Don't Start with a Soundite

I see this mistake all the time. Unless someone is bawling, use video first and not a soundbite. As a viewer, it takes a second or two to transition from reporter or anchor intro to taped piece. If you start with soundbite, I guarantee you viewers won't catch the first second or two of it. Plus, starting with a soundbite is BORING. You have nothing else to lead your package? How about nats? Nats establishes a sense of place in whatever story you do and can really help you start a pkg nicely. Skip the sot and look for nats.

Best Video First

In a package, your best video goes first. Always. No exceptions. In fact, if it's that good, it's probably worth repeating a couple times in the package.

Sometimes you may think you need to give some background or set-up before you show the good video. This may tempt you NOT to use your best video first. Do set-up in the anchor or reporter intro. Sometimes you can show some of the video once at the top of the piece, give a little background that really explains what happened, and then show more of the video.

An example of NOT using best video first. I was on one station's website and there was a story labelled "Dash Cam Video released." I clicked and watched. I wanted to see the dashcam video. About a third of the way through, I thought, maybe they mistakenly put up a pkg that was written before the video was released. But no. About HALFWAY through the pkg, the promised dashcam video appeared. Most viewers are not so patient. Best video first always.

Even when you don't have amazing video to put at the top of your pkg, try to look at what you've got and think-- what's the most interesting part of this? How can I put that first? I spent a lot of years in consumer on stories with NOOOOOO video. There'd be a fridge, some paperwork, and Grandma complaining she got ripped off. But if there's something compelling enough to get you to cover the story, that element should go first.

Problems in the Show

Unfortunately, disaster strikes shows. You lose your lead package. A live shot goes down. Do youself a favor and don't cannibalize the rest of your show by trying to figure out exactly what happened right then and there. Unless it's an ongoing issue that you need to resolve immediately, MOVE ON. Address it in the break or better yet after the show. Why? If you are freaking out about the top of the show, you're not paying attention to other potential problems and things could snowball. Also, you set the tone for the booth. If the producer is still stuck on the top of the show, the rest of the booth will be thinking about it too, distracting them from the rest of the show and inviting mistakes.

Instead, jot down quick notes about what you think happened and talk about the problem during a post-show discrepency meeting. Keep an open mind about what went wrong, keep your anger in check, and finally, ask the key question: "How can we keep this from happening again?"

And it bears repeating, you should ALWAYS ALWAYS ALWAYS have a back-up plan for the top of your show, even if it's just going on to the next story. Discuss said plan with both director and anchors in this manner, "Hey, I don't expect anything to happen, but if our lead dies for some reason, we'll go to page A4." By giving it at least a passing thought, you're ready with a plan of action should something happen. Everyone else will be ready too and things will go a lot more smoothly.

Finally, another reminder-- 10 minutes prior to the show, chat it up with editing about what's still out there. That will give you a heads up about what you might have to juggle. Producers should not be optimists. Hope the story makes it. Have a plan for when it doesn't.

One live shots, two hits

Reporters often have to do more than one hit from the same live location during the same show. Encourage your reporters to have distinct hits. Figure out the two or three things that are interesting and important about that location and split them up among hits. You needn't pack everything into one hit especially if it's a feature story. What can you show people? Maybe you use a vosot for the first hit but for the second, you arrange for a brief (two or three quick questions max) interview live and have broll rolling in a double box. Showing something that's going on live is always better than tape.Be sure to change up your shots between hits so that it at least looks visually different.

Two reporters, one live location

Sometimes you need team coverage but you only have the one truck. Avoid the hand-off. That's two reporters standing next to each other and one hands the mic to the other on air. Have one reporter toss back to the studio and make like Gumby and strech. Is there some vo you can put in there to assist? It doesn't take long to change out reporters but have some time built in because you want the photog to also change up the shot. Otherwise, it's like magic, you toss back out to exactly the same shot, but surprise, there's new reporter there. Have the photog pan to the left or the right. Pivot a little. Anything to change it up just a touch. At night, this may involve setting up two sets of lights. Can another photog help out? You may not have two trucks, but maybe someone else can donate some lights, maybe somebody who isn't doing a liveshot but is still on the clock. Maybe the overnight guy can come in a little early to help.

Join the fight against lip-flap!

Nothing says lazy like lip-flap. It's using a soundbite for b-roll. How does this happen?

That's all we got.
You're doing a story on a politician for example. You make a file request. Maybe you don't look at the file (you should always look at video before you write). Or maybe this is the only video you have and you think this is better than nothing. It's not. Instead, use the video to make a still of the person. On cam for the first graph, in still for next one or two, back on cam for a tag. Is there anything else you can use in addition to the still? File from the incident involved? File of the Capitol in our politician example? Can someone feed you 30 seconds of this person? Is there something online you can utilize? Get creative.

I see lip-flap in packages a lot too. Mostly, it looks back someone back-timed to the bite. It is o.k. when it's a second or two prior to the bite. Any more than that and it feels like a lifetime. If you see it in your show, follow up with the reporter and photographer. Did they shoot enoguh? If they are interviewing someone for a pkg, they should always get set up shots of that person. It can also enhance story telling. For example, in a story interviewing a student about graduation, if you're interviewing them at home, you might get video of them studying or even kicking back. "Bob has time for video games now that he's graduated..." Whatever. You can always find SOMETHING to shoot for an interview. Without it, you have lip-flap and a lame pkg.

Fark.Com

If you haven't checked out www.fark.com, you ought to, if only to give yourself a laugh. It's "news of the weird," submited by readers who then put their own headline on each story.

I hate to admit it, but that's also how I've found out about some really interesting stories that we might want to cover. And if you're in local, looking for a teaseable story... look no further.

Rewarding Enthusiasm

We all encourage reporters to bring story ideas into the meeting. Then what happens when they bring one? Lukewarm response. Not sexy enough. I suggest that if a reporter is really excited about a story they bring in, let them do it, even if you're not wild about the story. For starters, it will encourage them to bring in more stories. It will allow them a little control of their own destiny. Also, you might just be suprisedwith the final story-- there have been lots of times when a reporter has gone out on a project they pitched that turned into a really good story-- just because the reporter was dedicated to showing everyone who was lukewarm what a good story it was. How often can you say that about the shooting or Chester-the-Molester stories?

And how about photogs? How many times has a photog hussled to get a story only to have it not make the show? If they come to you and say it's a good story and they got you extra stuff, throw them a bone and find fifteen seconds in your show for it. It will make them feel like their effort is worthwhile and it'll probably make your show look a little better.

The Importance of Food in the Newsroom

I was checking with a photog friend of mine for tips and here's what he said: "Make sure you allow time for lunch." And also, "Make sure you get food to crews that are stuck on the scene of something."

Which brings up a good point. A little food goes a long way in terms of good will. There will be many times when your crews will not be able to eat because of breaking news, so try not to blow out their lunch to shoot some vo you're not really going to put in your show anyway.

Also, if there's a big event, standoff, ongoing breaking news, make sure your crews are fed. In can be as simple as an intern driving food out or at least have a crew that's taking off for the day swing by and grab them food.

At one of my old shops, Friday night was "treat night." Every Friday, I'd bring in candy or some kind of treat. I think one Easter, I hid a bunch of those plastic Easter eggs around the newsroom. Some people bring treats to the morning meeting. In Phoenix, they actually assigned breakfast to someone each day of the book. In December, someone had to bring in Christmas cookies each day.

In any case, whatever you can do to show people that you appreciate all their hard work, the better. You can't get them the raise they deserve. The boss won't approve more vacation. But food can improve the mood of the newsroom and at least say "Thanks."

Set up live shot or shoot tape?

When there's breaking news, your crew can set up a live shot or shoot the scene. They can't do both (unless of course you have the luxury of a couple crews). Lots of folks disagree with me, but in most situations, crews should get the live shot up before they do anything else.

I would also want the reporter on scene to go live AS SOON AS the live shot is up. I don't care if they know anything. I don't care if they say anything of substance. I see it as a tease for the rest of the show. We're establishing our presence there, telling viewers we're all over it. The live shot can be as simple as: "We just got here. We don't know anything yet. We're going to find out what's going on and get back to you." Then they can go get info and video.

If your live truck has a mast cam, see if you can keep it up so you use it to keep checking in on the story until your next reporter liveshot.

Like with weather, if there's something going on behind the reporter, don't be afraid to just have them show it. Breaking news doesn't have have to be pretty or preordained. You don't need vo or sound. Just show what's going on, and maybe grab a live interview if possible.

On spot news, the more bodies the better. Send them. You can always call them back. Even consider sending a writer-- or any extra body you have in the newsroom. While the reporter is doing their thing, that person can be a liason back to the newsroom and feed you info.

When in Doubt, Lead with Weather

A bunch of storms have hit the US. I hope you are all leading with them. You can't go wrong with a weather lead. It doesn't matter if there is some vastly more important story, people care about weather, people talk about weather and people will change the channel in a hot minute if they don't see weather on your show.

