Reporting – Page 13 – Survive Your Job In Television News

“Thank you sir, may I have another”: How to handle newsroom hazing.

Newsrooms are notorious for hazing. It happens often in larger markets, but we’ve seen it in small markets too. You have to prove to coworkers that you deserve the job. You don’t truly have friends in the workplace. Everyone is out for themselves. Why? Because so many people are quitting the biz, less experienced people are being hired. Some veterans in the newsroom, find this tiring and insulting. I started in a large market right away and quickly wound up in another big city. The hazing was awful. I was asked if I slept with the news director to get my job. I had reporters and anchors purposely rewrite copy to insert factual and grammatical errors to try and get rid of me. One anchor even told me and several other producers it was his “God given right” to torture and make me cry. He had the cry test and graded you on how long it took before you broke down. People hide your gear, steal your rolodex, sit on the set during commercials and laugh at your news copy. Coworkers don’t want to carry dead weight. Many times fellow journalists will decide you are a moron unless you prove your worth, and quickly. So do it. Here’s how.

The number 1 rule: Don’t involve management. Management doesn’t care. Period. There are too many other things they have to take care of.

However, you should take the reigns and show the hazers you are not the patsy they think you are. That starts with exposing dirty tricks. The best place to start is befriending the IT person in the newsroom. You know, the person who knows all the ins and outs of the computer system you use each day. This person can save you. News programs like AP Newscenter, ENPS and iNews have ways to call up past scripts and show who wrote each and every version. This will give you a chance to document and show proof if an anchor or associate producer is rewriting copy and putting in fact errors which they blame on you. In some systems you even can lock a script so no one else can rewrite and put in fact errors or change the context of the story once your executive producer copy edits it. Ask for this ability and you may receive. Chances are your executive producer will play ball because you will then have documentation the EP can use to get some staffers to shape up.

You can also often find instant messages from all the computers every day. Yep, all those annoying, petty and smarmy comments binging and dinging around you can be a click or two away. Print them and hand them over to management. This can get tricky because management won’t like you digging through the system. But if it is in a forum where everyone could potentially have access they can yell at you and send a fiery memo saying don’t go there, but you won’t be fired. Once the nasty top lines are exposed many newsroom bullies shut up or at least save it for the parking lot after work. How’s that for investigative journalism? Even more fun: dump copies of the nasty top lines under the news director’s door anonymously so even he/she has to wonder who’s watching.

Also remember, many staffers who bully love to dish in the studio. They think it’s a secret hideout. Newsflash: Mics are everywhere. It’s easy to “accidentally” turn one on, hear and record the petty comments. The studio is the one place where there truly should never be any expectation of privacy. That’s not what the room is for. The picked on should wander through the studio to “plot out a section of the rundown” right when a gossip session is underway. Then, smile as if you are going to dish it all. Another move is to “accidentally” have the mics kept live during a commercial break when there’s an anchor who loves to trash everyone in those breaks. Normally, when the nasty hazers get caught once or twice, they’ll back off.

What if the hazer likes to get in your face and yell at you in the middle of the newsroom? This one is easy. Just ignore the person. Sit back in your chair, with your hands behind your head, gaze up at the lunatic putting on the show and wait until they either explode into pieces before your eyes or finally shut up. Then as the hazer stares at you indignantly, simply ask: “Are you done?” Then just go back to work like nothing happened. This will drive the bully nuts. If that hazer really pushes it, follow up with, “You can say what you want about me because bottom line, I’m not the one who just had an unholy hissy fit in the middle of the newsroom. You can’t expect your actions to prove you have anything worthy to say to anyone.” Then get back to your work.

Lastly, sometimes you just have to fight fire with fire and stand up to the hazer. I once told an anchor who said I was “too young to write for her” that it’s not my fault she couldn’t handle that someone so much younger was just as capable of working in the same city and on the same shift as her. She told me she’d have me fired. I told her I had proof that she was purposely rewriting copy with errors and printing them to try and prove me incompetent. I asked her if she would like to come with me to turn those documents into the news director so she could try and explain it, or would she prefer the news director to mull the evidence over before calling her in for a chat. She backed off. Hopefully, these tips and tricks will help you stand up to a hazer as well.

Help! I’m in over my head.

This can be hard to admit, but it happens to everyone. Cold sweats, waking up dreaming of your live shot or newscast crashing are all part of the gig. Getting chewed because you cannot complete all of your work happens, especially with more stations lumping on extra packages or making people one man band.

Now let’s talk survival skills. First, understand there is little to no training in newsrooms anymore. It simply does not happen in the majority of cases. Every shop is understaffed and half the workers are also in over their heads. Many managers are drowning and lost too. By the way, this is supposed to make you feel better. That’s because these journalists are surviving and so will you.

