Saint Xavier University recently hosted NBC10 Senior Investigative Producer Jim O’Donnell at the Warde Academic Center on Sept. 7 to discuss his experiences in the Journalism industry to students and faculty.
O’Donnell, currently based in Philadelphia, shared several key lessons that he had learned throughout his years of working as both a journalist and a television producer with many different companies.
“One thing you’ll hear me say a lot is ‘Be a sponge.’ Learn from everybody, take from everybody,” he said.
The award-winning industry veteran, himself an alumnus of the college, reminisced on his time as a student reporter for the Xavierite student newspaper, stressing the point that he learned the fundamentals of the trade in the same halls occupied by students.
“My career started here at Saint Xavier University. Sounds corny… but I tell people all the time when I talk to classes – it started when I was in school… I ended up being the Features Editor,” he said.
From there, O’Donnell began to illustrate the path from his initial aspirations of being a documentary filmmaker to his current television posting in the 4th most competitive city for journalists, highlighting the importance of personal flexibility and open-mindedness.
“…I didn’t want to just tell any types of stories, I wanted to tell civil rights stories and civil rights documentaries… I had this dream of making documentaries… turns out, no one wants to pay you to make a documentary, and I needed to make a living,” he said.
This overarching need to sustain himself led him to an indispensable truth for crafting news stories, which he showcased through his explanation of an NBC story he produced on Philadelphia’s gun violence.
“I know you guys are all too familiar with what goes on in Chicago, so I thought I would bring you something you could relate to… In terms of a story… we can get facts, simple facts all the time, [but] it’s the why, and the why is what is pushing [the] story],” he said.
Elaborating on the point, he stated that the relatability of an incident to the audience is paramount in all forms of media, observing that people are more likely to sympathize with stories that affect financial or physical security.
Along a similar train of thought, O’Donnell commented that in the current industry, versatility and the willingness to learn and master a variety of skills were essential to success when asked by an audience member.
“…you have to do every kind [of Journalism]. I’m not just a TV person. I have to do everything. I have to do our digital website. I have to do our social media. I have to do every piece of that for all of our stories,” he said.
He had advised that staying educated on current technologies and scientific research is also imperative, and improves an individual’s chances in the job market.
Yet, O’Donnell also cautions prospective journalists against being overly optimistic when trying to climb the ranks, noting that the vocation can be grueling, unrelenting, and unnerving in its swiftness to the unprepared.
“Sometimes, there’s overtime. Sometimes, there isn’t. Sometimes, there’s pay for that overtime. Sometimes, there isn’t.”
However, O’Donnell remarked that despite the rough patches that any given journalist can come across throughout their career, there’s a level of accountability and personal investment that drives the most seasoned names of the industry past the trials-by-fire.
“My boss now, he’s very blunt, and he always says, ‘the business owes you nothing,’ and he’s right. It doesn’t really owe us anything, but we love it. We do it because we love it, and because it’s our profession.”
Joshua Mira
News Reporter
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