"Television should teach empathy": How I manage the TV channel
I was born in Omsk, I graduated from a regular local school. and worked in the nursery, and then in the youth program on television. After school, she moved to study in Yekaterinburg, where she took on any job, because she lived alone and there were different situations. There was also a nanny, and an advertising manager in the newspaper, and a correspondent on her feet — she wrote notes and news.
Twelve years ago I went to Moscow and for a long time I was looking for a job that I would have liked. Then he brought both to Komsomolskaya Pravda and to speechwriters of one political party (not United Russia). Then I came to the "Snob", where she began to work "connected". Then, in the early years of publication, Snob had a Global Russians club, which was divided into several pools of newsmakers. The task of each “liaison person” was to involve one of the pools in the club life, to take comments and interviews from these people in order to publish relevant notes and news. Now, instead, Snob has blogs.
After that I came to "Rain", and the puzzle was formed - this was my place where I could achieve a lot and be a useful channel; It was in 2011, so I've been working here for almost seven years. The road was long. At first I got a job with a creative producer of the morning air: looking for a man who would be like the heroine of the movie "Good Morning" - she was thinking up how to update the dull air. True, unlike the film, I had a very cheerful presenter and a young team. In the morning I worked for a long time, the schedule was from 4:30 to 12:00. Then she worked on the news, was a guest editor of day and evening airs, and produced various programs, for example, the final week with Mikhail Fishman. He was also the producer of the reporting department. So, gradually, I became deputy editor-in-chief, then Mikhail Zygar.
When “Rain” started having problems (removal of TV channels from the airtime grid and sudden expulsion from the office at Red October. - Ed.), it is very rallied the team - the situation was unfair and cruel. There were people who left, and I don’t blame them at all - they had circumstances. But I stayed, because I did not have children, mortgages, so that I could afford to go to pay cuts. It seemed to me wasteful to scatter such work, though not perfect in terms of social packages.
How to manage the TV channel
After Zygar, the chief editor was Roman Badanin - I was his deputy. Once Badanin announced that he was leaving to study at Stanford and invited me to become his acting. I was pleasantly surprised, because we worked together for a whole year - not that ten poods of salt were eaten together. Then I even doubted that I needed it. Being the chief editor is a very big responsibility. Even in my last position as deputy chief editor, you are 50% a psychotherapist for the rest of the editorial board. And in the position of chief editor, it takes 90% of the time. It is necessary to constantly resolve difficult moments, to make decisions that other people cannot take upon themselves. So I was immediately clear that it would not be easy.
A leader must be able to talk to people. In such work, people are confronted with creative problems that go beyond the execution or non-fulfillment of tasks. Who are we? What we? Where are we going? These questions arise regularly, and they need to be discussed. A journalist is a conductor of emotions, and he cannot be in a bad condition. This is not even about the mood - it is passing, I mean the realization that he is valued, loved, that this work needs, and he needs work. A good state of mind of colleagues is a guarantee that you will have a very good product.
It is important that there is a sense of reality: do not flirt, understand who you are, what resources you have and what you can count on. And without losing motivation. Many journalists cannot do without adrenaline - they need constant proof of their success or stress from the live broadcast. And you, as a manager, should know how to get this adrenaline for yourself and for colleagues and how to work when the agenda does not bring you any sensations. You also need to be able to put yourself in the place of different people: the audience, the investor, and colleagues - and successfully balance between them. Sometimes it is more important to put colleagues in the place than in the audience, and sometimes absolutely the opposite.
Managerial work is difficult: sometimes you have to go to seven meetings a day on various issues and there is a feeling that it is as if you did nothing. Previously, a particular product came out of my hands that I could show to everyone. And now my colleagues are releasing it, and I am engaged in shuttle diplomacy - sometimes it upsets.
I have never had big problems with procrastination, so somehow I didn’t have to organize myself either. But in the new position I had to make a diary - otherwise I can’t remember all the tasks and appointments. During the work day, I first do fast things, then more time consuming.
About the difficulties of working on TV
In order to get something, you need a lot of work. I don’t know what light work is - I have never had one. Because if you love your job, and I love it, it will be easy. Although I understand that working on television is not for everyone: it is associated with great stress, but also requires a quick reaction. Work on television requires a person to be not a musician, but an orchestra. A producer can be an editor, an editor can help in producing, and a moderator can be both an editor and a producer for himself. On television, you need to be able to do everything a little.
For me, television is more creative in media than digital and print, because you need to be able to tell essentially the same stories in different languages and surprise the viewer. The suffering of people, if they are covered in the same way every time, may cease to cause sympathy in people, our task is to talk about people and events so that they do not become passed. Television in general should teach viewers empathy, addressing their basic needs and feelings - like a movie.
We have two coalitions on the channel: fans of pre-prepared esters with a complex texture and those who love news and do what is burning right now. Work on live broadcasts requires more exposure: the correspondent, that is, in touch, not - and you need to be ready for this. But I love live broadcasts, and even now I agree to work on them, if there are no free legs and hands.
About "Rain"
Now we employ about two hundred people - many of them are very young. We traditionally take young people to the TV channel - we even conducted the Big Change show, where they were taught to work, the best students still remain with us. Working with young people allows you not to become a bronze, not to stagnate, to understand what is happening, to write and speak in another language. Language, simple and easy to understand, has always been a distinctive feature of "Rain." And this democracy is born due to the combination of professionals and beginners.
Speaking about the development of the TV channel, we would like to move in the direction of the Internet, bring programs and subjects closer to formats that look better in networks, and refuse heavy forms. We launched the program "Fake News" and "Interception" - this is a serious program, made in a blog and a bright form. They are written in another language, but at the same time remain high-quality.
It turned out that a paid media subscription works in Russia, and for Dozhd it turned out to be a salvation, thanks to which we were able to continue to do our work and even develop a little. Unfortunately, while the number of subscribers is not growing and it seems that we have reached the ceiling. But I am sure that the possibilities are much greater, and here the question in marketing is how to find a new audience and overcome people's disbelief in the subscription model.
Cover: TV Rain
