Writing – Page 26 – Survive Your Job In Television News

Need a safety net? Why not align with the EP?

Reporters often feel like they are thrown to the wolves and no one has their back. ND’s are intimidating. Managing editors always seem to side with the assignment desk. AND’s are confusing because they are the messengers for the ND and GM’s various desires. And the EP only protects the producer. Wait, stop there! Here’s a little secret from a former EP: In order to protect the newscast we EP’s need to protect our field crews. An executive producer is the go to person for day-to-day decisions. An executive producer is also the one responsible for making sure all elements of a newscast are executing to their fullest ratings potential. That means if reporters are being sent on wild goose chases and are being put in impossible positions, the manager that is going to raise hell and may actually be heard is the EP. And EP’s will raise hell about it if necessary. EP’s are your management safety net. They are not as involved in the political battles between the Managing editor, AND and ND. While those three sit in philosophical debates, the EP executes what has to be done that day to try and save the newscast. Yes, the EP is lower on the totem pole. But when it comes to review time, and consideration for promotions, EP’s weigh in, sometimes heavily, because they actually work with you all day, every day.

So how do you form a smart alliance? Here’s what executive producers love to get from reporters each day:

Reality Check
Flexibility
Respect deadlines

For an executive producer, nothing is more frustrating than not knowing what is happening with the field crews. That’s why you get annoying phone calls and text messages sometimes when you are in a key interview and the desk and EP are relentless that you must stop everything and call back. Here’s a quick solution to free yourself of this daily annoyance. Send your EP quick updates several times a day. If you possibly can, call with a reality check a half hour to hour before any editorial meetings. Sometimes you are in an interview and cannot call. Good EP’s get that. Text or top line that you are in a key interview, and that things are going well. At least the EP will have a clue as to what is going on. During these reality checks spell out what you have and if the idea everyone had for the story in the editorial meeting is reality. If you are finding something completely different you need to let your EP know so he/she can make sure the story is teased correctly and placed in the best position for the newscast. I realize that there are EP’s and producers out there who will berate you and try and force you to turn an angle that isn’t there, if you call in too early. That’s where some flexibility comes in.

I would like to say that producers and management should always trust crews to tell them what a story angle should be and run with whatever the reporter finds. Unfortunately, reality is the high pressure from ratings, especially in this economy, makes it hard to always take whatever the reporter finds and run with it. Letting your EP know early what you have, versus what you were told you should get, will protect you and the newscast. Sometimes you will be asked to push for an angle harder, give it a try and let the EP know the result. Remember, the EP is also getting pressure from upper management for certain types of stories. The EP just needs to be able to let everyone know that the angle wanted was really researched and just didn’t happen. Some reporters avoid telling anyone their angle until the last minute to avoid another assignment or being grilled by the EP. This is a short term gain, long term loss. EP’s don’t respect you if you are not working for the best interest of the newscast and you will be burned in the long run. Unfortunately, you will win some of these arguments over story angles and you will lose some. Being flexible and sometimes getting stuck with a new assignment, late in the day, because the angle you were sent on didn’t happen, means you are a team player. The EP will respect and openly support you to upper management. EP’s don’t always win philosophical arguments either and also are put in uncomfortable positions. They will do whatever they can to have your back though, even if it doesn’t always seem like it. The truth is taking good care of you, is taking good care of the newscast. If the EP is nasty, the EP will pay for it at some point. And because the EP is responsible for ratings, chances are his/her head will be on the chopping block before yours.

Respecting deadlines is another big way to align with an EP. Deadlines exist for the protection of the newscast. Here’s a little secret, management knows you will not always make it. If you get a late change in stories or are sent on a breaker, or have a really long drive to your story there is some flexibility. Problem is many field crews ignore deadlines and procrastinate, so management implements carte blanche deadlines to protect the newscast. Make deadline, unless you are on a breaker or late story change. When you cannot make deadline, let the EP know ahead of time so he/she can do what is necessary to protect the newscast. This is a big picture issue. Show you understand you are part of something bigger than your package and live shot and you will gain an ally. Deadlines are also one of the few tangible ways management can track your abilities at your job. It makes it easier to gage you against your peers and decide if you deserve a raise, or even if you need to be fired. Making deadline routinely means the EP will give you the benefit of the doubt when you do get into a pickle and have to feed late. The EP will fight for reporters that regularly make deadline. It’s a safety net in your time of need.

