Driving Traffic to Web

Saw this and thought it was interesting. 60 Minutes had an online test as a component to a story it did about face recognition. Not sure how you'd repeat it, but clearly viewers are willing to go online if you provide something that's interesting enough to be worth their time. Perhaps a bad example-- but I know in my 20s, a lot of my friends (and me too) would do those quizzes from women's magazines-- those "How to know if you and your boyfriend are a good match" things.

Maybe a better way to think about it is when covering a story, or when your crews cover a story, what element or elements doesn't work well for TV but might online? A court document that's pertinent? Photos you couldn't work in? Or what little interesting sidebar doesn't fit in your piece but could online? So maybe for a fire, it's fire safety tips from the local Fire Department or a consumer guide on buying renter's insurance.

Spoiling Your Appetite

Remember when your mom told to not to fill up on a drink or snack before dinner so that you wouldn't spoil your appetite? Similar fine line with intros. We want enough interesting detail to keep people watching but you don't to end up putting everything in the intro and leaving your reporter nothing to report. On the other hand, your intro sets up the story. I remember having an argument with a reporter about him wanting to "save" a key detail for his pkg. But in my opinion, that detail needed to be in intro.

There's no "right" way to do things. I generally used to have pretty quick intros so we could get to the reporters (for pacing) and save big set-up intros for major stories-- or leads. But maybe there's an abundance of good stuff and you want to juice up your intro. I'd let the story drive it. And be sure to be clear with your reporter (early) about what you're doing. Have an open discussion and hear your reporter out. They might have something great that they couldn't use in their piece that you can toss in intro or even a headline or tease.

Interesting Story Structure

I was listening to a radio story on the oil spill a while ago. It had an interesting story structure that you could steal. The reporter in the piece basically structured the story to follow a Presidential visit. So President stops here first, we go back and talk with someone there and then present that part in the story first. It was an unusual way to tell a story and I think really effective in this case.

Here's a transcript if you want to check it out yourself:

http://m.npr.org/news/front/127910091?singlePage=true

Reporter Standups

I just saw a taped reporter standup that was a real missed opportunity. She was walking and talking but not really saying a whole lot. I can guess why this ended up in her pkg. She shot one standup and then when she got to writing, she was stuck with it. She did something bland so she could put it anywhere.

Ideally, a standup could be interchangable with a paragraph in the story. It should be that integrated. Obviously you can't write your story till you actually cover the story, but some are better than others in being able to sketch it out in their head. If you have a reporter who has standups that seem sort of extraneous and tacked on, encourage them to shoot several-- saying several different things. Enourage them to work with their photographer to brainstorm creative standups. Encourage them to call you from the field if they need help (sometimes it's a lot easier for someone not directly involved with the story to come up with something). No shame in asking for help. Everyone has strengths and weaknesses and maybe in this case, the reporter just needs a little assistance getting up to speed in standups.

Think Outside the Meeting

I just saw a story about a community trying to clean up their neighborhood. The neighborhood was "transitional" and had been plagued with trash, graffiti and vagrants. The pkg started with meeting video. Never have a pkg start with meeting video. Unless the parties involved are screaming at each other. Meeting video is death. And why, why, would the reporter start this way when the story is about cleaning up a neighborhood? You could start with shots of trash, spray-painted buildings and then pan up to a woman walking... "This is what Suzie Q sees every morning when she walks to her office on X St." Sot- I Hate it/It's digusting/I've had enough... "That why Suzie and her neighbors are getting together to fight back." Now go to meeting video. Briefly. But get back to the trashy neighborghood as soon as you can. That's where your better story is.

Point is-- every meeting is talking about or debating something. What is that something? Go where the something is and shoot your story. As a producer, have early conversations with your reporter about where they intend to take the story. If aren't planning to shoot anything but the meeting, brainstorm ideas of where else they can go.

In the Business of Communication

I watched a morning newscast the other day where a reporter doing a liveshot (a feature) had obviously not talked it through with his photographer prior to the liveshot. Do you know how I know this? Because the reporter was talking about one thing while the photographer was showing another-- and then had to make a hasty pan to the reporter's subject matter. Don't let this happen in your newscast. It makes both reporter and photographer (and your newscast) look like amateur hour. If you see this happen, have a follow-up conversation with the reporter.

It can sound something like this:

"Hey Bob, would you do me a favor? On your next liveshot, would you run through what you're going to do with Cindy beforehand so she can follow you better? It doesn't have to take a lot of time-- just tell her 'I'm going to talk about this first and then move over here and then do this.'"

