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Join With Your Anchor: The true make or break of your newscast.

Truth be told, one of the single most important relationships in a newsroom is that between anchor and producer. If you don’t click, chances are your newscast won’t click and someone or all of you will be shown the door. You don’t have to like each other. But you do have to work well together.

These two jobs are so intertwined, it can be very hard to form an alliance. This is because the people doing the two jobs don’t always understand the intricacies of the other side. In many cases, anchors are seen as self-important divas who lord it over everyone else. Anchors can seem detached and uninterested in all it takes to put a newscast together by taking long lunch or dinner breaks and seeming to have endless personal conversations on the phone. I knew a couple of news anchors that watched baseball and football games while people all around them were slamming to make air. Producers resent this type of behavior immensely. But let’s look at it more closely. What we producers don’t often see is the constant pressure anchors feel to perform, against the odds. Also some of the phone calls can be radio interviews, networking calls to connect with community leaders and calls to help management vet out a potential new employee. Nowadays anchors are being asked to blog and tweet and write articles for hyperlocal magazines and internet sites. The push is always on to increase their exposure. Then, after all that, they have to be refreshed and full of energy to “perform” on air. In fairness, many anchors are dealing with producers that are undertrained (see Throw me a lifeline) and defensive about it.

Now, a look at behind the scenes as a producer. We spell a lot of the pressures out in “Hey she got more time,” but in summary, there are constant unrelenting deadlines and if anything goes wrong in the newscast, including anchors stumbling or seemingly having a low energy day, producers get called to the carpet by management. Frustrations can then come with this relentless pressure and it can cause producers to lash out. The number one thing a producer has to learn, no matter what, is to not yell at the anchors. Remember, anchors are not only the face of the station, they are the only way anyone “sees” a producer’s hard work. When you ask viewers about newscasts they do not say: “I love channel “X” because they have really interesting tag elements and natural sound that makes me want to keep watching. Oh, and I also love their teases, they really hook me in.” They say: “Oh so and so is on that channel. I like (or don’t like) him/her.” The viewer’s opinion of that anchor is also the producer’s responsibility. You help the anchors connect with the viewers.

Producers must deliver strong content and the anchor must be able to sell it convincingly and authoritatively. This requires getting to know each other and trying to downplay each other’s weaknesses. Read that again, and notice the word “downplay.” There are a lot of producers who relish seeing their “lazy” anchor sweat on set if, say, the anchor is weak at adlibbing breaking news, or stinks at chat. The person who loses the most from putting an anchor in an extremely uncomfortable position is the producer. Yes, the anchor gets embarrassed on television and if this happens repeatedly can stiffen up on air and have trouble with job performance. I still contend putting anchors in bad positions is worse for the producer because you showcase to the whole staff that you are petty and untrustworthy. You are not professional. When you get assigned to another newscast, those anchors will be on the defensive and unwilling to give up some of those dinner breaks or make phone calls to help you. Remember this is a small business and news managers are not the only ones vetting potential new hires. Anchors are paid to be in the know too. Again, so we are crystal clear, some of those phone calls you see may not be to the family at home or a friend the anchor gossips with. In fact, many times the anchor is networking. That means if you want to get out of the business and stay in town, your anchor is potentially your greatest asset to help with references. Let’s say you want to move out of town to another station, your anchor may be your best asset to help you get to the market where you want to go.

We producers do not always give our anchors enough credit for what they do leading up to the newscast. Even if the anchor really is lazy and spends most of the shift leading up to air on the phone “fooling around,” we are paid to protect the anchor on the air and not put him/her in uncomfortable positions. You are paid to make your anchor look good, even if that person, in your opinion, doesn’t deserve it.

Producers, often you are the one who have to start the smart alliance. You need to sit your anchors down and establish expectations for both sides, in a respectful way. Believe it or not, because so many shops are producer driven, anchors wait for you to take the lead in the relationship. They recognize that many times your job is the one that’s harder to fill. They realize they are the face of the station, but in today’s economy no one is safe in the newsroom, and anchor pay is often cut to make up for budget shortfalls. The anchor may not want to start pushing because of fear of a backlash from the producer. Anchors get that you help them keep their jobs. As the show manager, the producer can break the ice and help you both be more comfortable with your mutual objectives. We have delved into some how to’s for this in “Anchor’s away. How to handle a difficult anchor,“and “Your Producing Voice.” We won’t stop there. This smart alliance needs a lot of nurturing so you can both excel. But for now, keep this in mind: You don’t walk in the other’s shoes. You can respect that at times those shoes are a tight squeeze, and the other person sometimes needs help with the pressure of that tight fit.

Anchor an Alliance: Stroke the hand that feeds you.

