Reporting – Page 9 – Survive Your Job In Television News

Make your sell: How to effectively pitch story ideas.

After years of excruciatingly long and painfully tedious story idea meetings, it is time to decode what management and producers want to hear during content pitches. Reporters, you deserve a fair chance to get the story you want to do on the air. You just have to know how to pitch. Sadly, in my experience over the years, many reporters have no idea what to do. You get hums and haws. You ask a follow up question, mostly because the story is starting to intrigue you and the reporter blurts out in an annoyed tone, “I don’t know I need to make a call, can I do it or not?”

Pitching to a room full of grumpy journalists is not fun. I know. Producers seem to love to poo-poo anything you bring up. Often it seems apparent that the producers and managers already know what stories they want (from the newspaper or competition) and could care less what you bring into the meeting. Here’s a little secret: Often if there are better story ideas, managers and producers will throw those preset plans out the window and jump on fresh stuff. They do walk in with a blueprint to keep from free falling all day. You are talking to a group of control freak, hyper planners. It’s what makes them good at their jobs. They have the backups ready. But managers often hope if you are assigned certain types of stories often enough, you will eventually start pitching those types of stories yourself. In other words, they can’t figure out how to explain what they want, so they assign the kind of stories they want and hope you figure it out.

So here’s how to show you get it and really rock a story pitch. First, immediately describe the first image and type of sound bite you think you can get out of the story. Producers think visually. They need to see the images in their heads and feel how it will play out on the TV screen. They need this as much or more than reporters. It’s how they “feel” their newscasts when determining what goes where. Next, explain in 1 or 2 sentences how the story impacts the key demographic for the shows. Yes, you need to know this stuff! It saves you from wanting to bang your head into the wall every day. That is the information producers and managers use to decide content. You cannot come in with effective pitches without the same perspective. Just remember that’s a key reason why managers and producers often seem to have predetermined what reporters are covering. They are using their audience knowledge.

Now knock the socks off the powers that be, and throw in a tease line (it doesn’t have to be beautiful, just an outline) so the producer can see how to showcase the story. By doing this you show you understand the story yourself, and you have found the “WIFM” (if you don’t know what that means read What’s the viewer benefit really?) Now you explained the story’s potential impact, then you teased it for them. That’s like wooing them with a tonic, simply irresistible!

After showcasing impact, the next biggest thing managers and producers want to know in your pitch is if you’ve done any legwork on the story already. Remember, they are thinking in 30 minute to 1 hour increments, not a 2 minute package time. They are making calculated guesses on whether you are BS’ing about a story to look good in front of your peers or if you can really pull it all off. Often they will risk one or two “iffy” turns with great potential. The slam dunk turn with audience appeal is a producer’s dream. You will really impress if you can state “This is a sure turn.” and then pull it off.

Also, know that they tell you they want exclusives from all of you each and every day, but they know that’s not realistic. If you get information on a solid follow up, do not be afraid to pitch it. Those stories are important to show that the station is really involved in the community, not just exploiting random events. A solid pitch on a follow up can have a lot of appeal.

Finally, if all of these tricks don’t work, ask to buy a producer a drink one night and find out why your story ideas are getting blown off. Sometimes managers and producers have cast you in a type of role for the newscasts that you don’t know about. Yes, they really should tell you. But, realistically, that just doesn’t always happen. So be proactive and ask what more you can offer to really nail a story pitch in the editorial meeting. Your sanity will thank you!

What can we learn from crusty old journalists.

There is a very witty blog called Stuffjournalistslike.com that is truly a blast to read. I had tears streaming down my face with laughter. One article on Grumpy old journalists, actually made me nostalgic for some of the crusty old reporters from my past. It reminded me that there are fewer of these old die hards and that the lessons we gained from them cannot be lost.

Mandates of a crusty old journalist

No room for errors (especially fact errors)
No exaggerations
Don’t take a person’s word for it
Deadlines are mandatory
Don’t screw your team over

Fellow journalists, we have failed those crusty old guys in terms of journalistic integrity. A lot of embarrassing errors and exaggerations make air. (The Jeremy Lin, ESPN “Chink In the Armor” reference is just the latest.) Crusty old journalists do not use cheesy phrases. (Honestly, even if the people didn’t know that “Chink” can be taken as a highly offensive ethnic slur, it is a cheesy phrase to use highlighting a 1 game losing streak.) Old timers also always made sure their pieces were not just fact checked once, but triple checked. They did not assume they could not screw something up just because they are veterans in their field. To them, you had your facts checked simply because, there was no room for error. These old timers would say “If you can’t get your facts straight, you don’t deserve to be a journalist!” That’s why you fact check and refuse to exaggerate.

