Parroting bites

Ever heard that phrase? Parroting bites is a common writing flaw in television news. It seems like such an obvious no-no, but it happens a lot. So let’s define it, to try and stop it from happening.

Parroting bites, means repeating what the sound bite said in the anchor copy, sometimes word for word. It usually happens right before or right after the sound bite. While writing for the ear involves some repetition, it is not a good idea to “parrot.” It actually confuses the person listening. The viewer wonders, why are they saying the same thing over and over, then misses the next part of the story.

Bites do need set up, and that often involves explaining the gist of what the person is going to tell the viewer, but you should not parrot. Focus on why the sound bite is relevant in the set up. Often the bite is relevant for two reasons, the person saying it and/or the bite explains the importance of the information you are providing. So, focus on those reasons when setting it up. “This lawmaker is behind the legislation.” “This witness saw exactly what happened.” “So why is this research important? This doctor explains.” Catch my drift? That makes the viewer want to hear the sound bite, and immediately recognize the importance of the context of the sound. Since you have so little time to explain much of anything, you need each word to really count, including set ups to sound bites. Parroting wastes time.

If the sound bite is hard to understand, you can paraphrase afterwords, but say that’s why you are doing it. “Just to make sure you heard that, he said…” Parroting involves directly repeating the bite, without explaining why. If you explain why, it is not parroting.

One last thought on parroting sound bites. It makes the anchor or reporter reading the script, appear that they do not understand the story and, have no idea about the person the sound is coming from. It screams, “This anchor just reads, and doesn’t know that he/she is talking about!” Think about it. When you talk to someone and they repeat exactly what you said back to you, you question if the person really gets what you are talking about. Same rule applies go parroting bites in news copy. Credibility is crucial. So don’t parrot bites.

Taking Teasing Challenges Head On.

Whenever I publish an article on teases, journalists talk it up on Facebook and Twitter. Teases, as I have said before, are not natural to us newsies. So we have plenty to discuss because teases are a completely different writing style. I asked on FB and Twitter: What are the biggest challenges you face when writing teases? Here’s the list and some fixes.

Tease writing challenges

Making the time to write them
Not giving away too much of the story
Picking what to tease
What order to put teases in

The number one secret of killer tease writers is this: Make time to really work on your teases. These are not the elements you save for last and just throw something in to get them done. Teases make or break your newscast. You are judged on them harshly and often. They have to be a priority. They need a special amount of time set aside. Give yourself a chance to write and read over the teases to challenge yourself: Are these really the best I can do?

That said many of you mentioned writing the teases right after you write the story you are teasing. That can be an effective technique, as long as you go back and look at them again. Why? Often you end up giving away too much of the story. Sometimes you need a little separation from writing the story, to see what your short term memory actually retains. What is it about that story that made you want to tease it in the first place?

Picking what to tease is very challenging, especially when you look at your rundown and think, the stories all sound run of the mill, with no good sound, average video and the same old facts. This is key. There should be a reason every story is in your newscast. It may be that a little tidbit is interesting, the fact the fire happened in a key demo of the market you are tapping into, or because you need video on a day when you have few resources and too many copy stories. Realistically not all of the reasons are super compelling, but they are reasons that have WIFM (“What’s In It For Me”). So draw on the reason why the story is in the newscast and try to build on that for a tease. Viewers do not expect every story to be a gut wrenching, heart stopping, amazing moment. Remember at their core, viewers want tangible relatable information. Information is teasable. Just don’t oversell. (see “Reel ‘Em In Without Exaggerating”).

Finally, order. How many producers have wasted way too much time on this? For the most part, the way to “stack” teases is this deep, deeper, next. You can play around with the deep, deeper part, but not the next (unless you are in the second to last block of course). If viewers see a pattern (and they can and will recognize it) of you teasing next right off, they will not stick around for the whole newscast.

So now you can take those teasing challenges head on! Go knock ’em dead.

I can’t believe that aired again! Why anchors complain on the set.

This makes many producers blood boil. You toil over a newscast for hours, then during the show, the anchors start complaining about and/or making fun of the copy you worked so hard on. Complaining on set during the newscasts about the show, is the number one way to create a huge divide between anchors and producers. It creates the “us vs them” mentality that causes so much friction. But there are two sides to this, and we are going to really delve into both.

That said, many of those anchors are really not trying to just be jerks. I PROMISE YOU. There are reasons behind the decision, (and it often is a decision) to complain about copy on the set during the newscast. The biggest reason, FRUSTRATION. When anchors reach the point of complaining on set, most are usually at their wits end. From their point of view, they have tried to “talk things through” and the producer/management has ignored the issue. Many veteran anchors are just tired and frustrated that they constantly have to “train newbies.” If you step back and really think about it, you can see how this can happen. One anchor I consulted with on this article says, “Even if you are not normally a complainer, when you get an anchor sitting next to you who is a little immature and starts going off, it can be very difficult not to give into the temptation and complain also. It is human nature.” Another anchor mentioned, “I worked so hard to get to this point, I don’t want to come across as clueless or even just plain stupid. Why aren’t we (anchors) protected?”

