Know Your Newsroom – Page 11 – Survive Your Job In Television News

Coming out of the black hole, how to make the most out of late news live shots

I’ve been traveling and one market I was in, is really putting heavy emphasis on its late newscasts. Competition is tight, a new broadcasting powerhouse just bought a station and it’s ready to make a big play. Veteran journalists know what this means. More live, more often, even if it’s in the pitch dark. So I sat and watched the new competition come in and make it’s presence known. The takeaway, live shots in black holes. Live for the sake of being live. Showcasing that the reporters are everywhere with a simple word, in an upper corner of the TV screen, repeated over and over: LIVE.

As a former nightside EP, I get it. I remember the countless strategy sessions about the importance of live crew placement. The incredible marketing involved with people driving by your station’s microwave or satellite truck for hours on end. Then there’s the promise that you will deliver breaking news. That means night crews are working out of live trucks no matter what. You must be ready to jump!

But here’s the thing, shooting a lovely reporter whose face glows in the dark like a street lamp against a pitch black background is not acceptable. So let’s break down why these live shots happen and alternatives to the glowing head in the black hole.

So, why do those “work you to the bone” nightside managers require you to go live, even when the story is “over” and there’s nothing to see in your background? For two reasons: Breaking news and marketing. Here’s what I mean by that: If you have two crews, and four counties in your DMA you need to spread everyone out. If everyone heads back to the station with look lives, you could end up screwed. That’s when the huge breaker will happen on the outer fringes of your DMA. You must cover the bases. So if the crew is out in a live truck anyway, you might as well get that live super up. That’s the thinking.

As for marketing, if your crew is parked in a busy section of town or better yet in a part of the DMA you know brings in a lot of viewers, or is full of opportunities to grow viewers, you want the exposure. That huge mast or beautifully painted satellite truck is a mobile billboard. That advertising is priceless. Billy drives by the truck and calls Bob to say, “Hey channel 8 is here.” Bob calls Sam and so it goes. The nightside managers task is always to grow audience. You can bet this is on that managers mind every night. We ask ourselves “Where can I send the truck that will get the most eyeballs and then new viewers?” It’s the simple truth.

So now that you know why the nightside crews get “stuck” live all the time in the dark, let’s talk execution strategies. The crews need to avoid black hole live shots, and the managers need to help. Yes, that’s right: The mangers need to help you avoid black holes.

First let’s talk about what nightside crews can do. I used to get into it with photojournalists all the time for refusing to set up a frigging light on the background behind the reporter. I get that it’s a little extra work. I get that it’s just an empty building. Personally, I hate that kind of live shot background image also. But, if you are in the part of the DMA I’ve been told to increase viewer numbers in and it’s ratings and I have a HUGE lead in, I may feel I have to showcase that we have a crew there RIGHT NOW. The station is deeming a particular community important. We are there watching out for you. And whether you the crew or I hate the dark shot, there are payoffs sometimes. So get out the light kit and make the effort.

That said, if you don’t have spare gear, or if you have an imaginative look live option, call it in. Nightside managers, remember you can still have your cake and eat it too. Let the crew feed in the great look live elements. But keep them parked in the truck during news time. You get the marketing exposure and the ability to jump on breaking news if needed. Sometimes it is worth losing the live super to avoid the black hole. When you really think about it, you could get to a breaker even faster if the crew does not have to break down a live shot.

But, news crews, if the nightside manager gives you this option, that doesn’t mean you “cheat” and head back to the station a little early. When you get busted, you will ensure yourself a set lot in life: Live shots in a black hole each shift for as long as you are nightside. The strategic planning cannot be sacrificed just to make your life easier.

Moving To A Big Market.

It’s one of the most commonly asked questions among young producers in TV news – ‘how do I know if I’m ready to work in a big market?’ If your co-workers like your stuff and you have been consistently promoted, the answer is pretty simple. You probably are.

Let’s say you’re a grinder. You started in a small market, doing ten different things in the newsroom, learning, absorbing, doing. Then you made a jump to a slightly bigger market. More responsibility, a few extra bucks. Maybe you even jumped again, to a solid station, in say, Albany, Oklahoma City, or Winston-Salem. Now you’re making a decent living and you’re doing a good job. Every ambitious journalist (especially if you went to a hyper-competitive J-school) has that nagging feeling. Could I cut it in a top ten market?