So, naturally, crusty old journalists were special kinds of skeptics. If a PIO said “This is the way it is!” and walked off in a huff that reporter knew to call “Bullshit! Prove it.” To take a line from Missouri’s state mantra, “Show me.” Crusty old journalists didn’t care if they occasionally pissed off a PIO. They remembered a key fact: PIO’s need to respect journalists also. That journalist would go to a source in order to fact check the PIO. And if the PIO was lying, you can bet that old timer would expose the truth.

But the last two mandates of a crusty old journalist are the most important if you want to survive and thrive in a modern day newsroom. Don’t miss deadlines and don’t screw your team over. (These go hand in hand.) I get that the new mantra is more “me” oriented. But here’s the deal, putting “deadlines” and “team” first actually puts your best interests first. If you are screwing over the producer, anchor, photographer or manager regularly you will face payback. And, oh by the way, it will hurt. Don’t make yourself vulnerable. Be an untouchable, crusty old journalist.

Need story ideas? The solution could be right in the newsroom.

It’s a new year. You’re feeling all refreshed. And you’re ready to again dig for some great stories.

But what if you don’t know where to start?

Maybe you’re dreading the morning meeting lately because it seems like not much is happening in your market.

Here’s what I suggest: Reconnect with sources you’ve “neglected” a bit over the last six months or so. You’re asking literally everyone you interview for business cards or other contact information, right? You’re keeping that info in a desk drawer or in a file on your computer, right?

Well, spend an hour digging through there looking for the great contacts who may have slipped your mind as you moved on to other pressing news stories.

Give them a call. Tell them you want to catch-up and you’re sorry it’s been so long since he or she has heard from you. Be genuine. Be relaxed with them. Don’t have your crazy I-am-a-news-reporter-and-I-need-a-package-idea-NOW voice on!

Sometimes, enduring the equivalent of writer’s block, I’ll literally flip through business cards trying to come up with the inspiration for a story — or to remind myself about a story I should follow-up on.

I’m kind of old school. I still like business cards. There’s something about seeing that logo next to the name that really refreshes my memory. (Yes, I’m horrible with names if I’ve only interviewed someone once.)

Here’s another tip: As you’re putting those award entries together this month (why must so many of them be due so close to the beginning of the year anyway?) think about follow-ups to these stories that you could be doing.

Every time someone does research on TV news audiences, it seems they find news consumers complaining that we don’t do enough follow-ups. Whatever happened to…? They want to know.

That company that promised 50 new jobs back in November? Have they hired everyone they need? How far along are they before they open-up shop?

Remember that congressman in your district who announced he’s retiring rather than running for re-election? Is he still showing-up for votes in Washington? Or is he out golfing on taxpayer time?

And don’t forget all of those families you focused on over the holidays who are barely scraping by because the mother and father have both lost their jobs. How are they making it now that it’s not the “season of giving” anymore? How are charities in your market doing?

As we were putting this article to bed, Poynter’s Al Tompkins wrote a nice blog post pointing to another great source of story ideas: the people you work with. He shows two examples where tips from colleagues led reporters to win 2012 Alfred duPont Awards.

“The lesson here is clear,” writes Tompkins, “listen to everyone.”

Lastly, you can also get a lot of inspiration from Twitter. As a courtesy to your audience, I recommend following back every person in your viewing area who follows you. It’s the nice thing to do. After all, you make money because they watch you. (Or you get fired if they don’t.)

So scroll through your “all friends” feed on Tweetdeck and see what people in your area are talking about. If they’re talking about it is — at least by one definition — news.

———————————————————————————————————

Matthew Nordin is a morning anchor/investigative reporter at Raycom Media’s NBC affiliate in Myrtle Beach, WMBF News. Feel free to chat with him on Twitter @MatthewNordin.

What’s with the question? Make sure there’s an answer.

We recently got a Tweet from a frustrated journalist who had just watched a live shot from another station in another market. In that live shot the anchor asked a question to the reporter, and the question was not answered until the tag. The story came across as oversold and uncomfortable.

