aired, and I got to see the new facility, I couldn't help but almost feel my eyes start to get puffy. I put so much thought and planning into that place, and never got to see it exist because of those asshole politicians.
I know I left under my own power, and despite years of working shitty jobs, I'm finally in a position to really work on my own terms. That said, that job was such a wonderful and exciting thing to be a part of. I try not to measure my own self-worth by my professional life anymore, but when you do excel at something and you have a measurable effect on people, it's hard to deny that's a good feeling.
I suppose the thing that bothers me is that there was something with great potential that, through no fault of your own, was kind of ruined. I see so many things in life like that, even stupid TV shows that get cancelled.
The story, and video package:
http://www.newsnet5.com/news/4443020/detail.html
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