admin – Page 51 – Survive Your Job In Television News

Make or Break. Why you must cultivate sources and exclusives.

I just finished watching the amazing documentary “Page One: Inside the New York Times,” which tells the story of how America’s great newspaper is trying to survive in an era when many of us first learn about news events from Twitter and Yahoo! News. The filmmaker tries to make his case that the Times is still needed because its reporters actually hit the streets and work the phones to gather news, as opposed to just copying and pasting and putting up links to others’ work, as critics of Gawker and the Huffington Post accuse those media outlets of doing.

In the end, it’s the story of how Times media reporter David Carr breaks a major story about the debauchery that was going on inside the executive suites at the Tribune Company. It is a triumph for the “Old Gray Lady” and all of us who consider ourselves journalists in the traditional sense of the word.

How many stories have you personally broken at your station in 2011?

If the answer is zero, I predict you’ll someday be like the people in “Page One” who make a secret editors’ list of who can be laid-off when the budget’s cut because, in this Darwinian media environment we now find ourselves working in, the editors can still produce a great paper without them.

And yes, anchors, I’m talking to you, too. I know you don’t just sit at a desk and read a teleprompter. I get frustrated with that perception, too, because I know all of the hard work that goes into helping produce a great newscast, doing the homework required to really know the stories you’ll be talking about on-air, and summoning the creative energy at ungodly hours to put in a really good television performance. I get it. But dozens of other anchors can perform as well or almost as well as you, too. So what is that extra ingredient you’re going to offer your station?

In their well-researched new book That Used to Be Us, Tom Friedman and Michael Mandelbaum argue that even creative professionals like journalists will have to offer their employers something extra if they want to stay employed. You can’t just come to work, put on your makeup, and read the 11 o’clock news anymore. Even anchors with great ratings are being laid-off long before they’re ready to retire because their bosses believe they make too much money at a time when media companies are trying to figure out how to keep making profits.

I’m not suggesting anchors and reporters who’ve been laid-off in the Great Recession and afterward deserved it. I’m sure most of them worked hard and were valuable members of their newsrooms. But I am suggesting that your chances of being on the secret list of expendable employees in your newsroom rise greatly if you’re viewed as a run-of-the-mill journalist who doesn’t break stories.

Think about it. Why are so many TV newsrooms reviving their investigative units? Because investigative reporters dig-up original stories that keep viewers’ attention, are easily promotable by the marketing department, and differentiate your station from the three or four others in the market who also do news.

You want to be on that team.

You don’t literally have to be on that team. But as an anchor or reporter, you’d better have contacts in the community that are helping your newsroom advance the big stories of the week. For anchors, this doesn’t mean you have to turn a package on something new you learn. An e-mail to the newsroom with what you’ve found out and a phone call to the reporter on the story will show everyone that you’re truly a newsroom leader.

But do tweet about what you’ve learned and let your audience know that your reporter will have more on it in the next newscast. (You may want to hold this tweet until right before airtime so the competition doesn’t “share” your scoop. I will sometimes do this by scheduling a tweet to run at a specific time using TweetDeck.)

You might also consider writing a short story on your station’s website about the new angle to the story you’ve discovered. Viewers want anchors who are part of the fabric of their community. With your byline on the story, you’ll reinforce your value to the audience as someone who is plugged-in to the newsmakers and community leaders in your market.

If you’re the reporter on the story and you’ve learned this information yourself, don’t be afraid to let the audience know that you’ve been working the phones and the information they’re hearing is exclusive information. Also, well before the newscast, work with your producer to come up with ways to showcase this information, which may include a banner that touts the fact that it’s exclusive.

The anchor, reporter, and/or producer should also send an e-mail to the news director and marketing department after the newscast letting them know about the scoop. They may want to produce a “proof of performance” promo based on it. And, remember, these days you’ve got to market yourself within your news organization, too. You need the executives to know that you were the person responsible for that exclusive.

So how do you cultivate sources so you can be your station’s most valuable player? I’ll take a look at that next week.

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Matthew Nordin is a morning anchor/investigative reporter at WMBF News, Raycom Media’s NBC affiliate in Myrtle Beach, SC. You can follow him on Twitter @MatthewNordin.

How to get the most out of consultants when they come to your station.

At most stations where I worked, people dreaded when the consultant came to town. The seminars, extra meetings, temporary changes in news philosophy and execution just seemed to be a waste. But I really liked when the consultants came to town. It was a chance at perspective. The consultant knew my station’s philosophy but could also tell me about what other stations were doing. Since early in my career, many newsrooms where I worked had no EP or a weak one, so a consultant visit was my chance to pick someone’s brain a bit.

Here’s what I did to use a consultant visit to my benefit, and here’s what you can do as a reporter as well.

