Marc Vasco: How did you become interested in employee rights and advise for
unemployed Americans?
Ted Canova: One goal as a journalist is to help people without a voice. As 2009 came to an end, it became unnervingly clear to me that the people with the weakest voice are the unemployed. Millions of Americas who worked all their lives found themselves with no jobs and little hope. I thought, 'can I do something to help?'. I wasn't sure but I decided to focus my communications skills and address unemployment. Job Talk America took months in the making. I teamed up with a former colleague, Sam Zeff, and after months of research, we launched Job Talk America in May 2010.
Marc Vasco: How did you start Job Talk America?
Ted Canova: Job Talk America started as an idea and has grown to become an important source of job search advice for thousands of unemployed people in the United States, and to a lesser degree, and surprisingly around the world. Sam Zeff and I started by researching unemployment, seeing what services were being provided to the jobless and where the gaps were. We were surprised to see that no one was providing daily, multi-media job search advice on mainstream media outlets, radio or the Internet. So we turned our attention to developing an Internet radio program. We got up to speed on the technology available, tried different platforms, learned what worked and what did not work, and invested a small amount of our own money to start.
Marc Vasco: What is Social Media exactly… can it get me a better job?
Ted Canova: When I created Job Talk America, I wondered if anyone would find it, an Internet radio program, online and listen to it. So in essence, it was an experiment- a social media experiment. Social media has been around for generations. For instance, truckers using CB radios were communicating with strangers, providing useful information to one another about road conditions and police speed traps. With the emergence of computers and the Internet, people realized new technologies weren't only helpful for business, but for also building connections between one another. Today, the geniuses behind Facebook, Twitter and Linkedin get the credit for aggregating people by common interests, conversation points and old friendships. So it made sense for Sam Zeff and me to reinvent our careers in journalism and see where social media could take us. In effect, we overlaid our traditional media experience with the potential of the internet.
Marc Vasco: can it get me a better job?
Ted Canova: I think there are endless examples of social media helping people make connections and get jobs. At the start of Job Talk America, Sam Zeff and I researched other job advice sites on the Internet. We came across one called 'Job Angels'. Its creator, Mark Stelzner, calls it an "accidental movement" that started with him posting one tweet on Twitter. He asked if one person can help one other person get a job. He told us of one connection through Job Angles that has led to at least 59 other people on Job Angels getting jobs.
Marc Vasco: Do you feel your primary goal in hosting Job Talk America, if it could
be defined, would be to help the unemployed or to assist the employed
with workers rights and paths to better careers?
Ted Canova: Job Talk America started as just an idea...one designed to help people get jobs. Today, I'm proud and humbled by the response Sam Zeff and I have received. We get emails everyday from listeners and viewers who not only thank us for the interviews we provide. They also thank us for being their jobs advocates, for giving them a place to come to each day and for creating a community for the unemployed. No one knows what jobless people face unless you have lived in their shoes. Over the years, Sam and I have been there and are able to share our stories, the advice of experts, and give our unemployed listeners some hope to face their uncertain futures.
Marc Vasco: What can a listener of Job Talk America expect to hear on a day to day basis?
Ted Canova: Everyday on Job Talk America, listeners get a variety of information to help them in their job search and work lives. Sam Zeff and I interview at least three people from around the country and share new techniques for job hunting. We reveal the hidden job market. We encourage people to network in new ways. I am in awe of the knowledge and insights of our contributors and guests. You not only hear fresh ways to conduct your job search but also get free financial and legal advice. We delve into the complexities of public policy which impact job creation. And we round out our content with Health and Wellness issues facing the long term unemployed. One of my favorite segments- the inspiring stories we share from people who were laid off, unsure what to do next, and who have reinvented their professional careers.
Marc Vasco: Can you give us a success story from a Job Talk America listener?
Ted Canova: It amazes me how often Sam Zeff and I hear from Job Talk America listeners. Let me share some of the comments were have received.
Dawn wrote to us saying "Thank you for this, it's very informative and helpful. I am truly inspired by your site as well as your show. I thought I was alone in this unemployment journey, but alas I am not. Thank you for this show."
Hannah shared, "I love what you are doing!"
Dave said "I first want to thank you for your program. It has been an excellent source of information through this period in my life."
Jan is a 61 year old in Sarasota- "I just discovered your show via a posted link at LinkedIn and wanted you to know you have a new listener ~ and fan. I'm in Sarasota FL, just turned 61, and have been [mostly] out of work since May08."
Kathy is helping the show grow through her connections- "I just found your show and I so enjoy it! I've been recommending it to my network and they also have been very positive."
Ed writes "Thank you so much for your program. I only recently came across your program and I think it is interresting and stimulating."
Michael adds "Your programming is great . . . it has been a huge help to my job search efforts."
David says "Your messages and materials are obviously striking a chord and finding - and creating - an audience. Keep up the good work...and the growth."
Rick uses the program as an element in his job search. "I enjoy the show and, yes, I do multi-task listening to you in the background."