The sky is falling, everyone stay calm! How to take control when everyone else is losing it.

Recently, we published an article called Your Producer Voice written by an anchor to explain how crucial it is for producers to stay calm in the booth, especially when talking in IFBs. Anchors simply need producers to calmly explain what needs to happen during newscasts, so the anchor can calmly execute the plan on live television. Problem is, many producers really struggle with how to stay calm when things are falling apart and/or the boss is breathing down your neck.

So here’s how to control your voice, even when you are not in control.

Have a plan
Boil the plan down
Restrict who is in your booth
Trust your director

You cannot walk into the booth for a newscast without a plan, period. Yes, things will blow up even if you have plan. No, your plan cannot be to just watch the rundown play out and hope you time the show correctly. When I say you must have a plan, I mean you have scenarios in your head to fix many common issues. These include, reporters not making slot, a reporter not turning in scripts and their live shot dying, the computer freezing up and your video doesn’t roll, the meteorologist running long, expert interview and/or reporter doesn’t get into position for newsroom shot in time. As a producer you are paid to know what potential pitfalls you will face each day. The ones listed above are super common. When you are calm, think of go to plans for these scenarios, so if one happens you have an automatic fix.

Now let’s talk breakers during the show. Breaking news is even a bit formulaic when you really think about it. You will execute one of these scenarios:

1) Breaker information comes in, anchor reads copy (or adlibs-if that’s person’s strength) and you will move on.

2) Breaker information comes in with a graphic, anchor will voice over.

3) Breaker is live picture anchor voices over.

4) Breaker is live shot, anchor pitches to live crew.

5) Breaker is reporter live with vo or vosot, anchor pitches, reporter voices over the video and possibly pitches to sound.

Have dummy scripts for these scenarios that your studio crew is familiar with. I am not saying you have to format everything. If your anchors are great ad libbers, you would put a few facts in the script for prompter if you want (see See It Rather Than Say It, remember anchors are often primarily visual and need to see what’s going on). The point is, make it crystal clear how you will format these scenarios so you aren’t getting questions like, “Now should I start the pitch, then let so and so take it from there?” “Will there be double boxes and an animation?” This is crucial if you are a new producer learning the ropes at a station. Do not mess with 2 anchor pitches and creative ways to wrap up the coverage. Keep it simple and make sure your director and anchors know your plan before there is breaking news to deal with. The dummy scripts help. These “go to” formatting scripts eliminate most of the questions the anchors, director and production crew would have. This is part of learning what your crews needs are so you can execute quickly. The more you all understand each other, the more you, as the producer, will eventually be able to change things up. Whenever I started a new producing job, I did these type of backup scripts initially so my studio crew knew my expectations. (see Right Hand Meet Your Left.)

Having clear cut breaking news templates your studio crew can count on is the first part of boiling down your plan. Now let’s talk about how you will deliver the message. You need to know exactly what you are going to say to your anchors and director before you say it. You need a clear cut order of who you will tell first. As a rule of thumb, the director is told first so she/he can do what is needed to get the information on the air. This is especially true if you are taking a graphic or a live shot. The director will need to talk with several people to pull this off cleanly on air. Now you will run into issues with the production crew “tipping off” your anchors unless you make it crystal clear to your director that only you tell anchors about breakers. The studio crew is not trying to screw you. They often just get anxious. Let the director take ownership of them, and make sure they know you are the only one talking to the anchors about a new breaker.

When you tell your anchor, make sure he/she isn’t reading copy at the time unless it is so huge, that it absolutely cannot wait. Anchors need to concentrate while on the air. During commercial breaks they are trying to read ahead, get their bearings, and pump up their energy for the next block. Every word you say to them counts. Do not use throwaways. Your goal is to give them 1 sentence commands when making changes. Examples for common issues are: “Wx long, wrap quick,” “Wrong vid, apologize,” “Shot died, stretch.” “Video not coming.” “Go to teases (page number) now.” You can get into the why in the discrep meeting after the show. After these breakers and last minute changes happen, have conversations in debrief meetings (see Anchor’s Away: How to Handle A Combative Anchor. ) so these key players know how you think. This also helps you see if you are giving them information effectively and succinctly.

