Writing – Page 12 – Survive Your Job In Television News

Beating Reporter Deadlines With Your Own EOC

One of the toughest learning curves for young reporters can be hitting your deadlines. You know how it goes—you knock out a noon live shot and as soon as you’re done, the EP or Assignment Desk is calling, to say you’re now on a completely different story for 5pm… and you’re live in another town… and don’t miss slot!

So how can you do good work and at the same time keep management off your back so you’re not “the problem child” on the reporting staff?

Well, it starts, and ends, with 3 keys—think of this as your own personal EOC (Emergency Operations Center … for reporters).

Efficiency

The old saying goes: “Get off your ass, get out of the building!” And it’s true. You can save a lot of time by simply being efficient with your time. Let’s say you’re assigned a story in the morning meeting. Depending on how your newsroom works, maybe you don’t have to sit through the remaining 45 minutes of that meeting. Get your story and ask if you can take off. Grab your photog and go. You’ll be thankful for those 45 minutes as you hit crunch time before the newscast.

You can make lots of calls, but remember: it’s easier for someone to blow you off by phone than in person. So if may be more efficient to just show up at that police PIO’s office and ask for a quick interview or a copy of that arrest report than making 6 calls throughout the day.

Plan out your stops to save time— so you’ll go talk with the mayor first because he’s available now. You’ll call the city council member on your way to the mayor’s office (saves time vs. you staying in the newsroom and making calls from your desk) to see if you can interview her right after the mayor. Then you can head to the next stop for B-roll and other material. Then you’ll end up at your live location.

Quickly research story background and contacts, and remember you can do that in the car from your phone if your photog is driving.

Make notes as you record your interview so you don’t waste time when logging and getting ready to write.

If you have a photog (won’t work if you’re an solo MMJ), you log and write while he or she sets up the live shot. Better yet, you write your basic script while the photog is driving to the next location.

If you know you need help from the Assignment Desk, be efficient there too Let them know early if you need something researched or a call made. Assignment editors are insanely busy people and the last thing they need is a last-minute call from you asking for 3 calls to be made on your story.

Efficiency also can mean not biting off more than you can chew. If you’re assigned to breaking news just before airtime, don’t stress too much over whether it’s a pkg. Viewers don’t care about the format, and a good management team won’t either, as long as you do a solid, compelling breaking news live shot. So be confident, get on scene and let your newsroom know what you can provide: “I’ll have a live VO at the top of the show… possibly a live interview if I can track someone down.”

Organization

Keep a list of key contacts from your previous news stories. That way, you’re not re-researching potential interviewees every time you do a story.

Make sure you have the addresses you need and GPS your route so you’re not wasting time getting lost.

Don’t overshoot your stories. No need to shoot an hour of material for a basic pkg on a crash or fire or school board meeting. Make sure you have enough, but the more organized you are with shooting, the less you have to log for your script.

Don’t try to re-invent the wheel every time. Here’s a good example—

I worked with a veteran reporter in Tampa who was a master of working fast and efficiently. Knowing that reporters tend to cover many of the same types of stories over and over (fires, crashes, protests, budget meetings, elections), he basically had templates of these stories in his computer and in his head. If he was assigned a story about an election campaign stop by a candidate, he’d do some quick research on the race/candidate, then sketch out his script even before leaving the station. Why? Because he knew where the story was likely to go when he got there. So all he had to do is get his sounds bites and fill in the blanks. Now, the obvious danger in that plan is: what happens if the story takes a different turn? Well, then he’d just change it as needed. But the point is, he didn’t wait until the 4pm event ended and then scrambled to write the story for 5pm. He pre-wrote a skeleton script and then plugged in the holes.

Clear Communication

Be in touch with your Producer, EP and Desk frequently (at least every few hours or whenever you change locations). Be clear about what elements you have and what else you need. That avoids the dreaded angry EP conversation because she thought you were dong angle X for your story and you have angle Y.

Get script approval as early as possible. When I was a news manager, I can’t tell you the number of times 3 reporters called me at virtually the same time… an hour before the show… for script approval. That gives me very little time to concentrate on your script, make suggestions and have you change it for the better. Write it as early as possible and get it approved. Your managers will love you for it and so will your photog/editor, since they’ll have more time to make it look great.

