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TV News:
How They Covered It

President Murdered
Attack On America
Hurricane!
Drugs
Sex Offenders
Food Dangers
Prisoners, Victims
Commuter Survival
Win Elections
   
Cover Breaking News Live
   
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Reporting and Surviving the 1989 Earthquake
It was the biggest earthquake to hit California since 1906.
Thanks to aggressive news departments, Bay Area residents heard the initial facts and saw the dramatic pictures within minutes. The images were unforgettable. A double-decker freeway collapsed upon itself. A roaring fire covered a city block.  A section of the Bay Bridge collapsed.


Columbine: Viewer Sensitivities Were Key
The live images were monitored carefully when two young men killed 12 other students, a teacher and themselves at Columbine.
Patti Dennis, KUSA-TV's News Director, told us, "We had pictures coming in from hospitals that I told them absolutely, positively, I did not want to see on our air. I forbid it!"


TV Reporting:
Covering Police and Crime

Viewers want to know where the money is going
The impact of the federal stimulus package is being tracked aggressively by WFOR- TV, Miami.
"As in any good investigation, the mantra is 'follow the money.' What other story could that apply to more than the stimulus money?" says Adrienne Roark, News Director.

Deteriorating Paradise: Station Fights To Save Region

The great barrier islands, bays, and salt marshes of North Carolina were threatened. The VP/GM of WRAL-TV, Raleigh, John Greene, shared with The Rundown the specifics of a major station project.

Summer Heat: Covering The Great Blackout Live
Fifty million people lost their electricity on August 14, 2003. In spite of incredibly difficult conditions, broadcasters jury-rigged equipment and devised creative solutions to stay on the air and serve their communities. Several executives discussed how they did it:
Ken Plotnik, New Director, WABC-TV, New York
Dianne Doctor, News Director, WCBS-TV, New York
Deborah Collura, News Director, WDIV-TV, Detroit
Jim Tortora, News Director, WIXT-TV, Syracuse
Adam Bradshaw, News Director, WHEC-TV, Rochester
Here are lessons they learned that could be incorporated into your own disaster planning.
Station Wins Court Fight For Mayor's E-Mails, Calendar
The business of how New Orleans is being run --- and how billions of federal dollars are being spent --- is a major issue in the post-Katrina era.
The news team of WWL-TV went to court to get the records that would show what the mayor has been doing. The answer from the city: Oooooops! Much of it has been erased and lost.
At one point, the mayor threatened to meet Executive News Director Chris Slaughter in the parking lot behind the station. Slaughter explained it all for The Rundown.
zzsquare.jpg (2860 bytes) Choose Your News:The Ultimate Interactivity
A new franchise is taking interactive news to a whole new level.
News Director Randy Dixon explained how viewers are choosing their news and participating in an innovative newsgathering experiment at KATV-TV, Little Rock.

zzsquare.jpg (2860 bytes)Newscast expanded
at 10 p.m.

KOAT-TV, Albuquerque, expanded the 10 p.m. weekday newscasts to an hour, and quickly saw audience growth. The plan was explained by Mary Lynn Roper, President and General Manager.

zzsquare.jpg (2860 bytes)Officers raiding meth labs: Many are ill from exposure
Former Utah narcotics officers, who put their lives on the line when they raided illegal meth labs a decade or two earlier, have died or are battling unusual illnesses.
The chemicals used to make the meth are deadly.
The story was investigated by the team at KSL-TV, Salt Lake City. Reporter Debbie Dujanovic found 58 police officers who had investigated meth labs in the previous two decades.
News Director Con Psarras explained how they put the project together, and told us, "We only found a few officers who didn't have a serious health problem. When compared to the average rates of illness and cancer among that age group, the statistics were indicative of a pretty big problem."
Of the 58 officers, 40 were sick or dead.

zzsquare.jpg (2860 bytes)High on meth, speeding, killing --- and still driving
A log truck driver kept on rolling, in spite of overloading his truck and causing a fatal accident. The driver was off the road for only about one week after the accident. KING-TV's Chris Ingalls found there was no penalty, no suspension of his license, nothing ---he just went right back to driving. There should have been three strikes against him. He was speeding. His truck was overloaded. He tested positive for meth.

zzsquare.jpg (2860 bytes)Web Video Journalist Hired
A photographer has become talent and is producing stories for the Web site of WPRI-TV, Providence. He shoots, writes, and narrates the pieces. News Director Joe Abouzeid and his team explain how it works.

zzsquare.jpg (2860 bytes)Financial Fitness
Boot Camp
  

A major project combining financial information and advice aired on WCNC-TV, Charlotte.   News Director Mary Alvarez and reporter Anna Crowley explained how it was executed.