If the reporter gives you pushback, pull the showtape and watch it together. Sometimes people don't realize how bad it looks until they see it for themselves.

If the reporter did discuss in advance and the photographer was just off his or her game, then that's another conversation-- you can follow up with the photographer or check in with the chief photographer.

Another way that you can head things off at the pass is talk with liveshots ahead of time. When you're checking reporters in, just ask, "Hey can you run through what you're going to do in your liveshot?" You don't have to do this with everyone-- just reporters you've noticed who seem to have an issue.

This sort of discussion makes all the difference in liveshots, especially feature stories. In breaking news of course, all bets are off, but even then, good reporters let their photogs know where they're going prior to going there.

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

When in Doubt, Roll them Out

I was chatting with a sat truck op the other day and he told me a phrase his old news director used: "When it doubt, roll them out." Meaning, in a spot news situation, if you're not sure you should send someone, send them. You can always pull them back. Now-- don't take this to extremes and send crews to a trash fire on the other side of town because it sorta kinda sounded exciting... but when you get that spidey sense and you think, "Eh, I'm not sure..." send them.

Likewise, if you have big breaking news, send them. Send everyone. There is no such thing as too many of your crews at a major news scene. On major breaking news, you'll always something for people to do. And on the off chance you don't and people are standing around, what's the big deal? Bring them back. What's tragic is being demoralized by the other station that's large and in change and covering every angle while your crews are fighting to get everything done with too few resources.

As a producer on big breaking news, or even when you just have more than one crew on the story, make sure you are in communication with the desk and crews on how to divvy up that story. Most of the time, this is probably as simple as "nuts and bolts" and "sidebar," but the more crews you have, the more chance you run that someone will step on someone's information or crews will use a lot of the same video. You may even repeat some of this stuff in breakout stories or intros in your show. A reporter in the field can't be expected to know what's in the rest of the show. You have to make sure you're communicating with everyone clearly (and early, so people don't waste time tracking down stuff for their package that someone is already covering in theirs).

Sending a reporter out of town

If you are fortunate enough to send a reporter out of town, make sure you maximize that opportunity and let us see standups to prove it. I was watching a mid-market show the other day and they had sent someone to DC. He might as well have stayed home. He did his standup at what looked like a chroma key and there were no cutaways of him anywhere in the video. The only way I knew he was in DC was his tag out. He should have shot ins and outs out on the street... maybe a birdge standup... and gotten cutaways for good measure. Maybe even a standup tease to put in the open? If you're spending the money to send him, might as well get as much as you can out of it.

Being a (ring) Leader in the Newsroom

Unfortunately, you can't force people to respect you. What you can do is be patient, and make the right calls and wait for them to see how good you are. There are ALOT of bad producers out there. If you are only marginally better than the bad ones, your co-workers should thank their lucky stars they get to work with you. Make calls that make sense. Include people in the decision making process. Even when you don't need their opinion, ask for it.

One of the complaints from field crews is that you're at the mercy of someone in an air-conditioned building who has no clue what the story's like. Genuinely listen to your crews. Check your own ego at the door. Figure out who you can trust in terms of judgement. Some reporters just whine because they are lazy and don't really want to cover anything. Others are not trying to be a pain-- they have a legitimate issue and you need to adjust accordingly.

Utilize your anchors, desk folks, reporters, photos-- any smart people in the newsroom. Ask their opinion. Like I say... ASK. Doesn't mean you have to accept. But I'd say, when it's 6 of one, half dozen of the other, who cares? Cave and let them have it. You don't have to rule on everything.

Pick your battles carefully. Stand your ground on important issues. Again, if you are the one who is going to get hammered the next day for making a bad call, you need to be able to defend it. But in the end, you make the call. Period. That's why you're the producer.

If you make a call that's unpopular, you can say something like this:

"I hear what you're saying. I understand you don't like this call. But this is my call and I answer to Mr./Mrs. News Director about it. He/She will let me know if it's the wrong call. Let's do this tonight, and I'm happy to talk with you and the news director about this issue and my decision... tomorrow."

This obviously is a last resort to be used on really big issues only. More often, you need to work with folks, find where there's common ground and move forward.

Front-end coaching helps cut off surprises. Let people know what you expect before they even leave the building. In the meeting, Suzy Reporter is going out to cover a car accident, say, "Ok, what are we thinking we want to get with this? I think we should talk to the woman who was in the car. We should also try to get the police officer who came up on the crash. Is that what you were thinking Suzy?" This kind of conversation, EARLY, brings up issues Suzy may have with the story.

