Advice from a Professional

Media Manager
The real world can be a scary topic. What are you going to
do with your life after college? Where do you see yourself in
five years? What is your dream job?

In class Monday, I got a sneak peek into the real world. Dan Fredman, a digital content manager
for KMOV, came to speak to the students of #Com188.

Photo Credit: Dan Fredman Twitter

Dan has a team made up of 1112 people, all involved in some way in the digital
world.
They are responsible for all the content you consume when not watching
KMOV news on the television.

News outlets have started to move towards posting stories on various media
platforms, instead of just on their main home page.

KMOV mainly uses Facebook and Twitter to share stories. What gets posted is
different for each platform.

What would be a really good story for the KMOV website, doesnt necessarily mean the same
story will do well on Facebook.
How do they decide what content to distribute?

There are multiple deciding factors.

Data plays a big role. KMOV uses Chartbeat to check its analytic. If they see that a story is doing
well on their website, then they could decide to post it on Facebook.

They also look for content that are thumb-stoppers. Simply, they want people to stop scrolling
through their feed and read the post.

Every news outlet wants their viewers to share their stories. The more it is shared, the more
viewers they have coming to their site.
Content creation is key.
News outlets have started taking cues from trending sites, such as Buzzfeed, and use that
information to create content. The main goal is to get their media in front of the viewers.

Where content is distributed also plays a factor. Facebook and Twitter are mostly used because it
brings viewers back to their main webpage. KMOV can quickly get out a story through these
platforms.

Instagram and Snapchat appeal more to the younger generations who dont watch news on the
TV or no longer use Facebook. News outlets want to be where the people are.

News Outlets, and KMOV, are playing the Facebook game. These outlets want to keep the user in
mind. Facebook offers a clutter free, easy access to stories making it more appealing to the
audience.
It will soon be that mobile is the first stop for stories, and the webpage an extension from
mobile products.

Dans job, as most jobs involving media, is 24/7. Social media never rests. Dan and his team are
constantly updating and checking their various platforms.

A typical day is finding news and writing up a story to be posted on a platform, tweeting out, and
finding what is trending. Dan also tells reporters which stories are trending, what stories to
follow-up on, and where news is happening.

Before he left, Dan gave us a few tips to help us find a job after graduation.

1. You want to make yourself marketable. Learning how to do multiple things will set up
apart from other people.

2. Have a place online where you can display your work. You can create your own website or
use other sources, such as contently.

3. Stay engaged with media. Tweet out about trending topics or news articles. Get your voice
out there.

4. Be attuned with everything media and news related.

5. Become well-rounded and get news from multiple sources.

The real world is approaching quickly. Thank you to Dan Fredman for giving us a look on the
inside.