Brian Fetting wanted it BAD

I came to Illinois Center for Broadcasting in January of 2007 as a burned out special education teacher looking to change my life. I initially thought I wanted to get into sports radio, but a valuable internship at ESPN 1000 made me realize that was not where my skills and interests were best put to use.

I had always been a fan of WGN Morning News in Chicago, and I got the greatest thrill of my professional career to date when I got an internship there in August of 2007. In fact, Larry Potash himself called me to interview me. That in itself was a thrill. Because I was willing to do anything and everything - including getting up daily at 3 am for the trek to the north side of the city - I got to take part in a lot of things that eventually made me realize that this was where I wanted to be. I saw and got to be a part of all aspects of a newsroom, including things like writing stories...editing two different "Friday Dances," which were played multiple times on-air... researching the weirdest stories imaginable for "Larry's World"... having to dress up in characters and be in their little skits... and booking guests and producing segments. Little did I know that waking up at 3 am would soon be considered "sleeping in."

I graduated in November, and still kept going to my internship every day. I ended up with nearly 1000 hours in about 5 months, not bad. I stopped counting after a while. And less than one week after my internship ended, I was suddenly packing my truck and moving to Green Bay.

I started a job as morning news producer at NBC 26 in Green Bay in December of 2007. I produce the 9 a.m. and the noon news. I absolutely love it - it's the perfect combination of writing and booking guests. Being in a small market, I get a taste of doing it all in a newsroom. I am my own assignment editor, writer, sometimes editor and director too! I can sight in and operate a satellite truck and make my own graphics when I have to. And yes, I now get up at around 1:30 every morning to do this job. It can be a pressure-cooker-and-a-half sometimes, but it's all been worth it. Television producing is the most fun I've ever had.

I may have put in all those internship hours, but I probably put in nearly as many looking for and applying for any and every job in TV news. Relentless work was the key in the end. It doesn't start and end with class at all; many of my classmates are some of my best friends now. These friendships were forged by countless hours at a tavern down the street planning and creating our projects... spitballing ideas... encouraging each other. Your career in broadcasting starts and ends with the phrase "how bad do you want it?"

If you ever have any questions about working in TV news, don't hesitate to contact me at bfetting@nbc26.com