Since my I was a producer, I would dub a newscast I liked and have it ready to hand over. I would also ask management for a preview of what the would be in the seminar the consultant had planned. Usually it was writing of some sort. So, I would print samples of my work that related to the subject. Then after the seminar I would mingle a bit and ask if I could have the consultant look over my work. Now, I did not hand over a huge pile of papers, just a small handful or one section of a newscast. Often the consultant would look over my work and give me critiques. I would also ask about trends in larger markets so I could try to “practice” more sophisticated elements in my own newscasts. Occasionally the consultant was really snooty and would blow me off. But most of the time the person was very approachable and willing to share information.

This is good in terms of pushing yourself to the next level when you aren’t getting training elsewhere. There is another benefit to also consider. Never forget who hired the consultant. It’s either the GM or corporate. It never hurts to have a consultant tell those bosses that they met a very conscientious producer (or anchor/reporter etc.) that seemed driven to push him/herself. Let’s face it, the only time I saw a GM for any length of time was a quarterly meeting, previewing a big political special for the station or being told the numbers in the newscasts sucked and we better kick it into high gear or else! So it’s nice to have someone like a consultant tell the GM you are eager to do your best.

As I got to know my station consultants better over the years, some also started giving me career advice. The kind of advice you rarely get, unless you have am agent who’s really on the ball. I got calls sometimes when a job came open at a station the consultant called on. It was a consultant who sat me down and told me I was ready for management and to aim for a medium-large to large market when I did apply. A consultant reviewed my writing samples to make sure I was well rounded before I made a large market jump as a producer. When I went to a large market, the consultant there (he was with another agency than my previous station FYI) worked with me on the side to get ready to become an EP. Why? It makes the consultant look good to be able to place you in a good fit and help you move up.

Reporters, don’t overlook this option for yourselves as well, especially when talent coaches come in and work with you one and one to improve your look and performance. Most of the time you are given a business card and told to call with any further questions: Do it! Yes, your current station will probably hear that you called. Don’t bad mouth the place. Do ask if you can send more current work samples to find out if you are on the right track. Again, these consultants meet a lot of big time bosses. They can and sometimes do put a word in about the talent they get to know.

It should go without saying that you don’t want to badger these potential mentors and ask too many questions or get too many reviews of your work. Once in a while it is okay, and might even help your career. So listen to the seminars, ask questions, show you are committed to the station where you work and improving your own worth. That consultant could help your career in ways you’d never expect.

6 Months left on my contract, how do I shop myself without ticking off the bosses?

A very talented anchor friend of mine recently asked me this question: How do you shop yourself, when you are six months or so out from your contract end date, without ticking off the ND and/or GM? Is posting my stuff on Collective Talent okay? Or, is it likely to make the boss start looking for my replacement?

No doubt you have to tread lightly when deciding to shop yourself, especially if you do not have an agent. My gut instinct was to put your stuff on Collective Talent, MediaLine or MyAirCheck type websites, only if you are pretty sure you are about to be “on the beach.” But I wanted to be sure, so I contacted former news director turned agent, Micah Johnson with Media Stars Worldwide. There’s good news job seekers! His take is: Your ND and/or GM expects to see you “putting your work out there.” Why wouldn’t you want to better your situation? It’s all about leverage. Two things Micah said to keep in mind before posting on these type of sites though:

1) If your ND wants to keep you, this will speed up the negotiation process. You will only get 60 to 90 days to hunt for a new job. Then either sign with the current station, or know you will be let go and must find another gig.

2) If you really like your job, and where you are, you will quickly find out if the station likes you as much as you like the station. If you post and there’s no push to negotiate, management may not be as eager to keep you around as you hoped. Keep in mind the ND will see your work on these sites. They routinely check to see who at the station is potentially looking and who’s on the sites from competing stations.

Not doing anything guarantees your ND is going to try and get you at a bargain. This is important to keep in mind as well. When your contract is coming up, if you possibly can, you want leverage. If you do not have an agent, this is riskier. It is still doable, but you might want to start networking well before the last 6 month mark on your contract.

So how do you network without an agent when you are considering a move? For starters, head back to Collective Talent, MediaLine and MyAirCheck. Check where the people with postings are from. Chances are this talent is at least casually looking, so their job could come open in a place where you would like to live. Might be a good time to send the ND at that station a link to your work and an email or letter and disc introducing yourself and letting him or her know when you will be available if a job came open. Do not write that you saw anchor so and so on Collective Talent and you want that job. That doesn’t look good. Keep it more general. Wait a couple of weeks, then follow up with an email asking if you can keep in touch and occasionally send links to some of your current work. Now earlier I referenced sending a disc and letter. It’s not because I am a dinosaur. Email is a great route as well, but I like sending hard copies because ND’s get flooded with email. It can be easy to miss yours. An assistant will hand deliver that letter. Sending a letter, then following up with an email gives you the best of both worlds. Be sure to include a copy of your resume and link to your work when you do the follow up email, just in case the ND did not get the letter.