I learned this lesson the hard way. I had just moved from Cincinnati to Phoenix when I was producing the 10 show. Keep in mind, back in Cincinnati, we'd lead with snow if we saw a single flake within a 100 mile radius. But it was raining in Phoenix. No torrential downpour, no flooding, just rain. My Executive Producer at the time said "Lead with weather." I was baffled. I said, "Lead with rain? The fact that it's raining?" She said, "I know, it seems weird but it's kind of a big deal here." After living there for a year, I got it. In a place that gets about seven or eight inches of rain a year and has an average 321 days of sunshine, rain is a big, big deal.

So-- lead with weather-- every chance you get. Work the best video into your open. Unless there's something imminent going on, like a tornado, I like to toss to a reporter who's actually out in the weather, as opposed to the weather guy who is dry in the studio. But if you do toss to the weather guy, make sure he has some good vo to lead with before he gets into maps.

Also, consider pulling other reporters into your weather coverage. (In general, and not just for weather, the more faces you can work into the show, the better.) Reporter Joe Blow may be on the shooting or council meeting, but if he's getting rained on, toss to him for a quick hit on what it's like in his area. Have him pan the camera to show us the street or something nearby (blowing flags, trees etc.) It's much better to show live weather than taped, so think walk and talks for your reporters but have broll on standby in case the weather stops in their area right before the live shot.

Flashback to English Class

I hear this one on t.v. newscasts all the time. It makes otherwise smart people sound really dumb.

Please complete with the correct verb:
=One of these guys (is/are) going to jail.
=Two of these guys (is/are) going to jail.

When in doubt in terms of subject/verb agreement, drop the prepositional phrase to figure it out. So... "One... is going to jail..." and... "Two... are going to jail."

Walk and talk

I love walk and talks. Here is a tip for your reporters. Our staff photographer says the reporter should never be walking backwards. Only the photog does. And, he says, it helps to run through what you are going to do with your photog prior to them coming to you live.

Earmuffs?

Don't let this happen to your show. If you work in a cold climate and your reporters are tempted to wear questionable head apparel, please put an end to it. Female reporters seem to be in particular jeopardy. I seem to see guys wearing any head apparel, and yet women, who generally have more hair to cover their heads, seem to always have a hat on. Many of them are distracting. For a two minute live shot, makes some sense to do without.

Get a life

A job in t.v. news has a way of taking over your life. Make sure you spend at least a little time working on getting a life outside of work. Easier said than done but to (badly) paraphrase Linda Ellerbee, "Work is not your friend." It's a job. A really, really cool job, to be sure, but a job. Make sure you make time for what really matters. Regular exercise helps and so does time with non-t.v. friends as well as family.

And how about cutting down on all the caffeine? Well, let's not go crazy.

Winging it

Breaking news happens. Be flexible but try to be clean. Let's start with breaking press conferences because I just saw one that was fairly brutal.

It's ok to toss to a press conference with the live picture up and your anchor's mic under. Don't feel like you have to automatically toss to the reporter covering the presser to wrap around. Chances are they are trying to digest the info from the presser. Also, nothing is more annoying for others in the presser than having to listen to some dingbat at the back of the room doing a live shot. Anchors are there for a reason. Let them handle it.

Make sure you are recording the presser so you can use it later. If your station still has tape, record in two decks. That way you can pop one after a minute to quick turn a sot if you need it.

If you know a presser is coming up that you are going to take live, think of visual elements that might help. For example, if it is related to spot news, pull file from the incident. If it is a missing person, have the victim's pic, search, whatever, called up. You can take it full or put it in a double box with the presser on the other side. Cable news channels do this all the time.

How long do you stay with the presser? Ask yourself- How big of a story is this in my community? If I dump out of this will people flip to other stations to watch the rest? Are people in the booth bored or still interested? A lot of times technical people do not live eat and breath news like you do so they are a better guage of your audience. Take a quick poll- are we done with this? Better to take too much than too little in my opinion. Warn your director and anchors that you want to dump out. Have them pod up your anchor's mic and let your anchor find a natural spot to take you out. Keep the presser pic up and then eventually pop your anchor up. Cutting straight from the presser to your anchor on set feels jarring. Have them quickly recap what was said and tease more coverage!

Unexpected pressers eat up time. Have a plan, before going into any show, what you will kill if you have something breaking. Have a worst case scenerio. What is the absolute most I can kill to accomodate breaking news? I guarantee you, breaking news is much more interesting than what you had planned so be prepared to jettison almost everything.

It feels weird after big spot news to just transition and go on with other news like nothing happenend. Plan to recap at end of show. Tease that you'll have more at the end of the show. Bump out of other segments with a live pic or vo to remind folks you'll be coming back to it.

Spot news is the reason you are a producer. Any monkey can produce a show when things go according to the rundown. It's the rockstars who can take the precious show they've been working on the past 8 hours and blow it up for something that really sings.

Happy Thanksgiving

For all of you who have to work out there. No small consolation from me-- but I'm sorry you have to work today. You work like a dog, for little pay and less appreciation-- and the holidays you are a million miles away from home and you have to work. Not only work, but work with a lot fewer people. Here's to you...

Networking: Keep in Touch

The great thing about t.v. is that even if you stay at the same station your whole career, everyone else will leave and you will know people across the country. That said, it makes sense to network. A lot of you already do this with college classmates on Facebook or MySpace. In the past, I've also mentioned LinkedIn, which is a business networking website you should check out if you haven't already.

Another great way to network is just stay in touch. If somebody you know pretty well leaves for another station, get their email. Send them the latest gossip from their old shop. If you hear of a job opening, send it their way, even if they might not be interested. They'll be thankful you thought of them and also might return the favor.

I'm a big fan of workshops. The smaller ones are better I think for meeting folks. RTNDF has a Women and Minorities in Management Training seminar that is super. The Investigative Reporters and Editors conference holds a great, reasonable conference where you can meet people. There's also Poynter, State Press Clubs, Unity, National Association of Hispanic Journalists... I could go on and on. Some also try RTNDA's big conference, and LOTS of people disagree with me- but I'm not a huge fan. Even though there are lots of news directors there, I think it makes more sense to meet people who doing the job and can pass on leads to you. My current job, for example, I found out about because a good friend already works for the company.

If you don't have a card, get one made. It's easy and non-threatening to exchange cards and then follow up with an email-- "Hey, great meeting you. Here's an article I thought you'd be interested in," or "Do you mind if I send you a tape for feedback?" or "May I get your advice on something?" I try to write down where and when I met the person on the back of a card and sometimes a detail or two about them because I have a horrible memory.

Keep a tape handy

I just heard a friend of mine got let go from his job. He's good at what he does, and, for my money, is a real pleasure to work with. Over the years, I've seen a bunch of good people get fired or laid off. The first was when I was still in college. A new news director came in and within I think a week, three people were gone-- like pack your desk and leave right now. It made quite an impression on it.

Not to scare you, but it makes sense to have a resume and a tape ready at all times, both in case you get canned or moe likely, another station comes calling. If you can, you might also want to have a month to three months in the bank. That way, if the worst happens, you won't have to freak out about paying the rent. Having that money also gives you a tremendous sense of comfort when you are working in a super-stressful shop. As in being able to think, "I could bolt right out of here right now if I wanted to." You won't, but it's nice to know you could.

The other thing is-- as a producer, if you were to get fired or laid off-- good news! You will get hired someplace else immediately. The longer you are in the business, the more you will see complete idiots who keep getting jobs. And that's the idiots! You-- who are talented and actually have a clue-- would be snapped up even more quickly!

Intros

I am a big believer in reporters and field producers writing their intros prior to writing their pkg. Here's why. They will flow better into your piece. Reporters who write their pkgs first end up having nothing to say in their intro and even less for the poor anchor tossing to them.

Think about it. When you tell a story, you don't tell the middle and then jump back to the beginning. You start at the beginning and go from there. Often, I find the intro is sitting right there as the first graph of the pkg.

What's worse than reporters not writing intro first is not writing them at all. If you're a show producer, you're probably well versed on what your reporter is covering and probably can and do write reporter intros. But I think it is better if they send you one and you brush it up. It's their story and they know it best. Also, if you're in a market where writers take or write reporter intros, they are never going to know as much as the reporter doing the story. Plus they may have five reporters' intros to write.

Markets big and small

Sorry for not posting in a while. I try to do something new each week. We had the Nasa launch and then the CA wildfires so I got distracted!

In any case, thought I'd talk a bit about market size. I have worked in Ft. Myers, FL, years ago, when it was market 98, Cincinnati- 32, Phoenix- 15, Philadelphia- 4 and now a cable network.

I will tell you that it is the same s- everywhere. It's just a matter of resources, layers of bureaucracy and how much you get paid. Generally, the higher the market, the more toys, more chefs and more moolah. That said, I am a huge believer in "it's not market-size, it's management." That is, if you have good management, it really doesn't matter what market size you are.