Confession: it happened to me. I spent the first five years of my career steadily moving up, first producing in Binghamton and then Syracuse. I had opportunities to go elsewhere after Syracuse, including the midwest and the east coast, but my future wife and my family encouraged me to come back to my hometown of Albany. At some point, I heard from the gang who had interned for me when I was doing the 11pm at WTVH in Syracuse. They had become both good friends and fantastic producers, and they had moved on to markets like San Francisco, New York City, and Boston. I won’t lie, it nagged at me. “They are doing better than I am. Hell, I helped them get started. If I don’t try, how will I ever know?” It was time to take the plunge. My wife, a a reporter herself, wanted to move back to her (Top 10 market) hometown, so we had a target city in mind. And not long after, I was offered a job in said city producing weekend nights.

I was nervous at the time, but quickly came to realize the experiences I had accumulated to that point had more than prepared me for what lie ahead. And that’s where my advice to you begins.

Step Back

You may be a big shot where you are now (I was the senior producer in Albany when I left) but you need to be prepared to take a BIG step back. As someone who hates mornings, I was lucky getting my start on weekend nights. You might not be so lucky. Expect to work weekends, mornings, even weekend mornings. In all cases, the hours will be long, you’ll be expected to pull writer shifts during the week, and it will take a while to build up credibility with your far more experienced co-workers.

Keep An Open Mind

Your writing will get picked apart a lot. Major market Executive Producers have been exposed to research and training. They know what works and they will definitely push you to be more active and aggressive with your words. Don’t take the criticism personally. Find ways to incorporate the techniques into your style. Do not be afraid to talk to your anchors about what they want to see! It will take some time, but trust me, you will find your ‘big market’ voice.

It’s Not That Different

I used to say the only difference between a big market and a medium/small market is a helicopter and more bosses. This is still true. Sure, you will find more executive producers or managing editors and even more reporters and photographers. And yes, most stations have helicopters (although more and more are sharing), but many of the changes made at the lower end of the DMA index are working their way to the top. Truck operators who shoot, producers who edit VOs and teases, automated control rooms and more are now becoming the norm at top ten stations. Your experience doing more things will serve you well. Don’t be afraid of the work. The pace and pressure may increase, but the basics will stay the same. Remember, it’s the same dynamic, just on a larger scale.

Breaking News Is Big

In top 10 markets, breakers can turn into epic events. That means blowing out programming, coordinating team coverage and putting in long hours on the air. It’s the same for weather. Three to six inches of snow may be something we laugh about in Syracuse, but it can be crippling in a big city where the commutes are brutal under the best of circumstances. I can’t tell you how many times I have been called in to work overnights for storm coverage, or even slept on the floor of my office because of a blizzard. I once spent fifteen hours straight in the control room for the funeral of a legendary politician. You will be expected to make the commitment. And remember, we have people meters in big markets, so pretty much every day is ratings. You will need to bring a sense of urgency to the table during every shift.

Mental Toughness

This is probably the most important thing. We have already talked about added pressure from your bosses. Your co-workers will be looking for you to lead. Anchors, reporters, and photographers will be carefully eyeing you to see how confident (and how fast) you can make a decision. Remember, they have been doing it a lot longer than you, and in most cases, and will be quick to second guess you. Be confident you are making the right call. Remember, if you’re not sure, no manager will fault you for seeking a second opinion.

No Jackpot

You may already know this, but you’re not going to get rich producing the news, even in a top ten. Salaries are not what they were 10 years ago. Producers are starting around $50,000, if you’re lucky, in many top 10 markets. If you’re single and you want to live in the city, expect to need a roommate.

That’s really the worst thing I have to say about it. If you crave the excitement and pressure that comes with major market local newscasts, you will not be disappointed in taking the plunge. Just stay true to what you have already learned. Try to soak up as much knowledge as you can from your co-workers, be confident, and you’ll find success at this level – and have fun, too.

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This article is written by an Executive Producer at a number 1 station in a top 10 market. While he wants to remain anonymous, you can email [email protected] any questions and we will make sure you get an answer.

Tweeting About WX Coverage: How To Stand Out

With spring storm season here, I was eager to watch the locals show off their meteorologists and storm coverage during a recent tornado warning. It was a weekend. A nationally televised sporting event was happening in town, one channel had a NASCAR race running and March Madness was cooking too. These obviously add a lot of pressure to the weekend crews. I could write an article on how obvious it was which stations planned ahead for this possible scenario and which obviously left weekend crews high and dry. (The threat of storms was forecast days in advance.) But frankly, talking about how bad that is to do to a weekend crew is just too obvious. So let’s talk about something interesting I really noticed during this Sunday after storm. Reporters and meteorologists were tweeting from home, with compelling elements to really “own “ station coverage online.

Two stations really stood out for this. Anchors, reporters and meteorologist hopped on Twitter and talked about what the storms were doing at their location despite clearly having the day off. They asked for descriptions from Twitter followers. They added information beyond the studio crew.