The next piece of advice can sometimes be tricky, but will make a world of difference for you to stay calm and in control in the booth. I had a rule from my second producing job on, that no one came into “my booth” (yes I did phrase it that way) except one immediate supervisor. If my supervisor was a screamer, I went to the ND and said someone else would have to come in or that supervisor had to call me in the booth only. No more in the booth privileges. Yes, I occasionally ticked off a manager for a short time. Then a big breaker came and the show executed smoothly, and I got what I wanted. I also threw people out of “my booth” if they were interrupting. I had a production manager that hated me for it at one station. Too bad! The newscast comes first. That was my mantra and you can tell from my writing I did not compromise on this. Most well run newsrooms have this rule in place already. If you are in a newsroom where multiple managers wander into the booth during shows all the time, ask the ND if you can have one designated manager coming in or at least a rule where only one manager at a time comes in so you can focus. When managers come into the booth, the production crew defers to the manager, and it makes it much harder for you and the director to execute quick commands. Most managers will understand this and that this request isn’t just you being a control freak. Your director needs the number of people in the booth limited as well. People tend to bug the director even more than you when, frankly, the director is busier than you are during most of the newscast. Your director will appreciate you making this request as well.

Trusting your director is also a key element to staying calm in the booth. Many times I had managers coming in during huge breakers and fighting about what live picture to take or various philosophical issues. I would try and ignore, but often wound up caught in the middle, before I could send them into the hallway to have their debates. In these cases time and time again my director took over and saved the newscast. I trusted my director to know how I would phrase things like “go to break,” or “live pic next” and I let the director run with it. I had to. My bosses got in the way. Trusting your director also is a benefit when you are dealing with smaller level changes like floating a story or popping in a quick breaker. My rule of thumb again was tell the director first, then let him/her tell the production crew while I told the anchors. This means I used my headset to talk to director only a lot. Calm voice, to help the other calm leader in the room take control as well. Too often I saw producers feel the need to use the “all call” button for every change in the newscast. This button should only be for huge breakers where you have to get on the air immediately. And you should have conversations ahead of time so everyone knows if you use “all call,” it’s a big deal, no questions asked.

If you still think that anchors or directors are whiney about you, the producer, staying calm and in control, consider this: How many news people have you seen lose their cool during crisis situations in the newsroom or in the field? Do you respect those people? Chances are you don’t. Losing your temper is a sign you are in over your head and you will lose respect. You will get people on the news and production staff questioning everything you try and do during a live newscast. You must lead authoritatively during a live show. When you make mistakes, and we all do, take ownership and keep calm. You will win over a staff of people who will count on your calm direction, when the sky is falling.

Game on: Secrets to raising the roof during sports.

No doubt being a sports anchor isn’t what it used to be. You can’t just put up highlights and scoreboards and survive. Many are being asked to one man band. Some stations are getting rid of sports departments and many others have already done it. Yet sports still dominates many conversations among regular people, daily. We all know that ESPN has changed the playing field. So what does a sportscaster do, to not only stand out but possibly keep his/her job at all? One phrase (and it’s one we at survivetvnewsjobs.com love) storytelling.

Often when I would tell sports anchors to do more of this, I would get puzzled looks and the sports anchor would walk away shaking his/her head. So let me spell it out. Playing and watching sports are commonplace among many of your viewers. Leisure activities involving sports are an integral part of many people’s lives. You just have to think of sports as more than the latest college or pro game on the weekend. And when you do cover those weekend games, you need to make them have impact. Before you shake your head in confusion and disgust, look at these key ways to provide that impact.

