That won’t be an American Idol audition line in Memphis in a couple of weeks, but standing in it might get you a shot at a regular tv gig.
WPTY is holding open auditions for the job of traffic reporter April 28th at Parmasters Golf Training Center. link here
According to the ad on the website, interested candidates will audition in front of a camera. The winner, or the best auditioner will get a part-time morning traffic reporter gig. High school diploma is required, some college is preferred.
Now before you go off joking about PTY’s method of finding a traffic reporter, don’t be too nasty.
It’s a part-time gig so they’re not going to put out a national search for the right candidate. So why not hold an open audition? Absolutely nothing. In fact, I really like it.
What’s the most important thing here? Simply put: finding someone who can relay information from the police and sheriff’s department on work zones and traffic accidents. Someone who’s engaging enough to capture the viewer’s attention. Someone who can be entertaining and credible. Someone who is pleasant enough to look at and listen to, who can still communicate what’s happening on the “highways and byways”, (tip: don’t use that phrase too often in your audition).
While I wouldn’t welcome this type of audition for a reporter job, or an anchor or weather person, it’s a perfect way to find a traffic reporter. Not to belittle the traffic person job but it doesn’t or shouldn’t require a Harvard education, or even a J-school education. It takes skill sure.
NBC-13 in Birmingham hired Brooke Smith a few years ago and she came straight to Red Mountain from being a contestant on “The Bachelor”. She’s done pretty well.
But to make things more interesting, maybe WPTY should bring in a panel of judges to critique the auditions as they happen. Set up a couple of cameras and bring in a host and you’ve got a sweeps series that most of Memphis would be talking about throughout the month of May.