Anchoring – Page 6 – Survive Your Job In Television News

Anchor’s Away! How to handle a difficult anchor.

Anchors, the title of this one is strong and may tick you off. But before you get too upset, read our previous article: “Throw me a life line, I’m being hung out to dry, AGAIN!” We are journalists after all and therefore must look at all sides!

As a producer, the largest challenge I faced without a doubt was anchors that “attacked” rather than talked through issues. It took years of frustration to figure out how to handle this. Now I want to share what I learned so other producers can relax more.

How to deal with a difficult anchor

Know your anchors strengths and weaknesses
Remember this person is the face of all that you do as well
Establish your role as manager of the newscast
If there’s a problem, take the lead and talk it through
As a last option, fight fire with fire

I fully admit that a lot of complaints anchors brought to me were valid. But, because I was being screamed at or worse yet had to listen to the boss tell me that I screwed up, it was sometimes hard to hear the message. Most of us producers are thrown into the fire without a fireproof suit and are just trying to get out alive every day. You have to separate yourself from that chaos and listen to the message. For example, one anchor thought I gave her too many instructions before going to a breaking news story. Maddening, since producers are often told we give anchors too little information. I put my frustration aside and asked why. She explained that she was unable to formulate thoughts to ad lib and felt foolish delivering the facts. She didn’t like reading scripts cold and preferred I not write breaking news, instead give her a few facts to run with. Next time we had a breaker, I gave her what she wanted and she did a great job.

Knowing your anchors strengths and weaknesses also means you have to be able to adapt to the anchors needs. I learned which anchors could ad lib and which needed those breaking news scripts to pull off spot news. If I had an anchor that could not ad lib, I gave the ad libs to the anchor that could ad lib, then changed anchor reads so the non-ad libber did not feel left out. I learned who needed compliments in their IFB at commercial breaks. It is a delicate balance. It seems like all you do is humor people’s egos. Frankly, that is a large part of producing a winning newscast. It’s also something you need to get used to in order to have success at the highest levels.

Which leads to the next point, remember these anchors are the face of all the hard work you do each day. Your copy will not “sing” unless the anchor can “deliver” it. Your newscast will be uncomfortable to watch if your anchors are not at ease. Whether some demands are ridiculous in your opinion, is another matter. Humor enough of them to calm the anchor down so he/she can perform well. A key to doing this is to give some compliments even if you never get any in return. You want to show your anchors that you respect the jobs they do, so they gain confidence that you have their backs. This is crucial to establishing a strong team on your show. As the newscast manager this is your primary responsibility, whether you make the most money on the shift or not.

As manager of your show, you do have the right to make the decisions. If an anchor has a really unreasonable request, you can deny it. Here’s a common scenario: An hour before your newscast an anchor comes to you saying their co-anchor has more reads. You have breaking news, your reporters haven’t fed and you are behind writing. It is okay to say: “Today the show airs as formatted.” Then, after the newscast, take a look at how you divided up the anchor reads that day, as well as a few days earlier. Anchors usually do not come to you unless they have noticed an issue for a while. Most people do not like confrontation. If your reads have been a bit skewed to the other anchor, fix the issue the next day. Thank the anchor who mentioned it for coming to you. Also if you don’t know this next trick, use it. Switch off who leads the blocks every day. By the law of averages, that means by the end of the week the anchors will have a nearly even number of reads and leads. If the reads were not skewed, print out a week’s worth of rundowns, highlight the reads in different colors and talk to the anchor that’s complaining. Do not accuse the anchor of being ridiculous. Explain what you do to prevent uneven face time, then hand the anchor the highlighted rundowns and ask him/her to look them over and see if there are any issues he/she wants to discuss. This establishes that you are not a push over, you are conscientious, and you take responsibility for your newscasts. This simple chat can keep an anchor from lodging attacks. Thank the anchor for coming to you and let him/her know you are always willing to hear ways “We can make the newscast better.” Again, this will show the anchor that you are the leader of the newscast.

