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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.

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.

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!"

Expanded segments work on high interest,
important topics that otherwise may be confusing

The Rundown May 25, 1998

Studies on the effectiveness of new drugs and new techniques to fight cancer had made headlines several times in May, 1998. It almost seemed as though a "cure" was just around the corner.
But information coming out in several reports on several days can be confusing to viewers.

It took time to make clear the latest cancer news

In New York, WNBC-TV devoted a 20-minute segment in the 5 p.m. news to the latest cancer research breakthroughs.

Cancer impacts many, many people. Each year, an estimated 1.5 million people will hear those dreaded words: "You have cancer."
"Whether a person has cancer or not, almost everyone knows someone who has it, someone who is in remission, or someone who has had some involvement with cancer at some point. Even if you don't have it, we're all aware how often it strikes," said Paula Madison, Vice President and News Director, WNBC-TV, New York.

It is a topic of high interest.
It is also a complicated topic. People may not fully understand something they hear. Fear or hope may impact what they "hear."

Madison decided the news team had to clarify the new developments, put this information in perspective, and review the fundamentals that viewers needed to understand.

WNBC had produced in-depth looks at rent control and at drug lords committing murders in New York then fleeing to the Dominican Republic, which did not have an extradition treaty with the United States.
"Our news department is not locked into formulas. If a story requires 1:30 to tell it, that's what it gets. If it needs eight minutes, 10 minutes or 20 minutes, that's what we devote to it. We try not to wedge a story into a format. If we think the story requires more time, we change the format to accommodate the story," said Madison.

"We realized a lot of things were happening, and that by just doing a couple of stories here and there we weren't able to answer many people's questions. We decided to pick a day, and then devote the last 20 minutes of the show to cancer. The res t of the week we would do followup stories --- some of which were based on phone calls we received, and some which followed up on our interviews with the cancer experts," she said.

By taking the additional time, they could fully address the subject.
"Our real concern was that as the research rolled out, we didn't feel we were presenting information in a truly comprehensive fashion, which is what I was most interested in doing," she added.

Living With Cancer

A team of reporters, including Dr. Max Gomez, Gabe Pressman, and Dr. Ian Smith looked at how early detection and lifestyle could play a part in conquering cancer, alternative treatments for the disease, and the future of treating cancer.

Subscribers, you can find the entire content online at our archives. Thank you.

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.   

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.

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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.

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.

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.