Published: August 30, 2008 10:53 pm         

Tom Sides and Associates, Media MD a natural mix

In the wide world of media, the aura of success can help cultivate a long, successful career. This is the case for longtime media professional Tom Sides. After a long career in television working as a news director in numerous stations from Miami to San Francisco, Sides has come to Beckley, and he has brought his wealth of knowledge of the business of media along with him.

Growing up in the rural Kentucky town of Lanchester, Sides originally thought he would follow in the footsteps of his father by going into the medical field. This career path was drastically changed by the time he reached college.

“I took a broadcast writing class in college. Going into the class I thought it would be very interesting, but it turned out a lot more than just interesting,” Sides said. “The guy who taught the course was also a local news anchor. He came to me one day and asked if I wanted a job. I took immediate liking to the profession.”

Even with the involvement with journalism in college, Sides still graduated from Rhodes College in Memphis with a degree in psychobiology. With his new business venture, Sides is hoping to combine his passion for media with his knowledge of medicine, creating an offshoot of his already successful media counsel group Tom Sides and Associates, Media MD.

“My wife is a physician at Vein Care of the Virginias, so I thought of this venture as a return to medicine in one way or another,” Sides explained. “I have always been involved in media and medicine so I thought why not merge the two.”

But after an extremely successful career as a news director that has spanned 27 years, taken him all across the country and earned him numerous awards including the prestigious Peabody, Edward R. Murrow and DuPont-Columbia awards, why would Sides comes to little ol’ Beckley to launch his media counsel and representation organization? Well, like it would be with most people, it all came down to family.

“My wife is practicing medicine here in the area and this is where she wanted to be, and I wanted to be with her,” Sides said. “Plus, I have a 2-year-old daughter and another one on the way. It has been a wonderful change in life to be a first time parent at my age. They are all a wonderful blessing. I am so grateful for my marriage and my children.”

With his arrival at Beckley, Sides quickly established his flagship enterprise, Tom Sides and Associates, which provides media counsel to different outlets and corporation and representation for individuals involved in media. Sides believes that his vast background working within the media has set him up for success in his new venture.

“With my big background in television production I thought this would be a great business to start,” Sides explained.

Sides says his new business will provides potential customers with counsel on interaction of media, crisis management and working on a companies image, just to name a few. But working within a management position for so many years, one would think Sides would have lost the hands-on approach people look for in media. He assured that this was far from the truth.

“Being involved behind the scenes for so long people would think that you would loose track of being hands on in journalism, but as a news director I never really lost that feature,” Sides said. “Being truthful and hard-working will get you a long way in this profession.”

If you wish to learn more about Tom Sides and Associates you can check out the Web site at www.tomsides.com.