My favorite highlights: a weekday meteorologist who was off, started sending out information about areas that were about to see rain bands and wind. A weekday news anchor (also off that day) started describing what the weather was like and showed images too. Reporters started conversations with followers about what the skies looked like overhead, whether they were ducking for cover and even how the kids were reacting to the wind and rain bands. The tweets were real, appropriate and created tangible connections with the community they served. Very cool!

When tweeting about the weather keep in mind that it is an incredible instant connection to people directly impacted by what you are covering. Allow discussion. It can create amazing moments and connections that will help supplement your station’s on-air coverage. In my case, I had switched to another station to watch when tweets started coming in from a competitor that explained what was happening so well, I switched again. I knew that was the station that was giving the best explanation of what to expect. The bases were truly covered by a dedicated staff that contributed any way they could, willingly. These journalists wanted to be watchdogs for their community, even when it was their day off. A big win for sure.

He Got More Air Time: Decoding The Read Counter

When a producer sent me an email about this issue, I had to shake my head a little. Been there a couple of times. I could just see the anchor that used to count the number of stories lecturing me again. I also could see the anchor that used to count how much time reading she got versus her co-anchor handing me a list that tracked a one week period. She was shocked when I stared at her in disbelief. In a week’s time, the cumulative amount differed by less than a minute. Seriously? This is what she worried about?

Here’s the deal. Anchor reads will never be completely even. It just isn’t possible. There are tricks to get them pretty darn close though. I will explain those in a minute. First I want to talk about this “read counting” mentality. Read counters, who base their worth on how often they are on the air, versus their co-anchor create all kinds of problems. The biggest negative impacts: Themselves and other anchors. Here’s why. When a producer sees that you spend your time counting the seconds to make sure you get your face time, you are telling that producer that all you care about is being on TV. That is simply the truth. In fact, my read counter actually said to me, “My audience needs to see me more than my co-anchor. They count on seeing me. I just know I am a bigger draw than her. You must want her to be the draw and not me.” How does a producer, who cares about getting crucial information out to the viewer place confidence in that mentality? It made it very hard to trust that if I gave him breaking news, he would use due diligence to make sure the information was correct. He also was the only anchor in the shop to pitch a fit if he actually had to go “in the field” to turn a story unless he deemed it glamorous. This example is not unique. Producers talk. We love to tell each other who the read counter is. That’s the person you never hand the big breaker. That’s the person you avoid at all costs. That’s the anchor whose critiques often fall on deaf ears. Fair or not, that’s what happens. The stigma is there. You only care about face time, not being a thorough and complete journalist.

Now, let’s address the time counter. The producer who emailed me gave the example of an anchor saying “ My co-anchor had 1:15 in reads, I had :50 seconds.” This simply screams, “I love my face time. I need all the face time. Look at me I’m on TV!” Look, obviously all anchors like a little face time. If you hated it, you would not be on TV. But again, this sends the message that you care more about being recognized out and about town than being a solid journalist. Not the reputation you want in a newsroom, period. Time counters are considered petty, arrogant and superficial. It just makes you look bad.

Now the kicker, for all the other anchors who are solid journalists. Because of read and time counters, producers often get defensive about reads. So when there is a legitimate issue, like one anchor being written out of 7 minutes in the a-block, that anchor may not raise a red flag for fear of being labeled “high maintenance.” There are times, when there are legitimate issues with reads. Newbie producers often make this mistake until they get enough of a handle on designing the rundown, timing it correctly and making deadlines. That’s a long wait for the anchors who just don’t want to disappear for big chunks of news blocks.

So here’s the solution. First, producers should trade off who leads the newscast, and each block. For example, let’s take Joe and Amy. On Monday, Joe leads the a-block, Amy the b-block and on down the line. If you have an hour long show, have Joe lead the a-block Monday, then Amy leads the 30 block. Switch on Tuesday. Repeat. This only takes a second to do, and really helps make the reads appear even. The second part to creating even reads is to try and make sure the anchor reads change every two minutes or so. If you have a package that is 2:30, the anchor who introduced it should read the tag. If it is a long tag, do it on a two shot to re-establish team as long as the next story is not a rough transition. If you have a rough transition before the two minute time is up, switch then and get back to the other anchor within two minutes. Of course, you can’t make it every two minutes on the nose, but it is a good approximate time to keep in mind.

So there you have it. That’s why read counters do what they do. That’s what it means and how to stave it off. If you are a read counter, and your producer switches block leads and tries to change reads every two minutes or so, stop complaining. Your reputation depends on it.