Survival Kit – Page 23 – Survive Your Job In Television News

Need story ideas? The solution could be right in the newsroom.

It’s a new year. You’re feeling all refreshed. And you’re ready to again dig for some great stories.

But what if you don’t know where to start?

Maybe you’re dreading the morning meeting lately because it seems like not much is happening in your market.

Here’s what I suggest: Reconnect with sources you’ve “neglected” a bit over the last six months or so. You’re asking literally everyone you interview for business cards or other contact information, right? You’re keeping that info in a desk drawer or in a file on your computer, right?

Well, spend an hour digging through there looking for the great contacts who may have slipped your mind as you moved on to other pressing news stories.

Give them a call. Tell them you want to catch-up and you’re sorry it’s been so long since he or she has heard from you. Be genuine. Be relaxed with them. Don’t have your crazy I-am-a-news-reporter-and-I-need-a-package-idea-NOW voice on!

Sometimes, enduring the equivalent of writer’s block, I’ll literally flip through business cards trying to come up with the inspiration for a story — or to remind myself about a story I should follow-up on.

I’m kind of old school. I still like business cards. There’s something about seeing that logo next to the name that really refreshes my memory. (Yes, I’m horrible with names if I’ve only interviewed someone once.)

Here’s another tip: As you’re putting those award entries together this month (why must so many of them be due so close to the beginning of the year anyway?) think about follow-ups to these stories that you could be doing.

Every time someone does research on TV news audiences, it seems they find news consumers complaining that we don’t do enough follow-ups. Whatever happened to…? They want to know.

That company that promised 50 new jobs back in November? Have they hired everyone they need? How far along are they before they open-up shop?

Remember that congressman in your district who announced he’s retiring rather than running for re-election? Is he still showing-up for votes in Washington? Or is he out golfing on taxpayer time?

And don’t forget all of those families you focused on over the holidays who are barely scraping by because the mother and father have both lost their jobs. How are they making it now that it’s not the “season of giving” anymore? How are charities in your market doing?

As we were putting this article to bed, Poynter’s Al Tompkins wrote a nice blog post pointing to another great source of story ideas: the people you work with. He shows two examples where tips from colleagues led reporters to win 2012 Alfred duPont Awards.

“The lesson here is clear,” writes Tompkins, “listen to everyone.”

Lastly, you can also get a lot of inspiration from Twitter. As a courtesy to your audience, I recommend following back every person in your viewing area who follows you. It’s the nice thing to do. After all, you make money because they watch you. (Or you get fired if they don’t.)

So scroll through your “all friends” feed on Tweetdeck and see what people in your area are talking about. If they’re talking about it is — at least by one definition — news.

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Matthew Nordin is a morning anchor/investigative reporter at Raycom Media’s NBC affiliate in Myrtle Beach, WMBF News. Feel free to chat with him on Twitter @MatthewNordin.

What’s with the question? Make sure there’s an answer.

We recently got a Tweet from a frustrated journalist who had just watched a live shot from another station in another market. In that live shot the anchor asked a question to the reporter, and the question was not answered until the tag. The story came across as oversold and uncomfortable.

Sound familiar? The flow from anchor intro, to reporter live shot, to pkg, to live tag, to anchor tag is delicate to begin with. Then a whole bunch of writers step in, each with their own voice and tweak. The finished product often becomes forced and everyone looks uncomfortable or worse yet, detached from the information described. Then comes the big kicker: The consultant comes to town and tells the ND that the field crews and anchor desk must interact and seem engaged with each other. So what is management’s solution? Require anchors to ask reporters a question going into live shots. Then comes situations like the one at the start of this article. But it doesn’t have to be that way. There are solutions.

First, the one question you never want to ask: “Joe are you live at the scene now?” Before you chuckle and roll your eyes, I lost count of how many times I had to copy edit that type of pitch question out of intros. It was constant, in every market size. Also, make sure the reporter knows the question is coming and what it is. That way the reporter doesn’t seem clueless. Remember, IFB can and does go in and out, you want the live shot to start out smoothly. The reason managers ask you to use a question in the pitch line is to make the interaction between the anchor and reporter seem like a conversation. When you think about it, most conversations do begin with a question and an answer. The person answering expands on the answer then, asks another question to move the conversation along.

