Honing Skills – Page 7 – Survive Your Job In Television News

What are Nielsen diaries really like?

This week, I emailed back and forth with Bob Sellers (@TV_Agent_Bob on Twitter) with Media Stars. He shared a link to an excellent article he wrote for the Huffington Post about being a Nielsen family. It really explains what families are asked to do, when keeping a diary and some imperfections that can cost shows ratings. As I read the article I was fascinated with all the scenarios that lead to some shows not getting mentioned (even though they were watched) in a diary and why. Sellers also discussed changing formats in order to gain audience when people typically change the channel. Producers, read that article for that section. Great food for thought when tweeking your own rundown.

The article also made me think about the time I went to a Nielsen office. I actually got to thumb through diaries about a newscast for which I was supposed to raise the ratings. I went with several other news managers, a promotions manager and the producer of the show. It was humbling and scary. The incredible amount of misspellings and grammatical errors were unnerving when you thought of all the hard work and agonizing hours to get people to watch the newscasts. Then I noticed several mentions of my station’s anchors, by first and last name, listed under the wrong station call letters! When we quizzed a Nielsen employee about this we were told the call letters were what got credit. It was devastating and maddening. We already felt like we made the anchors and reporters say the station’s name too often on the air. It sounded robotic. But still, so many diaries had the station channel number or call letters wrong.

Most fascinating for me though, was reading the notes about why people watched what they did. That’s the section I was in charge of concentrating on. These diaries were supposed to give me insight into what the viewers liked and wanted more of from our newscasts. So many of the answers were so strange, that I feared I would not see any tangible solutions to raise our ratings. For example, one diary mentioned the person loved when anchors wore a specific color. That was the determining factor for watching a newscast on a given day. After a lot of reading, I was able to glean some useful information. Some diaries mentioned there was nothing worth watching after 10 minutes into the newscasts, or wished weather came on at a different time. These elements did help us make some changes.

The biggest take away for the group of us was how casual the viewer seemed about the one thing we spent all our waking moments focusing on: the actual news. If they saw a newscast great, if they didn’t that was o.k. also. Time and again we read comments to the effect of: “I watch news three times a week because there’s so little new that happens.” Makes you think a little more about those follow up filler vo’s doesn’t it? How about the “throwaway” last 10 minutes of an 11pm newscast? You know the block where we’re told the ratings “don’t matter.” Well, maybe they do matter, even if viewers sometimes cannot spell or get your station call letters right. Those same people can control your destiny. I got a big introduction to how those decisions are made that day. Don’t underestimate how fickle your audience really is. Make sure that your newscast truly stands out and is memorable. Oh, and don’t forget the call letters!

Deadline looming: How to effectively crank out multiple stories.

The idea of cranking out more with less doesn’t seem to be going away. Turning more than one story, on more than one subject, in more than one city is not easy. Just keeping the facts straight and providing perspective on multiple stories is challenging. Then come the relentless deadlines. Sometimes the packages air 10 minutes or less apart. One of them, includes a live hit. Wow, just writing about all that leaves me breathless!

So how do you effectively crank out multiple stories? Veteran reporters who make these pressures seem like turning a straight vo/sot, say two things: Organization and time management. So what does that mean?

Think about how you will write the package, while shooting
Keep interviews no longer than 5 minutes MAX
Log accurate time codes
Log and/or write every free minute

First off, think about how you will write your package while you are shooting it. You want the first part of your package mapped out in your head for two key reasons. First, it will help you craft a bridge standup that will always fit. Next, it means you must do enough research before interviewing that you can keep those interviews to 5 minutes maximum. (You really should try to keep them to about three minutes.) The reason: the longer your interviews the more you have to log. (For more on how to keep interviews short read: Developing interview skills on the beat)

Speaking of logging, your time codes need to be accurate. This is not a courtesy to your photojournalist, this is crucial to make deadline. It needs to be considered as big a deal as getting your facts straight. When slamming on deadline, you need to make sure your photojournalist or editor uses exactly what you need, and can easily find it, without having to stop down and ask you.