So what if the anchor constantly runs to management to whine about you and never comes to you directly? Remember, people do not like confrontation. If a manager comes to you with an anchor complaint, listen, then ask the manager how you should handle the problem. This shows you are willing to be proactive. Then, after the newscast ask to speak with the anchor one on one. Explain that you understand that anchor is upset about XYZ and you will do XYZ to fix the problem. Then say, “in the future if there’s a problem, please know that I am willing to listen. The best time for me to talk is right after the newscast.” Then, walk away. You want to have this conversation in case the anchor goes to management behind your back again. At that point ask your direct manager, ideally an EP, to sit with you while you talk to the anchor about the current problem and solution, and respectfully ask the anchor to come to you directly in the future. You want to let the anchor know you also have a little clout with management to even the playing field. In many shops producers are becoming more of a commodity than anchors. There are less people willing to do our job. You don’t want to abuse that knowledge, but it is helpful to subtly let the anchor know you are a valuable asset as well. It is also good to include your EP, because this person probably has years of history dealing with difficult anchors and can help diffuse the situation further or divert it to the EP instead of you.

Finally, if you have a really difficult anchor, and no other choice, fight fire with fire. Tell your EP ahead of time and stand up for yourself. If you are being hazed, read our previous article: “Thank you sir, may I have another: How to handle newsroom hazing.” One anchor of mine, refused to get to the set on time. So, I took her out of the entire a-block and ended up with her screaming at me in the News Director’s office. The ND told me to include her from then on, and I told them both that I would when she was professional enough to get to the set 5 minutes before the newscast began, not 5 minutes after. The ND turned to the anchor and said, “ That is a basic request.” I won a big battle. The daily attacks stopped. I also made a weather anchor that constantly ran exceedingly long on weather apologize to the audience for running so long that we could not air a story that was teased the entire show. He was 30 years my senior. But, I told him over the studio PA that he needed to take responsibility like the rest of us do each day and he went with it. We came back from commercial and he offered an eloquent apology.

If you take one thing away from this article, make it this: When you feel it’s “anchor’s away”, and you are about to be the brunt of a brutal tongue lashing, keep your cool. Write down the anchor’s complaint and reasoning. Give yourself a few minutes to breathe and relax and actually look at the situation from the anchor’s perspective. You may learn some valuable lessons about putting on a better newscast.

Step out of the box, will you?

It’s a phrase that makes many journalists cringe and roll their eyes: “People, we need to think out of the box.” What does that mean?

Well, it means don’t pitch the same story ideas over and over. It means the station wants more than police blotter stories. It also often means news management is getting creative to attract specific audiences. This is an opportunity to have fun at work again if you know a key secret. The best TV stories focus on three things: Real people with compelling video and audio.

When management starts talking about thinking “out of the box,” you need to start presenting ideas in a visual way. Describe your story idea by explaining your first shot in it. Another way to pitch is with the “character” you will showcase. Thinking “out of the box” is a catch phrase for asking journalists to put a human element into a story.

Here’s how to execute “out of the box” for different news philosophies: If you work in an “action news” shop, managers want to see reporters and anchors interacting with the news in a more visual way. Add more sequences and nat sound. Look for a person or interesting business to focus on for a different twist to a news of the day story. Producers should include more interesting anchor tags with information from the anchor to make them appear more of an expert rather than just a reader. Add cool opens to blocks with video and nat sound. Replay cool video in slow motion.

If you work in a “big J” type shop, do what you can to showcase how news headlines impact real people. Write in a more conversational way. Look for interesting characters.

If you work in a headline news type shop where you normally just chase breaking news, play up any interesting video. Let some emotional sound bites “breathe” more than you usually would.

“Out of the box” also means thinking beyond putting stories only on television screens. More and more shops want to see you pitching ideas that also have life in social media or at the very least the station web page. It really is just another way to establish human connections. The only difference is making the story more accessible for people to react. That doesn’t just mean creating a blog for people to sound off. This can be an opportunity to empower with links to associated groups and content. It just depends on the station’s philosophy how far you will go online.

The best part about being told to step “out of the box” is that your news management team is thinking beyond old fashioned TV journalism. It is looking for ways to integrate technology with storytelling and to redefine news coverage. This is an opportunity for you to get really creative and carve a niche for yourself not only within the station, but in the industry. So go ahead, think “out of the box.”