zzsquare.jpg (2860 bytes)Broken School Buses
Kept Rolling

Safety violations in the Indianapolis school bus fleet were so severe that the state police began an immediate investigation after they were contacted by WTHR-TV. News Director Carolyn Williams and investigative reporter Bob Segall explained how they executed their project.

zzsquare.jpg (2860 bytes)Rare Interviews, SWAT Team Tapes Give Depth to School Shooting Anniversary Special
A deranged, armed drifter entered a Colorado high school. He took seven students hostage. A special on the hostage drama was produced by KMGH-TV, Denver.
It featured interviews with people who had never talked about it publicly.
"If we were going to do something, we wanted to do something significant and impactful, and that meant we needed to get a lot of players involved," said News Director Byron Grandy.

zzsquare.jpg (2860 bytes) Make Your Station's Web
Site A Powerful Asset

Your station's reputation and brand do not automatically move from the broadcast to the broadband media. Here is advice on how to compete from top consultants and award-winning Web managers.

zzsquare.jpg (2860 bytes) Protecting Crews and Gear From Unruly Crowds 
Jubilant fans of the Los Angeles Lakers set fire to two police cars and damaged news vans during an unruly celebration after the team's championship victory.   It didn't particularly appear there was going to be vandalism and violence.  But it grew.
At one point, a photographer told his reporter, "Run for your life!"

zzsquare.jpg (2860 bytes)Tornadoes Drive Record Web Traffic For Live Blogging, Viewers' Photos
Live weather blogging proved so popular that response far surpassed the initial expectations.
Valuable local information flowed in from people as they simultaneously received the specific details of the storm and connected with an authoritative source. The general manager at WIBW-TV, Topeka, Jim Ogle, told us, "As they interacted with us as the storm approached their area, they would write things like, 'You don't know how much it means to me to be able to hear this from you first person."

zzsquare.jpg (2860 bytes)Dog bite zones: Hot spots were identified
Anchor Artie Ojeda of KNSD-TV, San Diego, created a franchise of "zones" pieces, in which he built stories around public statistics, sorted the data and posted the numbers online by zip code or neighborhood.

zzsquare.jpg (2860 bytes)Official cars: Should the mayor be riding in a gas guzzler?
The cars the politicians were driving on the public's dollar were investigated by reporter Bill Sheil of WJW-TV, Cleveland.



Successful Television News
How To Do It

If you're going to have a chance at succeeding in television, you must excel.  The competition is extraordinary.
Here are selected articles and books that you can use to improve your chances.
Many top executives and newspeople have explained their techniques and theories to The RUNDOWN, the newsletter reporting on local television.


Investigations:
How They Conduct Them

TV News Investigation:
Child Molesters Getting Probation
In Houston, KHOU-TV's investigative unit revealed that a high number of sex offenders were avoiding prison, and instead were released back in the community on probation.  Victims and their parents were outraged at Houston "justice."
The news executives and investigators shared with The Rundown the details of how they broke this important story.

Air Force Academy Rapes:
How Investigators Broke Story

The number of young women who were raped at the United States Air Force Academy --- and the treatment they received from their superiors --- was so outrageous that it surprised veteran reporters, elected officials and many viewers.
Here are the details of how this sordid scandal has been brought before the public.

TV News Investigation:
Stealing Your Good Name: One Imposter's Story

Identity theft is so lucrative now that a thief intent on stealing a person's documents from the mail will steal the whole mail box. Consumer and investigative reporters have been warning viewers about various schemes. Here are the specifics of one investigation that educated viewers about the potential danger.


Learn Successful TV Reporting

zzlooks.jpg (24331 bytes)A top reporter explains how to produce memorable stories in an age of shorter pieces and live breaking news emphasis.
KGO-TV's Wayne Freedman  has won 44 Emmys.
This book is a must buy
for reporters who are serious about their careers, or students interested in learning how to report successfully on television.


Attract viewers with strong teases
Writing effective teases is one of the most important elements in retaining an audience, yet too often these are an afterthought.
If you can't convince viewers to watch, it doesn't matter how good your product is. It is one of the biggest problems facing television news, according to a veteran tease and promotion coach, Graeme Newell.


PROMAX Award-winning Promos:
The Keys To Attracting Viewers

Here are details of one station's successful promotion strategies and techniques. A promo designed to attract women viewers to its 5 p.m. newscast won a New England Emmy for WTNH-TV, New Haven, in 1998. Not long after that, the station won a PROMAX Gold Medallion.


Make It Memorable
Writing and Packaging TV News with Style

zzbobdot.jpg (19565 bytes) by Bob Dotson
Bob Dotson is an Emmy award-winning correspondent for NBC News with more than thirty years of experience in the field of broadcast journalism.
He shares tips and lessons he has learned that can help make your stories sharp, even under the tightest deadlines.


