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On the Spot! When anchors put reporters in uncomfortable positions on live TV.

I recently got a message posing this question: “Why do anchors so often make strange comments at the end of live shots that are nearly impossible for a reporter to gracefully respond to.” Examples you ask? Okay, see if these sound familiar. A live shot ends about something very sad, like a murder and the anchor says: “Great job, Joe Schmo, reporting live downtown.” What’s great? Someone died! Another common scenario: The reporter tags out with a fact like a vote scheduled in council tomorrow and the anchor parrots the very same fact like this: “You know Joe Schmo, the vote is tomorrow.” Joe the reporter is stuck thinking: “Yeah, idiot, I just said that.” and stares at the screen with a look of confusion. The final example, Joe the reporter explains an element of the story in the live intro or within the package, wraps up, then on the two shot out the anchor asks about that same element, like it was never addressed. The reporter is thinking: “Didn’t you listen to what I just said?” Usually that quizzical look is on his face, on live TV.

So let’s look at why this happens, then try and keep it from happening again. The “why” is usually tied to one of two things:

The need for the last word, to tie things up and transition.
Questions required in tags, by management, for interaction.

Let’s make it clear, in my experience, the need for the last word is not always an ego thing. The anchor may not be trying to act all knowing. Anchors often feel compelled to compliment reporters or reinforce team. They sometimes just don’t have very good timing. Hence the “Great job Joe Schmo” comments after a story about a murder. Instead of focusing on the story, the anchor is complimenting the reporter and it just comes off as weird. The intentions are good, but it doesn’t make the reporter feel complimented at all and leaves the viewers wondering what just happened.

Often anchors are ordered to make say something out of live shots, while in a double box. This can be mandated by management or producers who are taught to start and end live shots on double boxes, period. Sometimes this leads to the anchor getting stuck with nothing relevant to say while trying to transition. The end result is a weird comment parroting back facts the reporter just said and hoping it sounds different enough that it passes for a real reaction.

While we are on the subject of double box live tag outs, producers take note, scripting “Thanks Joe Schmo” is not always the best route. It sets up the inane comment scenario. Suggestion: Tell the anchor to call the reporter and ask for a factoid they can bring up in the double box.

Notice, I did not say ask for a question. That call should vary depending on the story and what the reporter knows about the subject. Often the most uncomfortable moments between an anchor and reporter are during a q and a in a live tag. Over time, I saw these q and a’s go awry most often when management required a question coming out of every live shot. I could (and probably will) go on and on about why scripting tag questions every time is bad in a future article. For now a summary: Sometimes it makes sense to ask a question, sometimes it is better to share a factoid the anchor can state quickly for emphasis. Both the reporter and anchor should not be blindsided. These double box interactions work best if the reporter and anchor can work them out together. Also, don’t be afraid to end a live shot, then do a two shot transition to a new subject. You can create team interactions other ways. Something like this:

((Joe Bob – 2 shot))

Thanks Joe Schmo, Suzie, there’s a similar situation in Atlanta tonight.

((Suzie Q -2 shot))

There is Joe… and it’s causing problems for a lot of people.

((Suzie turns to 1 shot))

See Anchor’s don’t have chemistry for more on how to work these two shot transitions.

Now, let’s look at more solutions to prevent these “on the spot” moments. Anchors, it is human nature to want to tie up a conversation with a thank you or a compliment. Just be cognizant of what the subject is about. Think about talking with a friend about a tragedy in his/her life, the end of the conversation might be silence. It might also be a shake of the head. That is appropriate at the end of a live shot as long as you are really feeling the emotion. If you are just plain uncomfortable, ask the producer not to script a two shot for that particular tag and explain that you are uncomfortable. Just remember, if the subject is heavy, that is not the time to tell the reporter “Great job.” Send a text after the show instead. Reporters, if the anchor does say great job, nodding your head and saying nothing else is fine. Reporters also do not have to have the last word. Let the emotion ride a second in the silence. It may seem counterintuitive in a business where you are paid to talk, but it is more natural to the way we communicate in the real world.

If the anchor asks about something the reporter just said, it is best for the reporter to briefly summarize with an added tidbit. You might say, “Yes Suzie, that council vote I referenced earlier will be at 7, and they’re expecting a big crowd, so you might want to come early if you want a seat.” This lessens the “Huh, he already said that!” blow. If you cannot add anything when you summarize, just say “That’s right.” and wrap.

