newscast – Page 5 – Survive Your Job In Television News

Moving To A Big Market.

It’s one of the most commonly asked questions among young producers in TV news – ‘how do I know if I’m ready to work in a big market?’ If your co-workers like your stuff and you have been consistently promoted, the answer is pretty simple. You probably are.

Let’s say you’re a grinder. You started in a small market, doing ten different things in the newsroom, learning, absorbing, doing. Then you made a jump to a slightly bigger market. More responsibility, a few extra bucks. Maybe you even jumped again, to a solid station, in say, Albany, Oklahoma City, or Winston-Salem. Now you’re making a decent living and you’re doing a good job. Every ambitious journalist (especially if you went to a hyper-competitive J-school) has that nagging feeling. Could I cut it in a top ten market?

Confession: it happened to me. I spent the first five years of my career steadily moving up, first producing in Binghamton and then Syracuse. I had opportunities to go elsewhere after Syracuse, including the midwest and the east coast, but my future wife and my family encouraged me to come back to my hometown of Albany. At some point, I heard from the gang who had interned for me when I was doing the 11pm at WTVH in Syracuse. They had become both good friends and fantastic producers, and they had moved on to markets like San Francisco, New York City, and Boston. I won’t lie, it nagged at me. “They are doing better than I am. Hell, I helped them get started. If I don’t try, how will I ever know?” It was time to take the plunge. My wife, a a reporter herself, wanted to move back to her (Top 10 market) hometown, so we had a target city in mind. And not long after, I was offered a job in said city producing weekend nights.

I was nervous at the time, but quickly came to realize the experiences I had accumulated to that point had more than prepared me for what lie ahead. And that’s where my advice to you begins.

Step Back

You may be a big shot where you are now (I was the senior producer in Albany when I left) but you need to be prepared to take a BIG step back. As someone who hates mornings, I was lucky getting my start on weekend nights. You might not be so lucky. Expect to work weekends, mornings, even weekend mornings. In all cases, the hours will be long, you’ll be expected to pull writer shifts during the week, and it will take a while to build up credibility with your far more experienced co-workers.

Keep An Open Mind

Your writing will get picked apart a lot. Major market Executive Producers have been exposed to research and training. They know what works and they will definitely push you to be more active and aggressive with your words. Don’t take the criticism personally. Find ways to incorporate the techniques into your style. Do not be afraid to talk to your anchors about what they want to see! It will take some time, but trust me, you will find your ‘big market’ voice.

It’s Not That Different

I used to say the only difference between a big market and a medium/small market is a helicopter and more bosses. This is still true. Sure, you will find more executive producers or managing editors and even more reporters and photographers. And yes, most stations have helicopters (although more and more are sharing), but many of the changes made at the lower end of the DMA index are working their way to the top. Truck operators who shoot, producers who edit VOs and teases, automated control rooms and more are now becoming the norm at top ten stations. Your experience doing more things will serve you well. Don’t be afraid of the work. The pace and pressure may increase, but the basics will stay the same. Remember, it’s the same dynamic, just on a larger scale.

Breaking News Is Big

In top 10 markets, breakers can turn into epic events. That means blowing out programming, coordinating team coverage and putting in long hours on the air. It’s the same for weather. Three to six inches of snow may be something we laugh about in Syracuse, but it can be crippling in a big city where the commutes are brutal under the best of circumstances. I can’t tell you how many times I have been called in to work overnights for storm coverage, or even slept on the floor of my office because of a blizzard. I once spent fifteen hours straight in the control room for the funeral of a legendary politician. You will be expected to make the commitment. And remember, we have people meters in big markets, so pretty much every day is ratings. You will need to bring a sense of urgency to the table during every shift.

Mental Toughness

This is probably the most important thing. We have already talked about added pressure from your bosses. Your co-workers will be looking for you to lead. Anchors, reporters, and photographers will be carefully eyeing you to see how confident (and how fast) you can make a decision. Remember, they have been doing it a lot longer than you, and in most cases, and will be quick to second guess you. Be confident you are making the right call. Remember, if you’re not sure, no manager will fault you for seeking a second opinion.

No Jackpot

You may already know this, but you’re not going to get rich producing the news, even in a top ten. Salaries are not what they were 10 years ago. Producers are starting around $50,000, if you’re lucky, in many top 10 markets. If you’re single and you want to live in the city, expect to need a roommate.

That’s really the worst thing I have to say about it. If you crave the excitement and pressure that comes with major market local newscasts, you will not be disappointed in taking the plunge. Just stay true to what you have already learned. Try to soak up as much knowledge as you can from your co-workers, be confident, and you’ll find success at this level – and have fun, too.

————————————————————————————————————————————-

This article is written by an Executive Producer at a number 1 station in a top 10 market. While he wants to remain anonymous, you can email [email protected] any questions and we will make sure you get an answer.

Making it stick: how to coach newbie journalists.

A big part of my job is coaching, both seasoned and new, journalists. Lately I have been getting DM’s and email from managers asking, “How do you get through? I have no luck, especially getting them to understand the importance of a fact error.”