With that in mind, here are some techniques to keep anchor questions required in the intro from seeming forced:

Reference live surroundings in the question
Provide perspective through the question
Write what a viewer ask

Now let’s delve deeper, so these are clear. Remember this exercise is supposed to help the anchor and reporter talk with each other, instead of at each other. It is one of the many ways you create flow within a newscast. So when writing the question in the pitch line, a natural way to transition is to ask about why the reporter is live at a particular place. Things like, “Joe can you walk us through the situation where you are?” makes the anchor seem authoritative and the reporter seem like an expert eyewitness. Another way to reference live surroundings is to give anchors the freedom to know they can ask about what they see in the live picture with the reporter. This is effective during fires, standoffs, fairs, holiday parties, political events… you get the idea. You can also have the reporter tell the producer if something interesting is going on, right before taking the shot. Then the anchor can ad lib with that information. Something like, “Joe, we’re hearing another fire truck just arrived, where is it and why was it called in?” If the live surroundings are stagnant (which is often the case) you can have the anchor ask something informative about the area like, “Joe, that’s usually a quiet neighborhood how are families there reacting to this situation?” All of these scenarios give the reporter a reason to reference why he/she is live. That is part of the natural flow of a conversation. Think of it like this, if you bump into a friend at the store, you often say “Hey, what are you shopping for today?” The person answers usually by pointing to the aisle he/she either just went down or will head down next. The key for this type of pitch question is to transition to what is immediately next in the live report.

Now, let’s talk about using questions for perspective. This is where pitch questions can often go wrong, like the scenario at the beginning of this article. You must ask a question that provides an immediate answer. No waiting until the package or tag. If your reporter is at a boring scene and is doing a story that’s been done over and over, use the pitch question to help show what’s new. Use something like, “Joe, before we were told the tax cut would be small, why is it possibly going up now?” Or “Last night we were told this was an accident, why are investigators calling it intentional now?” You are showing that the anchor remembers what he/she tells people and that there is something new. Again, before you snicker, sit down and watch a newscast. It is excruciating how often anchor intros are written in ways that make the anchor seems clueless about the subject, especially when it’s an ongoing story. The cheap copout way to write an intro is to fake that the subject is new by providing no perspective. If you are struggling with ways to justify why this information is being given to the viewer again, let the anchor be the antagonist of sorts and ask that very thing of the reporter. “Joe, we’ve been talking about this political issue for a week, why do families need to hear about it tonight?” That’s a natural question someone probably asked in the editorial meeting when you decided to cover the story. So let the anchor ask it of the reporter in the intro.

Which leads to the kinds of questions viewers would ask: Put the viewer benefit, front and center. (If you don’t know what viewer benefit means read “What’s in it for me.”) Now consider this: Anchors are considered the voice of the audience. They are the people who can ask what viewers want to know, but don’t have the means to ask. Use that connection between anchor and audience to craft questions to the reporter. Let your anchor be gutsy with questions like, “Joe, a lot of people think this tax cut is a joke, is it?” Or “Joe, does this really mean (star player) is walking away from the team?” Or “Joe, there have been a lot of break-ins in this area lately, what makes this one different?” Again, think about bumping into a friend and briefly catching up. Most of us have similar things to say each time, so our friend prods with questions to see if there are any changes. People expect to hear some of the same information, but appreciate anchors asking what is different.

Finally, understand that questions can be a crutch. It is such a common technique, that it can be over used. But if done correctly, it will not seem forced. Remember, asking questions is human nature. So don’t fear questions, just make sure the reporter gets to the answer right away.