When anchors get together to talk and trade stories, silly positions they are put in while on the air is a hot topic. Usually complaining about awful things producers wrote, or uncomfortable transitions producers created, leads to many laughs and personal jokes. Then there are the war stories about the “screamers” in your ear. It is true: Producers can put you in really bad positions at times. Yet, your producer can make or break you at a particular station. So how do you form an alliance to make sure you’re on the good side of that equation?

Here’s what many producers would love to see from you, so you can stroke the hand that feeds you on air. Often the producer will not directly ask for these things because they feel it isn’t their place to do so. If you can provide them these simple things, you will get a loyal ally.

Let the producer know you have his/her back. Most producers naturally assume that the anchor is on the defensive, and will put blame on the producer for any mistake the anchor makes on air. Frankly, this is because most producers get called in when an anchor is “not performing” to management’s standards and are told they are to blame. This makes producers want to keep a safe distance from their anchors.

So how do you bring this defensive wall down? Take responsibility for some of the mistakes on air in front of the producer and in front of management. Whoa, you say: “This could make me vulnerable! “ Not necessarily. Do it during discrep meetings. Other staffers will see , so will an EP or the AND, but most importantly the producer will see it in a public setting. Things like, “I didn’t get a chance to rework a paragraph in story such and such and stumbled today, sorry guys.” or “I forgot to get an interesting fact from so and so meteorologist for the pitch so it would flow, so I apologize if I rambled.” or “I forgot we were switching to two shots at the top of the c-block, I’ll remember now.” Here’s what usually happens when you head home, the producer and associate producer or the producer and director stays late and looks for ways to help you (a) not have to rewrite a paragraph, (b) make it easier for you to find a factoid to pitch to weather next time (c) sit down with the TD or camera crew to remind them to remind you about the new two shot. If you come across as humble and trying to help, you will win a huge ally that will bend over backwards for you every day. No, the producer won’t always get it right. But chances are you will get more apologies and more mea culpas from the producer as well. You might even get to weigh in on news copy and formatting changes more often before air.

Producers also want you helping out leading up to the newscast. No, you do not need to write the entire show. If the producer is worth a bean, he/she thrives on taking ownership and writing most of the show. Still, having an anchor “check in” once or twice leading up to a newscast offering to help write is seen as a huge sign of respect. Some producers will assign you a story, some will use this as an opportunity for a gut check on something they are worried about. Some will tell you to hop in and write whatever you want. All will respect you for helping to build the newscast, not just wanting to read it on TV.

Many times when anchors compliment producers, they talk about producers designing segments with the anchor’s voice in mind. (See Producer Voice ) This can be hard for the producer to do, if they don’t know much about you. We will dedicate an article on techniques to help producers write in your voice more in depth later, but for now let’s talk basics so you can help producers. The producer needs an idea of who you are as a person, and what kind of stories you really like. I had an anchor once that was very interested in travel and airlines. So I would purposely put pacers in about the airlines because his energy level would boost every time he read one. Frankly, some of the stories were boring and I questioned viewer benefit. But his energy would pop so much, it was worth giving up 15 seconds. Another anchor loved political news so most of the time he would get the interview segments about campaign issues. He was well read and thought of much better questions than I could. Another anchor of mine had an incredible mind for health issues. She knew all the latest trends and could really tell if a news release was a PR stunt or true medical breakthrough for the area. I would call her when she came in and was settled for the day and ask what she thought of various stories to put in the newscast. I knew these things because the anchors would chat me up about them when we waited for the editorial meetings to start. These anchors didn’t sit me down for huge philosophical discussions, they just clued me into their interests at an opportune time in my day when I could actually listen.

If you see a mistake, bring it to the producer’s attention in a respectful way. We delve more into this in our article, “Throw me a lifeline” but this is a crucial reminder. If you want a loyal ally, do not make fun of news copy or uncomfortable transition lines on the set during the show with the other anchor. Chances are the producer heard the bad writing or bad transition and is beating him/herself up about it already. To hear you poke fun just puts salt in the wound especially because you are doing so in front of people the producer has to help manage during the newscasts. Basically, it feels like you cut the producer off at the knees. The production crew may laugh with you, but they don’t respect you for it either. Remember, you also aren’t perfect. They see you stumble, and occasionally make dumb comments. If you want those moments to pass, don’t bring up other people’s mistakes publicly.

Finally, remember that compliments are powerful. Producers do not get to go out in public and be told how great the newscast is. In many shops it’s a rare thing for management to throw a compliment the producer’s way. To hear from you occasionally, about a segment you liked or something nice a viewer told you, really means a lot. The producer feels like you respect him/her as a part of your success as well. It helps you “anchor” an alliance that really can boost your career.

