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

Google Fast Flip & Voice Command Search

I continue my love affair with Google. They have a new application called "Fast flip." I was able to flip through a bunch of interesting web articles without having to click into the actual page. I skimmed the "12 Suprising Facts about Women" from Esquire, the "Ten Greatest Downloads" from PC World, and why Louis Farrakhan thinks the Chilean earthquake is a prelude to what will happen next in America (courtesy of the Chicago Trib). It took me less time to flip through those articles than it did to write that last line describing them. Pretty cool. Also, any one of those stories is pretty teasable.

http://fastflip.googlelabs.com/

Also, for those of who have an iPhone... Google now allows you to search by voice command. It. Is. Awesome. Apparently this came out a while ago. What rock have I been living under? I wish I would have found it sooner.

http://news.cnet.com/8301-17939_109-10100719-2.html

Using QR Codes

You may say, what's a QR code? Basically it's a bar code that acts as a hyperlink. You point your iPhone at it and boom, it pulls up a corresponding web page.

This article has info on how to use them to your advantage. I'm playing with it...

Put QR codes on your business cards

Sign of the Times?

ABC News is cutting hundreds of people. Asking producers to do more. NPR had a decent piece on it.

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=124021805

iPhones

Do any of you guys use iPhones for work? I have one and find it really useful for looking up info/phone numbers, etc-- much easier than the blackberry. Any aps you like? A photographer friend just showed me Film Slate ($4.99) where you can set time code on the iPhone to time of day. Makes it easier to real time log press conferences. I love Wind Meter, which somehow figures out the wind speed off your iPhone. I also have Twitterific and Wordpress... just got Shozu.

Be Careful Out There

Local affiliate in Dallas had a couple close calls with cars sliding near a liveshot.

Video in Video

I saw a couple uses of video boxes that I thought were interesting.

One was during a pkg. A small box with video came up with a snipe teasing a story at 6pm. So you're watching a story (for example) about politics and a small box down near where the fonts go pops up with video of overweight people with a title next to it "How to lose weight, at 6."

On that particular usage, I'm lukewarm. I don't hate it but I don't love it either. If I were EP there I'd probably want to see it done for a week to see if it grows on me. Of course you'd have to be very careful that what you're teasing is appropriate to run inside the other story.

The next use of a video box I liked a bunch. The weather guy was standing next to a chroma key map and they had about three boxes pop out one at a time showing the bad weather around town. Each box popped out, he talked about ten or fifteen and then it popped back. Looked super smooth. Nice way to highlight talent and still have video to boot. How else could you use this? Anytime you have multiples... so for a crime reporter... maybe there's a bunch of burglaries... "The first one was here... the second here.." Or whatever.

The point is-- try stuff. Be adventurous. Take risks with your show. Sit down with your director. Maybe he/she has some ideas to try. Start simple and go from there. If you hate it, you can always never do it again.