Storytelling During Sportscasting

Let’s hear it
Memorable moments
Character build
Make it real

First let’s hear it. Use a lot of natural sound throughout your sportscast. Think about it, what are the latest techniques you are seeing when watching national games? The networks are taking you into the event with mic’s in places they’ve never been before. The commentators stop talking and take those special mics so you hear the cars screeching around the track in NASCAR, you listen to the quarterback call plays in mic’d up segments during games. You hear players talking on the sidelines for a few seconds. No you cannot do the exact same thing, but take the general idea and run with it. This is a type of storytelling using natural sound. You can ask to mic up a player during practice. You can set a lav mic up when you do stories to catch ambient sound, you can use natural sound in vo’s and vosots and packages throughout your sportscast so viewers are engaged. Going to cover a sports event, be it a practice, newsconference, or game and thinking about the natural sound will help you look at the event in a different way. You will become more engaged and notice things you may not have caught onto before. This could help you find interesting elements the other sports anchors and reporters in town aren’t doing.

Which leads to our next point: Creating memorable moments. You will hear a skilled EP tell his or her producers this all the time. Photojournalists really get this concept as well. Memorable moments are partially visual, but the key is that they play out emotions. Sports are full of emotion. They are utterly human. You see incredible joyous moments, incredible pain, anger, angst, fear, intense drive, painful defeats and wondrous victories. Looking for memorable moments each day in sports should be like the old saying… “shooting fish in a barrel.” Even news conferences have emotion behind them. Play it out. Search for the emotion in the sound bites, and the backstories to what lead up to the news conferences. You follow players’ tweets, you monitor sport blogs. The emotions are all there, easy pickings. Use them.

Again, I remember the head shaking, followed by “I only get 2 minutes and I have to get these highlights in.” If the ratings fall off during your sportscast then, no, you do not have to show the highlights like you traditionally would. You can take one key element, let it play with nat sound to create a memorable moment, then throw up a score board if you need. Take the viewer into the event. Don’t just cram a million factoids into a 2 minute segment. Fans watched the game, saw highlights on ESPN, got onto the internet to check out their favorite blogs, are signed up on Twitter to check out what their favorite players say etc. Think about what makes you love covering sports. That’s why fans love watching sports. The memorable moments are the draw. The emotion of it all.

Early in my career there was a sportscaster at a competing station, who won Emmy’s for his sportscasts all the time, often beating veteran sports journalists in much larger markets. I started watching his sportscasts to see why. The answer: memorable moments. He made each sportscast interesting. They did not look like all the others in town. And this sports journalist was making a big name for himself. He also would turn in packages every year and beat out reporters for Emmy’s. He was a storyteller that just loved covering sports. Believe me, this guy never worried about his sports time getting cut. He became a real draw in a small community that didn’t have any professional teams to follow. What did he even have to talk about? Plenty. He also did pieces on local sporting events, by character building.

So what is character building exactly? It is centering a story on someone who can really help you explain the issue or to simplify even more: someone that spells out the point of your package. (see storytelling on a dime.) It also means branching out. Sit your assistant news director or executive producer down and ask them what the trends are in town for recreation. Chances are they have seen research and know what topics (i.e. – sports) people in town love to do. Let’s take biking for example. Many places have incredible trails families explore each day. Hit the trail on a Monday or Tuesday when you only have retread elements on the professional or college games and start looking for characters. Ask people why they ride. Ask the history of the trail. Listen to what people are talking about. You will find stories. Contact the local Y and ask about inspiring athletes on and/or coaches for their different teams. Check out the intramural leagues in the area. You will find amazing slice of life stories with cool characters doing a sport. Before you know it, you will have compelling packages to air on those hum drum Mondays and Tuesdays. Your sportscast might just be a package those days. And they might get a bump in numbers when viewers catch on.

Then carry the character building into your coverage leading up to the “big games.” It’s like watching the incredible pieces about athletes before Olympic events. These stories about particular athletes or coaches or fans, make viewers care more about the event itself and what you will have to say about it. Finding the characters will take you into the sports you cover, not just make you a seemingly detached sideliner. This will help you make connections with coaches as well. Maybe more exclusives will come your way.

Finally make your sportscasts real. When you sit on the set, talk to the viewer. Don’t just throw a million one liners and stats and quick highlights at people. And please, don’t yell at the viewers for two straight minutes! Making the sportscast real means using the statistics to add color to the story, instead of making the stats the story. Think Dan Patrick. He always makes sports issues really conversational and boils controversies down in ways even a casual fan can easily follow. You can do this visually by taking the viewer into the event with nat sound and characters and memorable moments. That will help the viewer connect with your content and you. This should help make your sportscast raise the roof each night.

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.