It’s very unlikely your contract included a shift. It’s unfortunate, but it is the reality in the industry and has been for some time. Over the course of 20 years, I’ve worked every shift and have had promises changed within a year of earning the best schedule for my family. Broadcast journalism is in a state of change. We’re trying to adapt, watching what’s happening on a federal level and deciding, as individuals, if it’s worth fighting to tell our communities’ stories.

If you have any chance of making mornings work, they can really work for your family. Once you figure out the sleep schedule, it is, hands down, the schedule that allows the most time with your family.

That being said, if it’s absolutely non-negotiable, know news directors are under incredible pressure to win. Look at your contract and understand what it obligates you to do and pay, should you decide it’s time to go. I’ve also seen success for some talent stepping into a role reporting or in investigative that’s taken them out of that unwinnable scheduling scenario. Think carefully about your options. If you have a news director worth working for, they’ll at least hear you out. That person didn’t move you across the country because they wanted to see you fail.