Taking ownership, from the first line of the anchor intro

Reporters, I know this is a big pet peeve. The producer writes the anchor intro or rewrites it and steals all of your thunder, just gives away the big surprise or the really good stuff in your package. That’s why I am writing this article my friends. Good storytelling begins with the first line of the anchor intro and ends with the last line in the anchor tag. Notice, I did not say package. I did not say reporter track. I did not even say live shot. It all begins with the anchor intro.

This is an important concept for both reporters and producers to understand and take seriously. Crafting a story begins with the anchor’s ability to make the viewer want to hear it. Then the reporter’s video, information and hopefully a surprise element or two (or three, four and five!) will keep the viewer engaged. The tag line should satisfy the viewer that you (as in the team) truly spelled out the entire story to the best of your ability at the time. Executing this way enhances the credibility of everyone involved and makes viewers trust the whole news team more.

So let’s talk anchor intros and storytelling. First I have to point out what NOT to do. Say the reporter is at a hit and run. The typical way to pitch to the reporter is to have the anchor give a rundown of what happened, then go the reporter with what happened. Something like: “Tonight investigators are trying to find a driver involved in a hit and run. Two women were struck (please don’t say and are fighting for their lives FYI) and traffic is still at a standstill while police piece it all together. Here’s reporter at the scene.” Then the reporter stands there looking frustrated and repeats the same information, because it just happened and there’s nothing else to explain yet. In this scenario you just spit out a bunch of facts. The anchors stole the thunder from the reporter on the scene by stating everything relevant before the reporter that’s standing there got a chance. The viewer notices you are being redundant and wonders why the anchors and the reporter didn’t talk to each other before the newscast came on the air. Yes, viewers really do catch this sort of thing. They may not be able to spell it out as clearly as I just did, but they are great at getting the point across another way, clicking onto another channel. You become too repetitive. The remote is too easy to click. Never forget that.

So what do you do instead? Give the anchors a chance to interact with the reporter (we will call him Bob) from the start. In this breaking news situation the anchor would say something like: “We want to check in with Bob right away for you. That’s because he’s on First Street in Typical City where some women were hit by a car. (take double boxes here) Bob, you just told me police are there looking for the driver. So what do witnesses say happened?”

This gives Bob a chance to tell a story even with just basic facts. He can walk around the scene and point out anything interesting, and stay engaged with the anchors. In breaking situations like this, I often had my director keep double boxes handy in case my anchors came up with a question during the live shot. This way I had the option to take the boxes and have the anchor ask the reporter for clarification etc., and stay engaged.

Now let’s move from story telling, breaking news anchor intro’s to planned out live shots with a package. The kind you have time to finesse. First, understand, as an EP I usually required reporters to turn in anchor intros before getting script approval for their live shots and/or pkgs. Tags were due right then and there as well, unless the reporter was waiting on a specific fact. In that case I asked for an outline of the tag. Why require an anchor intro with the script? It forced the reporter to segment out the information. It helped the entire segment, from anchor pitch, to live intro to pkg to live tag, to anchor wrap up, all flow better. It helped avoid the situation above. Again, so we are clear, that scenario was: Anchor intro gives away all the facts, then the reporter repeats, then the tag repeats again. So reporters, how do you write the anchor intro? You pick out the headline, the what’s in it for me or “WIFM” (if you don’t know what that means read “What is viewer benefit really” first.) Before you fuss that this is giving the story away, hear me out. That is NOT your surprise. The “WIFM” is the hook that will make your viewer want to watch your piece. It is the connector. That means your package needs a human element and ah-ha moment and/or a surprise to live up to the viewer’s expectation. If you need help with those elements read “Storytelling on a dime.”

Producers, do not write anchor intros unless it’s the lead story of the newscast or breaking news. (By that I mean it happened so late your crew will be getting on the scene during your show, or shortly before.) Yes, you can copy edit the anchor intros for time and to make sure the sell is in the intro. If a reporter hands you a 30 second intro with sloppy writing and no WIFM make the reporter rewrite. Remember, this anchor intro exercise helps the reporter break down the facts into sections so they are not: (a) just repeated over and over until the viewer is screaming “Enough I get it move on!” to the television screen. Or (b) so wishy washy the anchors seem clueless and uninformed. Remember, hardworking reporter, you do not get dibs on all the facts. You must share.

