reporting – Page 20 – Survive Your Job In Television News

The live shot died and there’s nowhere to go!

I recently saw a producer tweeting about his frustration over this predicament. A reporter on a live shot didn’t call in scripts, then, the live shot died. That means no backup. The anchors do not have a little information to draw from and then move on. So they are stuck saying: “Sorry about the technical difficulty. We’ll get back to so and so when we can.” Losing a live shot and having to do a mea culpa is a big deal. Viewers do not like waiting for something they were promised and then not getting it. Think about it, neither do you. It is so easy to hit the remote and never look back.

For this reason many stations have policies that require reporters to turn in complete scripts to the producer before the newscast airs. This means actual written copy for their live standups. With Smart Phones, laptops and remote access this should be easy. But some shops still do not have the technology synched up.

In every station where I worked several reporters fought this tooth and nail. If you want to get on a producer’s bad side, this is the way to do it. In a breaking news situation everyone understands reporters are just trying to make air. Producers gladly take the risk and go to you without a script. But when you are just doing day-to-day news, providing your script should be doable in some form. I used four techniques as a producer to eliminate the problem of not getting them.

Getting reporter backup scripts

Email script for copy paste or transcription
Backup vo/sot required
AP writes backup from earlier show
Staggered script deadlines

In some stations where I worked the reporters were turning two packages on two different subjects every day. If they could not just write in the rundown, I would give them the option to email me the approved script so I, or my AP, could move it over. I understood every second counted for these reporters. They can’t help if the technology was such that there was no way to write directly into the rundown.

In cases where the reporter had one package a day, I required a backup vo/sot be written and sent to my AP. That way if the package didn’t make it, or we had to push it aside for a breaker, we had something to go to. For my feisty reporters that didn’t appreciate being asked to do that, I had the nightside producer or morning show producer call and request a vo/sot. The reporter wanted to get home and would usually write it up quickly. The other producer got a vo/sot they may or may not ever use and I got a backup!

If the reporter is turning several packages, he/she is legitimately too swamped to turn in backups for producers. In that case I had my AP write backups from earlier newscasts, just in case.

Finally, if reporters were willing to send in backups, I was willing to be more flexible on feed deadlines. I would stagger when pkgs were due, then let the reporter voice before turning in a final approved script and/or vosot backups. I wanted to give reporters more breathing room and a chance to focus on their packages.

Reporters, if you really want to befriend a producer, provide your live scripts every day. If the technology makes this nearly impossible, then at least call into the producer or AP with a sound bite so they can try to write a backup. You will make a loyal ally. Scripts and potential backups are in the best interest of the show and everyone’s credibility.

Reporting Alliance : Your Key to the desk.

Reporters often feel left on their own. There is some truth to that feeling since you are out and about, and your bosses are not there to really watch you work. Assumptions are made about what you do and don’t do by managers and producers. Often you are not given the benefit of the doubt.

That’s why it is crucial to form good relationships with a group “on the inside.” In your case that group should be assignment desk editors. The assignment desk is the 411 of newsrooms. Editors on the desk can be intense and bark orders. But remember, they are under the kind of pressure you face the last two hours of your shift, all day long. There is little to no down time. I had friends on the assignment desk constantly get bladder infections because they could not break away from the desk long enough to go to the bathroom regularly. I am telling you this, because having the knowledge of what the assignment desk goes through helps you know how to build a smart alliance.

Reporters (like producers in our Producing Alliance article) will get priority day-to-day based on how they treat the assignment editor. Sure, if you are on a breaker, you will get more attention and help. But when it’s just day-to-day, run of the mill news you can bet the reporters that are respectful to the assignment desk get more support.

So what can you do to build a smart alliance with assignment editors? First, don’t call the desk for simple phone numbers. With technology today, there are plenty of ways to get numbers without calling the desk. Remember, the assignment desk is looking for fresh news all day long in addition to planning segments and stories for managers, making beat calls and answering the phone all day long. As someone who sat next to the assignment desk for more than a decade I can attest, just answering the phone can be a full time job. It doesn’t let up until about 9 at night. Respect the fact the assignment editor is busy and is not your personal receptionist. I never got over how many crews in the field really thought assignment editors just existed to be glorified receptionists for the newsroom. Not the case.

When you do have the luck to be done with your package early in your shift, occasionally sit on the assignment desk and help out for a little while. This is a huge sign of respect. Sit up there, and answer the phone. It can also be a great place to drum up story ideas and source build a bit. The assignment editor knows who talks on what shift and who is good to call on the down low when you need to fact check. This is smart to do, especially when you first move to an area. Sitting on the desk to help out a little here and there will help you build sources quickly. (See How to generate story ideas when you are swamped for more help on that) Assignment editors also help do futures planning, so sitting up there gives you a chance to express interest in an upcoming story or special that the assignment editor is researching. They will often let managers know, if you expressed interest, to try and help you get the assignment.

