Lead? What Lead?

I received an email from a producer concerned about a new nightside gig where it seemed like producers, not reporters, were expected to come up with the lead every night. It's always easier for someone in the field to come up with good story ideas... but that said, it takes a village, and sometimes producers have a better-- big picture sense-- than field crews. By nighttime... the day's news has unfolded and there's generally something obvious. It's how you treat that lead that can really make a difference. Are you just phoning it in and tossing to a reporter pkg or are you thinking of interesting /creative ways to showcase your first story? In terms of staying on top of news, I think the easiest way is twitter lists. I have a list for every area I cover and I put papers, TV, cop shops, anything from that area on the list. You can do the same in your market. You could do lists by area or by beat or both. You'd be amazed the little things you can come up with that might get you through a slow day or even just add a little interesting vo here or there that separates you from the competition. You don't always have to lead with a pkg. Has something intersting happened since the 6pm that can be an anchor vosot-- but with bigger "lead treatment" (graphics, set up etc)? Use it first and then go to the reporter pkg that's been out there all day. Also understand with social media, people have already probably seen your lead so what is your story bringing to the party? Hopefully context... and something fresh. If there's nothing obvious with which to lead... you can always try to localize big national stories. So today there was the shooting near Empire State Building. Can you do a workplace shooting folo locally? Also news from Aurora shooting that you could use to get in or out of it. How about hurricane stuff-- any impact on your area? People headed to RNC convention worried about it etc? Local Red Cross or utilities folks keeping an eye on it? I also like a lead to be a talker-- something that people go-- what, wait, are you kidding me? If you are new to the market, or even if you've been there a while, I think it's good for show producers to check in-- face to face-- with various PIOS around the city. Get a ridealong with cops and fire. Take a lunch with a councilperson's PR guy. Contact the local university public affairs person. When you talk to them, leave it open. Ask them what's important that maybe doesn't grab headlines? What do they find interesting that's outside their area of concern? What's their connection to the city? This is a great way to make contacts but also a good way to give you a sense of the city. It's also nice to call on PIOs when you don't need something RIGHT NOW! Finally, when in doubt, you can always lead with weather. A Little joke. But maybe not.

Crime Leading Your Newscast?

A new study looked at TV newscasts in Los Angeles and found that out of a half-hour, about 8:17 was devoted to local news. And, most often, newscasts led with crime. The study pointed out that while LA is facing a budget crisis, government stories lead the news less than three percent of the time. We all know why that is. Government stories are boring. Crime is easy to cover and easy to report. It usually has compelling video, story lines and victims. That it may not actually impact a whole lot of people usually gets lost in the mad dash to produce newscasts.

I'm not asking you to lead your newscast with local government stories. I'm asking you to look for opptunities to cover stories that will have a real impact on your viewership. There's somebody in your newsroom I'm sure-- there's one in every newswroom-- who's a great story-teller-- the guy or gal who can break down something complicated and make it make sense for the viewer. ALWAYS with government stories (or any story), return to the bottom line for the viewer. What will this decision mean for whoever is watching your newscast? Will it mean higher taxes? Will it mean 4-day work weeks for the city so offices will now be closed on Fridays? When you focus on the impact to your viewer, the story inherently becomes interesting because-- hey, this is going to affect me.

I have nothing against crime stories. They can be interesting even if they impact no one but the people involved. If possible, try to widen the story to include some perspective. Is this particular neighborhood getting hammered by crime lately? Why is that? Did something change? You get the idea. Look for something broader.

Here's the link to study I mentioned:
http://www.learcenter.org/pdf/LANews2010.pdf

Story Idea: Neighborhood Focus

I heard something that I thought might work in some of your markets. NPR had a reporter who was from Richmond, CA, the town where a teenage girl was gang raped at her high school. This reporter has access and insight that others might not have.