Here’s what to do. Find the go to person who gets the work done every day with little trouble and become a buddy. Find out how the person does it and figure out how to do it yourself. If you don’t feel comfortable simply asking, then hook up with others in the know. For example, if it’s a reporter who you’re trying to figure out, request to work with that person’s favorite photographer. Then pick the photog’s brain. Look online at the reporter’s past stories and look for patterns. If a producer is your target, ask the newscast director what this person does to make script printing deadline or create killer teases. Let’s say your writing stinks. Don’t worry, this is common. Figure out who the best writer is in the shop. It’s easy to do. Just listen to the anchors dish with each other, you will learn who it is quickly. Once you do, start printing out this person’s scripts and look for common threads. Then you can mimic the style.

There also is usually a manager that stays very calm in crisis. That person will often give you advice if you just sit down and ask. Managers are not all out to get you. Replacing staff all the time is a pain and most would prefer not to deal with it. It’s easier for them to do some training. But you need to ask the right manager. The news director is next to never the smart choice. Often it is an executive producer or managing editor. They are still in the trenches so they can still relate to what you are struggling with. Once you identify the right person, ask for a critique of your work. The manager will probably be thrilled you actually want to improve and talk your ear off. They also tend to dish about their favorites in the shop. Now you have a new set of names to watch and mimic. Best of all, you will gain an advocate in management because you are not whining about how hard the job is, you are asking to grow.

How to generate story ideas when you are swamped

Journalists are constantly told to source build and break stories. Problem is, in many shops you are given two packages a day and have no time to work the phones and source build. That’s what you think, but it really is possible. There are ways to generate fresh story ideas that do not take a ton of time. You also can source build. It will take some of your too precious free time. But the payoff is making you more valuable to the station.

So how do you come up with interesting stories when you have next to no time? Here are some ideas to get you started.

First, some help for reporters. Try and “befriend” one person a day while covering the news. This could be the secretary you have to stare at while waiting for an interview, the officer telling you to wait behind the yellow tape, even the restaurant manager at a local dive where you bought a sandwich. Ask them about themselves and hand out a business card. Make sure you get their card too. A few days later, send a quick email saying you really enjoyed your conversation. If you learn the person loves a football team or has kids that like to play sports send email links to interesting stories every once in a while. Bottom line: Build a connection. If you have time to write an update on Facebook, you have time to send a quick link to these new potential sources.

Set up a Twitter account and use it. When we say use it, we don’t mean throwing up a meaningless self-serving plug for the story you are reporting on that very day. Throw up a comment about something interesting you read about. Mix up the comments so you are engaging to follow. Give snippets of what it’s like to be a TV journalist each day. But keep it positive. Remember, employers and potential employers often research Twitter and Facebook accounts. For example, don’t gripe about how much you “hate” your assignment to babysit a “dumb” police standoff. But do mention that your feet sure do hurt after waiting two hours for the standoff to end. The first makes you seem look childish, petty and unprofessional. The second, however, makes you look real and is something your followers can identify with. Twitter is an amazing resource most people are not using correctly. It is a chance to tap directly into what people are thinking about each day and what they want to learn more about. You will gain a following and, eventually, you’ll also start getting interesting tips. The key to Twitter is creating a human connection not another shameless, weak marketing ploy that just ticks people off. People on Twitter tend to obsess about being in the know, right now. You will lock them in if you make them realize they can literally be your eyes and ears and that their ideas may actually make it on the news.

Next, contact the Better Business Bureau and county or state run groups that help small businesses get off the ground. Let these organizations know you are building a list of experts. This can help you when you are suddenly asked for an out of the box story on damage prevention during bad weather or the latest housing or computer scam. These businesses need publicity and cannot, generally, afford to buy ads. But they can afford to send you a quick email pitching ideas once in a while.

Look at blogs on local newspaper websites. People go off on interesting things that sometimes turn into colorful television. How about the guy with the American flag that is too big for the homeowner’s association by-laws? Many of these kinds of stories turn up first in these blogs.

Now let’s talk about generating interesting stories if you are a producer. Yes, it’s hard to source build when you never even leave the newsroom for lunch. So use the computer to get ideas. Search for blogs and groups online that target your key audience. Then browse them several times a week for fresh information. These groups constantly dish. Also keep your ears open when you go to the gym, pick the kids up at daycare or stand in line at the grocery store. You will hear what people are concerned about. These tidbits can turn into interesting stories that you can “produce up” in your newscast. Also look at the hottest video of the day online, then try and come up with a local spin. A Twitter account can be a great asset for you as well. Build your following in the same way we just laid out for reporters.

Finally check out what other stations around the country are covering. Go to a few station websites in areas nearby and see what they’ve played up. Often you can at least find a consumer story with universal appeal.