Check in regularly with the desk. A lot of crews resent this and consider it a sinister plot to spy on you and track how hard you work. You don’t have to give a full report if you happen to be done with your package early and are working sources for future stories. Just call with a location and how long you think you will be there. Assignment editors love when crews do this. It takes 10 seconds and speaks volumes for your respect for the role of the assignment desk. No the assignment editors are not plotting what to send you on next to work you into the ground. They are constantly being hounded by management and producers over where crews are and how viable the stories assigned to them really are. Just calling and saying: “Hey we are in such and such city and will be here approximately 1 hour” helps the assignment editor show management that he/she is in touch with the crews. It also makes you look very responsible and a team player. Yes, you might occasionally get sent to something else because of this. I did notice that most of the time the assignment editors fought for the crews that called in. They could tell management this reporter has an hour left on their package so let’s pull someone else. Knowledge is power and the assignment desk goes out of its way to protect content. That is a key element of the position.

Finally, if you are done with your story and are sent to breaking news, don’t gripe to the desk if you and the assignment editor know the story is probably bullshit. The assignment editor more than likely has management breathing down his/her neck and often will report if you are being difficult. If you say okay and suck it up and go, the assignment editor appreciates one less fight in the day and will likely try to prevent sending you on the next wild goose chase. The point, in case you missed it: If you gripe, you will get the crap job more. The assignment desk controls a lot of your destiny including which photographer is assigned to you most days. If you want less hassle, give the assignment desk less hassle. You both will appreciate each other more.

Meet my conscience: The importance of setting up gut checks.

Recently in Chicago, there was a drive by shooting. A freelance photographer got an interview with a 4 year old who mentioned when he grew up he was going to have a gun. The sound bite aired. Trouble is, after that bite the child added that he wanted to become a police officer. The police officer part did not air during a morning show at a local station. The breakdowns in ethics in this case are numerous. Did the photog get the parent’s permission? Did the person who wrote the vo/sot watch all of the interview before writing? Why were the boy’s words taken out of context? Why air sound from a 4 year old at all, especially in a vosot? This wasn’t a perspective piece. It was a quick pacer story. This is not an isolated case of something that is clearly dicey, ethically, ending up on the air. Recently a station in Bristol, RI admitted it aired video from a golf tournament without explaining the video was a staged reenactment.

Ethical issues like this do happen and some would argue they are getting more common as stations grind more news out. A recent RTNDA/Hofstra University study shows nearly 35 percent of stations added newscasts in 2010. With more news churning out and smaller staffs to accomplish it, more ethical mistakes will happen unless there are systems of checks and balances as well as continued training on how to effectively write under intense deadline pressure. Sometimes even the news managers are so tied up just trying to churn out the news, they cannot truly serve in a supervisory role. University newsrooms cannot replicate this type of environment. It is simply too dangerous to do while also teaching the basics of being a broadcast journalist. But once you get your first job you are often thrown in, and there may not be set checks and balances to review your work. For example, in several shops where I worked there was not an EP overseeing shows. In fact there wasn’t a news manager at all during several shifts. There was no one with clear editorial control. You would write, the anchor would rewrite then, maybe, an associate producer would rewrite the copy again. In other shops there was a manager (usually an assistant ND) who was ostensibly overseeing the daily mix. But that manager was so swamped you could go all day without seeing the person. Even if there is not a set system of checks and balances at your station, you need a personal one. That means setting one up yourself, and leaning on fellow staffers.

So let’s talk gut checks. In each shop I set up a relationship with several co-workers where we could give quick calls and exchange thoughts on issues that would come up. This usually was not someone with the same job as I had in the newsroom. I wanted someone with a different perspective and different crunch times. Remember it is easy to armchair quarterback, but when you are standing in the pocket with a nasty linebacker bearing down, you just want to get rid of the ball! As I mentioned, often there was no EP on staff to help oversee and check my work. Other producers would think more like me or possibly have bad habits like watching raw video only until they heard a “good” sound bite, then starting to write without watching the rest of the video. As a producer I leaned on my anchors for help. If a story just didn’t feel right, or children were mentioned, I asked for a gut check read from an anchor that I trusted. If the anchor was an attacking type personality, then I went to veteran reporters in the shop instead. I even had my associate producers and editors watch raw tape and tell me what stood out as possible ethical issues on sensitive stories. Notice some of the people had more experience, some less. All of us had enough ethics training that someone’s gut check would go off.