So keep in mind your EOC to hit your deadlines—be efficient, be organized, and clearly communicate with your newsroom. Since far too many reporters DON’T do these, if you do, you’ll be a hero. Believe me.

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Steve Kraycik is the Director of Student Television and Online Operations at Penn State University. He has more than 27 years of experience in television news, much of that as a manager. He also is an agent with MediaStars. You can reach him at [email protected] and @TV_Agent_Steve.

Social TV: Making The Most Of Planned And Unplanned Interactions

Social TV is storytelling. While just 16 percent of Americans are on Twitter, nearly two-thirds of U.S. adults are on Facebook, according to a recent Pew Study. Social media users are vocal viewers that are likely to influence their friends and family to tune in. We want those viewers to watch and engage in real time and make live TV a different experience than they get reading the news online – which is where interactive TV comes in.

The interaction can be approached two ways — planned, pre-produced segments; and unplanned moments such as breaking news.

The planned:

Social TV sings when it is a produced element of a show. It should be part of the story telling — not tacked on. You can incorporate viewers into a real-time poll, or asking viewers a question to answer, think of how to engage the audience and take your show into the live TV “you snooze you lose” category.

These stories can be mini elements worked into a package with set-up or more involved. One of the more-in-depth interactive stories we’ve done was our story on the bystander effect. We sent our promotions producer outside in various situations — moaning in the cold as a well-dressed person, again in a hoodie and jeans, and then to steal a bike at a transit station (with UTA’s permission). As the package aired, we asked questions to our audience, i.e. “how long will it take someone to help him?” and “how many people will stop the bike theft” and engaged with them in a conversation and showed their comments in real time.

The story was promoted as an interactive over the weekend and generated a ratings lift over our lead-in — and a lot of people buzzing about how they were anxious to see how people reacted. Our Facebook reach numbers jumped during the story as well.

A fantastic example I saw of this was a Today Show #OrangeRoom segment with Tamron Hall. They had talked about electric baby cradles — and Tamron did a live demo with a crying baby (!) to show whether or not they worked. That’s better than any tweet on air — making TV work for its medium.

The unplanned: Social media becomes your friend and your enemy during breaking news. Photos pour in — but no one wants to be the news station that gets punked and puts false information on air. Set a plan in place now that everyone can follow to verify what information is reliable. Once information is verified, and you have permission to use it, take it to air as user generated content. Let it help you tell the story in real time, as it happens. We have done this in breaking news — especially in situations when we want to break in, and we have confirmed information, but our satellite truck or chopper just hasn’t quite reached the scene. It serves as a bridge.

Here are some tips:

1. Learn who you can trust: I’ve made a twitter list of good social citizens — people that tweet us often with real information, or PIOs that I can trust. From there, I can look at the people they follow and interact with. (This works well with national and international events — start every big event with a Twitter list) 2. Use the information that social media gives you. Look at timestamps and to see the genuine intrigue in people’s messages (are they more shocked by what they just witnessed — or do they seem more interested in having their picture be on TV? It should be the former, not the latter). If it comes through Facebook message, get more information. Better yet, if it’s a good picture, get their contact information, and get an interview.

3. If it is a large event, compare photos. In 2012, we had a horrible wildfire season and every time a new wildfire would start, we would get the same picture of a famous Utah landmark with a fiery sunset behind it. With reverse Google Image search, we were able to trace it to a local photographer who had taken it two years previous.

4. Inform your newsroom. Don’t forget that if you discover something is false, to not live in a vacuum. Tell people, so that all of your producers know and the content doesn’t make it on air.

For a great report on verification and breaking news, read this Q&A with Jennifer Preston of the New York Times.

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Natalie Wardel @nataliewardel is the Social Media Director for KSL in Salt Lake City. Tweet her with questions and/or comments.

What Does “Taking Ownership Of Your Newscast” Mean?

TV news is full of expressions that can be confusing or thrown around lightly. The term “taking ownership of your newscast” is not a term to be taken lightly but can be confusing to producers and anchors. So let’s delve in to what this term means to management and your reputation in the industry.