If you have a dream market, make sure you make multiple connections with those stations. Do not limit yourself to the ND’s. Tweet with producers, reporters and anchors in the market. Like them on Facebook and check in once in a while. If these people end up feeling connected with you and can mention you to the boss, it makes you both look good.

Now let’s address the idea of job hunting without ticking the current boss off. Without an agent, this is obviously a more slippery slope. Again, if you really like where you are the key is to be subtle. You are playing a leverage game. But agent Micah Johnson told me something else that really stuck in my head. When I repeatedly asked what to do, in order to not tick off the ND, he said, “I’m shocked you believe it’s an issue.” He kept repeating that ND’s expect talent to look. They usually don’t hold it against you. If you seem to be getting nibbles, this is actually flattering to the ND’s. It validates their own feelings about your talent and potential. If the ND or GM is vindictive about it, you probably don’t want to work for this person long term anyway.

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Thank you Micah Johnson for your insight on job searches. For more of his views on the TV news biz, follow him on Twitter at @TV_Agent. His agency is Media Stars Worldwide at www.MediaStars.tv.

Your Weathercast is going long again! How meteorologists can rein it in.

Yes, this is a stereotype. The meteorologist is going long, again… and again… and… well you get the picture. The thing is, this really does happen a lot. You are given 2 minutes, but take 2 and a half or 3. The exasperated producer asks you why and you tell him/her: “I had a lot of stuff today… someone sent in a weather photo … the bosses are requiring me to put too much into the forecast each night.” Here’s the thing: The producer doesn’t really appreciate any of these reasons. Think about it. The producer has a lot of elements, then gets stuck with your weather photo also at the last minute, and is often required by management to put too much into the newscast. Still the producer has to hit the meter points and time the show out correctly start to finish. So let’s take some producer timing tricks and apply them to weather casts so you can time them to the second. Here’s how:

Pad it
Explain escape plan
Watch the clock
Practice “feeling” the time

First pad your weather cast with an extra element or two in each hit. This is an element that is nice, but can be done on any given day. If you can, put it in the same place in your weather rundown for the director/TD’s sake.

That’s where explaining the escape plan comes in. Let the director/TD know what element is considered an extra and how long you need to get through it. That way they can help you dump out quickly and make time.

Now, let’s talk about watching the clock: It can seem difficult for a meteorologist since your content is so literally hands on while you are live. To get around this, you can do 1 or more of the following things: 1) Wear an IFB so you can get time cues and tell the producer specifically what you want. 2) Write what time you have to wrap up on an index card and place it above your camera. That way you don’t have to do math in your head. You can look at the time casually and know what to do. 3) Have the production crew time cue you to the wrap up element so you can get out quickly.

Another trick that isn’t as common but can be effective is to get a stop watch and practice doing forecasts to time. Stand in front of the green screen and practice each of your hits several times with all the elements management is requiring. Use the stop watch to help you figure out how to time youself. Then repeat what you did several times over. You will start to develop an internal clock that let’s you know what, say, 2 minutes “feels” like. A lot of seasoned producers have this. They can time out segments of their newscasts almost to the second, by feel, as much as by watching a clock.

Now let’s talk specifically about when management throws extra elements at, then says you must find a way to pull off without extra time. You know you cannot do it in the time allotted. So, spell that out directly to the producer as early as possible. That way the producer has time time to find a work around in their format to hit meter points. There is nothing more frustrating than watching weather go long, then hear from the meteorologist that she/he knew the wx was going to go long, but didn’t warn the producer. Sometimes management forgets if a section of a newscast is particularly crucial for hitting meter points. The producer or EP may need to go in and request some formatting changes so you can do what you need, and hit meters. Yes, you would think management would let the producer know so you can just focus on doing the weather. But often that’s simply not the case. The producer goes into the newscast blind, then gets royally screwed on air. Yes, it makes the producer bitter. You don’t want the producer cheating you on time or, worse yet, complaining that you cannot time manage and are difficult to handle. Weather may be the most watched element, but solid producers are hard to replace. It’s probably best not to test your luck and potentially rock the boat. Just provide a heads up so the producer can prepare.

Lastly, if you are asked to reformat your weather cast and add a bunch of new elements, try to add 1 a day. That way you can figure out what fits and doesn’t in a given hit, then provide that feedback to management and/or the producer. That helps everyone time out the changes better so you aren’t stuck going long and the producer isn’t pulling their hair out.