Reporters, your photogs are a great resource you probably have already considered. Here’s another great resource, anchors. They tend to have a little more free time to brainstorm with you. If you are lucky enough to have an EP on staff, lean on him/her. That person is paid to help you gut check. Don’t let him/her off easy. Call in. If you do not trust your EP, or there isn’t one on your shift, lean on the anchors more. Depending on the time of day, your producer is also an asset.

It is also critical that you set up a person with final say on rewrites. If there’s no EP, then a producer or veteran anchor should have final say. This should be clear to everyone who copy edits for the newscast on your shift. That includes reporters. That way if a fact error or ethical dilemma comes up there is a clear cut person who either makes the call or is in charge of contacting management so the bosses can make the call.

What if you do have an EP or assistant ND on staff monitoring things during your shift? Set up a gut check system with other staffers anyway. No one is perfect and managers are often pulled away or distracted by other duties. It is good to have other staffers to lean on in case you feel like the manager is too distracted to help. In the end, if you wrote the story you will be held accountable. If you end up making an ethical mistake, and we all do at one time or another, you need to protect yourself by being able to say you took steps to check your work. This should not get the other staffer you consulted with in trouble. At least that never happened with me. If I wrote the story, I was held accountable. Showing you made efforts can make the difference between a stern scolding or suspension or being fired. These gut checks will also help you grow as a journalist by seeing other perspectives and staying on your toes. So ask someone to be your other conscience and return the favor. As you can see from the examples at the beginning of this article, our industry needs more gut checks.

Road trip! You can cover us, right?

No way around it. This is an uncomfortable trend in many newsrooms right now. In fact, some companies are making it written policy. The good part: You get a sweet out of town assignment! The bad part: You have to pay the travel costs upfront, fill out an expense report when you get back, then wait for reimbursement that can take up to 6 weeks. And, by the way, your credit card bill will come due before that 6 weeks is up and you get your money back. It’s a problem a lot of news employees are wrestling with these days. I recently read a forum entry on b-roll.net from a photojournalist asking how to approach this subject during salary negotiations. Here are some ideas to deal with this road trip trend.

So what if you are asked to go out of town and just cannot front the money? You need to tell management flat out. Yes, it could mean losing out on a primo assignment. Better that than not paying your bills though. In many cases, if management really wants you on the story, there is a work around. Sometimes the boss pays the hotel, or perhaps the business manager ponies up some petty cash. It really depends on the station and the individual managers. Does saying you cannot pay upfront make you look bad to the bosses? That depends on the manager. But even if they seem upset, they usually understand. Most often it’s more a case of managers being frustrated because they know asking you to pay upfront is unreasonable and the boss is stuck with a policy that stinks.

If you decide to front the money, get a description of any limits for certain expenses ahead of time in writing. (i.e. – How much per meal? How much for parking etc.?) Be firm on this. Trouble is, some of these policies are so rigid, the limits can be highly unreasonable. For example, some companies have a maximum amount to be reimbursed for hotel stays. Depending on where you are going and what you are covering, hotel costs can vary greatly. This can put a crew in a really rough spot especially if the limits were not checked ahead of time. The last thing you want is to pay $150 for a room only to find out the company policy is a maximum of $100. That’s your credit card and, therefore, your financial worth on the line. If no one can provide you with written limits, think hard before agreeing to the assignment.

If you are headed out of town on a last minute assignment you need to ask about clothing and equipment reimbursement limits. You never know what’s going to happen, and you want to be prepared. Also, in an open ended return kind of scenario, set a limit as to how much you are willing to pay out of pocket before you go. Make sure management and the business office are clear you will not front a single dollar more and there needs to be a backup plan everyone is aware of in case you have to stay longer than your money will pay for.

Also ask how far out of your market qualifies a trip as “out of town.” You don’t want a scenario where you decide to push it driving home, then stop for dinner somewhere too close to your ADI to count for reimbursement. Yes, you were miles and miles away on assignment, but the button pushers will only look at the location of the purchase if there are ADI restrictions. You will either get stuck covering the meal or have to go several rounds with the boss to make your receipt an exception. If that happens it could be held against you later. Remember, a case like this makes the boss look disorganized. Even if the boss is sloppy, you don’t want to be the one who makes it obvious to the world. Asking for those policies ahead of time will avoid the mess.

What if your contract requires you to front the money ahead of time? The only practical advice we can offer is to keep a credit card that can “cover you” until you are reimbursed. A contract is a contract and if you signed it, you’re going to have to live up to its terms.

This is a complicated and emerging issue in TV newsrooms. There may be more ways to deal with it than we’ve listed here. So, please, if you have other ideas let us know. You can leave comments below. Many of us are facing this type of situation for the first time in our careers and need to bounce ideas around about covering that sweet road trip upfront.