Let’s start with what it means for producers. “Taking ownership,” is essentially making it clear “the buck stops here” with decisions made for the newscast. In truth, the buck usually stops with an EP or other manager. But the expectation is that the producer will fall on the sword and take full responsibility for decisions made. This is confusing, and frankly at times unfair. It is expected though. So when the ND calls the booth during or after the newscast and asks why the heck such and such story did or did not make air, the last answer the boss wants to hear is “the EP told me to do it.” It doesn’t matter if that’s the reality. The ND wants a reason. He/she wants to know there was some thought put into the rundown. So tell them the reason:

“We thought it was significant because of where it happened.”

“We wanted to add more new stories.”

“We were not able to confirm key facts, but I am happy to help do that now, so the next newscast can air the story.”

These are the phrases the ND wants to hear. Now a little secret to make you feel better: The EP will get the same question, and will then get the litany of reasons why the thinking needs to change. You, the producer, may or may not get that list of reasons. But be sure, the EP will also be questioned.

Taking ownership also means doing all you can to prevent messes and come up with quick solutions when a mistake happens. This is more than factual issues. If your anchor always stumbles on the scripts in the back half of the newscast, you are expected to implement possible solutions to stop the issue. Yes, you the producer. No, you are not the one stumbling. It is still partly your responsibility as the show boss. If master control never gets live shots tuned in on time, it is partly your responsibility to come up with plans to change that pattern. Taking ownership means being the leader of the show, the show boss, the one who takes responsibility when things go wrong. Consider this a chance to get a taste of what upper management is like. Yes, you will have to have a thick skin. Yes, sometimes what you are being lectured about you probably cannot really change. However, you should offer solutions and try them. This will earn you high praise and respect.

Now anchors. Taking ownership of your newscast means sitting down with the EP and newscast producers, regularly, and hearing what issues there are with the newscasat. Do you need to get more men watching the newscast? Help brainstorm ideas. Are the EP and producer at their wits end trying to make sure master control tunes in live shots on time? Perhaps mention to the ND, the next time you are talking, that your EP and producer are busting it trying to fix the problem, but could use some backup. Is a certain reporter killing the meters by constantly fudging the total running time for their package or going SUPER long every live shot? Pull them aside, compliment what you like about their work and ask a favor: Could they trim those live intros next time or call in the actual total running time. Taking ownership means showing support and providing public backing for the producer and EP. If you have philosophy differences, take those issues up behind closed doors. And when there is breaking news, sometimes skip dinner break and sit down and help the assignment desk make phone calls or help the producer write copy. You are the leader of morale for the newscast whether you like the role or not. As the face of the show, you are the image leader. So the more involved you become by partnering with the show boss, the more you will be respected as a natural leader. That reputation can really send your career skyrocketing

Taking ownership of your newscast means you are showing the bosses and your peers that you are ready to take on key responsibilities. You are a leader, not a trouble maker. You believe in the product and the people executing it each day. A reputation for being a team player and someone who is not afraid to make a decision will quickly earn you respect in the industry. This is one of the best ways to ensure your future success and increase your job stability. Even if there are layoffs, the people who take ownership are the ones who have managers working behind the scenes to get them placed in even bigger and better jobs instead of just shown the door. Time and again, these simple efforts will reap large rewards for you. The biggest of which is loyalty. Something that is increasingly hard to come by in the world today. So go ahead, take ownership of that newscast. You owe it to yourself and the team around you.

How To Showcase: Think Chapter Book

News managers keep looking for show doctors. They keep asking for producers who showcase in their newscasts. But what does that mean? Recently I asked that on the Survive Twitter line, and got interesting comments like “owning the lead”, “big treatment off the top with little treatments throughout the show”, and “eye catching informative way of telling the story in the first 100 seconds.”

All of these are accurate to a point. But my favorite description was “finding that little something- that makes the story more relatable to the viewer.” When managers ask for showcasing, that is what they really want. And you execute this in the ways listed above: Owning the lead, big treatments off the top with little treatments throughout the show and eye catching elements to tell the story.

