Honing Skills – Page 5 – Survive Your Job In Television News

Why you need your own continuous coverage plan, before something happens.

When the police chase happened in Phoenix that resulted in a suicide airing live on FOX News Channel, journalists hopped on Twitter right away discussing their shock at what they had seen. As we began to talk about it, one wise reporter said, “It could happen to any of us.” So true, in so many ways.

Throughout my career as a producer, I was shocked at how few local television stations have continuous coverage plans and training to pull it off. Yes, I said training. You can discuss scenarios ahead of time. You can “practice” how you would handle different scenarios. There are some telltale signs of trouble. Early in my career, I was blessed to have an AND out of Miami, who had a lot of experience with continuous coverage. He sat all of us green producers down and laid out rules we needed to follow. These rules, helped me excel at continuous coverage everywhere else I went, regardless of the station’s policies (or lack thereof in most cases). So here are a few of them in case you are in a newsroom where continuous coverage is always a cluster because no one knows their roles.

Continuous coverage must dos:

Two sets of eyes in the booth AT ALL TIMES
Assign roles in the booth
Always have a wide shot available
Clear point person to make ethical calls
Know your personal ethical limits

The single most important thing you need when boothing continuous coverage, is a second set of eyes watching content at all times. (This is the rule, that the majority of stations fought me on later in my career.) With all due respect though, this should not be the role of the director. That person is also extremely busy in the booth. Producers and directors need some sort of backup. If my EP or AND could not do it, I would pull a producer from a later or earlier show. I even used associate producers and editors. I needed someone to tell me if any of the live images changed, while I was talking to management or the anchors. I kept a notebook by my side, so the person could write down notes while I was in the middle of giving instructions. I needed instant access to that information no matter what.

Any managers reading this, your producer must have this. Make it happen!

Which leads to my next point, if there are two people in the booth, clearly define the roles. One person is the only producer that talks to the anchors and director, the other is in charge of figuring out what’s next. Both watch the live images coming in at all times and do not assume the other has seen any of it. Every time an image changes, write down which monitor it changed on in the notebook. The anchors and production crew need one clear, calm voice. This is easy to accomplish with two people in the booth.

Always have a wide shot available to take. Do not be afraid to go to the shot if your gut is telling you that what you are watching is about to go horribly wrong. Remember, there are other cameras getting the “money shot.” You can always show the video even a few seconds later. However, you cannot take it back if you show a man shooting himself in the head on live TV. Most local channels do not have 5 second delays. So, you really do have to be on top of it.

You also need to know what manager is the point person to make ethical calls. There is nothing worse than covering a standoff or police chase, getting hinky about the information you hear a reporter saying and then not being able to get a manager to pick up the #%@! phone. Before you walk into the booth, demand to know the point person. Make it clear, if things go south, you will know where to point the finger. I have even done this with NDs by the way.

Which leads to my last point: Know your personal ethical limits. There is always a fall guy/gal for a big screw up like the airing of a suicide during the police chase that happened live on FOX Friday. Know what you can live with while making decisions in the booth. One time I was told to take a live tight shot of a SWAT team during a standoff. The shot would’ve clearly made it easy to figure out where they were setting up. The ethical call was made by the ND: “Do it because it’s great TV.” There was no worry about the risk to those SWAT officers. I handed my headset to the ND, and said “It’s on you.” I was not going to put lives in jeopardy. That was not something I wanted to live with throughout my life and career. These were real people, with real families. You can’t take it back, if you make a horrid ethical call. Every journalist must remember that, from reporters and photojournalists on the scene, to producers in the booth, to the ND or GM making the ultimate calls. Know what your limits are and be true to yourself. Make sure your managers know what those limits are ahead of time. Have your personal continuous coverage plan, even if your station does not.

What survivetvnewsjobs has taught me. A note from the founder.

Survivetvnewsjobs was born in February of 2011. In that short amount of time, it has become a place where journalists find practical advice to situations they face in newsrooms each day. It also has become a place to hop online using Twitter and Facebook to share ideas, network and mentor.

All this time, most of you had no idea where the information was coming from. I was never trying to hide my identity. I simply wanted the focus to be on the content of the site. But now, I want to formally introduce myself. My name is Beth Johnson. I’m a former EP and producer and the founder of survivetvnewsjobs.com.

