 Help people survive in hard times
Viewers were urged to help tackle hunger in a campaign created by WFMJ-TV, Youngstown. The
details were explained by News Director Mona Alexander and General Manager John Grdic. Use topical investigations to
increase sampling
Veteran consultant Tom Dolan advises taking key stories that viewers already know
something about and then developing more information, better angling and more enterprise
on those stories.
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.
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.
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.
Changing the culture: A 24-Hour web
channel
Web sales more than doubled in one year at WIBW-TV, Topeka. General Manager Jim Ogle
shared with us the strategy that is working for his team.
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.
When
Help Doesn't Arrive In Time
Have a serious heart attack on the streets of Cleveland and the chances of being
successfully recuscitate are slim. WJW-TV's Tom Merriman broke this.
Meanwhile, they don't have enough ambulances in Cincinnati. WCPO-TV's Hagit Limor
reported that story.
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.
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.
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.
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!"
Pick
debate winners instantaneously
If you can learn something about which candidate viewers feel did the best in a debate you
will be offering information beyond a simple summarization of their carefully rehearsed
statements. Innovative projects were explained by Jim Boyer, News Director of
KOMO-TV, Seattle and Natalea Brown, News Director of WJZ-TV, Baltimore. Here are
ideas that are alternatives to the usual mix of campaign officials, professors, and
man-on-the-street interviews for debate reactions.
Strengthen
your politics online: Website gives stations depth
Your station's website can be an effective vehicle for providing extensive political
information that can be accessed by viewers/users when they have an interest in the
campaigns. The NextGenPolitics website was developed initially by Hertz Research.
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Warning
System Calls People
In Path of Hurricanes, Tornadoes
Television stations in Tornado Alley have found success with an automated weather alert
system that notifies people about a National Weather Service warning.
WeatherCall has been so effective that at least one town council has voted to make it
their official tornado notification system. While most of the current subscribers are in
markets in the middle section of the country, a WeatherCall version for hurricane-prone
areas is being rolled out now.
Targeted warnings are based on National Weather Service data
WeatherCall is a pre-recorded weather warning for flash floods, severe
thunderstorms, tornado and hurricane warnings.
KATV-TV, Little Rock, was one of the first stations to begin using the WeatherCall
system.
"It's been one of the best services we have offered to our viewers in a long
time," says News Director Randy Dixon.
"It has really taken off," he stresses.
"We began offering the service in March, and then we were hit by several rounds of
severe weather. Before we knew it, we had 10,000 people sign up for it!" he says.
| "Weather is the most important thing we do. We have saved lives,
and our viewers are telling us that." |
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Randy Dixon
News Director, KATV-TV |
In fact, Dixon knows first hand how effective the warning is.
"Shortly after we got the system, I returned from an out of town trip. We had some
severe weather moving in, and I was about to leave home and return to the station, when
the phone rang. It was my chief meteorologist telling me to take cover. I went down to the
basement and the tornado came right over my house!" he says.
"I had to get a new roof. It really tore up the neighborhood, and I couldn't leave
because trees were down everywhere," he says.
WeatherCall is so effective, a town council has adopted it
The service is working well at KTUL-TV, Tulsa, too.
"When we signed the deal, we introduced it that night at 6:20 during our weather
segment. We had severe weather that rolled through the metro, and had a severe weather
warning on the air by 6:25. We had hundreds of viewers sign up before the night was
over," says Carlton Houston, News Director of KTUL.
During the course of the next few outbreaks of severe weather, the system proved itself
over and over.
Thousands of people across the market received pre-recorded messages from KTUL's
chief meteorologist Frank Mitchell alerting them to approaching severe weather.
While tornado sirens sometimes worked, and sometimes didn't, people who had signed up to
receive tornado warnings from Frank's WeatherCall were always alerted.
Officials of the city of Glenpool were experiencing a problem with their tornado
sirens, and the community faced a significant task to overhaul their system.
Not all the sirens worked and many locations weren't within hearing distance of the
sirens. They are expensive to repair and expensive to purchase.
"It gives us a good feeling to be providing a valuable service to
people where weather is a really big part of their lives.
"It is ingrained in you when you live in Tornado Alley." |
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Carlton Houston
News Director, KTUL-TV |
Subscribers, please
continue in our archives. Thank you.
11 successful
special projects
Help Your
Viewers Live Longer And Healthier
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You have the power to potentially make a major impact on your viewers'
health. Providing this vital information also increases your station's connection with the
community.
Many successful projects have been explained by executives in The Rundown. |
New book
Reinventing Local Media:
Ideas For Thriving In A Postmodern World
Here are real solutions to the real problems facing contemporary media companies, many lie
outside the comfort zone of media boardrooms.
This 500-page book brings together the writings and analysis of Terry Heaton. He is
currently a Senior Vice President of Audience Research and
Development. After 28 years in local television news, Heaton has been reporting on new
media and the impact on television news for several years.
Book is a valuable tool for staff development
Don't Get Distracted:
Stay Focused on Your Core Product
 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.
Please continue here, Rickel and Sardella
explain their theories, and the value of their book.
 Learn Successful Television
Reporting
A top reporter explains how to produce memorable stories.
KGO-TV's Wayne Freedman has won 44 Emmys.