When I teach a producer how to showcase, I often describe it as creating mini chapter books. There are several techniques used to showcase, but you need to have the mindset in play first. So let’s begin with this concept when constructing your lead. Chapter books have a table of contents, then each chapter has a title, and information that leads to a conclusion. The biggest thing I see producers forget to do at when showcasing, is spelling out why. That is when we begin to think about how we are making the story relatable to the viewer. So, when talking the government shutdown, or Syria or that standoff that lead to a crash, you have to come right out, with the table of contents, showing what the viewer will learn with your coverage.

Let’s take Syria as an example. You can create an extra element right out of the gate, with a split box showing video of people hugging and crying in Syria, side by side with American’s protesting. This sets up the hook of why you are covering the story. People need help, American’s worry it could cause pain and loss for fellow American’s as well. That is the message the video sends, boldly. The line: These are the images the President must look at while considering whether to take military action in Syria.

Then you set up your table of contents with some brief summary of the days events. This can be a graphic, or a few simple directly referenced video elements. But never forget to catch the viewer up on the basics, so they are ready to go in depth with you.

You say those brief lines, “Tonight inspectors looked for chemical weapons and your neighbors (assuming you had local protests) protested the idea of military action in Syria. Now the President has made an announcement about US involvement many expected, and a requirement most did not.” (Congressional approval)

Next you title each element with a super, over the shoulder, monitor graphic, double box for team coverage, or whatever your station uses to brand. As you go to each element, use some sort of graphic element to “label the title” of each chapter so the viewer understands each element has something new for them.

Once your coverage is done, you need a conclusion. Many consultants call this a “button up”. It can be a summary graphic with bullet points. It can be a what’s next graphic, it can be an image that sums up the day’s events. Many times it is simply a push to the station’s web page for more information. (Just offer a nugget of what kind of extras will be on the web page, just saying for the latest go to our webpage is throwaway. Twitter is an easier way to check for random information on a subject.)

So how does the mini chapter book idea relate to those “little treatments throughout the show”? Well, whether you are dedicating 10 minutes or 45 seconds to a story, if you are showcasing you still need to clearly define “that little something that makes the story more relatable to the viewer.” That means you are not going to just go into the story with the phrase “and now…” Say you take a court case, like Jodi Arias, and want to show how different she looked between the verdict and today’s sentencing phase. You can show a split screen image of her, but you must explain why. That is a table of contents. Then you break each part down, and have a conclusion line at the end of the vo/s or vo/vo/sot or however you cover the story. See the pattern? While condensed the chapter book idea still helps you clearly spell out each element so the showcasing makes sense.

This idea even works on memorable moments, which are a very important way to showcase, in a newscast that deserves a mention. Remember even with these moments, you are showcasing a “little something that makes the story more relatable to the viewer.” So you need to look for chances to have your anchor connect with the viewers. A fancy graphics package and use of sound, and several reporters covering the lead is great, but if the anchor comes off as just reading, and not involved the viewer will not accept your showcasing.

So when you look for things your anchor can expand on, think table of contents. Here’s an example using recent video of a snow skier that was coming down a mountain, crashed and was rescued by an avalanche rescue airbag. Have a still image of the skier in a monitor graphic next to the anchor. The anchor says, “We are about to show you how a skier escaped an avalanche burying him. Take a look, see anything special on him? Because something he is carrying will save his life.” Take video full. (In this case there was no nat sound only cheesy music) Have the anchor talk the viewer through each frame. Then when the skier is up on his feet again, say.. “did you see the special equipment? You may not because it is quite small.” Then show a graphic of some types of avalanche airbags. “Here’s what they look like, easy to carry and easy to find. These are all images from online stores that sell them.” Then 2 shot reaction for button up.. There is a set up, a chapter of information, then a conclusion. A mini book.

A final point, by showing you different times to use this concept for showcasing, the goal is to encourage you to think beyond the lead story to showcase. A true show doctor adds little extras throughout the newscast, so the viewer is constantly reeled back in with information he/she can relate to and talk about with others. Afterall, a compelling book always creates good conversation after you’ve finished it.