Drawback - Generic Marketing
Your website would market your work generically to any news director in any market in any part of the country. That goes against the goal of selling yourself to a specific news director as the one and only candidate who's right for a particular job. A website may tell a news director that you don't care any more about his or her station in Tallahassee, Florida, as you do a station in Peoria, Illinois. That is a negative.
The Solution - Use Your Journalist Site as a Companion
Your best bet is to use your website as a companion tool to the traditional way of mailing your media cover letter, resume and tape/disk. In your cover letter, you could say "to see/hear more of my work, visit my website," then keep track of your web stats to gauge interest. That will likely keep you from having to produce and mail a second tape, if one is requested. If you're applying for a TV reporter job, you could direct a news director to your website to show off your anchoring. A producer could put clips of a newscast on a disk to send to the news director while making the entire aircheck available on the website.
Drawback - A Personal Site Can Be Too Personal
A news director might click to see a photo of you reporting from a hurricane or watch your breaking news clip of a hostage standoff. But she'll have little time or interest in seeing you and your buddies kayaking down the river.
The Solution - Stay Professional
Your website should be focused on your career and not just be a catch-all for your entire life. Concentrate on the information that a news director needs most -- your resume, clips of your work, contact information for your references, more about your educational background and anything else that didn't make it into your printed materials. Build a separate personal website for your friends and family to see your vacation photos.
Drawback - Your Potential Boss Can Track Habits
Be wary of the content that will be posted to your job search website and any social networking links you include. It's not a good idea for a news director to see a tweet that you're mad because you had to do a Live report in the rain or that you're going to be drinking non-stop this weekend.
The Solution - Use Social Networking Wisely
Social networking is an easy way to market yourself, especially if you add a widget from your personal Twitter account or Facebook page to your job search website. But keep your posts positive and job-related. Use social networking to show you're a news pro who's an asset to any company and can help your future station grow its audience.
Applying for jobs in broadcasting is time-consuming. But if it's worth doing at all, it should be worth your time to make sure you are not underselling yourself or your experience. New media tools can give you the edge over job candidates who simply send a typical printed resume and tape/disk. The payoff comes with that bigger paycheck that comes with a better job.