In Ft. Myers, I was desk girl. I made beat checks, ripped the wire machine (yes, there was an actual machine that spooled out the latest AP wire) and listened to police scanners. I did this in High School. Our producer wrote the show with the help of anchors and when she went on vacation, the anchors produced the show.

In Cincinnati, I worked at two stations, one in college and another after I graduated. I was a Production Assistant during college. I think each show had two? We helped write, ripped scripts and then ran teleprompter or floor directed. I worked nights mostly so I'd come in and work on one of the early shows, grab food and work on the late one. I also came in on weekends or stayed after my shift or came in before to go out on stories with photogs.During college, computers were introduced to the newsroom. Before that we had typewriters and if an anchor crossed out too much stuff on our script, we'd have to retype it.

Post college, Fox news was beginning news start-ups and I was fortunate enough to be hired on at one of them. I ran the assignment desk on weekends and field produced during the week. Later, I was promoted to weekend producer and then 10pm producer. I think we may have had a writer or two but I remember writing a lot. At the time we only had a one hour show all day long so it wasn't particularly problematic to fill.

In Phoenix, I did an hour 10pm show. I had three writers. Many of them were really talented and got promoted.There was also a "live coordinator" who sat in the booth and coordinated live shots. I thought I had died and woke up in the big leagues.

Finally in local, I worked in Philadelphia. The writers on this show were pros, many of them preferring to write than show produce. I was a field producer in this market but I show produced a couple times and did some live special projects shows. It was a union market which was odd to get used to. In the booth, you don't talk to talent, you talk to the person who talks to talent. Stuff like that.

I think, generally, in smaller markets and unpopular shifts, you get more freedom and control- but less help. As you work your way up the food chain, you have to learn to play with others, which is a good thing.

How to Screwup

I find the screwups that are hardest to deal with are my own. Other people? I expect them to make mistakes-- it's my job to have systems in place to catch them and to make sure things go smoothly. But my own slip-ups? I HATE them.



The best thing to do if you make a mistake is to own it. Not just apologize and say it will never happen again, but to truly sit with it for a while. That way, you can break it down and see what went wrong-- and what, if anything, in your performance you could have changed. Is there something systematic that you could put in place to catch the mistake?



Let's use an example: a simple graphics request.



Did graphics receive the request? Does graphics understand the request and do they have questions? Maybe the system change could be, "I will check with graphics an hour after I put a request in to see if there are any issues." Getting questions at three hours before showtime is a lot easier to deal with than a half hour before airtime.



What about spelling and style? I advocate reading and rereading aloud all graphics. Do we do this each and every time we make a graphic or do we think we are too busy and just send it off without double checking it? Sure graphics should catch your spelling and other errors, but that's not their job. And, most times, they are as slammed as you are, so they might be tempted to just cut and paste what you sent them.



Maybe another system change could be asking someone, anyone, to look over your request before you send it up. If you are a reporter or field producer, send it to the show producer. They should be looking at all graphic requests for their show, if not just to check for spelling, but also so that all graphics in the show have a consistent look and feel.



How about after the graphic is made? Is there anyway to see it? Some systems are automated and you can call it up. Maybe someone can email you a rough copy. Or, if the graphics department is in your building, maybe you can walk up there at some point in the day and check it out first hand.



If you haven't guessed, I screwed up a graphic last week and I am still sore about it. What's worse is that if I would have followed up in a few simple ways, it would not have been as painful as it was. Don't let this happen to you! Make mistakes, but have systems in place to catch them!

OCD: Admirable quality for Producers?

Checking the locks on your doors 150 times might be debilitating, but having OCD as it relates to your show is truly a gift. Check everything. Two or three times.

Finished reading that script? About to print? Read it again. Aloud.

How about your supers? We all make mistakes. A lot of systems automatically load supers or fonts into the show. Check them when you're looking at a script. But then, check the fonts, and only the fonts, again. Just go down the rundown, open a script, and see if just the font is ok. Spelled right? Not too many words? No weird abbreviations? Close it and go onto the next one.

Same with full screens or graphics. Some systems have producers or writers creating their own graphics. That's ANOTHER reason for a triple check since it's only your eyes on them. If the assignment editor gets slow at a certain point, have him or her-- or someone, anyone-- look at them just for a second set of eyes. If the graphics aren't available to look at in the system, walk back to graphics or the control room and have them pull the graphics up for you. Nothing's more obvious to viewers than a mistake with words on the screen.

Finally, is everyone on board for the show? Tell your anchors or director if you plan to do anything froggy. Make sure they understand what you're trying to do. In fact, make sure everyone understands what the plan is and what your expectations are, every night. Reiterate them and ask for confirmation.

Producers Should be Pessimists

It would be nice to have a good show. We all certainly don't work 9 or 10 hours hoping to have a disasterous one. But do yourself a favor. Plan for the worst. Expect your lead to go down. Have a backup plan. Or, as a producer Alice Main once said when I worked with her in Cincinnati, "Have a backup plan. Have a backup plan for your backup plan."

Generally if your lead is ok, you can wing the rest of the show. About 10-15 minutes before showtime, I would highly advise you to go back to where liveshots are tuned in and see what's up. Who's tuned in? Who has fed? Any problems with any of the liveshots?

Likewise, go back to editing. What's done? How is my lead? What do I need to worry about? Answers to these questions will help you create a workable backup plan.

The "keep it simple stupid" rule is applicable here. Generally, the best way to go if your lead is MIA is just on to the next story. Don't reinvent the wheel. If it was supposed to be "lead pkg" then a "vosot," just come out to the two shot or however you start the show... and then just go to the Vosot. Don't change anchor reads. Just keep going. If the pkg does come in, DO NOT try to throw it in immediately. Wait till you are in another pkg, a long sot or a break. That way you can tell the anchor, director and everyone else what you're planning. You may have it in your head exacly what you want to do, but everyone else has to be on board too. If you announce these kinds of decisions in a pkg or a break, everyone has a second to adjust and get their head around it.

You want viewers at home to have no idea anything went wrong. One of the biggest compliments I got was from a boss one time after a show where I did some major surgery. He called and questioned me about the placement a certain story in the show. The show was so smooth, he had no idea we went to that story only because we didn't have something else.

After you work with folks for a while, you will know which reporters you can count on, and which ones will give you heart palpitations. Some stations have a ten minute rule. I don't buy hard and fast rules. Use your best judgement-- it's news, things happen. But if there's a reporter who misses slot without a good reason (breaking news, equipment failure, act of God), you may want to start pestering them at fifteen out. If their story's looking iffy, tell them you'd prefer a clean vosot to a no show pkg. If it's an ongoing problem, try to address it and solve it with them first. As a last resort schedule a meeting for the two of you to discuss with your boss.

Last night's showtape

I think you should try to record your show each day. Here's why:

If someone calls you out of the blue, or you see your dream job on tvjobs.com, you can send a letter and resume tape THAT day. I used to do this when I was show producer. It was great to be able to shoot off a cover letter that says, "Oh yeah, and uh, here's last night's show tape." Meaning, I don't have a good show and hold onto it for four months, I do consistently good work every single night.

So what happens if your show is a debacle? I am not advocating this is every case, but an anchor in Cincinnati once encouraged me to go ahead and send the show anyway. Her point? Any monkey can produce a show when things go according to plan. Great show producers can make a show look smooth even when things are falling a part. Just make sure to include notes explaining what you did and why-- and how you, producer of all producers, were able to save the day.

Example: "I wasn't meaning to lead with the Congo Line live shot, but the lead crashed right before we went to it. I went with my backup plan. You'll note that the anchor didn't miss a beat. That's because just before our show, I always tell my anchor and crew what we'll do if our lead were to go belly up."

Even if you don't send out your "nightly" tape, keep one. That way the first thing you can do when you get to work is watch last night's show with fresh eyes. I know this is painful. I HATED watching my shows because I would see a million things I could have done better. But also, occasionally, you'll think, "Eh, not too bad."

Finally, just knowing that you are recording your show and might possibly send it to someone gives renewed enthusiasm for doing your absolute best on every show.

Field producing

Someone asked about field producers. You can usually find them in mid to large markets, lots of times in health, consumer and investigative units. The job description varies from shop to shop, but basically, if you have some poor reporter or anchor expected to turn segments in several shows, they're going to need some help. I've field produced in three markets, all 30 and higher. In each of them, I acted like an off-air reporter. I'd take stories from start to finish and then hand them off to a reporter or anchor to voice.

It's a great gig. In Cincinnati, I was a weekend producer and weekday field producer. So about the time I'd get fried on show producing, I could break out of the building and just be in charge of my 1:30. It also made me a better show producer. You get a much better sense of what crews are going through and what you can ask of them when you're stuck out there a couple days a week. You also have something to bring to the party in terms of contacts and story ideas. For every story you go out on, you should be looking to bring back at least one story idea culled from the people you've interviewed.