Inside TV News:
Long-form stories are an effective alternative

It is a topic of high interest. But is also a complicated topic. People may not fully understand something they hear. Fear or hope may impact what they "hear."
Give the story more time.
A New York News Director --- Paula Madison of WNBC-TV --- explained how and when to do it.


Promotion plays a critical role --- if you want someone to watch your work!
Promotion brings viewers in.  Check several articles with specific suggestions explaining the basics.  These were prepared by a top promotion coach and trainer, Graeme Newell.


Sound and Look Professional on Television and the Internet

zzsoun.jpg (21074 bytes) by Michelle Mccoy and Ann Utterback
Here's advice for students aspiring to work in the broadcast field or executives and spokespersons representing their companies on camera. Michelle McCoy is an Assistant Professor at Kent State University's journalism department. Ann S. Utterback, Ph.D., is the broadcast voice specialist.

Latest edition of Investigative Reporters Handbook is available at amazon.com
zzire.gif (8758 bytes) The newest version of  this indispensable reference has been updated.  It includes examples of local investigative reporting and  easy to find Internet address lists to help in computer-assisted investigations.
Authors:  Brant Houston, Len Bruzzese and Steve Weinberg.
Tell clearer, stronger stories
zztomp.jpg (12196 bytes) Aim for the Heart is designed to be a guide for TV reporters, producers and photojournalists who want to learn how to tell clearer and stronger stories. This is practical material, real world techniques.
Al Tompkins is currently at the Poynter Institute. He spent 25 years as a reporter, producer, photojournalist and news director.

Broadcast Newswriting
zblock2.gif (9658 bytes) Veteran writing coach Merv Block provides tips about communicating on television.
Here are excerpts from one of his books. More from Merv Block
Check here for analysis of broadcast writing with specific examples.

Write clearly on deadline
Identifying the story and possible elements, and constantly writing pieces of it, enables you to have your material ready to go and ready to be changed at the last moment. The writing coach for the Omaha World-Herald, Steve Buttry, outlines a "real world" approach to daily reporting.


Repetition Is The Top Reason
Viewers Watch Less Local News

Eliminating repetition must be a priority as stations re-invent themselves this year.
"What we have learned from our viewers is that repetition is our biggest enemy right now. Local viewers are not engaged in our product when stories or information is repeated," says Deborah Collura, Vice President News, Post-Newsweek Stations.

The problem of repetition is more than just running the same package twice or a package in one show and a VO/SOT in another.
Larry Rickel, President and CEO of The Broadcast Image Group, believes that you are competing against all other possible sources of information. If a person thinks they know it already, they're gone.

One station that has an aggressive anti-repetition approach is WJXT-TV in Jacksonville. An independent, its staff produces eight hours of news a day. Vice President/News Director Maureen Ruddy-Baker explained to us how they do it.

Subscribers: You can print the pdf of the full 10- page article from our archives. Thank you.


Two Years Into Newsroom Of Future:
How They've Done It

Re-engineering local news operations will be one of the biggest challenges facing news executives in 2009. Here is the first in an occasional series on how station executives and their staffs are coping with the pressures that are forcing dramatic changes.
Gannett made early start, and began the change two years ago.
New procedures were introduced, old models abandoned. Their changes began in March of 2007 --- well before the economic turmoil hit.
"At first, the staff looked at me like I had two heads. But I had 'been to the mountain,' and bought into the fact that this was exactly where we needed to be. This was before there was advertising pressure and the economic decline that has escalated the transition to warp speed," says Patti Dennis, VP News at KUSA-TV, Denver.
In this week's issue, this top news executive explains how they have changed newsroom procedures and technology.
The Place to Be:
Washington, CBS, and the Glory Days of Television

Roger Mudd
One of television's top political reporters --- perhaps the top political reporter --- shared the inside experiences of covering many major stories. Roger Mudd was a lead correspondent on campaigns and Capitol Hill during the 60s and 70s. He was also the prime substitute anchor for the network.
His memoir, based on his own notes and extensive interviews, tells of his 20 years in the CBS News Washington bureau.
His story provides many, many important insights for anyone interested in a career in television news. There are the details of newsgathering and bringing stories to air. There are specifics about getting along with management and competing with rivals.

Reporting on President Kennedy's murder
Television news team members had to keep functioning despite their shock and grief, they had to find out what happened, confirm, and avoid rumors and making mistakes. Here are the recollections of three journalists who covered the tragedy.


