Black Friday

It doesn't matter that I've lived through 20 of them in my lifetime - "Black Fridays" never cease to amaze me. I've never been one to follow the masses to stores at 2 a.m. in order to save, mainly because the crowds and chaos freak me out, but I've always been one to follow the news coverage of the day. Black Friday has become the new winterizing story - the news prepares you for what to expect and how to get the most out of your experience. It's become just another annual story, yet it's still fascinating.

This piece from the LA Times could be written about any city in America on Black Friday, but it paints the exact picture readers expect to see. I'd like to find a story that shows you something different about Black Friday. It seems like the day would be a great opportunity to learn how the stores prepare for the day. Or how companies decide what items will get what markdowns. Black Friday has become such an orchestrated event, yet I don't feel like I know anything more about it than I did five years ago.

Instead of stories taking you inside the inner-workings of America's retailers - or even a local business who has to compete with big time department stores - we get stories like this.

I'm not saying that this report from the Dallas NBC station is bad, it's just been done before. It's understandable that this is what was done - I'm sure the reporter was working on a deadline and it was obviously all done in a day - but I wish he had gone further. While it could be considered "riding the tricycle," it would at least be something different if the reporter andLea photographer stayed the night alongside these eager shoppers and attempted to see what kind of deals they could get. Or, on that same note, followed a customer and what deals he or she got. I just want to see more than people sitting in a line waiting to get into the store. I want to see inside the store.

Luckily, there's always next year.

Everyday's a School Day

I haven't reported in about two weeks, and I've probably taken that time for granted. Sometimes it's such a relief to have to to worry about deadlines and improving your skills. But I'm starting to worry about getting rusty, which makes me nervous. The more time you spend away from the world of news, the more disconnected you get from it. That's why I've made myself more of a news junkie than ever before. I'm watching more, reading more, listening to more. I'm starting to realize that the more you can absorb, the better you can become. By just watching the local and national news every night this break, I've already come up with a few ways to think differently about the stories I cover in Columbia. I'm even excited to get back and knock out my last reporting shift for the semester.

Social Media Mess?

I get a lot my news from social media. From Twitter to Facebook to Youtube, I'm plugged in all day. But I've come to realize that sometimes social media isn't the most trusted source when it comes to getting accurate information. A couple of weeks ago there was a shooting in a neighboring town and emergency teams brought the victims to an on-campus hospital. That's when some mass social media hysteria broke out. A lot of students posted on Twitter and Facebook that a shooter was on campus. This led to a snowball effect; students claimed the shooter was in a bunch of different places and that he killed three people on campus. Luckily, none of the local news organizations posted any of this information. All of the local outlets waited until official word came out, and they were able to dispel a lot of the rumors.

This got me thinking about social media. It seems like my generation relies on it more and more as a news gathering and breaking information resource. I think one of the people I follow on Twitter, Natalie Eshaya, summed up the trend pretty well when a mystery missile launched in California this week.

@NegativeNatalie: So. A missile launched. And nobody knows why? But I know where lindsay lohan is every second of every day. I'm scared.

While I too know where Lindsay Lohan is every second of every day, I hadn't heard of the missile incident until I read Eshaya's tweet. I don't know what the best way is to combat this is, but I hope to be a part of the social media movement that can help improve everyone's use of social media resources. I think it's great to know where Lindsay Lohan is (though she probably wishes we all didn't), but it's just as important to know what's going on in the world. But I don't want it to come to this:

(The Dallas Fox station roasted social media for the local Emmys earlier this year).

Hurry Up and Wait

I sometimes have a patience issue. When I'm ready to do something, I want everyone else ready to go, too. I'm starting to learn that my dreams are far from reality. I came into the newsroom this week already knowing what story I wanted to cover. I pitched the idea - a look at homeless veteran resources in our area the day before Veterans Day - and started to get to work. Then it was a waiting game. I put out a bunch of calls, but everyone seemed to be busy, or out of the office. I waited almost two hours to hear something back. By that time I had already started the leg work on a different story. But then the pieces started to fall into place.

Broadcast news is all about time. The news doesn't wait around for you, and you can't force the news to happen. You can't plan it, which is something I'm dealing with. I'm very much a planner. I don't like the unknown or stress. This businesses is teaching me a lot about my capacity for both the unplanned and stress. I'm learning that I can get everything I need to done, but it's not always going to be perfect. There are always going to be things you could have done differently or better. There's always going to be that moment after you finish your story where you realize what would have made it better. But that's the whole point of working - to learn. Without experience, you can't develop new ways of thinking about your work. I'm learning I can come up with a set of plans for different scenarios (to feed my need for structure), but I can't plan for specifics. The more I'm able to see and do, the more comfortable and confident I know I'll feel.

