Smart Alliances – Page 4 – Survive Your Job In Television News

Reporting Alliance : Your Key to the desk.

Reporters often feel left on their own. There is some truth to that feeling since you are out and about, and your bosses are not there to really watch you work. Assumptions are made about what you do and don’t do by managers and producers. Often you are not given the benefit of the doubt.

That’s why it is crucial to form good relationships with a group “on the inside.” In your case that group should be assignment desk editors. The assignment desk is the 411 of newsrooms. Editors on the desk can be intense and bark orders. But remember, they are under the kind of pressure you face the last two hours of your shift, all day long. There is little to no down time. I had friends on the assignment desk constantly get bladder infections because they could not break away from the desk long enough to go to the bathroom regularly. I am telling you this, because having the knowledge of what the assignment desk goes through helps you know how to build a smart alliance.

Reporters (like producers in our Producing Alliance article) will get priority day-to-day based on how they treat the assignment editor. Sure, if you are on a breaker, you will get more attention and help. But when it’s just day-to-day, run of the mill news you can bet the reporters that are respectful to the assignment desk get more support.

So what can you do to build a smart alliance with assignment editors? First, don’t call the desk for simple phone numbers. With technology today, there are plenty of ways to get numbers without calling the desk. Remember, the assignment desk is looking for fresh news all day long in addition to planning segments and stories for managers, making beat calls and answering the phone all day long. As someone who sat next to the assignment desk for more than a decade I can attest, just answering the phone can be a full time job. It doesn’t let up until about 9 at night. Respect the fact the assignment editor is busy and is not your personal receptionist. I never got over how many crews in the field really thought assignment editors just existed to be glorified receptionists for the newsroom. Not the case.

When you do have the luck to be done with your package early in your shift, occasionally sit on the assignment desk and help out for a little while. This is a huge sign of respect. Sit up there, and answer the phone. It can also be a great place to drum up story ideas and source build a bit. The assignment editor knows who talks on what shift and who is good to call on the down low when you need to fact check. This is smart to do, especially when you first move to an area. Sitting on the desk to help out a little here and there will help you build sources quickly. (See How to generate story ideas when you are swamped for more help on that) Assignment editors also help do futures planning, so sitting up there gives you a chance to express interest in an upcoming story or special that the assignment editor is researching. They will often let managers know, if you expressed interest, to try and help you get the assignment.

Check in regularly with the desk. A lot of crews resent this and consider it a sinister plot to spy on you and track how hard you work. You don’t have to give a full report if you happen to be done with your package early and are working sources for future stories. Just call with a location and how long you think you will be there. Assignment editors love when crews do this. It takes 10 seconds and speaks volumes for your respect for the role of the assignment desk. No the assignment editors are not plotting what to send you on next to work you into the ground. They are constantly being hounded by management and producers over where crews are and how viable the stories assigned to them really are. Just calling and saying: “Hey we are in such and such city and will be here approximately 1 hour” helps the assignment editor show management that he/she is in touch with the crews. It also makes you look very responsible and a team player. Yes, you might occasionally get sent to something else because of this. I did notice that most of the time the assignment editors fought for the crews that called in. They could tell management this reporter has an hour left on their package so let’s pull someone else. Knowledge is power and the assignment desk goes out of its way to protect content. That is a key element of the position.

Finally, if you are done with your story and are sent to breaking news, don’t gripe to the desk if you and the assignment editor know the story is probably bullshit. The assignment editor more than likely has management breathing down his/her neck and often will report if you are being difficult. If you say okay and suck it up and go, the assignment editor appreciates one less fight in the day and will likely try to prevent sending you on the next wild goose chase. The point, in case you missed it: If you gripe, you will get the crap job more. The assignment desk controls a lot of your destiny including which photographer is assigned to you most days. If you want less hassle, give the assignment desk less hassle. You both will appreciate each other more.

Producing Alliances: Assign and direct.

Line producers are often in a very uncomfortable spot in newsrooms. You are in charge of a newscast, yet you are not a manager with any teeth. Competition between producers generally is pretty intense so you cannot really confide in another producer at your station. Your job is confusing for other people in the newsroom to really grasp. You don’t want to spill your guts to your EP, so it can appear in your review a few months later.

So who do you align yourself with? I always had the best luck with directors and assignment editors.

In the article “Right Hand Meet Your Left” I describe why having a good relationship with your director is important. Now I want to talk more about the benefits of this smart alliance.

Directors tend to be extremely detail oriented. That means they can pick up on things you might do that you aren’t even aware of. When starting out as a producer, I had problems with my weekend newscasts timing out correctly. During the morning and weekday noon shows, I had no timing problems. I tried different techniques for several weeks with no luck. I was ready to pull my hair out! Then I decided to ask the director for advice. But, he was much more experienced and I was concerned he would think less of me. When I finally asked if he noticed anything about my timing he said: “Yes. I’ve been waiting for you to ask. I didn’t want to seem pushy.” Turns out, the final commercial break varied wildly from the rundown format. I had never known to check the traffic log for my breaks. That was never taught to me. He showed me where to get the log and what to look for. I never mistimed a show again.