Years later, when I worked in Phoenix, I got burnt out on show producing and I didn't want to go into management. The station management at the time was very kind and wide-minded enough to allow me to field produce full-time. I was assigned to our consumer/investigative unit. It was a great crash course on research and customer service for viewers. I got to be one of the "experts" in the newsroom, a person reporters could come to when they needed a source or if they needed ideas on how to flesh out a story.

While I loved show producing in that you could really impact what people are seeing at home, field producing is also really gratifying. If you'd like to try it out, I suggest volunteering to go out with a photographer on your day off. Do it a few times and you'll get into a groove of how to work with a photographer and how to interview and turn stories. You can also ask your station managers to let you take a "break" by field producing. Maybe ask for a day of field producing after a tough book, for example. Finally, you can find opportunities to field produce on big stories when there are multiple crews in the field. Often, your coverage will go better if you have a producer out there coordinating coverage. I find that show producers often make the best field producers because they get the big picture and can mediate well between field crews and the station.

At the network level, field producer duties run the gamut. I may do an interview, write, do story set up and research or make travel arrangements. I always coordinate live shots, letting New York know what tapes we'll be using and when, as well as making sure those tapes are fed and everything's ready to go. It's not so much to do when you only have a couple live hits during the day, but on breaking stories, we'll have hits on the hour or half hour or more, as well as affiliate hits, radio requests and sometimes the odd liveshot for Sky news.

Meeting video

It's deadly boring. Even if it's a :20 second vo. And it's worse in a pkg. If you have a crew going to the town anyway, why not swing by and spray something the town's know for? The water tower, "Welcome to Dickman" sign, anything that is associated with the town. That buys you some time away from the meeting video.

Acronym Inaccuracy

This drives me crazy.
Here are two examples I hear all the time, but there are others.

"HIV virus..."
So there's a human immunodeficiency virus virus?

"ATM machine..."
As in, the automated teller machine machine.

Am I hitting the mark?

I realize everybody comes from different backgrounds so if there is a topic you'd like me to hit, let me know. I want to be as useful to you as possible. I have worked in market 98 to network, been a show producer and a field producer-- and I have opinions about everything. Let me know! Pitlist@gmail.com

Time is Not on Your Side, Part 2

Sometimes you have too much news. Other times, you have 30 minutes of show and two minutes of content.

An email from a producer in a smaller market reminded me not everyone is blessed with writers. With that in mind, here is some advice that might help.

Set priorities.
You can't do everything with the same amount of effort or everything won't get done. Pick a few things you want to knock out of the park (like open, teases, a special graphic) and then crank the rest of it out.

Bottoms up
When I would write a show myself, I would try to knock out the teasable, unchangable things first. Like if there's some consumer or health story on the feed, do a little pkg on it. You are looking at your video anyway, so instead of writing 3 unrelated vos, write one minipkg. The feed pkgs are usually easy to break down and you can shoot that stuff back to editing so they will have something to start working on.

Write the bottom half of your show first so you can forget about it and then focus on the stories in your first couple of blocks.

Double duty reporters

Many times reporters have a second aspect or angle to a story. Have them do a minute hit on it.

If they can't be live in your show, ask for a one minute looklive. Nothing fancy, just them standing in front of the camera jabbering. Then edit can cover with the video they feed back. You may even pop an animation on the top and bottom (if you have them) and just roll right into it out of another story or a break.

Here's another two-fer. Is there a live shot where a reporter is doing something where maybe you could get a guest for a minute of q and a? For example, I am out here in Houston doing immigration live shots, but the county sheriff's pio is in the same building so it wouldn't be too hard to pull him out here, flip the camera around to make it look a little different and ask him about some other pressing issue.

When all else fails, go national

Take national liveshots- but you don't have to take the pkg, which can be boring. Instead, write your own vo into it and have your anchors ask a question or two. Be careful! Keep all q and a quick or it will be dull, dull, dull. Cut some more vo (if you can) and take it full or in a double box during the q and a.

So here's how that might break down into a 2nd block segment. Roll out of the break into your intro vo. Pop up one anchor for the last graph of the intro. Turn to a two shot with a live monitor between them or switch to a double box with the national talent. Ask your questions (quickly) and move on.

Double duty talent

Another way to eat time is have the wx guy front whatever daily weather video there is. Make it a separate story going into wx. Wx guys ad lib anyway so you may not have to write anything.

Or maybe there is something fitness related the sports guy can front. Maybe somebody else in the newsroom wants a little more facetime. The toss to another person makes the story look larger and eats up a little more time, even if you are the one writing it. And more faces in the show is always more interesting.

One final note

For those of you toiling in small markets and on overnights, keep the faith! You won't be there long! Some bigger market, better show will snap you up quickly! As a producer, your future is golden.

Getting the full impact from full screens

A word about full screen graphics. They can be a great tool for your show as long as they are done properly. Sadly, it's not that difficult to find newscasts that contain wordy and confusing full screens.

For starters, words on the screen must match your copy. No exceptions. Change your copy if you have to. When the words don't match the screen, it's really annoying. You keep trying to read but then you are listening to something totally different. Why make things any harder for your viewer?

For all full screens, keep the words on each page to a minimum. For long quotes, break them up! Make several panels. It's not great tv, but if you have to use a quote, try to make it as user friendly as possible. Nothing is worse than seeing a full screen panel with microscopic print that sits up there thirty or forty seconds.

For bullet points, keep each bullet to three or four words tops.Have them add on so there is some visual change. Again, words must match copy exactly.

Who should request full screen graphics? I think it should only be producers so that you will have a consistent look throughout the show. Never let a reporter request something without you at least looking at it. Even though it is in their pkg, you want it to fit in with the rest of your show.

Also, if you can, look at your full screens prior to the show. Chyron operators make mistakes. So do show producers. If you check the finished product prior to air, you avoid unpleasant suprises.

Keeping the Pace

I watched a single anchor show the other day. Poor girl. After the first package, there was nothing but vo's in the first block. She hardly had a chance to breathe, and, in my humble opinion, the first ten minutes were pretty dull.

When you're stacking your show, of course you want to pay attention to content, but it also helps to pay attention to form. Change it up a little bit. Putting a soundbite here or there or a little nats full can help. Maybe write a little mini-pkg. At KTVK, an independent station in Phoenix whereI used to work, I was introduced to the concept of a "speedo." It was basically a tracked minute long pkg with animations, music and slick editing. Some stations intro them- I would just roll right into into them from another story. I also like hitting them coming right out of a break.

In general, I think it's a good idea to change things up every few seconds. So if you're on a two shot, go to single shot or an OTS after the first graph if you have a long intro. If it's a vo, have a graph on cam, a couple graphs under video and then maybe back on cam. Or for a vosot, graph on cam, couple graphs of vo (and by that I mean two) then a quick sound bite. Unless somebody's bawling :20 is too long. The :05-15 range is better.

Also, if your reporter has a lot of stuff, don't be afraid to break an element out of his story. Do it going in, or have it as a vo coming out. It can make the story look larger and also help with pacing so that you're not stuck with some gigantic pkg that brings the show to a grinding halt.

LinkedIn: Myspace for Adults

I don't know if you're signed up for LinkedIn, but it's worth checking out. LinkedIn is a social networking site, but it's all business. It's sort of like "My Space" for adults. You can put as much or as little information up as you like. I have my current company, former jobs, plus websites that are important to me. Once you have a profile (no pics), you can then search for people to add as contacts. Or you can send emails to people to invite them to join.

For people just starting out, it's a great way to network. It's not threatening to send an invite receive one. And people are only there for one thing- networking. For people who've been in the business a while, it's great for getting back in touch. I've also been able to contact sources through LinkedIn. Finally, you can pose questions for other members to answer and/or answer questions others have posed. Cool stuff! http://www.linkedin.com/

Time is Not on Your Side

Timing a show is tough. You get thirty minutes or an hour whether there's news or not. And you have to be out exactly on time, not a second earlier or later. Unfortunately, not everyone in your show is concerned about being off on time. In fact, it's probably fair to say no one is.



Let's start with reporters. Insist they stick to the time you give them unless it's approved ahead of time. Make sure you let them know you're willing to give them extra, as long as they get to you early (breaking news obviously has different rules). Make them give you something for that time. Is the mother crying? Flames? Or just more blah, blah, blah? As you work with reporters, you'll get a sense of which ones will make it worth your while and which ones are just too in love with their copy to cut it. If they dump it in your lap and say "I just don't know where to cut," give an evil grin and work your magic.



A lot of times, when someone's writing, they're just too close to the subject to see what can easily be jettisoned. That's why it's always easier to edit than write. But over the years, I've noticed a couple places where you can look for easy cuts. I've heard the advice, tell them what you're going to say before you say it. When it comes to bites, that's baloney. Often the line right before a bite can be cut without losing anything and often, it adds more script to lose the line. Also, I've noticed, towards the end of packages, people start to wander. There will be a real obvious end point and then they just go on for another track or two. Get the red marker out and whack it!