A Case of the (News) Hiccups

I'm always surprised when one-time newsmakers pop back onto the news radar. I know I really shouldn't be - it happens more than it should - but, for some reason, I am. Part of me says, "Leave Britney these people alone." The other part of me says, "Keep it coming." We like to make celebrities out of everyday people (i.e. Monica Lewinsky, the Gosselins), and the news is just one avenue to make that happen.

The latest newsmaker to come back into the light is "Hiccup Girl," Jennifer Mee (see her story above). I think everyone, myself included, would have thought this girl's 15 minutes ended the second her hiccups stopped. But, that's not the case. Mee was involved with an attempted robbery that turned into a murder in Florida, three years after she first made headlines for her hiccups. Anne Curry's reassurance that everything was still ahead of Mee in the story above seems pretty ironic now.

Would this murder have even made national headlines if not for Mee's case of the hiccups? Probably not. I think it's good that a story like this makes national headlines because it helps people realize the dangers that are out there. On the flipside, it also plays into the "culture of fear" that gives news a bad name.

The Today Show has covered Mee's story almost everyday this week and I think it has fallen short in its coverage. Anytime a murder of an innocent person happens, the victim should be the focus of the story. The reporters use Mee as the center of the stories and spend much of their screen time talking about her hiccups. Hello! That's not the focus. Yes, Mee's hiccups brought her national attention; and, yes, because of that attention this story is being told. But she's not the focus here. The victim and the two men Mee accompanied, and who actually carried out the shooting, are barely mentioned.

Check out Today's coverage of the ongoing story below.

The third story (above) does the best job of including the victim, but his story is buried within the package. Even the reporter seems to know the victim should be the important part of the story, adding that the victim's family hopes he gets as much attention as Mee in his tag. Why doesn't he lead with that?

I watch The Today Show almost every morning. The show likes to do these multi-day continuing stories, but this murder doesn't seem to need as much attention as Today gives it. All three of the packages above tell the same story, with little to no new or added information. If there's no new, "today" (pun intended) angle to a story, then why run it? I'd be interested to see if more of Today's audience feels the way I do. For me, seeing a package about something new trumps seeing (basically) the same package being rerun everyday.

Breaking News > Everything Else

This week turned out to be a very important lesson in breaking news. I was out reporting on a softer story in Fulton, MO. Crews are building the city's first roundabout and, to make drivers more comfortable with the new traffic flow, the Chamber of Commerce planned a practice-roundabout where people will be able to test drive a miniature version of the traffic circle. A local university class also installed a webcam near the construction site so that people can see the construction 24-hours-a-day and become more comfortable with the idea.

When I got back to the station to edit my story, I found out that four victims of a shooting in a neighboring city were at a nearby hospital, and the hospital was on lock-down. The shooter was on the loose, and there was fear that the shooter might show up at the hospital.

I've never seen the newsroom be as busy or see reporters so willing to work. Anyone and everyone that was in the newsroom was pitching in, except for the dayside reporters who were editing their stories from earlier. It was organized chaos, with everyone working as a unit in the "team coverage." Seeing everyone working together to tell the story and get the facts out to our audience was inspiring and made me love this business even more. Even though the story was scary, as journalists we have to remember that our duty is to our audience. They deserve to have this information and, if we don't report it, who will?

Because of the breaking news, my story got pushed from the 5 p.m. newscast, to the 6 p.m., to the 10 p.m. and, finally to the morning show. While I was a little frustrated by this, I knew I had to step back and remember our "watchdog" role. It was much more important for the audience to know the latest about the shooting than to know about Fulton's new roundabout. My story was going to get shown at some point and time didn't really matter. Keeping in mind the journalist's mission and the big picture helps put everything into perspective.

The View Gets Viewed by the Media

I'm really into Hollywood news. I read industry publications, gossip blogs, celebrity magazines, news websites and watch as much as I can on TV every single day. I even keep my own celebrity-focused blog about stories that interest me. That really shouldn't be a surprise to anyone, because I want to work in the entertainment news industry. I always find it interesting how one entertainment story can be covered in about a bagillion different ways. Everyone seems to claim they have the exclusive; that they got it first; that they're the only ones who can tell you (fill in the blank). In reality, that's rarely the case.