Follow-up is important too. A few hours after Suzy's gone out, check in. Say, "What did you get?" If she doesn't mention the woman and the cop, say "In the meeting, we talked about getting the woman and the cop. Did you get that? No? Go get that." If you have consistent trouble with one person, go to that person when you are calm and set up a time to talk with them.

I think it's important to bring issues to the person directly BEFORE you ever mention it to a manager. They could be completely clueless. I find a good way to start these things is... "How can I make your job easier?" As in, "Suzy, I noticed you miss deadline three times this week. How can we avoid that? How can I help? Are you getting assignments too late? Is there a phone call someone on the desk can make for you?" If you come in from a position of trying to find a solution, you're much better off. Being direct with people (not angry, not rude, but just direct) can help you a lot. Remember, talk about specific incidents, not about generalities. Genuinely look for solutions that start with you.

It also helps to have a trusted friend to review YOUR performance. This maybe your boss or an old boss or a fellow producer. Give them a situation as it happened (don't be defensive) and ask what you could have done better. Do this in situations where you think you nailed it-- and also in ones where you second guess your judgement. Be open to their comments and suggestions.

Throw people a bone sometimes. Reporters will pitch ideas sometimes that are BAD. But they like them. Let them go out on these every once in a while. It's hard to do Chester the Molestor all the time. Giving them a chance to do a story they pitch makes them feel like they have a say in their own destiny. You also may be surprised that the story they go out on is not so bad after all. Same goes for photogs... if a photog busted his/her ass to get you a story, do him/her a favor and put it in your show. The desk will send a photo to cover a fire in East Bejesus and you won't run it. That's frustrating. Throw in a 15 second vo, even if you don't have room.

Provide positive feedback. No one gets enough compliments in this business. Look for opportunities when people do a good job to thank them for it. "Hey, that sunset shot was nice." "Hey, great live shot." "Hey, thanks for the hustle on that garbage can fire. It didn't turn out to be anything, but if it would've been, we would have been all over it."

You are talented. But you are not talented in every area. None of us is. Lean on the talent in your newsroom to learn to be a better producer and journalist.

Thinking Outside the Box

What's a liveshot to you? Is it always toss to a reporter and then a pkg? It's easy to get into a rut in terms of what you expect from each reporter's live shot. If one reporter's got a dull backdrop, fine, take a package. If another reporter is out at a scene that's got stuff going on-- anything going on-- let them show it to you. Maybe they can do a quick (!) interview for you (set parameters in advance-- only ask two or three questions and wrap up quickly if it's dull.)

You may not even want to use video in a liveshot (Wha?!?@?!%?!). For example, if you've got great flaming flames in back of your reporter, show them live. Seems like an obvious point, but more than once I've seen shows go to a tape that is less exciting than what's going on live. It's because somebody's inflexible-- they had it in their head this was going to be a live vosot and it would be that whether it fit the story or not.

Try something new in each show. Don't be afraid to make changes. Be open to ideas from the field. Don't be locked down or you may be missing an opportunity to make great TV.

Story Drops the Baton

Some local stations are covering a story about some baton twirlers who got in trouble for doing a routine to the Katy Perry "I Kissed a Girl" song. Perhaps you've heard it. I hope so, because if you were watching one particular station, you would not have heard the song in the piece. How is this possible? How can you do a story on a song getting students in trouble without actually playing the song? The story would not make a lot of sense to someone who hasn't heard the song (and I'm guessing that's a large part of your viewing population over a certain age). How can a viewer decide for themselves whether the song is offensive for a high school pep rally unless they hear it?

If you're having a trouble locating the song, it's all over You Tube. You could have one of the students you interview at their computer playing the video. I can hear the line already... "It's got a catchy tune but this song caused one student to catch a lot of flak from school administrators..."

If you're worried about using a song in a package, contact your management or your station's attorney. If for some reason you feel compelled NOT to use the song, at the very least, put up a full screen of lyrics with a line like... "What's all the fuss about? Here's a sampling of the lyrics:
I kissed a girl and I liked it
The taste of her cherry chapstick
I kissed a girl just to try it
I hope my boyfriend don't mind it."
This gives someone who's never heard the song a much better sense of it.

