Anybody catch how the word got out about the President calling Kanye West a jacka$% ? Apparently, CNBC was doing an interview with the President which ABC was able to watch live. The comments were made prior to the official interview starting...
AP has an interesting write-up...
http://www.myfoxaustin.com/dpp/entertainment/dpg_Obama_Opinion_Kanye_West_Debate_fc_20090916_3528261
Maggie L
One of the rare times I'm in the office
Thursday, September 17, 2009
Wednesday, September 16, 2009
Guilt and Innocence: Be Careful
We just came back from doing a story on the payments given to men who have been wrongly convicted in the state of Texas. It afforded me the opportunity to talk with the family of a man who was wrongly convicted of raping a fellow college student. Another inmate confessed to the crime and DNA tests eventually cleared Tim Cole, but not before he died in prison, having already spent 15 years behind bars.
What struck me from meeting his family was Cole's mother and her pain, now decades later, over not just her son's wrongful conviction, but how he had been treated in the media. The newspapers called him the "Tech Rapist." Tim Cole was attending Texas Tech in Lubbock at the time of his arrest. He was a veteran and had never been in trouble with the law. I can imagine the kind of coverage once he was arrested and convicted.
Remember Richard Jewell? Different from the case of someone who was convicted (and later cleared) but in general, just a few cases to keep in mind as you do your daily work.
What struck me from meeting his family was Cole's mother and her pain, now decades later, over not just her son's wrongful conviction, but how he had been treated in the media. The newspapers called him the "Tech Rapist." Tim Cole was attending Texas Tech in Lubbock at the time of his arrest. He was a veteran and had never been in trouble with the law. I can imagine the kind of coverage once he was arrested and convicted.
Remember Richard Jewell? Different from the case of someone who was convicted (and later cleared) but in general, just a few cases to keep in mind as you do your daily work.
Monday, September 14, 2009
New News Accuracy Ratings
They don't look good. Courtesy of the Pew Research Center:
http://people-press.org/report/543/
http://people-press.org/report/543/
Tuesday, September 8, 2009
Critique of Wildfire Coverage
Ran across this article and found it interesting. One of the big criticisms is that stations weren't on early enough with fire coverage.
http://www.sgvtribune.com/opinions/ci_13277067
I don't know how accurate the article's criticisms are but I do know in big breaking news, it's crucial to get on the air quickly. It's all hands on deck. If you have a helicopter that can be over the scene, get it there. No copter? Try to get a live truck with a mastcam that can provide a continuous shot. Ask viewers for their pics. Use google earth to get a sense of the area.
Get everyone working the phones to find information and guests your anchors can interview live (police, Red Cross, fire, people living in the area, businesses).
Do whatever you can to get viewers the information they need. Especially in fire situations, this information is BEYOND crucial. People will use it to make decisions that impact their lives.
((One final aside-- if this is an area with place names your anchors don't use often, get pronoucers when you're calling police/fire for info.))
http://www.sgvtribune.com/opinions/ci_13277067
I don't know how accurate the article's criticisms are but I do know in big breaking news, it's crucial to get on the air quickly. It's all hands on deck. If you have a helicopter that can be over the scene, get it there. No copter? Try to get a live truck with a mastcam that can provide a continuous shot. Ask viewers for their pics. Use google earth to get a sense of the area.
Get everyone working the phones to find information and guests your anchors can interview live (police, Red Cross, fire, people living in the area, businesses).
Do whatever you can to get viewers the information they need. Especially in fire situations, this information is BEYOND crucial. People will use it to make decisions that impact their lives.
((One final aside-- if this is an area with place names your anchors don't use often, get pronoucers when you're calling police/fire for info.))
Monday, September 7, 2009
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.
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.
Friday, September 4, 2009
Director's track
My father-in-law found this on You Tube. It sounds like the director's recording of a British newscast from the 80s. I thought it was interesting. Some things never change.
http://www.fark.com/cgi/vidplayer.pl?IDLink=4617551
http://www.fark.com/cgi/vidplayer.pl?IDLink=4617551
Thursday, August 20, 2009
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.
=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.
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