The sky is falling, everyone stay calm! How to take control when everyone else is losing it.

Recently, we published an article called Your Producer Voice written by an anchor to explain how crucial it is for producers to stay calm in the booth, especially when talking in IFBs. Anchors simply need producers to calmly explain what needs to happen during newscasts, so the anchor can calmly execute the plan on live television. Problem is, many producers really struggle with how to stay calm when things are falling apart and/or the boss is breathing down your neck.

So here’s how to control your voice, even when you are not in control.

Have a plan
Boil the plan down
Restrict who is in your booth
Trust your director

You cannot walk into the booth for a newscast without a plan, period. Yes, things will blow up even if you have plan. No, your plan cannot be to just watch the rundown play out and hope you time the show correctly. When I say you must have a plan, I mean you have scenarios in your head to fix many common issues. These include, reporters not making slot, a reporter not turning in scripts and their live shot dying, the computer freezing up and your video doesn’t roll, the meteorologist running long, expert interview and/or reporter doesn’t get into position for newsroom shot in time. As a producer you are paid to know what potential pitfalls you will face each day. The ones listed above are super common. When you are calm, think of go to plans for these scenarios, so if one happens you have an automatic fix.

Now let’s talk breakers during the show. Breaking news is even a bit formulaic when you really think about it. You will execute one of these scenarios:

1) Breaker information comes in, anchor reads copy (or adlibs-if that’s person’s strength) and you will move on.

2) Breaker information comes in with a graphic, anchor will voice over.

3) Breaker is live picture anchor voices over.

4) Breaker is live shot, anchor pitches to live crew.

5) Breaker is reporter live with vo or vosot, anchor pitches, reporter voices over the video and possibly pitches to sound.

Have dummy scripts for these scenarios that your studio crew is familiar with. I am not saying you have to format everything. If your anchors are great ad libbers, you would put a few facts in the script for prompter if you want (see See It Rather Than Say It, remember anchors are often primarily visual and need to see what’s going on). The point is, make it crystal clear how you will format these scenarios so you aren’t getting questions like, “Now should I start the pitch, then let so and so take it from there?” “Will there be double boxes and an animation?” This is crucial if you are a new producer learning the ropes at a station. Do not mess with 2 anchor pitches and creative ways to wrap up the coverage. Keep it simple and make sure your director and anchors know your plan before there is breaking news to deal with. The dummy scripts help. These “go to” formatting scripts eliminate most of the questions the anchors, director and production crew would have. This is part of learning what your crews needs are so you can execute quickly. The more you all understand each other, the more you, as the producer, will eventually be able to change things up. Whenever I started a new producing job, I did these type of backup scripts initially so my studio crew knew my expectations. (see Right Hand Meet Your Left.)

Having clear cut breaking news templates your studio crew can count on is the first part of boiling down your plan. Now let’s talk about how you will deliver the message. You need to know exactly what you are going to say to your anchors and director before you say it. You need a clear cut order of who you will tell first. As a rule of thumb, the director is told first so she/he can do what is needed to get the information on the air. This is especially true if you are taking a graphic or a live shot. The director will need to talk with several people to pull this off cleanly on air. Now you will run into issues with the production crew “tipping off” your anchors unless you make it crystal clear to your director that only you tell anchors about breakers. The studio crew is not trying to screw you. They often just get anxious. Let the director take ownership of them, and make sure they know you are the only one talking to the anchors about a new breaker.

When you tell your anchor, make sure he/she isn’t reading copy at the time unless it is so huge, that it absolutely cannot wait. Anchors need to concentrate while on the air. During commercial breaks they are trying to read ahead, get their bearings, and pump up their energy for the next block. Every word you say to them counts. Do not use throwaways. Your goal is to give them 1 sentence commands when making changes. Examples for common issues are: “Wx long, wrap quick,” “Wrong vid, apologize,” “Shot died, stretch.” “Video not coming.” “Go to teases (page number) now.” You can get into the why in the discrep meeting after the show. After these breakers and last minute changes happen, have conversations in debrief meetings (see Anchor’s Away: How to Handle A Combative Anchor. ) so these key players know how you think. This also helps you see if you are giving them information effectively and succinctly.