It's especially interesting when the industry becomes self-reflective, covering events that happen on news/informational shows. On Thursday's episode of ABC's The View, arguably a news source for some, co-hosts Whoopi Goldberg and Joy Behar stormed off the talk show set after becoming agitated with guest Bill O'Reilly's comments about the possible mosque construction near Ground Zero. Here's the clip:

As soon as this aired, I got a breaking news text alert from E! News and my Twitter feed exploded, with almost every major news organization I follow posting a blurb about the blow-up. It's even one of the first searches in the drop down menu on Google when you start typing "The View" or "Bill O'Reilly." I guess the attention stems from the fact that The View has become a platform for political discussions, with a lot of attention paid to co-host Elisabeth Hasselbeck's conservative views compared to the liberal views of (former moderator) Rosie O'Donnell and Joy Behar over the past couple of years. But is it really news? To me, it is - I soak this stuff up because it interests me. Naturally, I turned to all my usual sources to see what exactly happened. The Hollywood Reporter did a quick blurb about the incident, adding this quote from Barbra Walters:

"I want to say something...You have just seen what should not happen. We should be able to have discussions without washing our hands and screaming and walking offstage. I love my colleagues. It should not have happened."

Fox News, where O'Reilly has a show, also posted the quote alongside a transcript of the entire appearance. Fox added even more information - I didn't know that Goldberg and Behar returned to the set. The more I read, the more pieces I was able to put together about exactly what happened.

Deadline.com, one of the best industry-news blogs, just posted the video and asked for reader comments. This is one of the scariest things to do in journalism I think - people can read those comments and take what people say as news, skewing information and starting rumors.

TMZ also covered the event, adding some observations I hadn't made, like how Behar returned to the set, but didn't reclaim her original seat next to O'Reilly. TMZ added an interactive quiz, like their web contributors do with most stories, asking readers "Who comes off worse, O'Reilly or Joy and Whoopi." I like the interactive part, but the quiz definitely doesn't fall into the category of news appropriate.

As far as broadcast goes, E! News Now probably did the best job in covering what happened. They had video of Walter's apology, and focused more on the aftermath than the actual incident.

And, as far as print and digital reporting goes, The New York Times was the most complete in its reporting.

The fact that I had to go to three or more sites to find out exactly what happened is a failure in reporting. I'm not saying people should rely on only one news source, but I would at least expect a news source to tell the full story. Without it, people make assumptions, and more rumors and misinformation are spread. Maybe that's why places like Newsy exist, though they have yet to post anything about the controversial appearance. I was really surprised no one got an O'Reilly soundbite on the experience (maybe he's saving his comments for his show). The View, at least, released a "no comment" statement.

Further Adventures in Babysitting Reporting

This week I learned that anything you do can lead to a story idea. Over the weekend, I volunteered at Boys and Girls Town of Columbia, a local foster home/campus for troubled youth. The group I was with didn't really know what we were going to be doing at the campus, but when we arrived we learned we were getting the grounds ready for Boys and Girls Town's grand opening/open house of its newly renovated campus the following Wednesday. We were invited to attend the open house if we wanted to, and I didn't think much of it at the time. But, when I started to think about story ideas before my shift, I remembered the invitation and decided to pitch the idea at the story meeting.

The result is the story that aired in the 5 o'clock newscast (above). My story aired in the newscasts a-block, but not before a few changes. I had originally edited the piece as a VO-SOT-VO, including a sound bite from Boys and Girls Town's vice president Paula Fleming, but it got cut from the story-heavy show. I was a little bummed that the bite and a little extra information got cut from the show, but I understood why - there were more reporters than usual at the station that day, and it made more sense to shorten my story than to cut someone else's completely. On the bright side, the bite and tag from my original VO-SOT did make it into the web story.

I learned you always have to be prepared to get cut, but try to make your piece as great as possible so that it's the last thing dropped, instead of one of the first. Having a good flow of communication with your producer will help him or her understand your angle better and might give you a better chance of surviving at the station.

The Next Step

Rachael Ray, Journalist?
It seems like more and more people are getting their news from daytime talk shows. At least I know I find myself tuning into a couple minutes a day and getting a peak at what's going on in the world. And more and more daytime talk shows embrace the growing trend. Shows like The Dr. Oz Show and Dr. Phil even cater to specific topics day-in and day-out. People who I wouldn't think to label as "journalists" have become journalists.

