The Reality Starting Out in TV News
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Shaheed Morris worked as an MMJ at WHAG (now WDVM) in Hagerstown, Maryland. Morris worked as a 'one-man band' in a bureau in a remote office in Winchester, VA.
While working his first TV job out of college, he found it a rough go. At one point he was homeless and could not afford a car. He walked to work.
This was the life of someone trying to make it in the business and he admits, it almost broke him.
In a post on social media, Morris says after a very hard year at WHAG, he's stepping back and trying to decide where to go from here.
This is the very sad post he made:
After a very hard year, I am taking a much-needed break from TV news to piece together my life. Recently, I worked as a bureau television reporter for a salary of $23,500. To the outside world, it appeared that I was doing well. But, in actuality – I was not doing well. I was living out of a hotel, and at one point, homeless. I walked an hour to and from work for an entire year because I couldn't afford a car. A gracious co-worker heard about my hardship and allowed me to move in with her. While working I applied for several non-media-related jobs, and I was unsuccessful. Last year beat me down mentally and emotionally–but I have faith that I won't stay down. I accepted the job in a small market television station fresh out of college, and I went to the job with only a handful of clothes. As a first-generation college graduate, it is extremely hard to get on your feet without any family support. Nothing was passed down in my family but pain and poverty. I put myself through college by going to school full-time at South Dakota State University. I have since returned to my grandmother's basement in Trenton to reexamine my life. This is not the end. This is a small detour on my journey to becoming a local news anchor.
