Yinz Luv... Jim Shearer

For those of you who have checked out my blog in the past will know I'm a big fan of the low-budget, no-budget Yinz Luv Da Stillers web show. I'm also gaining a lot of respect for Jim Shearer, the creator of the show. So much so that I wanted to write a feature story on him for the Post-Gazette. Unfortunately, the editors there didn't show interest (because, I think, they don't get the importance of the revolution going on online). So instead, I asked him to do a Q&A session with me regarding the world of web shows and web journalism in general.

Jim is 34 yars old, grew up in Pittsburgh, attended Shaler Area High School, and now lives with his wife in New York City. His day job is with VH1 hosting Top 20 Video Countdown. He started Yinz Luv 'Da Guins during the 2008 playoffs and had so much fun doing it, he started Yinz Luv 'Da Stillers when their season kicked off later in the year. He has been working in television since 2001 when he started with MTV, and his dream is to come back to Pittsburgh if he had the opportunity to do a show here.

I got hooked on YLDS when I was in Iraq and couldn't catch all the games because of the time difference. So, onto the Q&A:

Q: Most journalistic reporters are not allowed to be “fans” of the team they cover. Your web show allows you the freedom to also be a fan. How would YLDS be different if you had to remain “objective”?

A: I don't think YLDS could exist if I had to remain objective. The easiest thing about doing YLDS every week is that there is always a good guy and a bad guy, a protagonist and an antagonist. The story curve is already written for me. The show takes a Pittsburgh fan's perspective, instead of an x's and o's approach, and as a Pittsburgh fan I can only be so objective to the opposing team.


Q: You’ve already done a two-part episode interview with Jack Ham for your show. What has that interview taught you about the direction of your show? Are there any other ambitions or projects you would like to take on?

A: I would love to interview more Steelers and people associated with the team (beat writers, training staff, ex-Steelers, dedicated fans, etc.), but living in New York makes that very difficult. If I could ever find my way back to Pittsburgh, you'd find more episodes like the one with Jack Ham--instead of me just sitting in my bedroom all the time. As for ambitions, my main is goal to to eventually find some type of media work in Pittsburgh; the reason I started the series in the first place.


Q: What motivated you to record and put together this weekly web-show in the first place?

A: Oops, looks like I already answered this question. After my contract ended with MTV I began looking for work in Pittsburgh. The consensus was I didn't have enough on-air sports experience (although I had interviewed a slew of athletes and worked on many a sports show while at MTV). I started the Yinz Luv series to create a make-shift sports reel and to gain the sports experience that I apparently lacked for the Pittsburgh market.

Q: You also have a career on actual television and experience with both VH1 and MTV. How is the production of YLDS different from your television work?

A: Instead of working with a team of many people, it's just me. Also, the equipment I use isn't nearly as expensive as the stuff we use on VH1. My eight years of professional production experience has helped me out a ton though. Conversely, Yinz Luv has helped me on the professional side of things. Since YLDS doesn't have a budget for a teleprompter (obviously), I'll memorize the script in my head, a technique that has helped me out on many a VH1 Top 20 shoot.


Q: If somebody approached you and said, we want to pay you and take YLDS to television, and they offered you a half-hour weekly show, what would you do to make the show fill that half hour?

A: Oooh, that would be the dream. Believe it or not, content-wise it might be easier to do a 22-minute show (can't forget about those commercials) than a 10-minute YouTube show. There's a lot of stuff I end up cutting out for time constraints. With highlights, the gratuitous comedy skit, analysis, the occasional song parody, and interviews, I'd have no problem piecing together an awesome half-hour weekly show.


Q: What opportunities has the world of the web provided you in show production that regular media could not allow you?

A: An audience and not having a chain of command saying "no" to me for whatever reason.

Q: Do you ever run into people who recognize you from YLDS but have no clue you’ve ever been on regular television?

A: It's funny, I've been on VH1 for nearly a year now, was on MTV and MTV2 for six years, and every time I'm noticed out in public, it's for YLDG and YLDS. I don't even get a monstrous amount of views, so it's odd that I'm noticed more for a low budget web-show I run out of my bedroom.


Q: How is your television fanbase different from your web shows fanbase?

A: On YLDS and YLDG it feels like I'm part of the team, part of one big Pittsburgh family. On TV, it's a crap shoot. People will like or hate me depending on my music tastes, how my hair looks, or how well I did when interviewing their favorite artist.

Q: How do you push yourself to record a show after a Steelers loss?

A: I try to make a loss as entertaining as possible, and try to make the next game feel as hopeful as possible.


Q: Do you have any crazy pre-game rituals?

A: Whenever there's a big Steelers or Penguins game, I'll make a Roethlisweiner sandwich (smoked sausage, onions, tomatoes, hot mustard, saurkraut, salt-and-pepper). The Steelers and Pens have never lost when I made them; that's why I don't press my luck and eat them before every game.


Q: You have a degree in Journalism from Waynesburg College, so I’m sure you’ve noticed how, because of blogging and the web, many of the news industries are dying out or are forced to strategize new ways of delivering their information. Do you envision television shows ever having to face that sort of crisis in the future? Do you ever feel like YLDS is ahead of the curve in that sense (having established a web base)?

A: We're in such a weird place right now. I think, eventually, TV and the web will mold/evolve into one entity. When I was younger we had 13 television channels, then 50, now I have well over a thousand. Think of all the blogs and web-shows on the internet, there's the same number of eyes with a gazillion more outlets to choose from. Although it'll be easier to reach niche audiences, it's going to be tougher to reach the mass audience. Because everything is becoming so scattered, media professionals are going to have to know how to do it all, so in that respect, I may be a wee bit ahead of the curve, since I'm an on-air host, who can produce, write, shoot, direct, and edit.


Q: You’ve said (in a Pittsburgh City Paper interview) that the local sports media are sort of “missing the big picture” when it comes to sports shows. What is that “big picture” in your mind?

A: Whenever I've heard back from the Pittsburgh sports market, it's always comments like, "We could never do a skit with copyright material." The "big picture" is that I can handle myself in front of and behind a camera, fully capable of hosting any type of sports program coming out of Pittsburgh. Half of the stuff I do on YLDS couldn't fly on TV, I realize that, but I wish someone would say, "Eight years of national TV experience, three years of making sports web-shows in his bedroom, this guy's got more than enough professional tools to work on-air in the 'burgh."