Another thing. The story DID have home video of the routine. They didn't let it go Nats full, so I'm guessing there wasn't any Nats on the tape? It's a good idea to clue viewers in on this, because the first thing you think when seeing the tape is... I want to hear it. It could be as easy as saying... "There's no sound on the tape... but you can see the girls performing the routine the night they got in trouble."(( An aside: Or again, you could have your interview looking at the tape "Yeah, that was our routine. We practiced it for weeks. We never thought we'd get in trouble..." Or whatever.)) The point is, if there's an obvious defect in a material (like no audio) you might want to mention it in the script. And if there was audio... why not pull it full?

Big Weather Diversification

All this weather talk brings me to a common problem with big weather days. You assign several reporters to cover weather and they bring you essentially the same story from different locations.

As in...

Hi, I'm Reporter A and it is raining on the North side.

Hi, I'm Reporter B and it is raining on the Sorth side.

Hi, I'm Reporter C and it is raining on the West side.


You get the idea. Figure out a way to diversify your coverage so viewers aren't seeing the same thing over and over. So one might do... People impacted... Another reporter takes emergency response. Or someone takes nuts and bolts... Another takes color. Whatever. Just check in early and often to make sure you and your crews are on the same page.

Of Rain Gear and On Set Pieces

Sorry no posts for a while. Fresh back from Gustav. Which brings me to a point you might pass along to your reporters when they come back in from covering storms. For the love of God, please take off your rain jacket before you go on set. I watched affilate coverage of the storm and this one reporter wore her rain jacket not just for one set piece, but she was on again and again... Still wearing the jacket. If you really want to prove you were covering the storm, perhaps you should be live out in it. But if you are on set, lose the rain jacket!

Script Approval

I don't know if you've read any of Jill Geisler's columns- but she's brilliant. I met her at an RTNDF Women & Minorities in Management workshop. Here's a good article on working with reporters to revise scripts.

http://www.poynter.org/content/content_view.asp?id=4577

I'd add that there's nothing like front end work in terms of packages. An hour before newscast the newscast is not the time to find out the story has completely changed. Check in early and often with reporters about how things are going... if the story's remaining what you thought it was... and what types of elements they'll have. That will assist immensely when it comes to looking at the pkg as well as your own tease-writing.

Start with People

I just watched a pkg on new cpr recs- that you should give 100 compressions in a minute and skip the mouth to mouth. We were in least 45 seconds or so when the reporter finally got to the good stuff- an interview with a guy who saved his best friend using the new method. The first part of the pkg had been DULL mos and an expert bite. Boring! Lead with your best material first. Always. Many times that's a human being who can connect your viewer to the story. And in this case, when you have both the person saved AND the man who saved him-- that belongs at the top.

Murphy's Law for Field Producers & Reporters

A photog friend of mine used to always carry a stupid reporter bag because inevitably a reporter would come out on a story unprepared for the elements. The bag contained an extra jacket, gloves and even wool socks. He saved many a reporter from freezing. And possibly even a field producer.

Putting on those wool socks that day taught me a lesson. Get like the Boy Scouts and "Be Prepared." Plan for all possibilities. You may be going out on a consumer interview that's indoors, but if a standoff happens nearby in sub-zero temps, guess who will be dropping in?

I find that Murphy's Law is generally in effect. For example, last week, heading out to do a dought story, why on earth would I take my rain gear? Sure enough, we landed and the skies clouded. It didn't rain that time, but there have been enough times where I've packed for snow and got sent to eighty degree temps.

We're in the Communication Business

We're in the communication business and yet- shockingly- it looks like some reporters and photographers have scarcely said a word to each other prior to their liveshot. You can tell because the reporter is talking about one thing and the photographer is showing another.

It is great if you are a reporter and want to walk and talk or show stuff. But you must talk it over with your photographer first. Do a couple practice runs ahead of time. If you are working with a photographer who is challenged, keep it super simple. We're going here, here, then the package. Or whatever. Just make sure you are both on the same page before you do anything. You may also want to ask their ideas. Many photographers are much better at figuring out cool standups and live shots than the talent with whom they work.

Love a Lav

If you can, encourage your reporters to use lav mics out on live shots. Your live shots will look better. Your reporters can move around and talk naturally. Nothing is so funny as seeing a reporter who talks with their hands using a stick mic. You can see them wanting to use that mic hand and practically have to restrain themselves to keep from moving it with the other hand. Why bother? Use a lav and move all you want.

Of Cams and Courtrooms

I just read an interesting article about a photographer in court who took a picture of a note that wasn't in evidence. The photographer's paper then used information from that note in a story.

http://www.sltrib.com/news/ci_9086100