Sabrina sums it up for many of our listeners. "I used to feel alone in my frustrations with my job search, but you two were right, Gen Y and Boomers have a lot in common."
Marc Vasco: During your career in television what was the most challenging aspect?
Marc Vasco: Investigative reporting has been a fascination of mine for years. Can
you tell us a bit about how the leads for a story are uncovered and
what is done to evaluate the accuracy of the information before it
airs?
Ted Canova: For every investigative news story you see on television, there are 10 others that fail to materialize for a variety of reasons. Some leads go cold. Some sources end up not wanting to share what they know. But for the stories a viewer sees, the information is gathered by a team of journalists who comb through documents, conduct interviews and connect the dots of information that tell a compelling story.
Marc Vasco: What is the average day like for someone that evaluates the
investigative reporting of a television network?
Ted Canova: As a news manager, I have overseen the development and editing of investigative stories for nearly 15 years. It usually starts with a reporter 'pitching' a story idea they come across either during their work day or through a source. I have given reporters the freedom of time to 'work a story' and to see if it rises to the level of importance and relevance to inform the public. As a story develops behind the scenes, I believe in ongoing dialogue with reporters, so as they connect the dots, we challenge each other to make sure there is news value to the story. We also have had important conversations, sometimes heated ones, to ensure the story meets the highest ethical standards of our profession. Depending on the legal complexities and potential exposure of a story, we consult with a lawyer or a team of lawyers to ensure the story is less likely to be challenged in court. Once the story comes together, the reporter and/or the team, writes a first draft and then my copy editing begins. The back and forth between editor and reporter can result in the story being tweaked or re-written anywhere from one to six times before the story is ready to air.
Marc Vasco: What can happen if a bad story gets out? By that I mean what are the
repercussions of a bad story being aired from inside the news room,
the reporters and the network?
Ted Canova: I don't think of stories in terms of good and bad. I think of them as accurate vs. inaccurate and relevant vs. irrelevant. The public is more aware of the process behind journalism than ever before. So it's crucial, it always has been, that a story not only include correct facts, but it also conveys accurate impressions and images. Rarely does a story get on the air without every aspect of it being heavily scrutinized by journalists, news managers and lawyers. But we've learned that even accurate stories, conveying true impressions, are open to debate and challenges by people and groups that feel it was wrong.
Marc Vasco: In the case of Dan Rather it seemed he took all the heat from his
famous bad reporting scandal. Do you feel his departure from CBS was
necessary?
Ted Canova: The Dan Rather case ended, or at least side-swiped, a stellar career on a sad note. He was one reason I turned to journalism. I had the chance to ask him about the National Guard story and George Bush's time in the service, why he lost his flight status and whether he fulfilled the requirements of his military service contract during Vietnam. But because the case was still in the courts, he couldn't answer it. I believe there were many things in play when CBS let him go, including political pressure and Rather's age as an anchorman.
Marc Vasco: Hypothetically how could Dan Rather’s situation been avoided in your
perspective?
Ted Canova: The aspect of the National Guard story that troubles me is that it could have been avoided. Much of the public already knew or at least questioned George Bush's service record with the Texas Air National Guard. By piecing together the facts the way they did, CBS provided Bush with a smokescreen of cover. They basically turned the story from an important issue facing a would-be President to a major issue facing journalism and news production techniques.
Marc Vasco: How often would you guess a story is aired without proper fact checking?
Ted Canova: Over the years, internal deadlines and stiff competition have led to stories on the air before the story was totally ready. But in addition to fact check, I believe stories also need an "impression" check too. You can have every fact correct, but if the lasting impression counters those facts, then journalism failed.
Marc Vasco: What is your most memorable experience as a reporter?
Ted Canova: There are many to recount. The story that went from high to low was the Space Shuttle Challenger explosion. Weeks before the flawed takeoff, I covered Christa McAullife's final news conference in New England. I had to chance to ask the first "teacher in space" many questions and got a real sense of her joy and excitement. "Christa, all systems go?" I asked on her way out of the room. She pointed two thumbs up. Then weeks later, I watched the Challenger explode. Within hours I was inside her Concord, New Hampshire classroom filing a story for my station.
Another memorable story that did not occur in one place or at one time was the New Hampshire primary. Before the network crews show up to New Hampshire, local stations cover the candidates for more than an entire year. I had the chance to cover the primary, and get to know many of the candidates, throughout 1983 and 1984. One night I had an advanced copy of Newsweek with the headline "Can This Man Win" with a pictiure of Walter Mondale. I raced to an airport and met Mondale as he was getting off his private plane. I showed him the cover and asked him the question, "can you win?" While Mondale first used humor in his reply, he quickly realized how serious the question was and answered it, "yes, i can win." (He took second to Gary Hart). By election night, I had covered every candidate so often, from major public events to people's crammed living rooms, that I was invited to be the only reporter allowed into California Senator Alan Cranston's hotel suite as the election results were announced. He won just 2% of the vote so you could image the mood of the room.