Finally, every free minute you have should be spent logging and writing. This means using the view finder of the camera to log if necessary. I constantly had to battle this idea with reporters. I’ll log when we get to the live shot location, etc. Not acceptable! Log while you are in the car riding. Log your first story immediately, while driving to your second story. Log while you are eating lunch, if you get one. Do not waste a single minute. You want to get done quickly so you and your photojournalist can take your time when editing. You want to factor in time for equipment failure too. You will still get down time, it will just be at the end of your day.

What is hard news?

Let’s begin with this statement: This article is meant to start conversation. It is meant to stretch your comfort zone a little. TV news has to keep growing and reaching audiences differently for us to stay employed.

There is a conflict in television news that many managers, consultants and journalists themselves are not sure what to do with. The conflict: Defining solid television news stories. We call it hard news. We whine about it every day in story meetings. You know the mantra: “We need more hard news.” So what is hard news really? If you get a few moments Google “hard news, definition.” The definitions are fascinating. Here’s a sampling:

“news that deals with serious topics or events” from www.wordnetweb.princeton.edu/perl/webwn

“News, as in a newspaper or television report, that deals with formal or serious topics and events.” www.thefreedictionary.com/hard-news

“Serious news of widespread import, concerning politics, foreign affairs, or the like, as distinguished from routine news items, feature stories, or human-interest stories.” www.dictionary.reference.com/browse/hard+news

“Hard news is the kind of fast-paced news that usually appears on the front page of newspapers. Stories that fall under the umbrella of hard news often deal with topics like business, politics and international news. What defines hard news isn’t always about subject matter. Some might call a news story that’s heavily reported, on a subject matter considered softer (like entertainment), hard news because of the way it was approached. Hard news is also a term most often used by journalists and others who work in the media industry, though you will hear others outside the industry use it.” http://mediacareers.about.com/od/glossary/g/HardNews.htm

I purposely did not pull many definitions from TV news websites and reference books, because we need to see how the definitions we create impact what viewers think they will get. See how broad the definitions are? All describe ongoing types of topics: Political battles, stories about business in town, foreign affairs. Yet, most TV news veterans have seen a lot of these topics, especially business stories and foreign affairs, fail in the ratings. Even political news can be difficult to get people to watch unless it is a key election year or a very controversial subject. So what is hard news for TV journalist’s day in and out? Are we defining it incorrectly or executing wrong?

This is where the conversation comes in. Some talking points: First, what does serious news mean? Almost all of the definitions above reference serious news. Defining serious news, often explains a station’s news philosophy, understanding of its community and credibility with viewers. For the sake of argument, let’s define serious news as facts, events and people that have a direct impact on people’s lives. Events and topics that make people stop and think about their own lives and surroundings in a different way. So let’s try and put some tangibles with this idea. Let’s delve into a serious topic that often is covered horribly, if at all on TV: Education. This is a huge topic for your viewers. Your key demographic is raising children. I have worked at several stations that heralded a calendar year, as the year of education coverage. In all cases but one, the station dumped the idea within 6 months. The biggest problem is that education stories are often very video poor. Many schools do not allow you to shoot any video inside. But there are other ways to cover education besides sending a reporter to do a pkg. The biggest opportunity: Debates with local experts on hot topics in the area. Issues like, whether standardized testing is fair, teacher pay, new educational standards and school closings. All evoke a lot of emotion. They do not need b-roll. They need sound to play out. Remember the wild success of the cable network talk shows. You can turn mini-segments that will really get people talking.