New Boss: Sucking up without being obvious.

Many TV stations, like many football programs are constantly changing the “coach.” If the ratings don’t go up quickly the news director is gone. That means a new chance to be fired, since the new boss will want to make an impact right away. First impressions truly can make or break your future at that station. So let’s talk star power.

All managers have one thing in common. They want staffers that do not whine. They want people that can change and adapt quickly. To prove you can do this, research the new ND and see what type of news philosophy was implemented at their last station. Did the place do a lot of consumer news? Did the station cover a lot of breaking news? What was the turnover like? Calling and asking for an long time reporter or photojournalist to dig a bit will be helpful. You want to ask what the ND liked to see from the staff. What kind of story ideas got the ND excited. Try and find out if your new ND is a big football fan or has kids or a dog. Now you have a leg up.

Listen to the ND during the first few story meetings. See if the ND is getting excited over the type of stories you heard he/she will like. The ND will give you clues about where the place is going next pretty quickly with offhanded comments. Most people don’t listen. They should and you will. Next, adapt story ideas or input about newscasts to the trends you notice from the ND. After a few weeks try and catch the ND for a minute and request a critique. Don’t say “hey did you watch my show/package. etc. that day.” Just say: “I am checking in to see if you have any critique for me on what you’ve seen so far. I am looking forward to taking my work to the next level with you.” The ND will probably say he/she needs a few weeks. That’s fine. You just want the early impression to be that you are hardworking and eager to adapt to this person’s style.

Now let’s talk personal connection. Remember you have intel on the ND’s personal interests. Use it to make a human connection. Let’s say the ND is a big football fan. When you see ND in the hall or at the end of a meeting ask what person thinks of some headline, “How about that new recruit? What about that last play in the last game?” You get the idea. Don’t linger. Listen to the response and walk away. You don’t want to force it.

You also need to make deadline and not complain about anything for the first several months; even if you are getting screwed on vacation time. Stay out of the office and let other people seem difficult. The ND is overwhelmed the first few months and doesn’t need to deal with any “little” issues. Fair or not, your vacation time qualifies as little.

If you are in a meeting with the ND do not be the first person to run out of the room at the end. Organize your papers, take one more sip of coffee, do what you need to linger a minute in case the ND starts small talking. This is a subtle way to start building a connection without seeming obvious.

Remember ND’s are looking for employees who are loyal and willing to work hard. So when you are asked to cover an extra shift or work late, do it without complaining. You will get a chance to occasionally say no after the ND has been there awhile. This is a way ND’s test to see if you are a diva or a battle tested, nose to the ground journalist. We watched it time and again. Staffers turned down shifts or complained about working late and the ND made a quick judgment call that the person was lazy and didn’t appreciate the job. It was usually downhill from there.

The key in all of this is being subtle. This is like dating. Give the ND a taste of who you are, express some interest, but do not overdo it. The people constantly in the office putting out will end up being the ones the ND takes advantage of and overworks long term. The hard workers that stay out trouble survive and end up with some time to breathe. You will keep the ND interested in seeing more. That’s what you want.

Throw me a life line, I’m being hung out to dry, AGAIN!

If you’re an anchor, it’s one of your nightmares: A producer in over his/her head and constantly providing no instructions during a crisis in a live show. But simply yelling at the producer and then complaining to management doesn’t fix the problem.

First you have to understand the stakes. Producers are hard to come by. The burnout rate is tremendous. Producers also tend to be able to move up in markets quickly with very little experience. Like it or not, anchors are becoming on the job trainers for producers in many stations. Problem is many anchors don’t know enough about the fine points of producing to be a true help.

We want to bridge the gap a little bit so anchors can shine brightly on air, and turn into valuable assets, even without a lot of support. As an anchor, it is crucial that you are considered easy to work with and supportive. Your producer is a key player, so you need to build a relationship even if the person is not that great at their job.

Here are the main things most green producers really need help with, but may struggle to admit to an anchor:

Knowing how to write the way an anchor speaks.
Timing the show.
Handling breakers.
Making split second decisions in the booth.