Scripts are one thing. Weather and sports are another. Again, setting guidlines ahead of time can help. Go to the weather guy early and say-- what's it look like? What do you need? Should I put you in the first block? Do you need extra? Getting into this habit avoids suprises. Ask them what kind of cues they need. Some weather guys are amazing-- you don't have to cue them at all and they'll do 2:30 everytime. With others, it doesn't matter what you do and they'll go over. If you have to work with the latter on a regular basis, I feel for you. Time their segments so that you can bring it to their attention after the show. Bring the stopwatch with you.



"2:54? 2:54? I don't give my mother 2:54! You're killing me! I asked you before the show if 2:30 was enough and you said that was fine."



Same thing with sports. Go to them ahead of time and ask if it's a big sports day or not. Be willing to give extra if they need it, but not at the last minute and not at the expense of your show. I used to work with a very talented sports producer who was always over. Eventually we got into a routine so that in the break before sports I'd ask, "If you go heavy, what are you killing?" That way it was no big deal when, suprise, suprise, he was heavy and we killed a page. He knew what was going to be killed and so did the director.



Always leave youself outs. Some producers hide time in their show. I might stuff a little into the goodbye or tosses back, but I found I'd lean on it to the point where it wasn't worthwhile. Kind of like setting your clocks ahead so you're on time, but you always know you have an extra five minutes.



I ended up having a couple stories I called "killables." It's stuff you don't tease that you can kill if you get in a jam. Maybe it's an extra story besides the kicker. Maybe it's a post sports or post weather story. I call it insurance. Ideally, I'd like to have about a minute and a half of these. That way, if all goes well, they live. But ff you have breaking news, or extra anything- you don't have to have a heart attack about where to collapse your show.

Google: Making your job easier

I just found out a couple things I want to pass along. The first is called a "reader" page. There are several of them, but I'm use Google's. You just go to google.com and search under "more" for "reader."



A reader page is fantastic. As a producer or reporter, you probably start your day cruising several different websites, looking for stories or info around the region. The reader page allows the websites to send info to you, so that you can look at it in one spot. It's easy. You sign up and then browse for subscriptions. So say you reader the "Dallas Morning News" everyday. You can sign up for that. Say you do a lot of stories on NASA. You can sign up for subscriptions about NASA. Say you can't figure out what to make for dinner each night. You can sign up for recipes too.



Another thing that Google has is "alerts." You're basically signing up for a google search, and they email you the results immediately, daily, or weekly. So say you cover the school or crime beat. You might enter in "ABC School District" or "Small Town Police Department." Anytime something hits the web with these terms, you can be notified, as often or as little as you like. I'm signed up for "immigration," "border," "Nasa" and "New Orleans."



It's also really useful in the field in conjunction with a blackberry. Say I'm sent to cover Hurricane Humberto. I sign up for an "as-it-happens" google alert for "Humberto" and I get the latest info emailed to me. There is also a way to link your alerts to your reader page, but I haven't figured that one out yet.



((I learned about all this stuff on a great website which I encourage you to check out: www.j-learning.org There's an article called "Journalism 2.0." There's also a super blog.))

Take me home with you!

How many times have you been sent to cover a school/city council meeting or maybe a rally or protest? Most of them fall under the category of "boring, but important." How do you make the story interesting enough for your viewer to sit through? I say- go home with someone! Find someone interesting in the crowd and pin the story on them.

The top of a school meeting pkg could look like this:
Nats of Suzie in the kitchen baking cookies with her kids.
"Suzie Q. worries about her children. She has three of them. She's upset they may have to walk an extra mile if the school district changes the bus route.
SOT-'My youngest is just 6. She can't walk that far!'
Nats school meeting.
"That's why Suzie Q. and dozens of other parents showed up here..."

Here's another, real life example. We went to a rally where folks were upset about people's heat being turned off. Important story, but there were only ten people there holding candles and saying prayers. It was the middle of winter. There was this one guy at the rally who had actually had his heat turned off. We asked to go home with him. The temperature inside his home was only about ten degrees higher than what it was outside. You could see your breath inside his house. And he was living like this. He had a months to go before Spring. It was moving, both for me personally and in the story we ended up writing.

There are always real people who are impacted by the stories you cover. The trick is to find someone directly connected and tell their story. Viewers can then connect through that one person.

And really, this works for just about any story. If you find one good person, one character who can really tell their story, your story will practically tell itself.

When a tease is not a tease

I see something all the time that drives me nuts. It's when a story is teased-- big buildup, blah, blah, blah-- only to have the video in the tease give it away.



For example:



"...We'll tell you which company is going to start testing its toys..."

(I'm guessing it's Disney since I'm seeing video with tons of Disney toys.)



"One airline is upping its fares. We'll tell you which one, coming up."

(Hmm, judging from all the Southwest planes I'm seeing, maybe it's... Southwest?)



How does this happen? Are producers not looking at their video? In the age of desktop video systems-- not cool!!! Takes two seconds to check! Or do editors not have a script? Maybe they have one without instructions so they just cut whatever? Take a script back for every tease and don't assume editors know what to cut. They probably have a million things to cut and may just zone out. That's no excuses-- and worth a follow-up conversation-- but it also helps if you put some instructions on the script, especially when you want something special. Like big red letters that say-- don't show Disney toys!!! Don't show closeups of Southwest planes!!



With the Disney tease, instead of using Disney products, you could use file of the other products where lead was found and say something like "Lots of parents are worried about the lead being found on some toys from China. Hear how one company plans to make your kids toys safer..." With the Southwest story, you could just use file of the airport for the tease.



Don't be afraid to use a completely different video source for the tease, video that never makes the actually story.



Which brings me to another pet peeve-- editors who use the first three shots of the story for the tease. If you see this, bring it up to the editor immediately after the show!

Talking turkey

A friend called me for advice about asking for a raise. In TV, of course, the easiest way to get a raise is to have a job offer elsewhere. In fact, the biggest raises I've gotten have been when I've jumped ship. That said, it certainly doesn't hurt to ask for more money at your current job.

Prior to going into the boss man's office, it helps to sit down and assess your value to the company. Generally, companies don't give you more money because they're nice. They give you more money because they think you add to the bottom line and they don't want to lose you. Has your job changed or have more duties been added? Have you started some new programs or done things on your own that have benefited the company? Sit down and make a list of everything you do. You can bring in the list or not, but I am a big fan of props. I like to bring in a sheet of paper or maybe a tape of my work to say, look, here's what I've done for you. You can also do this for your normal yearly reviews. ((If you don't have one-- schedule one. They handy ways of getting RARE feedback.))

Make an appointment to speak with your boss. Don't just grab him or her in the hallway. Make the appointment for a time when he'll be most receptive. Is your boss happy in the morning but seems to get progressively more cranky during the day? Is your boss overstressed the minute he gets in but mellows when he's watching the show? Book your five minute appointment for whenever he seems happiest. It also helps to talk with a coworker who knows your boss well to see what approach might work best.

You have nothing to lose by asking for a raise. When I was a writer in college, one of our fellow writers marched in to the news director and demanded one. The writer said he could make more money at his old job at the Cracker Barrel. He told the news director as much. The writer came out with a raise. The rest of us were fuming. Why did he get more money and we didn't? It's because he asked. And also because he was willing to walk if he didn't get what he deserved.

One final note. This website might be helpful in your negotiations. It's RTNDF's annual salary survey:
http://www.rtnda.org/pages/research.php

Producers: Grow your Own!

Writers are the great neglected workhorses of the newsroom. They work like dogs, have their stuff changed by producers, then EPs, then anchors-- and for what? Usually less than what they could make waiting tables. But among your writers could be the next great producer! How can you help? For starters, try explaining why you blew out their script. I know, difficult to do for the average overworked producer. It's much easier to change a script than to explain to a writer what you changed or even to have them rewrite it. But here's a compromise. Once a week, print out their original script. Then print out your final. Save both and talk to them at the end of the day or the first five or ten minutes of the next. Take time to show them what you changed and why. Also point out what they do great.

Do you even know what your writer wants to be? Sure, lots want to be reporters, but there might even be a budding producer in there. A former boss of mine said something like, it's easier to promote you if you can find your own replacement. Grow your replacement. If you have a writer who wants to produce, and you have confidence in them, give them more responsibility and talk them up to the powers that be. If you're training them to take your show, have them shadow you one day, then let them do it themselves the next, with you there waiting in the wings, just in case.

Great Expectations

People, generally, aren't idiots. But they're also not mind readers. The clearest way to help someone do their job well is to clarify what you expect. If needed, and esepcially with people who are new on the job or new to working with your organization, walk them through a time line of exactly how you'd do their job. Be clear to the point of absurdity, even when you think-- of course they must already know this. You know much more than you give yourself credit for and not everyone is familiar with the short hand it's taken you years to accumulate. Sometimes it's as easy as asking a couple questions, "Did you want me to do xyz or did you want to do that?"

