Survival Kit – Page 11 – Survive Your Job In Television News

“Welcome to the Big Leagues kid.” A reporter’s perspective.

You’d think that standing on 5^th Avenue, just yards from the Empire State Building, with police, tourists and business people swarming everywhere, would drive home the reality that I was finally reporting on the nation’s biggest stage.

But none of that had really sunk in until I started my 10^th or 11^th straight live shot of the afternoon and a big New York City garbage truck pulled up about three feet from my left hand. As I began recounting the story of a deranged man killing a former coworker outside the city’s most recognizable landmark for an NBC client in Australia, a guy jumped off the back of the truck, walked nonchalantly between me and the camera, grabbed a sidewalk trash can, walked back to the truck, slammed the can loudly on the deck, and crossed back in front of me to put the can back on the sidewalk.

As I tried to maintain a straight face, all I could think was, “welcome to the Big Leagues, kid.”

A year ago, I never imagined I would be reporting for NBC’s affiliate service alongside consummate professionals like Jay Gray, Michelle Franzen, and Brian Mooar. In fact, there was a good chance my journalism career was over.

In December 2011, I left my job as Senior News Reporter and fill-in sports anchor/reporter at the NBC affiliate in Birmingham, Alabama.

I had been there 11 years. I was getting married and moving to New York to be with my wife, Sunday, with no job and no real prospects.

For most of my tenure at WVTM, it was an NBC O&O. So from time-to-time, I was fortunate to do some work for Newschannel: a hurricane here, or a tornado there. I worked with some phenomenal producers and editors over the years and kept in touch with a lot of them.

I guess I impressed enough people because last May I got the call: go to 30 Rock and package the Facebook IPO for NBC affiliates around the country.

As I pecked away at my script in the newsroom on the 7^th floor, I’d occasionally peer to my left… in the same row of desks: Robert Bazell, Anne Thompson, Michelle Franzen, Ron Allen… and Chris Pollone.

Unreal.

I went to voice my first script and the booth was occupied. When the door opened, out walked WNBC anchor legend Chuck Scarborough. He gave me a hearty, “Hey there!”

The booth smelled of integrity and excellence.

Sitting on my couch that night reflecting on my day, it hit me that there are two things that separate the major markets from the “lower rungs”: eyeballs and toys.

At the end of the day, the work I do for NBC is the same work I did at WBNG in Binghamton, at WCCM in Lawrence, Mass., at WJTV in Jackson, and WVTM in Birmingham. Yes, the stakes in New York or at the network level are higher, and the margin for error is tighter, but the work is no more important than what journalists do in every market around the world.

There are a lot more viewers at this level, and we might have producers, runners, shooters, and bookers by the dozens, and the best lights, cameras and microphones on the market, but those toys mean nothing without strong, compelling storytelling.

So what’s different here?

Oversight.

When I left WVTM, I had earned enough trust that generally no one reviewed my scripts before they aired.

Now, I work very closely with my on-site producer, the managing producer in Charlotte, and sometimes the top levels of NBC Newschannel management to make sure my scripts are accurate, concise and compelling.

The script development process is also a lot more collaborative.

On some stories, I actually conduct interviews and do original reporting.

On others, my producer will email me a list of shots and logged sound bites, and I write the story without interacting with any of the newsmakers at all.

In the hours following the Newtown school shooting, I started doing live reports for our U.S. NBC affiliates, MSNBC, CNBC, and our clients in Asia, Australia, Canada, and England.

I did nearly 80 live shots from 2PM to 2AM, and every bit of information I shared with the world was being fed to me through my IFB from Charlotte and emailed to my iPad because our field producer had not yet arrived on scene.

I never actually attended a press conference or interviewed victims and townspeople until the day after the shooting.

Some days, I never leave my living room.

When Newschannel is short on correspondents and needs a package put together for the affiliate video-on-demand service, I get a list of elements from a producer, I write the package on my couch, and record voice track on my iPhone with a $50 Tascam microphone.