Why now? For several reasons. The website has gained enough exposure that I am getting called out a bit from college professors and industry leaders. I am also starting to be asked to speak on behalf of TV journalists about issues we face. And I have also just accepted a job offer, with MediaStars to do something no other agency has tried: Represent producers and managers, with an ambitious goal, to raise pay, especially for producers and EP’s. (On air people are welcome to call me also by the way.) Survivetvnewsjobs will not be used to convince you to get representation. That is not, never was and never will be the goal.

From day one, this website has been all about sharing practical advice. It was designed to let journalists have a voice about the industry they love. Initially, I had contributors who were afraid to put their names on articles for fear of possible conflicts with their employers. That’s why the website began with no bio.

Then something awesome happened! Journalists began writing for the website, and were able to safely sign their names. Newsroom managers started passing out some of the articles and talking about them with staff members. Professors began passing out articles to discuss with soon to be journos. The overwhelmingly positive feedback is humbling and inspiring. I appreciate it immensely, and I respect the trust you have put in this site and in the discussions we have had.

So today, I am sharing what this site has taught me so far. Just like when I was in the daily grind, journalists need to connect with each other and share ideas. They need to raise a flag if their pay doesn’t seem to match up to their peers. Journalists need training and support. Many believe this biz is great and has the potential to be even better. Newsies are looking for ways to network, so they can help each other grow and make the most of the jobs they love. This website fulfills an important need.

Survivetvnewsjob will remain, just that: A place for you to connect, grow and compare notes. What all of you have created with me is too important to give up. I will still offer just as many articles and discussions on Twitter and FB. You will hear about MediaStars in occasional fashion articles, because frankly, so many of you responded, and liked the advice and debates. You will also see a MediaStars ad banner, but that’s about it.

I am asking for one thing in return. If you have a topic you are passionate about and can offer positive solutions, submit an article for review or send me your idea. This website was not designed to be just one person’s voice all the time. Help keep the discussion going and allow this website to be what it’s always been intended for: Helping journalists survive their TV news jobs.

What’s lacking in training for TV news? Ask us (that means you too)!

“Rules are made to be broken, but first you have to know the rules.”

By now you have probably read that J-schools were called on to change the way they teach by the Knight Foundation. In its “Open Letter to American University Presidents” the group calls for a “teaching hospital” style curriculum. (Basically you work alongside professionals to really learn the craft.) When I asked journalists about this, and what they would like to see change, I got a lot of kudos for universities that had producing classes and ran “newsrooms” where students put on the news. Glad to hear you are happy with your educations overall. But, I think this call to action goes beyond that.

So, I threw together some ideas on what journalists really need to know from the get go. Now I’m asking you to add to it. After all, we live it. We know what’s there and what’s missing.

Understanding subjects to handle a beat.

Think back to your first job. Did you know military lingo? Did you understand cop speak so you could decode it for viewers to understand? Could you clearly explain how the election process really works (Heck that’s a valid question on 4^th job.)? Let’s be honest, phrases like “firefighters responded to a three alarm fire” happen a lot in news copy because many journalists don’t truly know what it means. So instead of potentially screwing it up, journalists just repeat the information the information they are given by the officials. Reporting classes should decipher systems and lingo so you have a clue what’s going on from the moment you get in the TV news job force. I mean they need to teach the things we tend to cover most: fires, murders, crashes, elections, school millage rates, the GNP (do you at least know what that acronym means?) and unemployment stats. Is your head spinning yet? Then focus on how to break those types of story elements down in layman’s terms. That way viewers know what the heck your point is. It goes back to the simple idea that rules are made to be broken, but first you have to know the rules. Now think about your first economics story (or even your last one because that subject is a real bugger) and the first time you had to take a campaign ad and break down the true and false elements on various issues. It’s hard if you don’t understand the basic principles. It can take several attempts to get it right. Some of you may be thinking, “Well, I took an economics class.” or “I’m a poly sci minor.” Sometimes even that isn’t enough to break it down for TV viewers. A lot of those classes are theory. This is real world application stuff. You need the systems explained clearly, not a discussion on theories. If you understand those systems and the lingo, you can write about it clearly in news stories and school essays. Know the rules, then you can move past them.

Source building

This, to me, is one of the biggest problems in newsrooms today. So few people truly “get” how to source build. There are a lot of techniques involved, ethical issues, people and networking skills. We’ve dedicated articles under the cloud tag “source”. But they just scratch the surface. If you really sit and think about it, in the majority of TV newsrooms there are 1 or 2 reporters (besides the investigative team) and an assignment editor that have incredible sources. The rest, well, not so much. Source building does not come as naturally as it may seem, even in the age of social media. That’s why it needs to be taught in college journalism programs.