It's so easy to assume people know what you want. It's easier to actually get what you want if you're specific.

Let Your Fingers Do the Walking

If you ever put a phone number in your show and I don't think you should (more later), please do yourself a favor and call the number first. And I don't mean call it from the press release or from the website where you found it, I mean put it in your script and dial the number that's in your script. People make mistakes. It might be the person who wrote the press release. It could be you who transposed a couple numbers. In any case, nothing frustrates viewers more than actually have made the effort to call, only to find out the number you gave them is wrong.

True story. A producer friend of mine had a phone number in their show. They did not call it prior to the story airing. I think the number was supposed to be... if you want to help, call XYZ. Instead, the number connected to a phone sex line. Suprise, suprise, suprise! Many of our station's viewers looked up our number to express their displeasure.

Better yet, dump numbers entirely. I don't think they have a place in your show. Who sits and watches tv with a pen? Do you? Better to drive to the web, as in, "If you want to help, we have that info on our website." Or, create a station hotline so that it's the only number viewers see throughout the show. Repeat the number frequently and update the hotline throughout the day.

Finally, the same goes for websites. Check out the website before you let the address air. And again, I think it makes more sense to drive traffic to your station's website, especially if the web address is even a little complicated.

The Coming Apocalypse

I hate the term "white stuff." It's o.k. to say "snow" four times in your script because that's what it is. You needn't be cute about it. As a show producer, if I ever saw "white stuff" anywhere in the scripts, I'd strike it out and rant at the writer who wrote it. One of my arguments ran like this, "Have you ever, ever in your life heard someone actually say 'white stuff?' No you have not! Because people don't actually talk like that! So don't put it in your script!" Then I'd run off in a rage and drink another Mountain Dew.

Here's how I know the Apolcalypse is coming. The other day I was on a plane and struck up a conversation with the guy next to me. I told him I had moved from Philadelphia to Dallas. He said, "I bet you sure don't miss the white stuff, do you?" AHHHHHHHH!

Don't Keep Your Mouth Shut

Difficult discussions are tough but not having them makes it worse. An example. When I worked as a show producer, there was a reporter who always came in late. Given that I was coming in early, eating lunch as my desk and getting paged during bathroom breaks, watching this person stroll in later and later every day made me hot under the collar. But did I say anything? You bet I did not. I kept my mouth shut and let it build day after day. Then, one day, we needed the reporter to get out on a story right after they got in the door. Instead, they sat down at their desk and started surfing the net. The conversation that followed went something like this:

Me: What are you doing?! You need get out the door.
Reporter: Hello? It's a little thing I like to call research.

And here is where all those weeks of biting my tongue came to bite me in the a^&.

Me: Perhaps we could have done our research if we had decided to show up to work on time. Now, I need you to head out the door.

It was completely inappropriate and I caught hell for it later. Deservedly. Sitting in my boss' office, I still didn't get it.

Boss: So you were upset about the reporter being late.
Me: Yes!
Boss: Did you ever tell the reporter that this was a problem?
Me: I have to tell somebody they're supposed to show up to work on time!?!? Come on!
Boss: If you've allowed the behavior to go on without saying anything, you've created an atmosphere that says it's ok. Then today, suddenly it's not?

I got it. It was an excellent lesson for me to learn. If you have an issue, any issue, whether it's with someone you supervise, a co-worker, or someone who supervises you, you gotta say something. The first day I saw this reporter stroll in late, I should have pulled them aside and said, "I expect you to be here at XYZ time." No big deal.

Ditto with show issues. I find group post-show discussions counter-productive. It's much better to talk with the key person or persons involved, separately, and say "Hey, what happened with XYZ?" and not "Why did you screw up my beautiful show? I was going to send that one out on my resume tape!"

It's hard, but try not to come to these discussions with emotion or judgement. You could be dead wrong about what you think happened. When you listen to what someone has to say, actually hear them. DO NOT EVER have these kinds of conversations when you are ticked. It will be a pointless exercise. It is absolutely ok to put off these talks until you are calm. You can say something like, "I'd love to talk with you about this, but not right now. How about tomorrow, at such and such time?"

It's hard to bring up issues. It can be agonizing to anticipate these discussions and uncomfortable to actual have them. I think women, in particular, swallow their anger and don't say anything. That doesn't help you and it doesn't give the other person a chance to explain and/or correct their behaviour. Most people want to do a good job. If you never tell them something is wrong, you deny them the full opportunity to work well with you.

In Love with the Sound of Your Own Voice

So I've be rereading a couple of my old posts and it's been pretty discouraging. Spelling errors! Whole words missing! From a former show producer! What kind of hack am I? A hypocritical one, apparently. Because despite urging everyone to read and reread their copy over and over, I am neglecting to do so.

My favorite admonition? When you finally think your script is finished, read it aloud. Your ears will catch mistakes your eyes will not. Am I doing this myself with every post? No, given the number of mistakes I've caught in my little blog here. Do what I say and not what I do. Be in love with the sound of your own voice and read your copy, one last time, aloud, before you press the save button.

Location, location, location

Ahwatukee, Blue Ash, Matlacha. Chances are, unless you've lived near these places like I have, you have no idea where they are. So why as producers and writers do we assume viewers have knowledge they do not have? In writing about the latest flood, triple shooting, etc., we in news have a tendency to just say the place name without giving people a sense of where it is. Here's a conversation I've had plenty of times over the years.

Me: Hey, on that national story you wrote, where is XYZ, anyway?
Writer: Um, New Jersey.
Me: Jersey's a big state. Can you be more specific?

Take the example of Las Cruces, NM. It does not take long to check mapquest and find out Las Cruces is about 3 hours south of Albuquerque. I know. I timed myself. It took two minutes. But adding a little line to your copy that says, "Las Cruces, which is three hours South of Albuquerque," really adds a level of understanding for the viewer. It takes only a little extra copy time. In this case, adding that line takes exactly three seconds. I know. I timed it.

By the way, Ahwatukee, is a neigborhood South of downtown Phoenix. Blue Ash is about 15 minutes North of Cincinnati. And Matlacha is near Ft. Myers in Southwest Florida.

Depends on what the meaning of "is" is

Lately, I have been frothed up over the sorry state of the verb "to be." Many newscasts are omitting it and I'm having a difficult time understanding why.

Example:
"Hurricane Dean is barreling toward the coast."
becomes...
"Hurricane Dean barreling toward the coast."

The latter is not a sentence, it's a headline and has no place in television news. I hear this "is" omission more and more often and it drives me to drink. I think producers and writers who do this must think it makes their copy more punchy and colloquial.

Here's why they're wrong:

1. Nobody talks in headlines. "Mom! Frederick racing to the airport!" Absurd.
2. Do you really gain that much by dropping one little word? But what you lose is grammatical accuracy, which is already a rare find in TV news.

Perhaps the people who do this are confusing this type of writing with active voice.
A refresher:
Active- "Rescue crews are rushing patients to the hospital."
Not Active- "Patients are being rushed to the hospital by rescue crews."
Just plain bad- "Rescue crews rushing patients to the hospital."

My Right to Tease Supercedes Your Right to Exist

There's a tough-in-cheek phrase people use in news-- don't let the facts get in the way of a good story. You could modify that and say-- don't let the facts get in the way of a good tease. You know the situation. A reporter calls back and says something like, "This is a dumpster fire with a house about a football field away," only to hear it teased later as, "There's fire raging on the West side. Could homes be at risk?"



While everyone loves a good solid tease, and it can help pull viewers through your show or into it, you do viewers a disservice when you overhype a story. Because as much as you'd like there to be a raging fire on the West side, there isn't, and when you toss to your reporter, he or she is going to say so going to say so and your viewers are going to feel ripped off. Or worse, they don't see even your story and come away with an inaccurate perception of what happened.



Producers: when field crews object to your teases or intros, you may feel like they are parsing words, but it is they who will feel the effects of an inaccurate or overhyped tease. In the fire on the West side example, the fire chief will not complain to you about the tease, it will be the reporter who hears it and looks like the idiot. That's why they're so sensitive about teasing. Backing off or softening up a tease when a reporter asks you to not only makes your newscast more accurate, it's throws goodwill in the bank with your reporter, so that in a situation where you do overrule him, he will have confidence that you actually heard him and may feel better about the decision making process, even if he disagrees with the outcome.

There's another problem with teases-- no, or not enough, payoff. Apparently, I am a pretty good tease writer. So good that I got drilled by a news director for it. He had stayed up to watch a story I had been teasing all night. The story was accurate and interesting-- and all of :20 long. You may want to spend as much time on the actual story as you do teasing it. I could have easily made the story longer, or added a sot, or even had a reporter front it from the newsroom to make it feel a little larger-- and less like the throw-away it was, however well teased.