Working with Newschannel, there is a lot of travel and a lot of decisions made on a split-second notice. The day the new Pope was to be announced, I flew to Boston, ate dinner, and flew back to New York just in case Boston’s Cardinal O’Malley was named the new Pope.

There are long hours and not a lot of sleep.

During the Jerry Sandusky trial, I started my days at 3:30 AM and did live shots and packages through 3PM. My producer and I would grab an early dinner and then I’d sleep until about 8PM when I’d wake up to write and voice my morning package.

On that story, we had the benefit of a morning correspondent (me) and an evening correspondent (Brian Mooar).

On some stories, like the NCAA sanctions against Penn State, I was a one-man show. We started at 3:30 AM and did live shots through 9PM. One-day stories usually get this type of treatment.

At this point, I have no illusions that I have “made it”.

As a freelancer, the work comes and goes. Sometimes I’m working several days a month, or even weeks at a time. And then other times, I’ll go several weeks without an assignment.

I supplement my news income with various endeavors for PR firms in New York and Boston. Ideally, I’d like to move to full-time or
“perma-lance” with Newschannel, or even do some work for WNBC between Newschannel gigs.

I can’t overstate the importance of networking.

It’s the top lesson I teach when mentoring young journalists or speaking in broadcast journalism classes.

Throughout my career, I’ve tried to be nice and work hard in every situation no matter how difficult the circumstances.

You’d be stunned at how much doing everything that’s asked of you quickly, correctly and with a smile will win you future assignments.

I’ve been blessed to have some great coworkers and friends who believe in me.

Newschannel’s main correspondent, Jay Gray, has been a great friend and advisor, as well as Chicago-based producer, JoEllen Ruvoli, and Charlotte desk supervisor, Bill Riss, but there’s no chance I’d spend one day at Newschannel without the backing and support from my friend Jodie Jennings. She’s an absolute rock star producer and is “so” NBC, she’s part peacock.

When you’re trying to make “the leap” to a major market or network, it’s crucial to have great contacts like these who like you and believe in you.

Coming to New York, I had won AP, Emmy, and Murrow awards. I covered Hurricane Katrina, major tornado outbreaks, federal, state and local scandals and corruption, and 3 BCS National Championships. I had confidence in my experience and abilities. I had performed every newsroom job over the span of 16 years.

When I first moved here, I met with a local News Director. She was very nice, but exhibited that hackneyed cynicism that basically says, “New York is the only place that does news, and everyone else in the other 209 markets are just a bunch of circus clowns.”

I HATE that.

If anything, I firmly believe the smaller the market, the harder you work. You have fewer resources, fewer toys, less money and just as important stories as the big markets.

This news director said she didn’t generally hire reporters from “that small a market” (Birmingham is market 42) and that her reporters exhibited a certain type of “sophistication”. As she said that, I could see one of her “sophisticated” reporters on the monitor behind her doing a story on an armed robbery.

Yawn. We’ve all done that 150 times.

I wished she had just come out and said she didn’t like my nose, or my (lack of) hair, or whatever, instead of belittling my experience, my former coworkers, and my home of 11 years.

Whatever.

I’m here to tell you, whether you’re in North Platte, Nebraska, or in the North Bronx, the process of doing good journalism is the same.

To get a shot in the “majors”, you have to be a great writer, digger, and a rock star on live shots.

Don’t believe the people who tell you how great you are, and don’t, for a second, believe the people who say you aren’t good enough.

If you have the experience, the drive, the talent, and have made some good friends and contacts over the years, it’s likely you, too, can make the “leap” to the big leagues.

——————————————————————————————————–

Chris Pollone lives in Manhattan. He’s on Twitter: @ChrisPollone and Facebook: facebook.com/cpollone. Questions? Email him at [email protected].

Coming out of the black hole, how to make the most out of late news live shots

I’ve been traveling and one market I was in, is really putting heavy emphasis on its late newscasts. Competition is tight, a new broadcasting powerhouse just bought a station and it’s ready to make a big play. Veteran journalists know what this means. More live, more often, even if it’s in the pitch dark. So I sat and watched the new competition come in and make it’s presence known. The takeaway, live shots in black holes. Live for the sake of being live. Showcasing that the reporters are everywhere with a simple word, in an upper corner of the TV screen, repeated over and over: LIVE.