Now, the next level of coverage: Show me the people in the schools grinding every day to make a difference. Make some of that coverage positive, because frankly most coverage of teachers involves one screaming at, smacking or diddling a kid. Yes, these stories are important. But we also want to showcase that there are teachers and supervisors that have very positive influences on students and families. Many managers over the years called this too soft, or said we don’t have time for “features.” Remember, hard news needs impact. It showcases events and topics that make people stop and think about their own lives and surroundings differently. (Yes, I am repeating that line, it is important!!) People love to watch stories about other people. Never underestimate the viewer’s fascination with their neighbors. It is basic human nature. Oprah made a gazillion bucks because she understood that. To truly cover a serious issue, like education, you need to showcase all sides. You need to show the human connections. This proves to the viewer you an informed witness, not just another group with an agenda. Remember, viewers are extremely media savvy in this day and age. If you come up with an advocacy campaign and ram it down people’s throats without another counterbalance kind of coverage, you eventually lose some respect. So called “feature” stories about the cool chemistry teacher who reaches students in a unique way, are as important to the viewer as live coverage during hearings about school closures or new testing policies. You have to showcase all elements of impact. That teacher also impacts a lot of lives and seeing a story about the teaching approach helps teach parents ways they can educate their child differently. That has a serious edge. Therefore, it is “hard news” coverage.

Which leads to my next talking point about hard news: It does not always need conflict. Sometimes you just need to relay the facts in a situation so that viewers can learn information and draw conclusions for themselves. A perfect example is health news. If you think health news is all feature fluff, you are very out of touch with the average human being. Everyone thinks about their health. They worry about family members or friends. Everyone has questions. Everyone has concerns. Health news should never be a feature that’s simply considered “fill” for a section of a newscast just to get viewers to weather. It is a type of hard news and should be treated as such. Health news has almost as broad an impact as weather. It’s just usually treated as a throwaway, and therefore comes across that way to the viewer. Next time an interesting health and/or fitness story pops on the wires, sit down and brainstorm on ways you could make it a lead story. I am not saying you really must lead with it, but treat the story like you would hard news. (Remember the definition above that references some things like entertainment news becoming hard news because of the coverage approach?). Look at it critically. Ask a lot of WIFM questions (if that confuses you read What is the viewer benefit really? ) and see if you end up with a fascinating edgy pkg idea or segment for your newscast.

My final and most crucial point is hard news should directly influence people’s lives. Again the word impact. Let’s replace the word serious in the above definitions, with the word impact. Let’s consider how most stations cover several topics, starting with crime. There’s a home invasion in a crime ridden neighborhood and police think it is drug related. If hard news is about serious issues that directly affect your viewers lives, is a live shot outside the house with a banner saying home invasion fair and/or enough? Are you giving the viewer, who counts on you to be the experts in your community, an accurate representation of where they live? Or are you in lust for a 40 second quickie that allows you to type in home invasion on a live super because it’s “sexy?”

Studies by The Pew Research Center consistently show that people are interested and looking for news about the economy, and aren’t getting the coverage. Slapping up a 20 second reader with an over the shoulder that says “unemployment down” is not the kind of economic news they want though. People are confused. Concerns over their job security, the worth of their house, if they will ever have enough money to retire, and if more of their neighbors are going hungry are daily topics. I can honestly tell you that not a week has gone by in three years that I have not overheard or been involved in a conversation with “viewers” about concerns over the economy. It is a constant. I hear it in grocery store checkout lines, picking kids up from school, having friends over for dinner, taking a walk in the neighborhood, and in exercise classes. People are worried. They feel at a loss for information. They need help. That is hard news. It has impact.

So remember, when considering if a story idea is hard news, consider the likelihood people are talking about that story and have lingering questions. Is there a new set of facts people need to know about, but don’t have the information? Is there something going on they should care about, but may not know yet? Think about the stories that just stick with you. A lot of those emotional connections you make with a story, involve coverage and techniques many journalists would call soft. There is a character. There is emotion. You feel differently for having watched the story. You remember those stories. But chances are most of the so called hard news you pushed for in a rundown or agonized over turning because you could not find impact… are a blur as of you drive home from work. Guess what? It’s a blur to viewers also, because they turn off the TV. They say to themselves: “This story doesn’t affect me and my friends. I cannot relate to this. Why should I bother to watch.” Believe me, they really do. I get bombarded with these comments and questions constantly. Truthfully, you probably do also from your non-news friends. Make sure the people make it into the coverage so the viewer can truly feel connected to the topic or event. Don’t fear lack of video, you can always showcase interesting sound to make your points. Do not push for or create conflict when there is none. Sometimes a story is hard just because it has great information. Finally, stop labeling types of news, like health and education as “features.” Try and show these broad appeal topics respect. Journalists are feeling more pressure these days to market and brand themselves. Taking these impact topics and delivering interesting stories with a “hard edge” is a great way to quickly make a name for yourself. Remember to focus on impact and people. The hard edge will come out in your coverage, because your viewers will be impacted by the information. You will become popular with viewers because you get what they need. You will brand yourself as “real” and “trustworthy.” Most importantly, delving into these topics can and will be journalistically gratifying. These topics can provide opportunities to empower people to change lives. Isn’t that why you got into broadcast news? What is a harder or a more serious type of news than that?