We feel that this
book is a must buy for reporters or students who are serious about their careers.
 Aim For The
Heart
This is 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.
Online talent service opens
to non-represented talent
Collective Talent, the
online talent resource by Michaels Media, has opened its service to non-represented
talent.
When the service was first unveiled, it was designed to be supported
primarily by talent agents.
That approach made sense because the majority of talent in larger markets are represented
by agents. The biggest agencies can represent several hundred people.
Copyright 2008, 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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Hurricane!
The news executives and staffers who were there explained how they served
their viewers, and survived.
When A Flooding Disaster
Strikes: Who's in Charge?
In Sacramento, KCRA-TV news documented serious weaknesses in the emergency response
system. News Director Bill Bauman told us how they executed this major project.
Sign
Up Today!
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.
Covering The Murder
Of A President
Shocked reporters dealt with their own grief, mass confusion, and the silence of official
sources to inform the nation that John F. Kennedy had been shot to death in Dallas.
A
Young Kennedy Dies
When John Kennedy, Jr. and his wife vanished off Massachusetts, hometown TV stations
provided long hours of coverage, serving viewers anxious for any news of the president's
son.
The
Crash of Flight 191:
Tragedy at Dallas-Fort Worth Airport
The news crews had close access to the scene. They were searching for accurate
information, but had to be very careful about what they showed.
Winter
Weather Hampers Rescue at Denver Crash
A Continental jet flipped and broke apart on a snowy runway at Stapleton Airport. The
blizzard-like conditions which may have contributed to the accident made coverage
particularly difficult.
Media
In Montoursville:
Trying To Be Very Sensitive
When TWA Flight 800 exploded in 1996, more than 20 victims were from one small town in
Pennsylvania. Newspeople tried to be sensitive to the grieving relatives, friends
and townspeople. At the same time, the reporters and photographers were dealing with
their own feelings of sadness and shock.
The
White Bronco Chase
Accused of murder, O.J. Simpson travelled along the highways of Los Angeles, and one
of the largest television audiences ever watched it live.
Murders at School:
San Diego Shootings
Accurate information was difficult to obtain. Students were interviewed with care.
Oklahoma
City Explosion: Covering the Terror
That this could happen in America's heartland was unthinkable. Even more astounding
was the news that Americans had unleashed this violence on fellow Americans, murdering
more than 150 innocent men, women and children.
Two reporters, four stories, one big
award
The judges awarded a Peabody to the investigative unit of WFAA-TV, Dallas, for the overall
quality of its work. The station won for four separate stories submitted by investigative
reporters Brett Shipp and Byron Harris.
The Peabodys do not recognize categories, nor are there a set number of awards given each
year. Although the entries were submitted separately, Executive News Director Michael
Valentine said it was the caliber of the work by the unit as a whole that made it a
winner.
Students drinking contaminated water
Youngsters are being exposed to lead every day in Los Angeles. The surprising source ---
the drinking fountains at their schools -- - was revealed by KNBC-TV's Joel Grover.
Schoolhouse Outrage:
Filthy Bathrooms
Schools in Southern California were checked to see how sanitary --- or unsanitary --- the
bathrooms were. KCBS-TV investigators spent three months and visited
more than 50 buildings, some of them more than once. Many bathrooms were locked or
unavailable to students. Many were missing essential supplies.
Roughed Up At Recess: Violence On The
Playground
Teachers stood by doing nothing while bullies beat up other children on the school
playgrounds. News team members at WITI-TV, Milwaukee were surprised that it was so
blatant and out of control. They
followed up with a project that offered solutions for parents and educators.
Room 104:
The Overcrowding Crisis
By focusing on students and teachers, an initially boring subject was brought to life.
Viewers could see how children are shortchanged when the instructor is simply lucky to
keep control, never mind teaching and helping individuals having problems. This was a
duPont winner for WABC-TV, New York.
Juvenile
sexual offenders attending schools
Not only are juvenile sexual offenders attending schools, often the school officials don't
know it. The offender changes schools, but his record may not follow him. In St.
Louis, KSDK-TV investigated.
Public
Safety Workers Face On The Job Hazards
Many people who keep the public safe have been injured or sickened because of workplace
accidents or exposure to harmful substances.
Prisoners:
Escaping and Not Pursued, Inmates Housed at Secret Locations
Two investigations showed how important it is keep track of how corrections officials are
--- or are not --- doing their jobs.
Intelligence
Report Breaks News Every Day
WLS-TV, Chicago showcases investigative stories on a daily basis. Many news executives
have been working to get their investigative units on air more frequently.
Into
Child Porn? No Problem, Have A Nice Day
Most men who are arrested in Wisconsin for Internet sex crimes do not go to prison. Three
years of cases were analyzed by WITI-TV, Milwaukee.
Airport
Restaurants:
What's on the Plate?
For your airport meal: Spoiled food and big rats. There was a lot to reveal when
restaurants were visited by investigators from WAGA-TV, Atlanta.
It's
Hard To File A Complaint Against Police In South Florida
Only 3 of 38 departments had complaint forms available when undercover checks were run by
investigators at WFOR-TV, Miami.
Free 45-page Report
Hostage
Crises:
Do You Let Gunmen Control Your Air?
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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