Now let’s help you help the producer. When you get a new producer you need to have at least a little patience and give that person a couple of weeks of producing shows. See what the producer does really well. Then compliment the producer on those things. This is crucial because many producers fear anchors are out to get them. You need to begin the relationship showing you will be supportive and fair.

After that conversation you can start to rewrite copy here and there. When you rewrite, let the producer know why you did. But do it after the newscast. The producer is too slammed to pay attention before the show airs and they definitely don’t have time during breaks in the newscast. Do not rewrite everything then hand all the rewrites to the producer to figure out why. One anchor I know would switch the copy into lower case and let the producer know. She then explained she did that so the producer could see some of the phrases she would naturally use in conversation. This is an easy, and non-combative, way to teach a producer your conversational style. If there are a lot of grammatical errors, just let the producer know you are doing some rewrites because the producer seems behind and you want to help. Again, a rewrite in lower case signals what you changed to the producer so he/she can look back later and catch the grammatical errors. If those grammatical errors keep happening, give the producer scripts with the grammatical errors you fixed after a newscast. Tell the producer you know he/she writes a lot, and you just wanted to show common mistakes you are finding so he/she can keep them in mind for the next show. Speaking of help, if you see a script that you know the green producer will mangle or perhaps get the station sued if they write it, either write it yourself and have an EP look it over for legal reasons. You can also ask the EP to just write it and offer to do something the EP usually does.

Now let’s talk timing. This is very hard for producers and in fairness an anchor should not have to worry about it. Unfortunately, many producers learn everything, including timing a newscast, by trial and error. Often the EP’s, who are in charge of monitoring the producers “issues” won’t be able to spot the producers specific timing problems. As the anchor who sees it every day, you can easily spot timing trouble trends. When you do notice your producer mistiming the same spots over and over, let the EP know. This will help them guide the producer and also makes you look like a real team player who is watching out for the good of the newscast.

Handling breakers and the resulting split second decisions is also a struggle for producers. The producer has several people asking (and also telling!) him/her what to do at once. For the anchor, it can be hard to get the producer on the phone because the assignment desk and EP call constantly. So, if you possibly can, use top of screen messages to ask the producer when to do the breaker and how you should do it. (i.e. how long should you talk, is there video or a live shot, or a pitch to a reporter?) Also you can usually print out top of screen conversations later if needed. This can help in several ways. It allows you to show the EP that you are not attacking the producer if that person is particularly thin skinned. It also helps you check with the EP to see if you are phrasing questions in ways that let the producer quickly assess and respond. Finally, if you are ever called on the carpet for performance when these crises arise, you have concrete evidence that shows you were trying to be proactive.

If the producer still doesn’t give you clear instructions, talk about it after the show. Spell out what you need so the producer knows next time. Going straight to the EP may not help. EP’s may not be able to explain what you need as clearly, because they usually are in the newsroom funneling everything instead of in the booth watching the producer. If the EP is in the booth and everything still ends up a mess, ask to talk with the EP and producer after the show and have them explain what was happening on their end. Often talking it out, allows the EP or producer to see where the disconnect happened without you having to spell it out.

Finally, make sure you are very involved in the newscast throughout your shift. That doesn’t mean sounding off on what you think about every single story the whole time. But you should check in with the EP and producer to see if they need any help. Ask to write some stories. Offer to research extra elements that can be added for flavor at the end of a story. Offer to call and check on a reporter or two and see how they are doing. Being an anchor is not just about sitting around tweeting and waiting to read what others write. Those things are important. Preparing to deliver the scripts with breathing exercises and some down time before the show is also important. But it’s not enough. You need to be involved with the newscast and its contents. Bottom line, the more familiar you are the better chance you have to cover up your producer’s inadequacies on while you are on the air. Taking this kind of ownership makes you a key ally for the EP and upper management. It does not mean you will be stuck with a weak producer, it means you will be known as a team player and a leader the newsroom does not want to lose. You also will deliver your copy in a more meaningful and authoritative way because you truly own the newscast. Your hand was in it all the way through. So shine bright!