Finally, if the anchor says something really out there and you don’t know what to do, just sig out. Viewers are used to seeing reporters not react to things anchors say and will likely assume you couldn’t hear the anchor or there was a technical difficulty. That assumption, and slightly tense moment is better than fumbling through a response that just doesn’t make sense and/or being visibly uncomfortable. Then make sure the producer knows what happened, so everyone can trouble shoot in the future. Bottom line, there needs to be communication between anchors, producers and reporters to avoid putting a reporter “on the spot” the next night.

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.

Make or Break. Why you must cultivate sources and exclusives.

I just finished watching the amazing documentary “Page One: Inside the New York Times,” which tells the story of how America’s great newspaper is trying to survive in an era when many of us first learn about news events from Twitter and Yahoo! News. The filmmaker tries to make his case that the Times is still needed because its reporters actually hit the streets and work the phones to gather news, as opposed to just copying and pasting and putting up links to others’ work, as critics of Gawker and the Huffington Post accuse those media outlets of doing.

In the end, it’s the story of how Times media reporter David Carr breaks a major story about the debauchery that was going on inside the executive suites at the Tribune Company. It is a triumph for the “Old Gray Lady” and all of us who consider ourselves journalists in the traditional sense of the word.

How many stories have you personally broken at your station in 2011?

If the answer is zero, I predict you’ll someday be like the people in “Page One” who make a secret editors’ list of who can be laid-off when the budget’s cut because, in this Darwinian media environment we now find ourselves working in, the editors can still produce a great paper without them.

And yes, anchors, I’m talking to you, too. I know you don’t just sit at a desk and read a teleprompter. I get frustrated with that perception, too, because I know all of the hard work that goes into helping produce a great newscast, doing the homework required to really know the stories you’ll be talking about on-air, and summoning the creative energy at ungodly hours to put in a really good television performance. I get it. But dozens of other anchors can perform as well or almost as well as you, too. So what is that extra ingredient you’re going to offer your station?

In their well-researched new book That Used to Be Us, Tom Friedman and Michael Mandelbaum argue that even creative professionals like journalists will have to offer their employers something extra if they want to stay employed. You can’t just come to work, put on your makeup, and read the 11 o’clock news anymore. Even anchors with great ratings are being laid-off long before they’re ready to retire because their bosses believe they make too much money at a time when media companies are trying to figure out how to keep making profits.

I’m not suggesting anchors and reporters who’ve been laid-off in the Great Recession and afterward deserved it. I’m sure most of them worked hard and were valuable members of their newsrooms. But I am suggesting that your chances of being on the secret list of expendable employees in your newsroom rise greatly if you’re viewed as a run-of-the-mill journalist who doesn’t break stories.

Think about it. Why are so many TV newsrooms reviving their investigative units? Because investigative reporters dig-up original stories that keep viewers’ attention, are easily promotable by the marketing department, and differentiate your station from the three or four others in the market who also do news.

You want to be on that team.

You don’t literally have to be on that team. But as an anchor or reporter, you’d better have contacts in the community that are helping your newsroom advance the big stories of the week. For anchors, this doesn’t mean you have to turn a package on something new you learn. An e-mail to the newsroom with what you’ve found out and a phone call to the reporter on the story will show everyone that you’re truly a newsroom leader.

But do tweet about what you’ve learned and let your audience know that your reporter will have more on it in the next newscast. (You may want to hold this tweet until right before airtime so the competition doesn’t “share” your scoop. I will sometimes do this by scheduling a tweet to run at a specific time using TweetDeck.)

You might also consider writing a short story on your station’s website about the new angle to the story you’ve discovered. Viewers want anchors who are part of the fabric of their community. With your byline on the story, you’ll reinforce your value to the audience as someone who is plugged-in to the newsmakers and community leaders in your market.

If you’re the reporter on the story and you’ve learned this information yourself, don’t be afraid to let the audience know that you’ve been working the phones and the information they’re hearing is exclusive information. Also, well before the newscast, work with your producer to come up with ways to showcase this information, which may include a banner that touts the fact that it’s exclusive.

The anchor, reporter, and/or producer should also send an e-mail to the news director and marketing department after the newscast letting them know about the scoop. They may want to produce a “proof of performance” promo based on it. And, remember, these days you’ve got to market yourself within your news organization, too. You need the executives to know that you were the person responsible for that exclusive.

So how do you cultivate sources so you can be your station’s most valuable player? I’ll take a look at that next week.

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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.