I was flipping around the other day and stopped to watch Rachael Ray's show. She was doing a segment on the bed bug epidemic and had "expert" Dr. Ian Smith exploring commonly infested locations. Dr. Smith is also the lead physician on VH1's Celebrity Fit Club, so I don't exactly know what qualifies him to explore bed bugs, which was the first thing that made me nervous about the segment. If we slap "expert" under someone's name, are we supposed to automatically believe everything they say? On a segment as routine as bed bug infestations, maybe it's OK. But Ray brings Dr. Smith back for segment, after segment, after segment about every health crisis hitting America.

CLICK HERE to read the online story / watch part of Ray's Wednesday show

Ray's bed bug story plays into "fear" reporting, blowing a story somewhat out of proportion and making it a scarier topic than it has to be. Yes, bed bugs are an issue, but not everyone will be affected, or infected, by them. As someone studying journalism it's scary to watch scare-tactic reporting like this because millions of people watch daytime shows and get their news this way.

NBC's The Today Show also did a story on bed bugs recently. Theirs is far more informational, and uses the fear viewers may have as a launching point for discussion, instead of a breeding ground for hysteria. There are strong graphics and solid information. Instead of trying to give tips to viewers about how to avoid bed bugs, like in the Rachael Ray segment, we see a humanized story about an exterminator. While there are still some moments of fear-mongering, like the anchor intro, the viewers are respected more than in the Rachael Ray segment because they aren't being walked through steps like they don't have common sense. Instead, they're learning that extermination is key and that being conscious of your surroundings, and not weary, is the best way to avoid the spread of bed bugs.

Wait, I need visuals??
My challenge this week was figuring out how to make a non-visual story visual. I was working on a story about the housing market in Columbia. There had been some recent announcements that the national housing market was on the rise and I wanted to know how Columbia's housing market was doing. Turns out it's doing great. I got interviews with a local realtor and builder who gave me hard facts and plenty of information. And that's where I got stuck.

I had a bunch of numbers - no people, no images and nothing to make the story pop on TV. I started to think in visuals: how could I get people moving in this? How could I make this interested? I somehow landed on the idea of using a for-sale sign as my central character. I incorporated the sign into my opening shot, my stand-up and my close. To get people involved, I went to an open house and moved around as much as I could to get interesting and different shots of the families touring the house. I also had some luck on my side. The one random open house I decided to go to that day happened to be in a very busy neighborhood. Almost every street I turned on had three or four houses for sale. And there were multiple houses under construction, which provided different visuals than just for-sale signs and houses.

I learned you always have to be thinking outside the box. When you don't have much video to work with, you still have to make it work. Writing to static video is harder, but incorporating graphics and having a little fun while you're reporting helps. I always have issues with my stand-ups, because I'm never sure how to make them stand out or be interesting. I'm going to challenge myself a little more to think outside the box. From time to time I check up on former MU broadcast students and I came across Ryan Takeo's stand-up reel. These are the kinds of stand-ups that make stories memorable and make viewers keep tuning back into the news.

Even with informational stories, you can have interesting, visual moments. I just have to keep seeking out inspiration and keep pushing myself to get better and more creative.

The Beginning

­­I love Dallas news. It’s what I grew up watching. Dallas newscasts planted the seed of working in the broadcast business in my head. Now that I’m learning the tricks of the trade, I find myself watching more and more Dallas news than I ever do when I’m actually in Dallas. I check WFAA’s website during my daily “what’s going on in the world” rapid-fire web surfing. It always gives me something to talk to my mom about when I call to convince her I am eating and getting enough sleep. And it always gives me a chance to learn a new technique or two.

This week I found two stories exemplifying WFAA’s team’s skills and found teaching moments in both. The first story (posted above) reported by Debbie Denmon talks about a Dallas middle school having air conditioning troubles. What stood out to me the most from the story was Denmon’s writing. The natural sound open and writing to the video helps carry the image to the ears. We see the air conditioning units and the school from different angles and get a sense of how hot it is outside from the condensation coating most of what is shown.

But why aren’t the school district officials Denmon talks about on camera? The story is missing people. Just one student or one person working to fix the air conditioning problem would have helped take the story to another level. I understand the constraints of turning a package in just a few hours, but you need people to tell a story. Why did the two concerned mothers refuse to go on camera? Were there not any concerned parents or teachers who would show their faces? I did like Denmon and her cameraman’s save of the second interview through the use of the over-the-shoulder shot. It makes the interview less static and awkward. All we saw of the first source was her hand holding her cell phone and her legs walking. The use of creative framing in the second interview helps add interest, but it’s still awkward listening to someone without ever seeing her.

