Honing Skills – 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!

Could you turn a story without any track?

No this article is not for photojournalists. They don’t need it. They can turn a story without any reporter or anchor track. This question I pose is for two other groups in the newsroom: Producers and, to some extent, reporters. I am guessing most of you reading this are saying, “Probably, but why would I?” Because in truth, most TV journalists cannot do it and end up with a piece that makes any sense at all.

Why does this matter? Why should you have the skills to be able to produce a story without any track? There are several reasons:

Sometimes you must “see it” to get the context
Great content often needs no words
Video is the essence of TV news

When I was producing in a large market, my ND issued a really intense mandate to all producers: No writing vo’s, vo/sots, anchor packages or teases without first looking at and time coding the video. Now this was really a lot to ask, because we didn’t have desktop editing yet. You had to pull feed video or raw video, find an open edit bay and sit and log a videotape! It took a lot of time, AT FIRST. But soon, I started to see why this was required. Stories I had planned to air in my newscast were not always as they seemed. Written descriptions of the video, sent from other affiliates, were often off the mark. The video told a different story than the words. My field crew, or a reporter on the feed, missed an awesome opportunity with a sound bite or section of video. Soon I noticed a big change. When I sat down to write, I was fast and very efficient. The number of errors both I and my AP wrote went way down. My copy editors loved me. I didn’t assume as much about stories and actually saw the realities.

I also learned another amazing lesson. Great content often needs few words. I could play out sections of great nats and watch people in the newsroom suddenly stop and stare. I learned to use silence as natural sound occasionally. (For more on that technique see “Storytelling on a dime”, and “Can you picture it.”) Sometimes I ran a long bite instead of writing a vo/sot. Let the people involved give the context. I just set up the situation, and explained what would come next in the tag. No, this technique won’t work on every story. But if you don’t learn how to tell a story without track, you will never truly tell a great story for television.

The reason why is simple: Video is the essence of TV news. You cannot showcase the power of video without first seeing that video. Having a photographer or a reporter describe it is not good enough. With desk top editing there is no excuse. Call up the video, sit back and watch. Let the images move you. Let the video sequences form in your head. Let the images bring questions to your mind. The answers are your powerful elements. The answers are often in sound bites and single images. Remember “a picture tells a thousand words.”

So how as a producer do you write stories without using any track? Next time you are asked to write an anchor package, try and outline it without a single sentence of copy. Just write down the images and sound bites. Chances are you will end up with little to no track. The example above, where you let the sound bite breathe and tell the story instead of having an anchor talk over generic video, can be effective as well. Let’s take a story from a protest for an example. The anchor can introduce the piece saying where the event was held and how many people showed up. “What was their message? We’re letting them tell you.” Then let some sound play. Let a few people talk. If there’s another viewpoint, or a counter protest tag with: “And now, the other side.” and then let that sound play out. Never forget we need to be informed witnesses for our viewers. There is no agenda in this type of coverage. The viewer makes his/her own judgment. You can always tag out with some factoids to help the viewer see the whole picture.

As for reporters, too often nowadays the emphasis becomes the reporter track, not the video. How often do you pre-write your package before you even get on scene to shoot the video? How often do you hear the 1 sound bite you think you need then signal the photojournalist to turn off the camera and walk away? Yes, you have intense timing constraints. Many of you are backpack journalist or get to have a photographer only because you churn two or three packages a day. I get it. Instead of pre-writing sections of your pieces, jot down notes like you would for a live shot. Then go and really listen to the person you interview. Be discerning. Are you really getting the point of what is going on or just assuming the situation is a certain way? You don’t know if you don’t listen. Then write a log of the video and sound you have, in the order you want it, before turning those bullet points in your notebook into copy. At the very least you will write more effectively to your video. I bet you will surprise yourself and see that you need less track and find more chances to let your sound breathe. Finally, once in a while, take a story you did and try to redo with just the video and sound. Do not write any reporter track. Attempt a photo essay in your spare time as a way to hone your skills (see “Humble pie” for more ways to help yourself grow). You will become a better storyteller and a more informed witness for the viewer because of it.

The Art Of Ad-Lib.

The job description: “You will have the ability to easily and credibly ad-lib during breaking news, unexpected events in your newscast or when your teleprompter crashes. You will also ask relevant questions of reporters during live shots that add content and help our viewers better understand stories.”

As an anchor, that’s a shop where I want to work. It means management has high expectations of its anchors and believes they should not just be seen, but also heard by viewers. That takes a lot of work.

The art of ad-lib requires good preparation. The best ad-libs are seldom truly spontaneous. You have to be deeply involved in the content of your newscast.

I used to work for a news director who, correctly, prohibited scripted questions because nothing sounds more canned. So, I would talk with our reporters ahead of time about their story content to see what nugget of information we could discuss on the air unscripted. That accomplished several things. It helped me understand their stories better. If I had to listen to a producer changing the rundown during the live shot, I still had a pretty good idea what the reporter was saying. Also, a solid expected question gives the reporter a chance to shine with the answer. She looks good and so do you.

The “unexpected” during a newscast comes in many forms, but you can still prepare for a lot of it simply by understanding what could be coming your way. A few nights ago, a large fight with 400 people involved happened in a tiny town in our viewing area. Before she went on the air, one of our anchors thought to look up the population of the town so she could calculate the percentage living there involved in the fight. She was prepared to extend the live shot with our reporter if needed. Brilliant, because that’s exactly what happened.

Your preparation is your responsibility. Unless you’re working for a network morning show, no one gives you a briefing book.

One of the things that helps is to ask the question, how much of this newscast could I really ad lib if I had to? Not many of us can memorize a newscast, but understanding the content will carry you through a lot when the prompter crashes on the first story…like mine did last night.

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Cameron Harper is an evening anchor/reporter at WPTY, Memphis. He has won numerous awards and his motto on Twitter is “the teleprompter is only a suggestion.” Check him out at www.cameronharper.com and you can follow him on Twitter @NewsCam.

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.