Book is a valuable tool for staff development

Don't Get Distracted:
Stay Focused on Your Core Product

zzricke2.jpg (10911 bytes) An updated edition of a valuable newsroom resource has just been published.
Delivering viewer-centered information is the focus of The Producing Strategy, Version 2.0, by veteran consultant Larry Rickel and longtime successful anchor Ed Sardella.
Their premise: everyone in the newsroom is a producer. We must all be involved in strong storytelling and making the newscast a special experience for the viewer.

Don't abandon your power base while upgrading your new media, says Rickel.

As broadcasters move onto new platforms, it is more important than ever to stay focused on the role the TV newscast plays in your four-screen strategy.
Rickel and Sardella explain their theories, and the value of their book.


Advancing The Story:
Broadcast Journalism In A Multimedia World
zzadvan.jpg (8807 bytes) Broadcast journalism is a good starting point for multimedia storytelling. Two broadcast veterans explain how a person with television skills can expand their abilities an excel in the new media. Debora Halpern Wenger and Deborah Potter offer specific techniques and strategies for maximizing the advantages of each platform.


Television Newswriting Workshop
Advice and perspective from veteran network newswriter and critic Mervin Block. A top resource.

Newslab training workshops
NewsLab is an online resource center for television and radio newsrooms, focused on improving journalism. This organization offers workshops for newsrooms and journalism groups around the world.


The Producer, the book.
An excellent resource on producing techniques is the work of Alice Main, a newsroom manager and producer at several stations.



Copyright 2009, Standish Publishing Company. This material is for your personal use as a subscriber, and may not be reproduced or transmitted to other parties of any kind.   


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The Rundown has reported weekly on local television news, programming, and community service projects since 1981. This material now fills a massive hard copy archive of 7,000 pages --- easily the largest record of hometown television's activities.  Key articles are available in our online archives.



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Rundown Archives

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Hostage Crises:
Do You Let Gunmen Control Your Air?

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When an upset, armed individual is threatening to kill someone, the police commanders supervising the emergency response and the news executives in charge of covering the confrontation have many sensitive decisions.  
Here's how broadcast executives have dealt with these dangerous emergencies.


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When Writing Mattered
Charles Kuralt began his career by winning a baseball writing contest when he was 12.

Vanderbilt TV Archives
Three decades of network news shows cataloged and recorded.

Collegiate Broadcasters Inc
CBI is an educational media organization with stations and student members.

Newslab training workshops
NewsLab is an online resource center for television and radio newsrooms, focused on improving journalism. This organization offers workshops for newsrooms and journalism groups around the world.

Tips To Improve Your Writing
Writers and editors at the Providence Journal share their reflections and lessons learned about reporting and writing. Here are detailed articles that are well worth reviewing by anyone seriously interested in reporting today.

Strunk's Elements of Style
Fundamental writing guide from Cornell professor and E. B. White.  Strunk's suggestions are online from Columbia . If you need a new copy in print, amazon.com has it.

The Tongue Untied
A guide to grammar, punctuation and style for journalists.   This was developed at  the School of Journalism and Communication at the University of Oregon.

Guide to Grammar and Style
Prepared by Professor Jack Lynch of Rutgers University.

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AP Stylebook
Amazon.com has the updated edition that is the guide for many newspaper writers.

Writers Write
A professional resource for journalists and  writers with job listings, writer's guidelines, chat, links, message boards, news, book reviews.

Investigative Reporters and Editors
IRE provides extensive resoruces, including access to The National Institute for Computer-Assisted Reporting.

National Press Photographers Association
The central place for the latest photojournalism material .

Journalism Education Association
This organization serves educators with many services.

The Working Reporter
Valuable sources are categorized so you can quickly find resources that might work for you.

Political Reporters
Resource Roadmap

Here are many links and resources nationwide.

Bob Baker's
Newsthinking

A veteran print journalist offers
excellent advice for any reporter or writer. This article gives practical ideas on how to produce good
stories without wasting time.
Here are ideas about sharpening
the focus, energizing your lede,
and keeping it rolling.

Frank van Riper
on Photography

Commentary from a Washington-based commercial
and documentary photographer
and author.

The Poynter Institute
Helps journalists seek
and achieve excellence.

American Women in Radio
and Television

AWRT's mission is to advance
the impact of women in
the electronic media.



A canoe trip across wild, remote Maine was organized by WGME-TV, Portland and the Press Herald. News Director Kevin Lynch explained this big adventure.
Museum Broadcast Communications
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The MBC is a not-for-profit organization that has offered opportunities for public learning to a diverse population since 1987 in Chicago.
Its mission is to collect, preserve, and present historic and contemporary radio and television content as well as educate, inform, and entertain through our archives, public programs, screenings, exhibits, publications and online access.


Live. Local. BROKEN News. The Re-engineering of Local TV offers strategies to survive the extraordinary changes underway in technology and audience media habits. These are the theories of the veteran consultants at Audience Research And Development.