I am reminded of an editorial cartoon by Jim Borgman with the Cincinnati Enquirer. It had several frames, each with an anchor teasing the same story, "Could your socks be killing you? Find out tonight at 11." "Is there something deadly lurking in your sock drawer? We'll tell you tonight." Then in the final panel, when the story airs, the anchor says, "Are your socks deadly? .....No."

((Credit to WLW's Bill Cunningham for the title of this article. On his radio show, he uses the phrase, "Our need to know supercedes your right to exist."))

The Art of the Handshake

When I was 20 years old, a sort of jerky Executive Producer with whom I worked did me a great favor. When I shook his hand, he slapped it away and told me my handshake was too wimpy. I imagine the handshake I gave him was a bit like the ones I have received since, from a variety of people- interns to professionals. Mostly women. Their hand just sits there, limply. It says, I have no confidence, feel free to roll right over me. It is not appealing to shake a hand like this. In fact, during an interview on this subject, a business etiquette expert, Pamela Holland (author of, "Help! What That a Career Limiting move?"), told me potential employers put wimpy handshakes above visible tattoos in terms of reasons not to hire you.

The favor the jerky EP did for me was to show me how to give a proper handshake. Connect with your hands, look the guy straight in the eye and give a shake that's firm, but not enough to restrict bloodflow. It will feel really weird at first and you will be self-conscious for a while, but eventually it will become a habit you don't even think about-- until you are on the receiving end of a wimpy handshake.

One final tip-- and I wish I could remember from whom I received it-- when you're circulating at a bar or party, keep your drink in your left hand so when you shake, your shaking hand won't feel cold and clammy.

TV Jokes

Feel free to add yours...

"A photographer, a reporter and a producer are walking along a street. One of them kicks a lamp and out pops a genie. The genie says 'You each get one wish.'
The photographer says, 'I'd like to be on a beach with a bevy of babes.' Poof, he's gone.
The reporter says, 'I'd like to be skiing in the Alps with my boyfriend.' Poof, she's gone.
Then the genie turns to the producer.
The producer says, 'I sure wish you'd get those guys back here. We've got work to do.'"

"How many producers does it take to change a lightbulb?"
-One, but they keep changing it and changing it.

"How many producers does it take to change a lightbulb?"
-I don't know. What do you think?

"How many directors does it take to change a lightbulb?"
-It takes one. I mean three. Take two.

"What's a tv news consultant?"
-He's a guy who knows all the positions but has never had a girlfriend.

Arizona's Family-KTVK, 3TV Phoenix

There are a lot of great people who haved worked at KTVK over the years and this past week, I had the good fortune to see many of them. The occasion was tragic-- we were attending the memorial service of Jim Cox and Scott Bowerbank, the photographer and pilot who died when 3TV's helicopter crashed. As we gathered to remember Jim and Scott, those of us who have moved on from KTVK also remembered our time there.

I think all of us who worked for KTVK feel blessed to have done so, especially in the era when the Lewis family owned the station. It was one of the last of the family owned stations. When you needed something, you didn't send it up the corporate ladder to get it approved, you just went to Del and Jewell's office and asked. If you ran into Del in the elevator, he might tell you about his Cadillac that could get clear to Los Angeles without re-filling. And from time to time on the intercom, you'd hear an all building page-- crates of grapes from the Lewis farm were in shipping. There was also the occasional barbeque in the back lot.

A lot of us either learned our craft or honed it at KTVK. One of our bosses said he liked to hire good people and let them do their thing. A lot of corporate wonks SAY that, but few actually do it. Phrases like, "if you go too far, we'll pull you back," were not uncommon.

In television, perhaps more than any other business, people move. A lot of us have moved on since the Lewis years. Some went to bigger markers, some were rational and left the business. But so many came back for the memorial service. I could barely walk a few feet without running into someone. Others wished they could have made it. It's testimony not just to the two fine men who died last week, but to the family that Del and Jewell Lewis built. I think a lot of us realized it was special when we worked there. I just didn't realize how special it was till I left.

Jim Cox, Photographer 1970-2007

People wonder why I read obituaries and it's because I want to get a sense of the people who died. I figure I didn't know them while they were alive so the least I can do is read about them now that they're gone on.

So I write this knowing that no matter what I say, you'll never get a full sense of who Jim Cox was unless you met him. Many of you might know him now as one of the people who died when two television news helicopters crashed into each other in Phoenix. But of course he was much more than the tragic end he met.

It is not enough to say that he was a brilliant photographer. He was. He was scary good. You could tell a Jim Cox liveshot just by looking at it-- the reporter would be lit up like a Christmas tree. It was almost as if they were chroma-keyed. And I'm not exaggerating to say that there was never a time when I went out with him on a shoot that I didn't come back with something on the tape that was extraordinary-- a special shot, a way of looking at things, something suprising.

But he also had the biggest heart. He was so kind. When he fell in love, he fell hard and fast. He jumped right in, and I remember urging him not to. I said, Jim, slow down a bit. No dice. He told me- that's who I am. He was all in.

With his life or his work, he put his whole heart into things. He was passionate about news and stories. If you work in news, there's a phrase for it-- to be blunt-- he was balls to the wall. If it was happening, he was on it and there was no other person you'd want with you in a breaking news situation.

He was handy. He had bought an adorable bungalow in an historic district in Phoenix and re-did the house all himself. Then, if that weren't enough, he built an addition. He was going to sell the house. Jim was going to learn how to fly helicopters.

It's fair to say he died doing what he loved. But he has left us, in shock, grasping for words, trying to piece together our memories, and wishing we had had more time with him.

Quick I-News Tip: Control T

I have just learned what "Control T" does and it is fabulous.

Control T puts the current time in your script, like so- 09:18:03. There's your incue. Presser guy says something else, blah, blah blah. Control T again and boom- 09:18:10- you have an out.

Fantastic! The next time you have to log a long, boring press conference as it happens, just have whoever is rolling on it set the timecode to the current time.

Queen of the 3 Question Interview

One thing I've noticed about people just starting out is that they ask a lot of questions in their interviews. Too many questions. When they go back to log, they have an hour and a half of tape to look through. Too much! Especially when you are on deadline! Most of us are not producing documentaries. If you do a 15 minute interview, or even a ten minute one, how much of that are you actually going to use in a minute and a half piece? Maybe 15-30 seconds, tops. So go easy on yourself and only ask a handful of questions. The best ones are the ones where your question is actually shorter than your interviewer's answer. Obviously make them opened ended. I like really broad generic questions to start. Here are my favorites:

What happened?
Tell me about...
What where you thinking? (This is the more polite version of "What were you feeling?") Or, what do you think about all this?
What happens next?

There are some notable exceptions to the short interview rule. One is if you have an emotional or exceptionally nervous interview and you need to ask a lot of questions just to get them comfortable and forgetting the camera. You may need to reask questions toward the end to get what you need.

The second is somebody important. It feels sort of wham-bam-thank-you ma'am if you are interviewing a heavy hitter and you only ask a couple questions-- especially if that person has blocked away a chunk of time for your interview.

The third exception is if your photographer has set up a lot of lights. There again, it feels sort of weird to have an interview last shorter than the time it took him or her to set up the lights. But for your average local politician, cop or mos, a couple questions will be just fine.

There is a time when you want to ask a ton of questions. Off camera. Before you get to the interview-- when you're setting it up, ask a million and take some notes. Also, before and after your interview, ask questions to make sure you have a full sense of the story. But you don't need to use the camera as an electronic notebook.

Front-End Discussions: Good for Producers & Reporters

One of the most annoying things for a producer is to be about an hour from a show, reviewing a script and having the horrifying realization: This script has no relation to the story that was pitched in the meeting or to the story I've been teasing all night. ACK! With no time, and lots of other show issues demanding your attention, it's hard to salvage the piece- and you want to strangle the reporter. Fortunately, there's a solution. And it's called "front end discussions." Meaning check in your your reporters every once in a while. I know you're busy and have a million things to do, but there's no replacement for direct contact with your reporters.

Front-end discussion #1:
Producer: Hey, what 'cha got?
Reporter: Well, we have this guy and that broll.
Producer: Ok, that sounds good. Let me know if anything changes. I've got you in for 1:20 in the first block.

Front-end discussion #2:
Producer: Hey, what 'cha got?
Reporter: Well, we have this guy and that broll.
Producer: Wow. That doesn't sound anything like what we talked about in the meeting.
Reporter: We got out here and things changed.

Discussion #2 is much easier to have at 4 hours before showtime than 1 hour before showtime. As a producer, be open to what your crews tell you about the story. Nothing is more for frustrating for field crews than to be ignored. An example:

Producer: It's raining cats and dogs on the West side!
Reporter: Well, we're here in the West side and it's bone dry.
Producer: But the weather guy says it's pouring!
Reporter: I'm here and I'm telling you, there's not a cloud in the sky.