This sharing is especially true if you’re discussing the lead story. I used to let the reporter I had tagged as the lead know as soon as I could. This meant we would write the anchor intro together. Yes, we would actually sit on the phone and hash it out. Why? I needed the copy to be compelling and accurate. I needed to make sure that the anchors were able to set the tone for the newscast authoritatively and effectively. I also wanted the reporter to really shine. We had to do that as a team, from the anchor intro on. Yes, that meant my lead package elements were often hashed out earlier than the other stories in the newscast, unless the facts were late breaking. But even with late turning stories, the reporter knew what the sell was going to be in the anchor intro, so he/she could flow easily to the next fact in the story before air.

Now let’s talk anchor intro rewrites. Producers, you cannot just copy edit the anchor intro, change the essence of it, switch the pitch line and not inform the reporter. Simply put, that’s unacceptable. If you do this, the reporter will (a) stop giving you anchor intros at all (b) call the EP or AND and pitch a fit about you or (c) be caught off guard when you go to him/her and seem uncomfortable. Treat the anchor intro with a lot of care. If you cannot wait for a rewrite from the reporter, copy edit then call and read the reporter what you wrote. Make sure you are not stealing any thunder. Try not to change the essence of the copy. Your job is to make the anchors and reporters look like a cohesive unit, not two independent entities that happen to come back to back and talk about the same subject.

Which leads to my final point about why reporters should always begin their stories by writing anchor intros: It forces you to talk with your copy editor during the day. You have a responsibility to make sure your idea of the sell for your package jibes with the ideas of the producers, managers and the promotions writers. Good story telling involves solid sells. You cannot story tell if you have no point. The point of the piece is what the anchors need to allude to in the anchor intro. The promotion is just as crucial and the point of the piece is what is promoted. You do not want promotions to air a tease that is way off base. It makes all of you look bad. Calling in to the producer or a manager with an outline of your piece, including the anchor intro, will prevent miscommunication. It will make your life easier 90 percent of the time. It is a true mark of taking ownership and telling good stories.

Cultivating sources: A how to guide.

In San Antonio, Texas, I stood at a microphone and prayed I wasn’t about to be laughed-at for the question I was about to ask.

It was 1998 and I’d gotten a free ride to that year’s Radio-Television News Directors Association convention because I would be receiving a college scholarship from this esteemed group.

On the panel in front of me, little did I know at the time, was my future mentor, former CNN political correspondent Brooks Jackson.

Suddenly, the room got quiet. The panel looked at me at the microphone out in the audience. It was time to ask my question.

How do you cultivate sources? I wanted to know, though I doubt I used the word “cultivate” back then.

Nobody laughed. Brooks actually took the question seriously. And he gave me some of the best advice of my career: If you’re naturally interested in what your potential source does for a living (like running a political campaign) the relationship will develop naturally.

Later, as a college intern in CNN’s Washington bureau, I’d be assigned to work with Brooks as his field producer/tape logger/personal assistant/lunch fetcher. I learned a lot from him and saw him put his source cultivating skills into action.

He had one of those phone headsets that made him look like a Time-Life operator. And he’d be on the phone for hours — just chatting — and taking some notes on his computer. These were relaxed, no pressure, on background chats. After so many years in the business, he had a lot of phone numbers he could call. And people were happy to talk to him because he has a reputation for being one of the fairest journalists you’ll ever meet — and a guy with a great sense of humor, I might add, which makes him fun to talk with. But he’d also cold call people. And he’d get them to talk, too.

I’ve been thinking a lot lately about how TV anchors and reporters can cultivate sources because I think it’s the key to our personal survival in this business and it’s the key to our newsroom’s survival in this great big media universe. If you aren’t creating original content, then you’re irrelevant. And to create original content in a newsroom, you have to be plugged-in to the newsmakers, community leaders, businesspeople and activists of various causes in your market.