Sound familiar? The flow from anchor intro, to reporter live shot, to pkg, to live tag, to anchor tag is delicate to begin with. Then a whole bunch of writers step in, each with their own voice and tweak. The finished product often becomes forced and everyone looks uncomfortable or worse yet, detached from the information described. Then comes the big kicker: The consultant comes to town and tells the ND that the field crews and anchor desk must interact and seem engaged with each other. So what is management’s solution? Require anchors to ask reporters a question going into live shots. Then comes situations like the one at the start of this article. But it doesn’t have to be that way. There are solutions.

First, the one question you never want to ask: “Joe are you live at the scene now?” Before you chuckle and roll your eyes, I lost count of how many times I had to copy edit that type of pitch question out of intros. It was constant, in every market size. Also, make sure the reporter knows the question is coming and what it is. That way the reporter doesn’t seem clueless. Remember, IFB can and does go in and out, you want the live shot to start out smoothly. The reason managers ask you to use a question in the pitch line is to make the interaction between the anchor and reporter seem like a conversation. When you think about it, most conversations do begin with a question and an answer. The person answering expands on the answer then, asks another question to move the conversation along.

With that in mind, here are some techniques to keep anchor questions required in the intro from seeming forced:

Reference live surroundings in the question
Provide perspective through the question
Write what a viewer ask

Now let’s delve deeper, so these are clear. Remember this exercise is supposed to help the anchor and reporter talk with each other, instead of at each other. It is one of the many ways you create flow within a newscast. So when writing the question in the pitch line, a natural way to transition is to ask about why the reporter is live at a particular place. Things like, “Joe can you walk us through the situation where you are?” makes the anchor seem authoritative and the reporter seem like an expert eyewitness. Another way to reference live surroundings is to give anchors the freedom to know they can ask about what they see in the live picture with the reporter. This is effective during fires, standoffs, fairs, holiday parties, political events… you get the idea. You can also have the reporter tell the producer if something interesting is going on, right before taking the shot. Then the anchor can ad lib with that information. Something like, “Joe, we’re hearing another fire truck just arrived, where is it and why was it called in?” If the live surroundings are stagnant (which is often the case) you can have the anchor ask something informative about the area like, “Joe, that’s usually a quiet neighborhood how are families there reacting to this situation?” All of these scenarios give the reporter a reason to reference why he/she is live. That is part of the natural flow of a conversation. Think of it like this, if you bump into a friend at the store, you often say “Hey, what are you shopping for today?” The person answers usually by pointing to the aisle he/she either just went down or will head down next. The key for this type of pitch question is to transition to what is immediately next in the live report.

Now, let’s talk about using questions for perspective. This is where pitch questions can often go wrong, like the scenario at the beginning of this article. You must ask a question that provides an immediate answer. No waiting until the package or tag. If your reporter is at a boring scene and is doing a story that’s been done over and over, use the pitch question to help show what’s new. Use something like, “Joe, before we were told the tax cut would be small, why is it possibly going up now?” Or “Last night we were told this was an accident, why are investigators calling it intentional now?” You are showing that the anchor remembers what he/she tells people and that there is something new. Again, before you snicker, sit down and watch a newscast. It is excruciating how often anchor intros are written in ways that make the anchor seems clueless about the subject, especially when it’s an ongoing story. The cheap copout way to write an intro is to fake that the subject is new by providing no perspective. If you are struggling with ways to justify why this information is being given to the viewer again, let the anchor be the antagonist of sorts and ask that very thing of the reporter. “Joe, we’ve been talking about this political issue for a week, why do families need to hear about it tonight?” That’s a natural question someone probably asked in the editorial meeting when you decided to cover the story. So let the anchor ask it of the reporter in the intro.

Which leads to the kinds of questions viewers would ask: Put the viewer benefit, front and center. (If you don’t know what viewer benefit means read “What’s in it for me.”) Now consider this: Anchors are considered the voice of the audience. They are the people who can ask what viewers want to know, but don’t have the means to ask. Use that connection between anchor and audience to craft questions to the reporter. Let your anchor be gutsy with questions like, “Joe, a lot of people think this tax cut is a joke, is it?” Or “Joe, does this really mean (star player) is walking away from the team?” Or “Joe, there have been a lot of break-ins in this area lately, what makes this one different?” Again, think about bumping into a friend and briefly catching up. Most of us have similar things to say each time, so our friend prods with questions to see if there are any changes. People expect to hear some of the same information, but appreciate anchors asking what is different.

Finally, understand that questions can be a crutch. It is such a common technique, that it can be over used. But if done correctly, it will not seem forced. Remember, asking questions is human nature. So don’t fear questions, just make sure the reporter gets to the answer right away.