The next piece of advice can sometimes be tricky, but will make a world of difference for you to stay calm and in control in the booth. I had a rule from my second producing job on, that no one came into “my booth” (yes I did phrase it that way) except one immediate supervisor. If my supervisor was a screamer, I went to the ND and said someone else would have to come in or that supervisor had to call me in the booth only. No more in the booth privileges. Yes, I occasionally ticked off a manager for a short time. Then a big breaker came and the show executed smoothly, and I got what I wanted. I also threw people out of “my booth” if they were interrupting. I had a production manager that hated me for it at one station. Too bad! The newscast comes first. That was my mantra and you can tell from my writing I did not compromise on this. Most well run newsrooms have this rule in place already. If you are in a newsroom where multiple managers wander into the booth during shows all the time, ask the ND if you can have one designated manager coming in or at least a rule where only one manager at a time comes in so you can focus. When managers come into the booth, the production crew defers to the manager, and it makes it much harder for you and the director to execute quick commands. Most managers will understand this and that this request isn’t just you being a control freak. Your director needs the number of people in the booth limited as well. People tend to bug the director even more than you when, frankly, the director is busier than you are during most of the newscast. Your director will appreciate you making this request as well.

Trusting your director is also a key element to staying calm in the booth. Many times I had managers coming in during huge breakers and fighting about what live picture to take or various philosophical issues. I would try and ignore, but often wound up caught in the middle, before I could send them into the hallway to have their debates. In these cases time and time again my director took over and saved the newscast. I trusted my director to know how I would phrase things like “go to break,” or “live pic next” and I let the director run with it. I had to. My bosses got in the way. Trusting your director also is a benefit when you are dealing with smaller level changes like floating a story or popping in a quick breaker. My rule of thumb again was tell the director first, then let him/her tell the production crew while I told the anchors. This means I used my headset to talk to director only a lot. Calm voice, to help the other calm leader in the room take control as well. Too often I saw producers feel the need to use the “all call” button for every change in the newscast. This button should only be for huge breakers where you have to get on the air immediately. And you should have conversations ahead of time so everyone knows if you use “all call,” it’s a big deal, no questions asked.

If you still think that anchors or directors are whiney about you, the producer, staying calm and in control, consider this: How many news people have you seen lose their cool during crisis situations in the newsroom or in the field? Do you respect those people? Chances are you don’t. Losing your temper is a sign you are in over your head and you will lose respect. You will get people on the news and production staff questioning everything you try and do during a live newscast. You must lead authoritatively during a live show. When you make mistakes, and we all do, take ownership and keep calm. You will win over a staff of people who will count on your calm direction, when the sky is falling.

Bottoms up! Making sure your newscast is ready, no matter what.

It’s is one of the hardest things to pull off as a producer: Making it to air, clean and polished, despite managers constantly changing your rundown and getting slammed with breaking news.

One time I had a news director reworking my rundown so much, I ended up having just two hours to turn an hour long newscast. I made it with help from associate producers and my anchors, but vowed never to be in that horrible position again. Many of us know producers who write during the newscast, printing scripts a block before they air. This is preventable. Here’s how.

You produce bottom’s up. No you don’t take a flask to work for your top drawer (as tempting as that can be). You literally produce from the bottom of your rundown to the top. It works for all newscasts. Here’s how to do it, using an hour long newscast as an example. Usually the final two blocks of your rundown are segmented and similar day to day. Format, assign the anchor reads & graphics and write these blocks first. Have these stories edited first as well. Next, work on the c-block and :45 block. Put these to bed. Then, do the :30 block and the b-block, except the block leads. Again, finesse what you write, and have the stories edited quickly. Now, in the last two hours, you can concentrate on the a-block as well as the b-block and :30 leads. This way when all hell breaks loose you can slam out any breakers that pop. You will have segments finished that look polished and are complete. So if a breaker doesn’t make it in time you have lots of finished content.

Now let’s talk about backups. Have plenty on hand, stashed throughout your rundown. These backup stories should vary in length to fit different timing needs. This will help make sure you can hit meters nearly to the second. You assign these backup stories to your associate producer (AP) early in the day, and whenever interesting stories develop. Some producers even make AP’s rework package scripts into vo/sot backups in case the reporter moves to breaking news and the newscast gets heavy on time. Again, you want these assigned as early in your shift as possible. That way you can spend the back half of your shift rolling with management decisions and breaking news.

Wait to assign which stories you tease in which spots in the rundown, until one hour before printing. You do this because if the bosses make you blow up your rundown, changing the teases can eat a lot of your precious time. Write those teases in separate scripts at the bottom of the rundown, so editors can put them together. Then move the individual tease scripts up into the rundown and assign anchor reads an hour before printing.

A final trick, put dummy scripts in your rundown that have basic formatting (i.e.- “take vo” cues etc.). If your shop allows it, you can even have these built into the rundown format so you don’t have to create them every day. Also, throw in anchor reads for the block leads the night before.

Here’s a summary:

How to produce it quick!

Bottom’s up!
AP writes backup scripts of differing lengths.
Write entire blocks early.
Assign teases to their spots 1 hour before printing.
Format dummy scripts.
Assign some anchor reads the night before.