As a former nightside EP, I get it. I remember the countless strategy sessions about the importance of live crew placement. The incredible marketing involved with people driving by your station’s microwave or satellite truck for hours on end. Then there’s the promise that you will deliver breaking news. That means night crews are working out of live trucks no matter what. You must be ready to jump!

But here’s the thing, shooting a lovely reporter whose face glows in the dark like a street lamp against a pitch black background is not acceptable. So let’s break down why these live shots happen and alternatives to the glowing head in the black hole.

So, why do those “work you to the bone” nightside managers require you to go live, even when the story is “over” and there’s nothing to see in your background? For two reasons: Breaking news and marketing. Here’s what I mean by that: If you have two crews, and four counties in your DMA you need to spread everyone out. If everyone heads back to the station with look lives, you could end up screwed. That’s when the huge breaker will happen on the outer fringes of your DMA. You must cover the bases. So if the crew is out in a live truck anyway, you might as well get that live super up. That’s the thinking.

As for marketing, if your crew is parked in a busy section of town or better yet in a part of the DMA you know brings in a lot of viewers, or is full of opportunities to grow viewers, you want the exposure. That huge mast or beautifully painted satellite truck is a mobile billboard. That advertising is priceless. Billy drives by the truck and calls Bob to say, “Hey channel 8 is here.” Bob calls Sam and so it goes. The nightside managers task is always to grow audience. You can bet this is on that managers mind every night. We ask ourselves “Where can I send the truck that will get the most eyeballs and then new viewers?” It’s the simple truth.

So now that you know why the nightside crews get “stuck” live all the time in the dark, let’s talk execution strategies. The crews need to avoid black hole live shots, and the managers need to help. Yes, that’s right: The mangers need to help you avoid black holes.

First let’s talk about what nightside crews can do. I used to get into it with photojournalists all the time for refusing to set up a frigging light on the background behind the reporter. I get that it’s a little extra work. I get that it’s just an empty building. Personally, I hate that kind of live shot background image also. But, if you are in the part of the DMA I’ve been told to increase viewer numbers in and it’s ratings and I have a HUGE lead in, I may feel I have to showcase that we have a crew there RIGHT NOW. The station is deeming a particular community important. We are there watching out for you. And whether you the crew or I hate the dark shot, there are payoffs sometimes. So get out the light kit and make the effort.

That said, if you don’t have spare gear, or if you have an imaginative look live option, call it in. Nightside managers, remember you can still have your cake and eat it too. Let the crew feed in the great look live elements. But keep them parked in the truck during news time. You get the marketing exposure and the ability to jump on breaking news if needed. Sometimes it is worth losing the live super to avoid the black hole. When you really think about it, you could get to a breaker even faster if the crew does not have to break down a live shot.

But, news crews, if the nightside manager gives you this option, that doesn’t mean you “cheat” and head back to the station a little early. When you get busted, you will ensure yourself a set lot in life: Live shots in a black hole each shift for as long as you are nightside. The strategic planning cannot be sacrificed just to make your life easier.

Banner coverage: How to come up with all those chyrons.

Today, TV journalists are asked to be marketing specialists more than ever before. Producers often tweet about the production elements they design, the graphics packages they approve and the pre-produced opens and teases they come up with. This is where producing gets really creative. It truly is a place where you can make your mark.

It also is the place where weaknesses are painfully exposed. Misspelled supers, OTS’s with weird slugs, and tickers full of factual errors KILL you. There are methods to keep from making these embarrassing mistakes. Let’s start with supers where you must “name” each story.

The name game:

Think story slug
Use alliteration sparingly
Avoid cliches

When you have two line supers that need a slug on top and location on the bottom, keep it simple. You need to clearly summarize the story in two words. Think story slug.