Directors also tend to be dismissed by managers and other newsroom employees during a shift. Because of this, they hear everything and if you have developed a strong relationship based on trust, your director may give you a heads up when something big is about to happen that involves you. Several times I found out management was considering moving me to another newscast, from my director. I had several days to prepare before news management got around to telling me. I never betrayed the director’s trust and was able to arm myself if I didn’t like the shift change to try and fight for “my show.”

In some shops directors are considered managers. They are consulted before changes take place especially when it comes to formatting newscasts. You want a heads up when possible and you want to be able to weigh in. Several times directors came to me with proposed format or policy changes and asked my opinion before weighing in themselves. We wanted to be on the same page to protect our shift.

The other smart alliance is with assignment editors. (We will dedicate an entire article to assignment editors soon. They are unsung heroes in many newsrooms.) I went out of my way to develop a relationship with my assignment editors because often they are the next closest thing to producers in terms of constant grind. Again, assignment editors are a type of manager, yet don’t really have teeth, just like producers. And, just like producers, they sit down to work and don’t get downtime until they are in the car on the way home. Assignment editors are also consulted on things that impact your shift, but involve the crews more. They are a great resource for understanding what the crews in the field are going through during an actual shift. Usually the crews are too swamped to fill you in themselves. Crews know management will check in with the assignment desk and therefore usually tell the desk any elements first. If you are not respectful to your assignment editor, you will not get as many updates about the crews and will not get to weigh in on how you want those updates. This can have a dramatic impact on your day-to-day job duties. Also, if you are curt toward your assignment editor, you will end up having to constantly check the assignment file and scroll through hoping to figure out what the newest information is on local vo’s etc. If you are respectful, you might get a top line or quick phone call so you know when to write local elements and when to wait for crucial information.

So how do you set up a solid relationship with the assignment desk? If you have even a moment help make some calls when the desk is overwhelmed. I used to ask my associate producer to check with the assignment editor to see if he/she needed a quick break once or twice a shift. My AP could listen to the scanners and answer the phone and my assignment editor could at least walk the building or grab a snack and relax a little. If breaking news hit, I had the AP get on the desk with the assignment editor and help make calls or, if the assignment editor preferred, be in charge of sending me top lines about the information like a crews’ ETA to the breaking news scene.

Bottom line, producers cannot do their job properly without information, and without a way to cleanly place that information on a television screen. Treat the people who allow you to perform these key tasks with respect and you will get the help you need to put on the best newscast possible each day.

Smart Alliances: Relationships that can make your career.

The old saying is especially true in newsrooms: Guilt by association. Your alliances are very important, not just for your current job, but for future networking opportunities as well. That’s why we are providing a series of articles on building smart alliances. We begin with an overall look at newsroom relationships, then will get more specific based on job description.

Before we begin, stop for a minute and think about your friend base. In many cases with TV news journalists, it’s all people you work with. Now think about how those friends in the business are perceived in the newsroom. We are not saying you cannot be friends with the high maintenance anchor/reporter or temperamental producer/director/assignment editor. But you do need to consider how much time you spend with your newsroom friends in front of other newsroom employees. One question managers ask over and over when considering moving a person up internally for promotions is: “Who are they friends with in the newsroom?” Managers have a better clue than you might realize who the partiers are, who the gossips are and who keeps a nose to the ground and focuses on getting the job done.

The key to newsroom friends is, you can end up in direct competition for shifts. People with different job descriptions can still impact how you are perceived in handling your own job. In upcoming articles we will discuss how to align with people in the newsroom with different job descriptions to help you make the most of your job. Now we are going to look at the kind of reputation you ideally want as a “friend” in the newsroom.

Ideally you want to either be or align yourself with one of three types of friends at work: The Diffuser, The Cheerleader and The Funny Guy/Gal. These people tend to draw positive attention to themselves and get plenty of results. So let’s delve into each a little more.

The Diffuser is a type of peacemaker who has a solid backbone. This is the person people look to weigh in when there’s a heated debate over content coverage. This is also the person who tends to be friendly with all the different personality types in the newsroom. If this isn’t you, this is the type of person you want to align yourself with. Chances are the managers are eyeing this person for future promotions.

The Cheerleader puts a positive spin on crappy situations. This person is not necessarily an ass kisser though. You will hear cheerleaders complain about a decision or issue, then put a positive spin like: “I really hate being put on overnights, it really hurts my family life, but at least I have a job.” This person is usually very good at handling office politics and because he/she is considered a positive person, managers may consult with him/her on and off before making certain decisions impacting a specific shift or group.

The Funny Guy/Gal is really good at lightening the mood. Even if he/she can be sarcastic, management usually considers the person harmless. Like a class clown, one of these is expected in a newsroom and most of the time, everyone appreciates the chance to laugh.

Now a closer look at the type of reputation you want to have. You want to be seen as someone who shoots straight, doesn’t stir the pot and is fair. This not only helps get management’s attention, it also helps you weigh through the inevitable personal battles waging in newsrooms over shifts, who is backstabbing who, and whether people are more loyal to the bosses than coworkers. Keep these characteristics in mind when choosing your smart alliances at work.