Touring CNN in Atlanta and a Publix sighting in Tennessee!

Last Friday, one of the University of Tennessee journalism faculty members took a group of undergraduate students to CNN in Atlanta for a tour and the opportunity to meet with UT alumni working at CNN. I tagged along since I've never been. The standard CNN tour than anyone can go on was informative for people who've never worked in a newsroom. While Anderson Cooper, Wolf Blitzer and Larry King do their shows out of New York, Washington and Los Angeles, CNN Headline news is based in Atlanta, and Atlanta is still the "mothership" of CNN.

The best part of the day was when one of the UT alums gave us a special tour where we had the chance to be on the newsroom floor and take photos behind the news desk. The students really enjoyed it. We also had a great talk with meteorologist Chad Myers, who took time out of his busy schedule to explain how things work and offer some great advice. Sometimes I still wish I'd been a meteorologist. I'm still annoyed we don't get "Local on the 8s" from The Weather Channel since we have Direct TV.

What was helpful to our group of students was meeting with hiring managers who coordinate internships and entry-level positions. It's a competitive business, and a common way for someone to get his or her foot in the door at CNN is to start off a Video Journalist or VJ. I know several friends from UF who did this after graduating. The starting salary is $24,000, and when I told this to my class yesterday, a series of shocked and horrified gasps befell the classroom. Honestly, the salary isn't that bad in Atlanta for a journalism job. I have friends who've moved to New York City and have taken a job for the same amount or less! I try to tell my students each semester that you don't become a journalist to become rich. There's a huge salary gap between what most journalists make and what Katie Couric, Matt Lauer and Barbara Walters bring home.

Several of the UT alumni talked about why they continue to be journalists despite the long hours, giving up holidays with family and friends and considerably lower pay than other professions. Passion is the reason. They said they love their jobs and don't see them as jobs, and they have a passion for what they're doing. I wonder how many of my students have this passion. Making a living is important, but for many of them a paycheck outweighs their passion. People could ask me the same thing since I'm not a practicing journalist, but I do miss it...at times. At this point in my life, my passion is teaching, but how to instill passion in my students about being a journalist isn't easy these days.

The tour was a great experience for them and for me. A highlight on the way back home was seeing a brand new Publix grocery store just built off the interstate close to Chattanooga. I kind of squealed when I saw it, which probably made all the students on the van wonder what in the world I was doing, but Publix is one of the few things I miss about Florida (besides our families and friends :)) This Publix is about one hour and 15 minutes from our house, but I hope it's a sign that Publix is inching closer to Knoxville since there are many stores in the Nashville area.

Whenever I say "Publix," I swear that most people, automatically say, "I love Publix subs!" I have to agree with them. Publix, please find a home near Knoxville. It's truly "where shopping is a pleasure."