You must define what the story is. This helps make sure you use alliteration sparingly and hopefully avoid cliches. If you get too cutesy you stand a high chance of trivializing the story. So avoid being cute, unless it is a really fluffy story.

Now the art of naming an OTS. Keep it simple. Again, a story slug kind of name is good. If you try to include too much detail, you can cause problems. If this is for a copy story, remember the OTS name will sit up next to your anchor’s head the entire story. You do not want it to refer to one specific line of copy in the story. For example: an OTS that says arrest, when the arrest is not mentioned until the last line of the story. That is very confusing for the viewer.

Finally, errors are the number 1 credibility killer for “banners” and tickers. These must be proofread. You must spell check in some way. You must pay extremely careful attention to grammar. You simply cannot consider this a nuisance job and slam it out. The ticker often gets the viewers attention more than half the a-block you agonized over. The simple reason: viewers get more than one chance to look at it, and therefore more than one chance to notice any errors. There is no room for error. Have someone look at it forward and backward, to check for spelling errors. Once it’s written, read it out loud to yourself. Have someone else proof read it, by reading it out loud also. Your ear will often catch mistakes your eyes don’t.

A final thought: When doing fancy, pre-produced, elements have someone look them over before they air. I used to put together sophisticated cold opens and tease 1’s. I made an editor (different than the one who cut them) watch them, then asked the entire production crew to review them as well. This was done daily. There can be no mistakes in banner coverage. It’s simply too important.

The Devil in the Details: Why getting it right matters.

I hear the excuses from journos all the time:

“No one needs a lecture. We get how to put good TV on the air.”

“It is the system’s fault.”

“Social media is corrupting how news is done.”

“The J-School did not emphasize enough.”

There are all kinds of reasons given for why the facts are wrong.

It would be easy to list all kinds of ways to double check graphics. How to fact check scripts. How to conduct interviews to lessen the chances of missing key facts. A great list for articles to come. But right now, it is time to take a breath from the frenetic pace of TV news and stop and think. What really is the point of putting news on the air every day/night? Is it to feed a corporate machine? Is it to make yourself money? Is it to help the community?

To see the devil in the details, we have to begin with the question of why we even do TV news. The reason: If you do not feel that you are called to help others by sharing key information that can alter lives, you simply won’t understand why getting it right matters. TV news is so full of competition, so full of the need to be first, so cutthroat, that we can forget the point. We serve the community. If we don’t explain what is happening, where are people getting their information? Snarky comments, like “well the newspaper and the internet” show you are not a serious journalist. This is a calling.

Getting the facts right matters because that is the reason you have a job. You are paid to get the facts right. Whether you are a high priced anchor, an assignment editor, a writer or even a video editor. You are paid to get it right. You are responsible for a certain set of facts. You are the keeper of details.

The devil of it all is, the more we get the details wrong, the more we destroy our calling. Credibility is not a given. It is earned each day. It is tested with each story that airs. And when you lose credibility you never get it completely back. It is the most precious thing a journalist has. It defines your worth, even more than your paycheck.

The TV news industry has cheapened itself. Not necessarily by hiring younger journalists. There are plenty of newbies who are saving veteran journalists skins each day. The TV news industry cheapened itself by throwing it’s money into glitz instead of it’s core. You can dress a lady up, make her look good with the right makeup and clothes, but if she’s a nasty person, the ugly will show through. Our ugly, nasty secret is coming out more and more. We are so concerned about volume, that we put quantity over quality. Then a “Snow Storm” becomes a “Snot Storm” on a fullscreen graphic. A “Singer” is declared dead instead of an “Astronaut.” We condemn a man for a shooting rampage, when he was actually far away from the scene. We misspell the president’s name on chyron.

So it’s time to pay attention to the devil in the details. Double check. You owe it to the viewer who counts on you. And fellow journalists, you need to have each other’s backs. (see “Meet my conscience”). Every mistake prevented, extends everyone’s contracts. TV news needs you to get it right, so everyone can continue to have a vocation.