It’s news time and everyone’s yawning: How to energize the newscast at air time.

I could not help but smile recently when a producer tweeted and asked for ideas to keep energy levels up during newscasts. I immediately thought of all the late night football and baseball games I sat through, praying it would just end and wondering if I would fall asleep driving home. I also thought of my first gig as a morning show producer, where I had to pace around the station just before the newscast so I would be somewhat functional in the booth.

Keeping energy levels up during these newscasts is the burden of both the anchors and producers. Heck, the reporters and photojournalists have to stay awake also. It’s brutal at times, I know. But there are ways to energize even when your body is screaming, “Must sleep now!!!”

Energizing newscasts

Write how anchors talk
Have anchors write some stories
Trade reads
Add stories, even if there are not any breakers
Jokes and music blasts
Get up, stand up

In “How to get inside your anchors heads” we list quite a few techniques to help write how your anchor talks. This is important for anchors to keep their energy levels up. Sometimes when it all feels forced, and you are tired, it is easy to sort of give up and just muddle through the copy. Using phrases the anchor likes helps the anchor own it and raises energy levels.

It works even better if you have the anchors write some of the stories they will read. Producers, look at that line again. Have anchors write stories they will read. Sure once in a while you will have to change reads, and the writing won’t work out. I usually asked my anchors to write stories lower in the newscast where energy levels dipped, and the chance of read changes went way down. The point is your anchor will deliver the copy better if it is truly “theirs.” It provides a level of ownership that helps the anchor be more engaged throughout the newscast. Producers, this can make your job a little easier also. No, not just because it can ease up the writing load. This is one of the first techniques I used to raise meter numbers in weak spots. Often there is a correlation with anchor energy levels and newscast ratings dipping. Sometimes the answer really is simple. Get the anchors more involved in that section of your newscast.

Another trick is to mix things up a bit and trade reads if you see the anchors energy levels dipping. Hit the commercial break, then tell the anchors and crew you are switching reads for the block. The first few times you might get some complaints, but often doing this hypes up everyone’s energy levels a bit and you get a tighter, more energetic block. I would not use this technique every day. But if you have had several slow newscasts, try this technique on and off to keep everyone guessing a little bit.

A producer tweeted that she adds stories throughout her morning show, even if there are no breakers, just to keep everyone sharp. I have used this technique also. This is easy to do if you have an AP. If you don’t have one, write a few extra vo’s or vo/sots before the show and have the editors prepare them. Throw them in the bottom of the rundown after the end break so they don’t whack your timing. The editors can have these stories cut and ready just in case. This is also a great way to protect yourself in case a live crew has technical issues. If your anchors ad lib well, give them a story once in a while on the fly. This helps keep them in practice for when you get slammed with breakers.

I used to joke with live crews and anchors, when appropriate during newscasts. Usually I joked around with crews in the commercial break before the block that contained their live hit. It broke the ice a bit and would perk them up. Just be tasteful and don’t drag it out. One liners are great! A quick blast of a guitar solo in the ifb also perked everyone up. Again, not a good idea to do to anchors or live crews during the news block. But many times your crews, you and your audio person have a few seconds during commercial breaks.

When all else fails tell everyone to get up and jump or twist or walk during commercial breaks. That little bit of movement really does help. When the lead-in was a sports event I liked scripting more anchor pitches in standing positions if possible. I used to demand more walk and talks from live reporters as well. It just helps when you move around.

So next time everyone’s wiped out and its airtime, try some of these tricks. It might wake everyone up, just in time!