Brandon Long is a News Director for the NBC affiliate in in Macon, Georgia. Previously, he worked as an Anchor/Reporter and Anchor/Managing Editor for this station. He moved to Middle Georgia in 2004 from Tennessee after working in newsrooms at WPTY/WLMT-TV in Memphis and WBIR-TV in Knoxville. 

He graduated from The University of Tennessee with a B.S. in Communication and studied television news and political science, and an M.A. in Communication Arts from Austin Peay State University with focused coursework in Media Management, Marketing Communications, and Corporate Communications. He has been active in a number of professional and community organizations, including Radio-Television Digital News Association (RTDNA) and Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Incorporated. 



Favorite Quote: "One who beareth the torch, shadoweth oneself to give light to others." The Torchbearer Creed 


Articles:



Leading as an Introvert: The Benefits and Risks of Laissez-faire Leadership

By: Brandon Long
Assertive, extroverted leaders are generally celebrated as having the best approach to leadership. This review explores the alternative and examines the benefits of leaders who utilize a laissez-faire leadership style and are inclined to lead as introverts. For example, voters in the Republican presidential primary in 2016 are currently faced with choosing from among these two styles as they consider Donald Trump and Jeb Bush. Trump is known for his brashness. In contrast, Bush is known for his more calculated and carefully crafted policy proposals and speeches. Introverted leaders work best with proactive followers because they know how to create an environment that matches raw talent with clear goal-setting to secure success. But, even when leaders who lean toward introversion are faced with followers who are not proactive, they can adapt and manage with techniques characteristic of extraverted leaders to accomplish organizational goals. 

How Political Leaders Utilize Traditional and Social Media to Market Themselves as Trustworthy and Credible

 By: Brandon Long

            Political leaders have the challenge of cutting through the clutter of public discourse to communicate their specific messages and portraying an image that is worthy of their constituencies. More often, political leaders seeking public office are turning to social media to connect with and gain supporters. This connection is essential to how they are marketing themselves, often as credible and trustworthy citizens poised to lead and solve the problems of the day. At the same time, those messages also allow professional political communicators the opportunity to craft specific, orchestrated messages designed to effect election outcomes and perceptions of candidates for public office. This research aims to explore how political leaders use traditional and social media channels to market themselves as trustworthy and credible.

Thanks for the Reminder

What does a rainbow mean? 


Rainbow over Macon, Georgia. August 31, 2012.

My mama told me this...


Genesis 9:12-15
And God said, "This is the sign of the covenant I am making between me and you and every living creature with you, a covenant for all generations to come: I have placed my rainbow in the clouds. It is the sign of my covenant with you and with all the earth. Whenever I bring clouds over the earth and the rainbow appears in the clouds, I will remember my covenant between me and you and all living creatures of every kind. Never again will the waters become a flood to destroy all life.

Our Amazing Search for a Wonderful 98¢ Weave

Today, I accompanied my wife to the 98 Cents Store.  You'd probably expect most items in the store to be 98 cents, but no.  The store carried a variety items ranging from bunk beds to shower curtains to area rugs to floor mats for your car to wonderful weaves.

Let me be up front about this, I've been to a few weave shops with my wife before, but it's a relatively rare experience for me.  As a child growing up, I never went to the weave shop with my mom because she doesn't wear weave, so each trip is truly a learning experience.  The 98 Cent Store was sensory overload... thanks to the unique mix of merchandise, the employees, and the shoppers.

Wife surveys the selection at the 98 Cent Store
I'm really not sure where to start.

The mission of our trip was to find a wonderful weave.  I prefer my wife's natural hair, but beyond that I'm learning that it's best for me to not say any more.  Clearly, the mission was flawed from my perspective the moment we embarked on our quest.  Still, an adventure was in the midst!

I love a good sale, so the immediate realization that nearly nothing there was marked for sale at 98¢ was a major let down.  How can they even call their store that?  I might file a complaint with the FTC. 

Though our mission was to search for a wonderful weave, I wanted to look around to see what was actually 98¢ if anything, which took us on a trek throughout the store.