The opening and closing are other weak points. It seems odd to have the reporter introduce her own story as the anchor. Denmon’s opening line, “Today’s high temps were back in the low 90’s today,” is redundant and confusing. Are they high or low? Something like “You may have been able to escape the heat today, but some middle school students couldn’t avoid it,” relates the story to the audience and gives them something to look forward to. And a simpler tag of “School officials say the units will be up and running tomorrow,” makes the story less convoluted. Reminding viewers of copper thefts from school air conditioning units in May changes the focus of the story; this only works if copper thefts were the reason for this school’s current problem.

The second story localizes a national headline in a way I wouldn’t have thought possible. How do you take a gas line explosion in California to Dallas? Reporter Jim Douglas has been a staple on WFAA for as long as I can remember. He has strong ties to the community and I feel as if I can trust him when he reports. The lead-in could be stronger, but Douglas’ live shot makes up for it.

When we transition to the package, I expected to see a person right off the bat, but Douglas starts with home video. The video turns the pipeline into the central compelling character. The story widens to the concerned residents, who humanize the story. My one concern with the second interview, Jeana Cole, lies with Cole repeatedly saying she’s “been fighting” the pipeline. How has she fought the pipeline? We can take her word, but I would like to know if there’s any evidence she acted against the pipeline’s installation. A problem with this package is the lack of b-roll for the two interviewed women. Douglas continues to reference them, but we never see them except for the talking head segments.

Louis McBee, the third interview, confuses me. Is he saying the high-pressure lines are never installed or does he not want them to be installed? Unless I review the segment I can’t tell if he is for or against high-pressure lines. Jumping from the last bite with Cole to the map showing where the pipelines are in Dallas works just as well. The package has so much information and a lot of numbers. I would add a graphic or separate the story into an information-heavy VO-SOT and a more people-focused package for two different newscasts.

Now that I’ve torn apart respected professionals, I can tear apart myself. Jumping back into one-man-band reporter mode wasn’t as easy as I expected. Like most other activities, reporting takes practice and long periods of time between practices makes you rusty.

I found a story I really liked about a local organization weatherizing homes for free in Mid-Missouri. My story idea came to me when I read the U.S. Department of Energy gave the group a half-million dollar grant to install geothermal heating systems in 15 to 25 rural homes. I called the organization and left a message asking if anyone would be willing to talk with me. I also sent out e-mails to all the staff members listed on the organization’s website. Then I waited.

I forgot how much work getting an interview could be. You can’t expect whom you want to talk with to be available exactly when you want to talk with them. And you can’t expect the person to return your call. I had to be proactive and persistent. I kept calling and leaving messages until I finally heard back. I took advantage of the fact I had two weeks for the package and didn’t switch stories. But from here on out I plan to always have a back-up plan.

When I got my interview scheduled, I was reacquainted with my old friend the camera. Oh, camera, how I missed you. Well, actually, I don’t think I missed you all that much because my footage looked like we had never met before. Again, practice makes perfect. And no practice makes a mess. My interview with the director of the program went well – I came with questions and got good sound bites – but I framed it completely wrong.

Then I followed a weatherization crew out to a work site. I was trigger happy on the zoom button and wasn’t holding my shots long enough. I don’t know how I found any sequences to use when I went to edit my package. My interviews were framed wrong once again. And I lost my planned-for central character. Always remember, you can’t plan the news. And you can’t force the news to happen. I was banking on the homeowner of the house being weatherized wanting to share her story. Instead she ran from the camera and only agreed to be interviewed on camera after I got to know her a little. She gave me three short and sweet answers that didn’t help move the story along. I had to change my focus while I was at the house and decided to focus my attention on the two contractors working. The reporter’s mantra should be “expect the unexpected.” You never know what you’re going to find when filming and you can’t expect to get what you want.

I got back to the workroom where I wrote my story and edited my video. The burden of having two weeks to do the story was, by the time it was all said and done, I was ready to move on. I had spent too much time thinking and not enough time doing. I wish I had gotten to know the contractors better and asked them more questions. From now on I will get people’s life stories as best I can, even if it amounts to nothing more than a nice conversation.

If I had to sum up this lesson in my reporting life, I’d cut it down to two things: people and video. You need to know people in order to tell their stories. And to tell their stories you need video of them. You have to think two steps ahead; know what you might need before you find out you don’t have it.