Why reporters need to be great tease writers too.

When talking about tease challenges recently on FB, a newsie mentioned it is hard to tease a story “not knowing what the reporter is ACTUALLY working on.” This is a common scenario in most newsrooms. I said the producer should ask for a tease line when the reporter calls in with elements. Now let’s talk about why the reporter should want to call in a tease line, or better yet, offer to write a tease. Reporters need to be great tease writers too, because it not only helps them curry favor with management, it also helps them write better stories.

A big key to great story telling and great tease writing is truly understanding what impact the story will have on the audience. This is the WIFM and sell combined. So by challenging yourself to become a great tease writer, you are kicking your story telling skills up a notch.

Great tease writers are also experts at using sound and video to capture the viewer’s attention, key elements in great storytelling. Think about it, most teases that really knock your socks off, leave an image or sound in your mind. Most people are visual or auditory learners. It is important to play on that fact.

Tight, powerful writing is also key to great tease writing and great storytelling. You can’t boil it down if you don’t understand the story. Powerful writing makes for many memorable moments as well.

So reporters, challenge yourself. Offer to call in a tease line with your elements each day. Look for the sound and video that really sells your story and offer it up. You will not only become the producer’s favorite, your own stories will improve.

How to “go big” on national breaking news

A producer recently emailed asking about ways to handle big, breaking national stories. Do you sacrifice local and fill the a-block? How without offending the viewer who might want a lot of local? What a great topic, since it is so easy to go online and on cable news and get that national story. So let’s delve in to ways to do this, without offending local viewers. Also, I would love to hear your feedback on whether you think going big on a national story, locally, is effective since social media and online news are so relevant now. Please go to our FB page and talk about it. This debate will continue to grow as TV redefines its role. When you discuss it, consider these key points. They can help you decide how much to do on large scale national stories during your local newscast.

Viewers are used to getting news at this time of day, from you
Viewers feel a connection to your anchors

Both of the points listed above come down to one important point, when deciding how to cover a big national story: Trust. Viewers trust their familiar, local, anchors and like checking in that time of the day with those anchors. They are prepared to see your anchors giving them the most important news at that time. That’s why so many newsrooms go big, even when the story is not local.

The producer that emailed me specifically mentioned the Newtown school shootings. This is a different scenario than the fiscal cliff, which is easy to localize. The day of the shootings, you are still figuring out what the basic facts are, so localizing can be a little more difficult. Blowing out an assumption, to turn local angles can backfire. So localize as much as you can but, do not feel you must have a lot of local tie-ins in order to go big. Large market producers will tell you this is an opportunity to let your anchors own the big story, just like a local breaker. That means avoiding a national package. If you are allowed to get a live shot from the affiliate feed, go for a custom and let your anchors debrief the anchors with questions you think your viewers would want answered. Make sure you have a set up spelling out the basic facts and setting the scene, so the viewer understands the scope. This can be done with vo/sots, a package you write for your anchors, or a combination of nat sound, vo’s, vo/sots and graphics. Do what you need to really spell the story out in an effective way for your viewers. The point is owning the story, instead of seeming to hand it off to a network reporter and moving on. Handing it off can encourage a viewer to switch channels. Remember, the viewer has a trust connection with your anchors. They can tell the story well, and should.

When you can add tidbits of local reaction, do it. Let your anchors help you find this information out. It really is an effective technique to have your anchor say something like, “I just called so and so, and that agency would handle a situation like this, the same way.” Again, your anchor is acting as an advocate for the viewer, let them ask the questions the viewers would love to ask themselves. Let the anchor “own the story.” The viewer trusts the anchor and wants to see him/her in that role.

Another solid technique is letting the viewer know about local stories coming up, and when they will see them during this national coverage. Some mention it as an umbrella lead and some do it with teases off the top of the newscast. Some just have the anchors mention there is a lot of local news coming up in 5 minutes. That way, viewers know you are also on top of the “big” local news of the day as well.