Here are some techniques I used while working in newsrooms. First, techniques for producers and writers. I would print out scripts that I knew had errors. Then I would sit down with the writer and tell them to do a couple of things. First, take these scripts and circle the 5 w’s. Then I would ask them to highlight the facts in the script, and the matching facts from the source they used. This can be a real eye opener, because it forces whoever wrote the script not only to see the error, but to see that answering the 5 w’s, will help avoid errors. Often if there is a fact error, 1 or more of the 5 w’s either is not in the script at all OR the w’s do not lead to any kind of logical conclusion. So, the light bulb goes off. There’s a problem. Then when the writer looks at the facts from the source, the error often shows up plain as day.

I did this for several reasons. It forces the writer to take ownership of the mistake. It also helps the writer think through how the error happened. After going over several scripts, you can see a pattern where the writer consistently goes wrong. In some cases, the person is unclear about a legal term. In others, the person is not clear about the background of an ongoing story. Both of those things are easy to train and correct, as long as the person recognizes the problem with making the error.

What gets interesting is when the person sees the errors, and is not concerned about it. I would get, “Well the anchor should have caught that.” Or “you copy edited the script, right? Isn’t that your job, to know the facts.” Those producers, writers, reporters etc. then step into phase two of training. The reality check!

Here’s the biggest differentiator between a newbie journalists and a veteran. Veterans understand that these stories we put on the TV screen actually impact lives. We know this for many reasons, not the least being that somewhere along the way, we made a mistake that hurt someone. In my case, my news director made me a call a family and apologize when I aired the name of a minor who was charged with a crime. My old station used the names of juvies. The new station did not. I did not check the policy at the new station. I will never forget how horrified I was when I had to call that family and explain to the parents, that I did not ask my manager if it was OK to air a minor’s name. That reality check changed the way I wrote news. Period. Veteran journalists have stories like this, about omissions or assumptions that really hurt. The wounds are still there, years later. We never look at the box our work plays in the same way again. It doesn’t beam into space for us.

If you can set up a scenario so the writer that made the error has to face up to the mistake, beyond saying sorry to the ND, do it. That reality check may change that newbie’s outlook on news forever.

Now on to reporters. The technique can be similar. I used to have them circle the w’s and highlight the facts. Since I did not always have access to their sources, I would sometimes ask for a name, then have the reporter call and re-verify the facts on the phone in front of me. If the reporter made an assumption, you could see the sweat on the brow. It is a great technique to quickly assess how sure a reporter is about a fact. The ones that double checked, always did it, with no complaints and no concerns.

The other technique I used is printing scripts about a story from each day part. I would include the script with the error. Then I would hand all of the scripts over and ask the writer to show me which script was wrong and explain why. It gets really interesting if you throw in a few wrong scripts from another day part and a writer’s correct script as well. Then you see how comfortable the writer is with their fact checking. If the writer figures all of his/her scripts have errors, you know that person is not comfortable fact checking. That is trainable.

If the writer thinks their scripts are never wrong, you may find the person is more interested in how something sounds, than accuracy. Go to the “reality check” step if at all possible.

The writer who catches the errors, both from themselves and others probably is just a little overwhelmed by volume. Start watching that person’s time management skills. This training technique works for reporters, producers and AP’s.

Hope this helps you make it stick, when it comes to training the importance of accuracy. If you have more training techniques I would love to hear them. Email me or post them on our FB page.

A Shift In Accuracy: Who needs to have your back.

Recently I was struck by conversations I was having with a series of news directors who are looking for morning EPs. Each mentioned, the line “the morning show sets the tone for the day.” No, this isn’t a new concept. Morning producers all over the country are yelling “DUH” to their computer screens right now. But there is a key part to this, that simply doesn’t happen in most newsrooms. Each news shift needs to have a system of checks and balances with all the other shifts. When they do, you return the favor by watching theirs. In Meet My Conscience we talked about having a specific set of eyes to help watch your back. Well, simply put, this needs to happen in all newsrooms at shift change. It also needs to be more than the assignment desks’ role. Producers know to sit down with the producer who just wrapped up a newscast and ask if there is anything to worry about. But the conversation needs to go further.

What if every shift, had a check-in with the morning staff? The reason: Often the late night newscasts do very targeted coverage to appeal to very specific audiences. This is much more extreme than other day parts, especially certain nights of the week with huge lead-ins. In essence, the key audience changes dramatically. So morning producers come in, and see that most of the stories do not transcend well. BUT there could be (and often is) a wealth of wonderful potential follow-ups from the early evening news. Problem is, the morning producer doesn’t know that a court hearing is scheduled tomorrow, or that the video in the package is all you have, because the rest is blue. What if dayside crews updated overnight counterparts, in addition to nightside?

Chances are you would prevent a lot more inaccuracies if this dialogue is developed. Think of the children’s game telephone. Morning tells dayside about a story, who then tells nightside, who then updates morning (if nightside covered it at all). Odds are, by the next morning, you’re missing a lot of potential angles that legitimately advance an interesting story. If dayside, let nightside and morning know, then the options that nightside passed on do not get buried in an early grave as easily.

So how do you develop it? Email. After all, daysiders are already working when most nightsiders are asleep. Or if a nightsider is up for the earlies, call and get the scoop before the producer leaves. Employees themselves can take control and set up a system of communication between the assignment desk and producers. Then you will have a good chance of getting all the facts straight. It’s a shift in accuracy, that could have a lot of people’s backs.

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.