Social media interaction

When I asked what J-Schools should improve on, a few journalists mentioned social media. What writing style do you use on the social web, “newspaper” or “broadcast”? What is proper etiquette? What potential legal pitfalls could you run into? Heck, many of us “veteran journalists” would go back to school to take these sorts of classes, if we could. Again, we need to know the basic rules, before we can break them and begin to evolve.

Cross training

The most common suggestion I heard from journalists? Cross training. That even came from some newsies who went to the universities that taught reporting, producing and photojournalism classes. I am going to confess to one of the largest reasons I launched survivetvnewsjobs.com: Too often, journalists are disconnected in newsrooms. The reporter does not get what the producer needs. The producer doesn’t get what the anchor needs. No one seems to understand what the assignment editor needs. And reporters and photojournalists sit in the same news vehicle all day, and often are not recognizing the challenges the other faces. Simply put, few know the rules their teammates live under. There are two whole categories on the website relating to these issues: “Getting along with Peers” and “Smart Alliances.” “Getting along with Peers” is one of the most searched for and read sections. The reason: journalists want to understand why other key players in the newsroom act like they do. That’s crucial because we journalists waste time trying to explain things that we should not have to explain. It can hamper the product each day. It prohibits open discussions in news editorial meetings. Then people get “human” and start demanding “just trust me.” This is not a trust issue. This is a productivity issue. This is the cog in the wheel that prevents us from breaking the rules and evolving. Turning a few newscasts as a producer; turning a few packages one semester as a reporter and shooting a few pieces as a photojournalist does not make you an expert. It simply is not enough to allow you to really understand the daily pressures of these jobs. But it might be enough if you combine doing these things, in a newsroom setting, with talking about real world scenarios with veteran journalists. Let longtime producers explain why they start snapping at reporters three hours before the show. Let them explain why not turning in the tease video earlier than the pkg creates a multilevel nightmare. They can also hash out why missing slot is really bad for the entire newscast. Let veteran reporters explain why holding off on script approval can really screw over a field crew. How about hearing from a well-seasoned pro why sending an anchor to the set 10 minutes before air, with no a-block scripts (because they aren’t written yet!) will potentially wreak havoc for the next two blocks of news, if not the entire newscast. Then let’s discuss the reporter driving the live truck while the photojournalist sits in the back slam editing the pkg desperately trying to make slot, because of equipment failure or bad weather. Real life scenarios do not always play out in these university “newsrooms.” Discussion groups involving veteran journalists, in every newsroom role, can help fill in the gaps.

There are many more issues we could bring up. Please, FB with more of your ideas. If we get enough, we’ll send them and this article to the Knight Foundation. After all, it’s our vocation. We deserve to lay out the rules, so we can help break them and evolve our profession.

Want to stand out as an assignment editor? Ask to write copy

Clearly from the title, this article is aimed at assignment editors. But all journalists will do better at their job, if assignment editors focus more on writing. Yes, writing. They set the standard in most TV news rooms for source building and digging up exclusives. No one can complain about their workload when watching assignment editors hard at work. It’s no secret they are the glue that holds newsrooms together. That’s why assignment editors looking to really make their mark in this biz, need to write some of the news they find.

What many of us journalists forget is that assignment editors, by being the main information gatherers each and every day, really set the tone for how all of us write the news. After all, we write based on their notes in the assign queue. We ad lib based on information they share with us on the phone. We even depend on them for who is interviewed on a variety of subjects. One could argue that assignment editors have as much influence on the structure of newscasts as management does.

So why does that mean that assignment editors should write news copy, whenever they can? Because as veteran news writers know, practice is how you really learn to clearly decipher the facts necessary to write solid copy. You quickly figure out if you really understand a story, when you sit down to write it.

Since so many journalists hop into the queue for information, the way assignment editors write already bleeds into news copy. Think about it. I guarantee you rip off phrases under the slug file, especially if you are not a hundred percent sure about the facts and the assignment editor is too slammed to explain. It’s classic C.Y.A. mode. If the information comes into question later, you can say, “But that’s exactly how it is written in the assign queue.” Again, if I had a dollar for every time a journalist uttered that phrase!

By writing some news copy, assignment editors get a better understanding of what elements you truly need to write clearly and concisely. It should also help streamline the process, so the already stressed assignment editor is not getting phone calls asking to explain what’s in the queue. And when the calls do happen, the assignment editor may better understand why.

So assignment editors, if you want to really show off your stuff, write about some of it! You just might make other journalists in your shop stop and truly pay attention to what you have to say.