A key thing to remember, is when the anchors “mess up” and read copy that is factually incorrect or just doesn’t make sense, it isn’t just the anchor that looks stupid. The entire news operation loses credibility. Anchors are very aware that they are the poster children for the entire organization. They understand that if they come across as not credible, their job is on the line, because that lack of credibility undermines the entire station’s standing in the community. When you separate yourself from the insults, and really think about that, you can see why anchors sometimes “go off.” It is a lot of responsibility, and yet they give up control of the newscasts to producers. It is how the system works, except in rare cases. Anchors are depending on you to get the facts right, so they look credible. Yes anchors can, and most will, get into the newscast and fact check and rewrite if they notice a potential issue. But in the morning, and during breaking news that is not always possible. The anchors need the information to be correct, or at least quickly fixed if there is a problem.

Which leads to the second reason, anchors find themselves complaining on the set over a mistake. It is absolutely maddening, when they see an issue, raise the issue to the producer and then it is not corrected and airs incorrectly two and three times. Many anchors say they try to help and bring up an issue with a super, or a misspelled item on the ticker, and then it isn’t changed. The anchor doesn’t have access, and can only watch the mistake happen again and again. Remember, credibility for the entire news organization is on the line, anchors are the final gate keepers.

There also are issues in many shops where veteran anchors are told, to just read whatever is there, and let the producers do all the gate keeping. Anchors are told to stay out of the decision making and that producers rule (see Producer Driven) the roost. Problem is, often the producers are much less experienced than the anchors. No matter how smart you are, experience brings a lot of knowledge. So veteran anchors sit, wishing they could just bang their heads against the wall and watch something they could have prevented play out on the air. Excruciating!

That said, giving in to human nature and complaining on the set, diminishes respect toward you if you are one of those anchors. It sends a message that you think you are superior and fed up with the underlings. And that’s even if what you say is absolutely true. So this is where things get hard for the frustrated anchor. You need to find a different forum to vent. Maybe that’s after the show, on the phone with your co-anchor. Maybe it is at the gym working out your frustrations. Maybe it is in a meeting with the EP or AND. Just make sure you keep the conversation pro-active. Producers and managers, put ointment on the sting, and look to see if the anchor really does have a good point. If the anchor feels they have a forum to address concerns, the on set rants will eventually stop. Chances the quality of the newscast will improve as well.

Hurling insults. How to cope with social media attacks.

When a morning anchor in Wisconsin delivered an editorial as a response to a Facebook comment about her weight, I watched journalists speak overwhelmingly in support of her and her station’s decision. Now, a meteorologist in Louisiana has been fired for her responses to Facebook comments about her hairstyle. Once again journalists started buzzing on Twitter about how hard it is to take viewer insults, especially on social media.

No doubt this is a very difficult part of the job. During the shootings in Aurora, I read a local reporter’s Twitter feed daily for updates. I noticed a viewer scold the reporter for sending out tweets asking for hook ups with families of someone in the theater at the time of the shooting. The viewer said the timing seemed harsh (this was during the first day after the shooting). The reporter replied, that he/she was just doing their job and the viewer did not have to follow the feed. I also saw a viewer call out a morning anchor for too many inside jokes on Twitter with other morning anchors. This anchor replied, too bad, if you don’t like it don’t read and stop trying to ruin the fun. And that there are other options in town, take one.

I understand that viewers can sometimes be out of line. I also understand you may get insults by the dozens at times. But I have to say, reading these responses can really undermine people’s view of you. The burden is on the journalist to take the high road. Keep in mind, by virtue of simply being on TV, you are a local celebrity and are held to a different standard than someone who is not.

So what do you do? The simple answer, thank the viewer for the input and decide if there is any merit to their comments. If there isn’t, let it go. If there is, be grateful someone made you aware. But remember the viewer is the customer, and attacking a customer, in any kind of public setting, is just bad business. If the insult is very personal and offensive, let management know. You should have a running dialogue with your ND on how the station handles these things. In some cases, the station takes care of the response.

The fact that these insults happened on social media, takes the discussion to another level. It is one thing to call a person back, on the phone, and have a moment of weakness by saying something you should not. It is quite another to do it in a social media forum where it is public and you cannot take it back. That response, even if you delete it, is essentially forever findable. Bottom line it is in writing and therefore more permanent. Not the place for a moment of weakness. That’s why you need to communicate regularly with a manager about these responses. If your management team will not discuss options with you, send only “Thanks for the suggestion.” then let it go online. Viewers and potential employers can only take the comments at face value. Make sure whatever yoiur response is, it’s the representation you want to follow you throughout your career.