TROY, Ala. (TROJANVISION) — On Friday, Troy’s Television News Practicum class welcomed Nathaniel Rodriguez to talk about his experience working as a digital producer.
Rodriguez capped off a week of discussions revolving around digital content producing in the news industry and a changing media landscape.
“Being a digital producer is a new field,” Rodriguez said. “It’s something that requires even more creativity I would say because you’re not just writing articles, you’re someone curating content at the same time.
“Your environment is way more shifting, way more in flux than your traditional broadcast or newspaper.”
Thanks to his experience at both WDHN in Dothan, Alabama and his current station, WFLA in Tampa, Rodriguez was able to describe the differences and expectations found at both smaller market and bigger markets.
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“You have to be inventive. Small markets require creativity to get to a solution for a problem, because you have a lot less. You have less staff, less resources, you name it. Now I can take that creativity that I learned from my small market and apply it to my large market where I have way more resources.”
Rodriguez is a Troy alumnus. During his time at Troy University, he worked at TrojanVision News. According to Rodriguez, that experience helped him get his start in the industry.
“My first job at WDHN in Dothan was a floor manager job, which meant running the cameras and running teleprompter when necessary, and the skills I learned here carried over,” said Rodriguez. “I was complimented about how my cameras were set up by the anchor.
“I wouldn’t have been able to do that if I didn’t come here and learn the basics from the staff here.”
Rodriguez’s biggest piece of advice is to have a set goal in mind when trying to find employment in the industry.
According to Muckrack, Rodriguez has authored over 6,000 articles during his time as a digital journalist. He has also been Nexstar’s top digital contributor several times in the past.
