Taryn Sauthoff advises journalism students to hone web development and video skills
Sauthoff credits lessons in punctuality, diligence and the ability to work independently to learning how to cover news stories as a student at Rutgers.
A look at Taryn Sauthoff's resume may warrant a laugh from some in the industry. After six years at the company that employs Bill O'Reilly, Sauthoff took a position with the media giant that satirizes him.
As the digital producer for The Colbert Report, Sauthoff is responsible for the show’s digital presence. Her duties include managing a team of freelancers who upload each evening's show to the website and promoting that show in creative ways on various social media accounts. With research data, she analyzes which social posts drive the most video traffic.
The popular mock news show airs on Comedy Central, owned by the media giant Viacom. The company’s creativity and stellar reputation in the television industry had long appealed to Sauthoff.
“The office culture is amazing,” said Sauthoff, a 2006 graduate, who works out of Viacom’s Soho office. “People can wear whatever they like to work, from jeans to mohawks to tattoos covering most of their bodies. I love the atmosphere, and love that I can completely be myself.”
She joined Viacom’s programming and multi-platform strategy group in June 2012 after working for the Fox News Channel. Shortly after her arrival, Sauthoff spearheaded the live election night show, which streamed across all platforms: desktop, tablet, app and mobile.
Earlier this year, she helped launch The Colbert Report's official app, which allows consumers to watch episode clips from anywhere. That project led to Sauthoff’s first – and so far only – meeting with the show’s star, Stephen Colbert. “He was incredibly cordial, polite and wonderful to sit down with,” she says. “The show tells me that he sits with interns at the end of each semester.”
Sauthoff also handles the show's digital sponsorships, research analytics and last-minute requests. Like her previous experience in breaking news, things do sometimes come up after business hours. For this reason, Sauthoff's team is a 24-hour operation, with freelancers on-call from 7 p.m. to 10 a.m. “If the show needs anything last minute – tracking uses of a show-specific hashtag or acquiring a joke URL – I make sure it happens,” Sauthoff says.
During her time at Fox, Sauthoff held positions in the digital newsroom, promotions department and eventually transitioned to community manager for Fox Digital.
“I tell undergrads, that if they want to be successful in news, you have to love it more then anything else in life. You'll miss holidays, you'll work ungodly hours and you may be woken up in the middle of the night. The rush of breaking news will keep you there, and you'll end up becoming close friends your co-workers. Your friends and family won't understand why you work so much, why you check your blackberry so much and why you have to miss weddings, showers and other engagements.”
Sauthoff credits lessons in punctuality, diligence and the ability to work independently to learning how to cover news stories as a student at Rutgers and says her professors Steve Miller and Susan Keith inspired her to become a better journalist. “Both were incredibly supportive, motivational and forced me to be better than what I thought I was,” Sauthoff says.
As an undergraduate Sauthoff double majored in journalism and media studies and English. Writing about university diversity, disability services and other social issues for The Daily Targum showed her the influence her writing could have on readers. She was also a Scarlet Ambassador and a Big Sister for a local school. During her junior and senior years Sauthoff held internships at PR Newswire and Golf Digest magazine.
Sauthoff says honing skills is crucial for today’s journalism students. “If you know how to make a website – a good website – you will find yourself ahead in the world,” she says. “Also, to understand social media as a science is beneficial. You should know how to reach your brand's users in a smart and clever way.”
Though she’s been in the web business for seven years, Sauthoff says she’s still embracing educational programs to expand her knowledge of web development and digital media skills because today’s employers want more from journalism majors.“You’re up against thousands of people for the same job, and it’s not enough to have a 4.0 GPA,” she says. “You should know how to build a website, blog for the site and shoot video. Then, you need to know how to promote this content on social media. The web is a one-man show, and if you embrace all of these elements, you will succeed.”
This version of this article originally appeared in Alum-Knights, Summer 2013 edition, Rutgers School of Communication and Information.