Know Your Newsroom – Page 25 – 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.

The Weather Authority: Common links between incredible TV meteorologists

My career began covering a major flood. I was a one man band, standing knee deep in floodwater, sandbagging in between shooting packages. I also learned how the power of video combined with a knowledgeable meteorologist can captivate audiences.

Then, through the years, came tornadoes and hurricanes and massive snow and ice storms. I produced newscasts through it all watching, and when I could, helping meteorologists explain what happened. Over the years I worked with some big names in the biz. They all had several characteristics in common that made them among the best at what they do:

An unending hunger to learn more about the area in which they worked
Great talent for boiling down conditions and clearly explaining impact
The ability to make weather coverage interesting even when the skies are sunny and clear
A drive to improve each day
Lots of volunteer work in their community

The thing that struck me the most watching these incredible meteorologists over the years was their unending hunger to learn more about the area they covered. These meteorologists were always looking over maps from past to present, researching and looking for trends and coordinating with the local weather service. They never tired of looking for a new nugget of information about the area.

When severe weather struck, these meteorologists could boil down what was happening in clear terms. They explained what was happening without using a lot of extra adjectives. They didn’t pass judgment on a storm’s potential impact. In other words, they didn’t say things like “this is going to be a scary one folks.” They would just say, “Now is the time to take cover. Bring your TV or turn on a radio if you can. We will tell you when it is safe.” These meteorologists knew which schools were on spring break, or when kids would be at a bus stop for each section of the DMA. They were walking encyclopedias of the outdoor recreation areas, even able to casually mention specific places to take cover. They could talk about how deep a mark you needed to claim hail damage on insurance and other little tidbits you needed to know. They truly came across as a friend and confidant that would never lead you astray.

I truly enjoyed working with these meteorologists on sunny days. They still made their weathercasts interesting with those tidbits of information. They educated on cloud types, topography, or what local weather watchers might find interesting in the coming days. You learned a little something every time they spoke. These true experts made weather teases easy to write. Most were also not in it for the “face time.” If there wasn’t much to say and no interesting weather video to discuss, they came to me saying “let’s cut back the time.”

The most interesting trend I noticed over the years though, was how they took sunny days to work on their on-air performances. One would come sit with me to talk about how I wrote news copy and why I used certain phrases. Many would review tape of recent severe weather and critique themselves. (to learn how and why to do this check out our previous article: “Humble pie; why a slice of self-examination can change your career”) Sometimes I was called into the weather center to discuss what we could have done better. We would sit and brainstorm and make plans to implement before the next storm hit. These meteorologists truly managed all aspects of weather coverage.

Finally, these meteorologists all had an intense sense of community. They truly felt like civil servants to the families that watched them. Many routinely went to schools to give talks and volunteered at various charities. Their commitment to the community was inspiring. On the days that severe weather struck, the example they set made us all want to perform even better at our jobs. We did not want to let these weather experts down. They set a standard that guaranteed your newscast would be worth watching.

Right hand meet your left hand. Now catch! The relationship between producers and directors.

Before you read this article, humor me and ball up a sheet of paper. Throw it into the air and try and catch it with only one hand. Then switch hands. Then use both hands. Bottom line, you will catch the waded up paper ball more easily, and often, with both hands. You can catch a ball with one hand, but with both hands your odds increase dramatically. This is how I like to describe the relationship between a producer and a director.

I was lucky enough to land my first job as a full producer in a top 30 market. I was a rookie “kid” paired with veteran anchors and directors. These directors taught me a tremendous amount about “producing” in that first job. They caught my rookie mistakes and without chastising me, worked around them live on TV. After the newscast they took the time to sit with me and teach me how to prevent the same problem from happening again. Soon after, I worked in a top 20 market. Same scenario: The directors talked me through any mistakes. I quickly learned the person I needed to align myself with was my director.

After that, when I interviewed for producing jobs, I always asked to meet the director before deciding on a gig. If that person and I didn’t click, the job wouldn’t work. I felt that strongly about the connection of right and left hand. By requesting to meet the director right away, I also usually gained a loyal ally. I showed respect even before getting the job. This went a long way toward establishing a solid relationship. Don’t get me wrong, I sometimes had knock down drag outs with directors over mistakes on the air. But because they knew I had a basic respect for the job they did, we could work through the differences.

Producers and directors have something important in common; they are both responsible for a lot of things they have very limited control over. If a reporter steps out of a shot just as you take it live, you both get in trouble for taking the pic even if you cued the reporter. If master control gives you the wrong time for a commercial break and you miss a meter, you are both in trouble. This is often where producers and directors play the blame game. Don’t fall victim to this. Both producers and directors tend to be control freak type personalities. Sit down and decide who is responsible for what. For example, once I established IFB, my director would check the live shot, if the reporter did not respond, the director had final say on taking the live shot or going straight to the package. It was faster that way, since the director had a finger on the button, or control of the TD sitting right beside him/her. Bottom line, let the director manage the technical elements while you focus on content and timing. Again, consider the right hand/left hand analogy. You would not cross one hand over the other to catch your paper ball. Set up who’s making the call on what, then, support each other.

If you are still not convinced that this is a crucial relationship to establish, let’s talk breaking news. There are times when breakers happen so fast on live television that you simply cannot tell everyone who needs to know what you are doing in time. An example: police standoffs. I was once boothing continuing coverage of a standoff when the SWAT team showed up. The GM and ND came in to have a philosophical debate over what to show. They kept interrupting me as I tried to give directions to the production crew and more importantly the anchors. My director knew how I thought because we talked so much about breaking news and had set up clear roles. Several times he was able to “take over” while I listened to the bosses. He literally knew what I was going to say, before I could say it. If we had not developed a strong relationship, with mutual respect, things would have fallen apart on live TV. We were consistent with each other, and knew each other’s job needs. The right hand was able to catch the ball, while the left hand was tied up. It is a crucial relationship whether playing catch or putting on a live broadcast!

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.”