That said, we all know reporters who wouldn't know a good story if it sat on them. They will need special attention and a lot of firm hand holding. You may think, gee, this is not my job. A reporter in this size market should be able to do this without my help. You re wrong. It is your job because it is your show. Anything you can do to make your show better is your job. They may be two minutes of your show and 90% of your headaches, but there you are. That's why you get paid the big bucks (note sarcasm).

Front-end discussions are also good for reporters. Reporters! If you producer doesn't check in with you and then rages when your story has changed, cut them off at the pass. Call them. Say, "I know you were expecting a raging fire at the nursing home but we got here and it's just a trash can fire. So it's probably not your lead." A conversation like this may be difficult, and your producer may not want to hear it, but it will save you both heartburn in the end. Also think about calling in with good news, as in, "Hey, we went to this fire and we have GREAT STUFF!" There's some great sot you could probably use in a tease. I also shot a standup you can use in the open." You will have a friend forever.

Pkg Advice

I've written a million pkgs. Here's what I've learned:

-Write intro, pkg, tag. In that order. If you write the pkg first, you end up giving your anchors nothing to say.
-Get to it already. The intro should be quick- like a paragraph long. It should say exactly what the story's about. Don't "save" anything for the pkg or "build up to it." Any longer than a graph and you some video, but I say, unless it's a big story or something special, just get to the reporter or pkg.
-Best video first. Always. Just don't "save" your video. Your viewer will be gone by the time you get to it. In fact, if it's great video, use it a couple times.
-No SOTS off the top. Unless somebody's bawling, a sot is not a great way to start a pkg. Nats is a good place to start.
-Use NATS like SOTS. When logging tape, I log NATS like sots. For example, 1:02:34-1:02:36 lawnmower NATS. Use NATS early and often. Don't leave it to your photog/editor to put it. I also like to use NATS to transition from one place to another in a pkg.
-Short SOTS, good: Micro SOTS, bad. Lately, I've been seeing pkgs with soundbites that are so quick you don't have a chance to connect with the person being interviewed. I'm sure some consultant sent out a memo that said: no SOTS over :05 or something like that. What ends up happening is that you have a collection of five second SOTS and inordinately long tracks. I guarantee you your interview said it better than you can. You should aim for an even mix of SOTS and track, but generally, I don't like to go more than a sentence or two without breaking for NATS or SOT. Think pacing.
-Hook into one person. You don't have to do this always, but sometimes it's nice to find one character who is really good and hood the story through them.
-People first, experts second. Experts are nice, but find some people to put in your story. They're usually a better soundbite. Take your story and find who is being impacted by it. That's your people sound. Start with it first.
-Use graphics only when you don't have good video. Graphics can be a pkg killer. You don't want to put many if any numbers in your story, but that would be a time to use a graphic as well. "15 million people voted, " for example.
-Tag should wrap it up, take it to the next step. For example: "They're voting on this next Friday." Or, "The plan costs 5 million dollars."
-Take time out. When you're done with your script and it's 1:30, make it 1:20. If it's slotted for 1:20, make it 1:10. Any script can improve by being shortened because we are all in love with our own voices and tend to be verbose. If you make a habit of shortening here and there, you strengthen your script. A good place to start is the line before a bite. It almost always can be jettisoned.

Sample FAKE story.
Anchor Intro- "Fire investigators are trying to find out what caused a fire that killed four people on the East side. Reporter Shanna Showusall has more."

Take pkg.

NATS-Firetruck sirens. Amazing blazing video.

The fire started this morning.
Susan Senior had just put on her morning coffee.

(Witness:"I looked up from the stove and I like to have died when I saw the flames just shooting up outside my window.")

Senior got out ok, four or her neighbors in the Burning Run Apt Complex did not.
A family of four was found inside their apartment on the second floor.

(Fire Investigator:"When we got here, the complex was fully engulfed. We tried to put the fire out, but unfortunately, it was too late.")

Now fire investigators are trying to find out what caused the fire. People living in the complex say they've been have electrical problems lately, but there's no word on whether that played a part.

NATS-Picking through belongings.

Residents like Senior now must try to pick through their belongings and find a new place to live, a task that won't be easy.

(Witness:"I don't know where I'll go. I've lived her for 20 years. But I'm alive. That's the main thing. Thank God almighty, I'm alive.")

ANchor TAG: Right now, fire investigators are not releasing the names or ages of the victims. The Red Cross says it will offer help to the people who lived at the complex.

Random script advice

Each producer has his or her take on scripts. Here's mine...

Vos- no longer that :20
Vosots-no longer than :45
Pkg-no longer than 1:20 without prior approval
Minipkgs-(a clean way to put together a teasable national story. Anchor voices) no longer than a minute.

Sample VOSOT:
Anchor/on cam for a graph
Then next graph or two under video.
Sot :05-:15
Back to video or on cam for tag.
Pacing is everything.

Write like you're talking to your Mom. We're natural story tellers. When you talk to someone, you automatically put the most interesting thing first. Hey Mom, did you hear about the guy who... blah blah blah. But for some reason when we write, we have a tendency to muddle it up and make things a lot more difficult than they need to be.

Write to video. With desktop editing systems, it makes it a whole lot easier to look at it. Your show and your scripts will improve dramatically if you keep your video in mind. That said, I'm not a huge fan of shot-for-shot editing instructions. But if you're writing "take a look at this blue car," it might make some sense to throw in a time code for the shot.

No lip flap! (Meaning, don't use a soundbite as broll. It's extremely annoying. And lazy.)

No mindless file! If you use file, reference it. "This is Mariah Carey the last time she was in town..." or, "City council first took up this issue at their last meeting. This is video from that meeting..."

Empower writers to "produce" each script. Tell them to let you know if there's great NATS or SOT that needs to be added. Or if something needs to be dropped.

Only producers make graphics. It will give your show a consistent look and feel. And on the point of graphics, they should say EXACTLY what is in your script. So if you write, "...about 2/3 thirds of people like ice cream," the graphic should reflect that. It's a pain to read one thing and hear another. Also, try to keep graphics slim. Don't stuff everything on one page when two would look better.

Last thing before you print- reread each script aloud. Your ears will catch mistakes your eyes miss.

Contracts: Good for producers?

Are contracts a good deal for producers? I say no way. I have never signed a contract, nor will I. A contract for anchors and reporters is one thing-- they can actually negotiate pay, clothing allowance, etc. For producers, it's just a way to keep us in one place-- and you're generally not getting more money in the bargain. Contracts for producers I think got popular because there's such big turnover. And with good reason. Producers, even bad ones, are hard to find. Hire a good producer and they're likely to get offers to produce in bigger markets or they get promoted into management either at their own or another station.

My take? Don't sign a producer contract. Or at least, never sign anything more than one or two years! You're worth is based on your ability to pick up and leave. It is the only negotiating power you have.

Backtime your show, backtime your life!

This blog is named after a practice I adopted when I was line producer.
Each time I'd learn a new show, I'd create a list and backtime my tasks so that I'd get everything done in time. I'd use the list until it became habit. It's been a while, but here's what one looked like:

130p Check wires/feeds
2pm Meeting
3pm Create rundown
4pm Assign stories to writers. Put web copy/video source in script. Remind writers that they are the producers of their stories. If the story needs and bite and there isn't one, let me know. If there's one there and it's lame, we can zap it.
5pm Write teasable stories/stuff not likely to change. Also pieces anchors can voice before lunch.
8pm Graphics list done
9pm Write pre-produced open/have it voiced.
930p Write teases/recheck wires to changes that might impact scripts.
10pm Print rundown and scripts. Anchors should have looked at scripts by now and made their changes.
1045p Go to editing/make sure lead pkg/other stories are in.
1050p In booth. Have backup plan if lead is in trouble. Communicate backup plan to director/anchors. Then if lead bombs, everyone knows what to do.
11p Showtime

You get the idea. The time's on these were best case scenerio. Obviously, I didn't print scripts every night at 10pm, but that's at least what I'd be shooting for. I'm a big believer as a producer that you should get stuff done early. Your job impacts every one else's. Getting scripts back early gives editors a chance to do their best work, etc. Also, getting things done early means when you do have to fly by the seat of your pants, your crew is more willing to wing it with you.

Producing: Good career move?

Show producing at a local level is an excellent career move. Do a quick survey to prove my point. If you're still in school, ask your colleagues how many of them want to become producers. Probably all of them want to be anchors or reporters. At least that's been my experience with interns at the local television stations where I work. Here's how that translates in the job market: for every reporting opening, news directors get stacks and stacks of tapes. For every producer opening? Maybe 3 or 4. And probably only one of those is actually qualified for the job- the rest are a shot in the dark. That's why many tv stations are "growing their own" producers, meaning you start as a writer and work your way into producing. Producers are also a pipeline into management-- and trust me, it doesn't take long.

Even if you want to be a reporter, getting some producer skills can't hurt. There are plenty of small market postings where they need a producer but they're willing to give you some tv time to fill the position. So you may produce a couple days a week and then report the rest.