We often don’t like to talk with other journalists about how we go about getting sources or how many we have in our back pocket at any one time. I think we have an inferiority complex about it. We don’t know if we’re doing it right and we’re sure that the “star reporter” at the station across the street (or maybe even within our own newsroom) has dozens more sources than we do. Well, I don’t know how many sources your competition has. But I can help you cultivate more sources of your own.

Here are some tips:

1) Invite a potential source to breakfast. If you’re a dayside reporter, you don’t have time to “do lunch” and chances are the people you want to be your sources schedule lunches with a lot more important people than you. It’s when business is done. But they’re more likely to make time for you at breakfast. Yes, it’s a pain meeting them at 7:30 a.m. so you can be sure to be at your morning meeting at 9 a.m. But you don’t have to do this every day, just every once in a while. And here is the most important point: Do NOT ask for this breakfast at a time when the person you’re trying to get on your side is in the midst of a scandal or other huge news story. You want to develop this relationship when things are calm and you both feel free to talk.

2) Keep the Breakfast “On Background.” Let’s say you’re going to have breakfast with the new mayor because you want to develop some trust with her and her staff. Make sure when you call to invite her to breakfast that she knows anything said is fair game to be reported on but you won’t quote her directly. This is called “on background.” (It is embarrassing how many journalists graduate from college and don’t know these terms. Take a look at the glossary of terms, from the Atlantic.com. You will find the list in the middle of the linked article.) She’ll feel much more at ease talking with you this way. Make sure she understands what “on background” means. If she wants it off the record, that’s ok, too. You’re trying to show her here that you’re not going to burn her. Ask her what’s coming up on her agenda that’s really important to her. At the end of the breakfast, give her your card and try to get her mobile phone number if you don’t already have it. Promise not to abuse it. And don’t.

3) Aim Lower. The mayor is great to have as a source. But let’s be realistic. Everything she tells you will be weighted in one way or another to advance whatever agenda she has, be it for a city project or against a political rival. Keep in mind, she is also at the top of a very large bureaucracy and probably has no idea about all of the things the city is doing. So aim lower. Yeah, you need to get to know the city manager, members of the city council, the city attorney and some of the department heads. But you also need to get to know their receptionists at city hall and — most importantly — some of the anonymous bureaucrats who actually carry out the mission of the city council. They will probably never appear on camera for you. But they will give you valuable nuggets of information that you can use to question the leaders of your town who do appear on camera.

4) Cold Call. You work at a television station. Even in 2011, 86 years after its invention, people still think television’s pretty cool. So when you call a defense attorney who’s handling the big death penalty case that’s headed to trial next month, guess what he’s going to tell his wife that night at dinner? “Honey, guess who called me today? Patrick Murphy from News 4!” Note that I said you’re calling him a month before the trial — not the day before jury selection begins. Cold calling can get a chilly reception from average folks who suddenly find themselves in the news, though. They’re intimidated. They never thought Patrick Murphy from News 4 would be interested in what they have to say. So go easy on them. Don’t be pushy. And for goodness sakes, if something horrible has happened in their life, be genuinely compassionate. The Washington Post recently published an excellent article about how the networks’ morning show producers deal with this issue all the time.

5) Be interested in your source’s work. I learned it from my mentor Brooks Jackson and it’s true. When I show genuine interest in what a campaign consultant, psychologist, doctor, city leader — or anyone else — has invested their life’s work in, I can see their face soften, their eyes light-up, and hear their speech become more excited. You’re showing them that you value them as people and the expertise they’ve acquired. They will honestly enjoy talking to you. They’ll remember the conversation and your name. And when you call them on a breaking story, they’ll be much less likely to let it go to voice mail.

For more ways to cultivate sources when you don’t get much time on the job, check out “How to generate story ideas when you are swamped.” Got other tips for cultivating sources? We hope you’ll share them with us.

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Matthew Nordin is a morning anchor/investigative reporter at WMBF News, Raycom Media’s NBC affiliate in Myrtle Beach, SC. You can follow him on Twitter @MatthewNordin.