Is there an incident in your town that has left everyone scratching their heads? Maybe there's someone in the newsroom who's from that neighborhood who can do the reporting. Maybe it's an anchor who doesn't get to get out much. Maybe it's a photographer. I worked with a guy in Philly who was from one of the worst neighborhoods there. He would go back to schools to encourage kids. I wish I would have thought to suggest to our news managers that he do a piece on his old neighborhood. It would have been compelling and really added a layer of complexity at a time when young people were killing each other in the neighborhood with frightening ease and regularity.

One note of caution-- be very careful with reporter involvement. There's a thin line between "adding something to the story" and... "I am the story."

Labor Day

I am not laboring today but my thoughts and thanks are with those of you who are.

I am thinking about ordinary people's stories. Over the weekend, I heard the radio program "This American Life." They were set up at a rest-stop and just talked with people. They did something similar at an 24 hour diner a few years back. Both came up with some really interesting stories.

Since I am not working today, I have been doing some reading, flipping through a book from Studs Terkel called "Working." He also just went out and talked to people, all kinds of people, butcher, bake, candlestick maker, and asked them about their work.

You could do something similar today. If you have somebody sharp free, send them to a park and ask people what they do. Describe it. What they like about it or dislike about it. You might be able to put together an interesting story for the end of your A block. Or maybe use individual sots as a bump in or out of a segment.

Sometimes it's ordinary people can have the most interesting stories to tell.

Story ideas

The challenge of producing is that you have 30 minutes to fill whether you have 60 minutes of news or 5. On either day, it's good to have a pool of story ideas. Here are some suggestions on how to find them:

=Join twitter and follow users in your area (lots of times by following their tweets, you'll get a sense of what's interesting in your community, even if it's not strictly "hard news").

=Does your station have a good website? What are the most popular stories today or on the local/national newspaper websites? Sometimes that can give you a good sense of what viewers will be interested in...

=Call every police/fire/govt PIO in the area, introduce yourself and tell them to stick you on their email list.

=Check in with each of the big industries in the area- or the area's biggest employers. Get on their contact lists.. check their websites. Just by the mere fact that there are a lot of people employed there means if something happens, it's news... viewers may work there or know someone who does...

=If you're not from the area where you produce, it makes sense to get involved in activities you enjoy... take a class, join a club or neighborhood association, volunteer. Sounds stupid, but the more people in the community you know, the better sense you get of what's important.. you'll also meet people who can send stories your way... even if they're not the lead.

=Small govt agencies are a good place to find stories. Hardly any media ever talk with them so sometimes just visiting can get you good info at the time or down the line.

=Do you have a university in the area? Get in touch with their PR people and get on their list.. read their paper.. etc. Lots of times you can localize national stories by finding local experts at your university.

=National stories are sometimes very easy to localize. Healthcare debate? Check in with local healthcare institution and how it will be impacted. NASA launching next week? Is there a local company who makes a gidget-widget for NASA?

=I used to skip the editorial pages for the comics until I started finding interesting little stories buried in the letters to the editor. Community newspapers often have good stuff too.

=Steal story ideas from magazines, radio, whatever. Cruise other TV station websites (out of market) for ideas you can localize (and show ideas you can use).

But of course, the BEST way to find stories is to get out in the field. I know it's no fun to come in on your day off... but once in a while... volunteer to come in and go out with a photog. Or see if you can get a get-out-of-jail-free-card one day when you're supposed to be producing. A good rule of thumb is for every story you go out on... you come back with at least one story idea.

Story Idea: Recruiting Station Shooting

We're working the shooting that happened at a recruiting station yesterday in Little Rock. Thought of a couple stories that could be easy to turn in any market. One-- how are people at your local recruiting station feeling? Some guy just randomly shows up and starts shooting, allegedly because the two men were in uniform-- it would certainly give me pause if I were working at a recruiting station.

A second idea-- the victims were part of a program called the "Hometown Recruiting Assistance Program". It takes new soldiers and sends them back to their hometowns to help recruit. Generally the soliders are just back from basic-- so it's kind of like-- look how I've changed and grown in just two months. The programs last for two weeks and then the soldiers are off for more training. Might be intestesting to see if there are recruits doing this program in your area.