The key when determining how much coverage to give a big national story is the potential impact it will have on your viewers. For example, the Newtown school shootings were so shocking, viewers would crave information. By not covering it much, you would actually encourage viewers, used to watching news at that time, to switch channels. The viewer’s gut feeling would be “This is a huge story, I need to know about.” They want to learn the information from journalists they trust. You can encourage them to further believe that it is your anchors and reporters they need to trust. Do not just shove a national pkg off a feed into the a-block and let it go. Let your anchors ask the questions the viewers want answered. Continue to build the trust. That way when a big story happens, your viewers will turn to your newscast first, no matter where the story came from.

Parroting bites

Ever heard that phrase? Parroting bites is a common writing flaw in television news. It seems like such an obvious no-no, but it happens a lot. So let’s define it, to try and stop it from happening.

Parroting bites, means repeating what the sound bite said in the anchor copy, sometimes word for word. It usually happens right before or right after the sound bite. While writing for the ear involves some repetition, it is not a good idea to “parrot.” It actually confuses the person listening. The viewer wonders, why are they saying the same thing over and over, then misses the next part of the story.

Bites do need set up, and that often involves explaining the gist of what the person is going to tell the viewer, but you should not parrot. Focus on why the sound bite is relevant in the set up. Often the bite is relevant for two reasons, the person saying it and/or the bite explains the importance of the information you are providing. So, focus on those reasons when setting it up. “This lawmaker is behind the legislation.” “This witness saw exactly what happened.” “So why is this research important? This doctor explains.” Catch my drift? That makes the viewer want to hear the sound bite, and immediately recognize the importance of the context of the sound. Since you have so little time to explain much of anything, you need each word to really count, including set ups to sound bites. Parroting wastes time.

If the sound bite is hard to understand, you can paraphrase afterwords, but say that’s why you are doing it. “Just to make sure you heard that, he said…” Parroting involves directly repeating the bite, without explaining why. If you explain why, it is not parroting.

One last thought on parroting sound bites. It makes the anchor or reporter reading the script, appear that they do not understand the story and, have no idea about the person the sound is coming from. It screams, “This anchor just reads, and doesn’t know that he/she is talking about!” Think about it. When you talk to someone and they repeat exactly what you said back to you, you question if the person really gets what you are talking about. Same rule applies go parroting bites in news copy. Credibility is crucial. So don’t parrot bites.

Taking Teasing Challenges Head On.

Whenever I publish an article on teases, journalists talk it up on Facebook and Twitter. Teases, as I have said before, are not natural to us newsies. So we have plenty to discuss because teases are a completely different writing style. I asked on FB and Twitter: What are the biggest challenges you face when writing teases? Here’s the list and some fixes.

Tease writing challenges

Making the time to write them
Not giving away too much of the story
Picking what to tease
What order to put teases in

The number one secret of killer tease writers is this: Make time to really work on your teases. These are not the elements you save for last and just throw something in to get them done. Teases make or break your newscast. You are judged on them harshly and often. They have to be a priority. They need a special amount of time set aside. Give yourself a chance to write and read over the teases to challenge yourself: Are these really the best I can do?

That said many of you mentioned writing the teases right after you write the story you are teasing. That can be an effective technique, as long as you go back and look at them again. Why? Often you end up giving away too much of the story. Sometimes you need a little separation from writing the story, to see what your short term memory actually retains. What is it about that story that made you want to tease it in the first place?

Picking what to tease is very challenging, especially when you look at your rundown and think, the stories all sound run of the mill, with no good sound, average video and the same old facts. This is key. There should be a reason every story is in your newscast. It may be that a little tidbit is interesting, the fact the fire happened in a key demo of the market you are tapping into, or because you need video on a day when you have few resources and too many copy stories. Realistically not all of the reasons are super compelling, but they are reasons that have WIFM (“What’s In It For Me”). So draw on the reason why the story is in the newscast and try to build on that for a tease. Viewers do not expect every story to be a gut wrenching, heart stopping, amazing moment. Remember at their core, viewers want tangible relatable information. Information is teasable. Just don’t oversell. (see “Reel ‘Em In Without Exaggerating”).

Finally, order. How many producers have wasted way too much time on this? For the most part, the way to “stack” teases is this deep, deeper, next. You can play around with the deep, deeper part, but not the next (unless you are in the second to last block of course). If viewers see a pattern (and they can and will recognize it) of you teasing next right off, they will not stick around for the whole newscast.

So now you can take those teasing challenges head on! Go knock ’em dead.