15 Things I Wish I knew before Becoming a TV Reporter

TV Reporter Leigh Scheps pens a piece for Cosmopolitan, in which she lays out the 15 things she wish she knew before becoming a TV Reporter. 

If you're getting ready to read some deep insight, you're going to be disappointed.

No. 1 on the list comes straight from Captain Obvious:

Being a news reporter is not as glamorous as it looks on television. When reporting in the brutal cold, the best part of the day is picking out my scarf accessories — or maybe it's thawing out my fingers when the day is over. If you wind up in Florida like I did at one point, you'll need a towel to dry off the sweat and bug spray to fend off mosquitoes. There are days where I am on a story in an area with no bathroom, walking in the woods in a dress or doing a live report while getting bit by fire ants. 

I know back when I was working in the newsroom and it was brutally cold, the thing I looked to most was, "picking out my scarf accessories." 

When it gets down to No. 14 on the list, past the parts about doing your own make-up and how the little black dress can bail you out when you have nothing to wear, Scheps does have some good advice.

"Social media cannot be your diary. Your friends may post status updates freely, but as a reporter, you need to be conscious of what you say on social media. Keep your opinions to yourself, because reporters have to be unbiased. You can be fired in a split second for making unprofessional comments in posts online or on air. There are some reporters who will post smiling selfies at tragic stories not realizing how inappropriate it is. Don't be them. The last thing any reporter wants is to be ridiculed on one of the media blogs."

Of course she is talking about FTVLive and it's some advice you should listen to.

If only Al Roker had seen this story earlier. 

Here's the full article if you are interested.