The merchandise selection
Immediately upon entering the store, shoppers will immediately be drawn to the half-dozen half mannequins modeling a skanky line (not swanky as spell check suggest) of leggings, ranging from neon colors to faux denim.  For men, you'll find Dickey style pants to pair with fashionable jailhouse striped polo styled shirts also in a variety of neon colors.  For children, they've got conservative school uniforms.  Someone loves the kids!  In the front corner, you'll find flat brimmed baseball caps in several colors with no logos or designs.  The low, low price of $2.98 nearly got me to buy one, but the brim just didn't seem like it would ever bend.  In one of the back corners, huge area rugs for the low, low price of $149, and right next to those were car floor mats, including the purple leopard print line for $14.98!  Of note, the only items we found that were 98¢ were small votive candles.  Shoplifting must also be a problem when it comes to bandannas, which were 99¢, because they were tagged with anti-theft devices.

The employees
The men were from Palestine or at least sympathizers of their political movement.  I know this because there were two cars outside the store (parked in handicapped parking spaces) with Free Palestine car tag frames.   I'm accepting this as a reasonable conclusion, not a certainty.  There was also a woman, who helped other women with weave; I'll come back to her.  First, the man at the register. As we approached the cash register, he was clearly daydreaming or at least deep in thought as he listened to Islamic prayers.  He seemed somewhat bothered that we were ready to check out.  That was strange.  Even stranger though was that the woman selling weave had locks. O_o  There was also a guy who helped at the weave counter, but he didn't know as much, didn't speak clear English, and by the time we got to the register, he was sweeping the parking lot.  All in all, they were a strange bunch, but they didn't follow us around the store which was appreciated.

The shoppers
The clientele of the 98 Cent Store made the parking lot of the store appeared to be match how I envision a corner store on Crenshaw in Compton, California.  By that I mean, several cars on over-sized rims with loud colors, i.e. money green.  Inside, most of the women (not my wife) had so little hair that their weave would have to be glued or clipped in, not sewn. This was somewhat disturbing.

THE WEAVES

Weaves not making eye contact.
Weaves not looking at the customer
My favorite part of our amazing search for the wonderful weave involved the placement of the weave heads on that lined the shelved.  They were all either facing the wall or the sky, but didn't make eye contact. Something about that made me feel unwanted and dirty.  It was clear that I didn't fit in at the weave shop, but it was quite an adventure.  Sort of.  

Oh, and yes... my wife did leave with a weave, but it was certainly NOT 98¢. 

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41NBC's Brandon Long Announces Promotion as News Director


Today marks the end of one chapter for me, and the beginning of a new one.  Over the last six and half years you’ve welcomed me into your homes to deliver something I take great pride in, our newscast.

After today, I will no longer make that delivery, but I will continue to make sure 41NBC remains your best option for news in Middle Georgia.

 I have been transitioning into a different leadership role here at 41 NBC for the past couple of weeks, in preparation for a promotion, a new job for me, which I will begin on Monday, as the news director.   It’s the top job in the newsroom.  It’s a great move for me, and I believe it will be a good move for you too.

I’ll continue to maintain my blog here at 41NBC.com and my Facebook page. 

It wasn’t an easy decision for me, but I think know a blessing when I see one.

You should know I truly enjoy anchoring this broadcast, but I also love working with reporters to get the story the right, defending them in their pursuit of the truth, and making sure we have the resources and the right people who can get to the point of a story. 

 So, I want to THANK YOU for allowing me to share the news with you over the last few years.   We’ve shared some great stories. 

As News Director here at 41NBC, I’ll continue to make sure that doesn’t change.

Letters to God, Answers from Life, The Power of Prayer

We went to go see a new Christian movie called “Letters to God”. If you've ever been close to someone who has lived with cancer, it will definitely force some heavy reflection, and may leave you fighting tears.

The movie is about a boy battling cancer who writes letters to God. He writes God asking for his mom to laugh, his friend to get a new friend if he dies, and for a kid who picks on him at school to learn about what Jesus would do, among other requests and thoughts. He writes what seems like several letters everyday. Many of those letters are read by his mailman, who is having his own struggles with alcohol. Meeting the boy with cancer and reading those letters give the mailman a greater since of peace, and he begins to know God. The boy with cancer even asks his brother to write a letter to God, which his mother finds and reads. She's able to understand both boys better, and begins to cater to both of their needs.

By the end, it becomes clear that the boy's letters to God inspire people beyond his family. The boy who picked on him at school and the mailman help the neighborhood get the message by spreading some of the boy's letters around.

All in all, it was a great movie that might give you a new way to pray, connect with God, and understand the true power of your prayers.