Mantra for Many Newsrooms: Do More with Less

How frightening is it that more and more newsrooms are being asked to do more-- a lot more-- with a lot less? I feel for you producers and crews who are stuck holding the bag after someone higher up the food chain decided to magically add an extra half hour without adding any extra resources. That said, unless you have just received a good job offer elsewhere, you'll need to suck it up and move on.

Try to have the attitude- this really sucks, but how can I make it work? Time to open up your creative thinking. Talk to as many people who make the product as you can. Talk to people outside your market. I've found if you pose a general question or goal to people, and leave it wide open, they can often offer up solutions you'd never come up with on your own.

That is your goal. Find solutions to make your show look better and your team feel better. The muckety-mucks upstairs aren't going to be hit on the head and suddenly change their minds, so you have to figure out how to live with it. The solutions you come up with will probably not be ideal-- but it's just like losing your lead off the top of the show-- you have to do something. What's the least bad option?

People in the newsroom are probably ticked off. There is a temptation in situations like these to echo those concerns to management. Resist the urge to do this. It's a losing position for you to be in and quite frankly, your immediate managers may not be in the position to help anyway-- they may be just delivering the bad news.

If you have concerns of your own that you need addressed, always be sure to bring them up along with a solution you have in mind. Never go in just to complain.

Bad:
"Director Bob! How am I supposed to fill another half hour? Are you out of your mind? I can barely fill the time I have already! And you're not even giving me another writer?"

Better:
"Director Bob! I am excited about the expansion of the new show. It brings up a new set of challenges that I think will really help me grow as a producer. I have some ideas for new segments that I'd like to bounce off you. For example, I've talked to the local newspaper movie review guy and he'd be willing to come in as a guest every Thursday. Also, I've talked with Suzy on the desk. She's always wanted to be a writer and is willing to write for me on Wednesdays-- that's the day we have two people on the desk at night. Would that work?"

If you get shot down, don't despair. I find it helpful to follow up with "Oh, ok, do you have some ideas that might work?"

Timing is everything when it comes to talking to the boss. If you're having a major discussion, schedule a meeting. Try to figure out his or her best time. Does he seem slammed in the mornings? Does she seem most at ease after lunch? Notice their best time of day and schedule accordingly.

Understand that news directors get problems dumped on their desk everyday, so if you can come in with a problem you've already figured out how to solve, you're more likely to get buy in and a better solution than if you just came in with a problem.