producing – Page 6 – Survive Your Job In Television News

What is a teaching newsroom?

I was thrilled when an EP recently asked me to write an article on what makes a teaching newsroom. The more I talk with news directors, EP’s and AND’s the more I realize this is not well defined in TV news. Everyone has their own take on what it means. I think the reason is the concept of teaching or training means “time consuming” to many. While that can be partly true it is also crucial for television news to remain relevant. As we ask journalists to do more and generate different types of content (on TV on website on social media.. etc) we need to help them get the basics down pat and quickly. While this is a career where you must learn by doing, there’s no reason why sharing the wealth should be de-emphasized.

So let’s begin with the fact that teaching newsrooms need a blend of veteran journalists and newbies and/or up and comers. Frankly, this can apply to every market size in the country. Where the points of difference come in, are whether those veteran journalists are empowered to be mentors, or advisors to the up and comers. In many newsrooms managers do not want veteran journalists to help train. This can be a wasted resource. A teaching newsroom partners those veterans with the up and comers to help provide support. You can do this without giving the veteran journalists too much editorial control.

Teaching newsrooms also have well defined news philosophies. You have to in order to teach. Many times the ND loves to find the next star journalists and genuinely enjoys creating a mentoring environment with clear expectations. Teaching newsrooms also usually have very communicative EP’s who are eager to sit down with producers and reporters to look over newscasts. They are passionate about helping their staffs grow and allowing their producers to push themselves to see what they can become as writers and showcasers.

This requires an understanding of the EP’s own strengths and weaknesses. I just love when EP’s compare notes on the “Survive” Twitter handle. Many are so eager to help their producers and reporters grow. Some do it with weekly meetings, some grab newscasts and sit down in edit bays and talk through shows with the producers. Others hold regular writing workshops for reporters and/or producers. A truly strong teaching newsroom has to have at least one of these elements happening regularly. EP’s are in the trenches. They need to be the day-to-day instructors in many ways. Management needs to help them do this, and provide backup so the time can be carved out for these crucial “sessions.”

Why you have to be willing to blow up your rundown to succeed as a producer.

It’s no secret that producers are protective of their rundowns. They simply want them a certain way. Many get downright nasty about making a change. Here’s the deal though, if you are one of those producers married to their rundown, you need to be ready to lose your job. Yes, it is true. That’s not producing, that is stacking.

Producing is about explaining news in a compelling way, through a conversation with visuals and sound. More importantly, producing is about anticipating change and still executing flawlessly. That is what managers want. The ability to do that, means you can showcase, you can protect your anchors, you story-tell and most of all you own breaking news every day, every time.

The thing managers hate the most is when a breaker needs to go in the newscast and the producer says no or pitches a fit because it will mess up their rundown. This is why old timers will often jump your business about calling what you put on the air a “show” instead of a “newscast.” A show is entertainment that can be put to bed early, and dressed up in pretty bows. This is not “show business.” It’s the news business. A newscast demands that you put in whatever is new, anyway you can and inform the viewer from start to finish. See the difference? The newscast can and should have showcasing elements. It can get dressed up, but if there’s a breaker, those pretty bows might have to go so the new story bursts through. In other words, your job is to inform. You cannot expect or demand to write a few things early in the day, then refuse to change the rundown. That is failing at your job. There, I said it. So many tip toe around this idea but, it is the truth. As much as all of us producers want it to be our newscast, it belongs to the viewer. It serves a purpose to inform. “ New” takes precedence, always. This goes for anchors too. It’s not your newscast. Again, the newscast belongs to the viewer. You are all vehicles by which information gets out. Take the ego out of it, put the great information in as a collective unit and you will win. So, remember, the best rundowns are those which you can easily blow up and put in new information. If that is more than you can handle, think about a career change.

How To Execute the 15 Minute Lead Concept

A successful newscast not only retains the lead-in audience, it continues building audience all the way to the end. That is winning. Make no mistake, if you can do this you will keep your job even if you are the 4th place station. Once viewers tune in and stay, a producer and anchor’s job is more secure. If viewers feel the need to “check in” halfway through, you have even more job stability.

Successful veteran producers know that this is done by “spreading the wealth.” Hence, the 15 minute lead concept. The name of this concept is a little misleading though. For less experienced journalists lead means first. That usually becomes, the first story in the news block. Too many times I have seen this lead to a strange design of newscast blocks, that tried to manipulate meters, but actually set producers up for failure.

So let’s redefine the term “lead” for this concept. When you think lead, think “must see”, “can’t miss” and “gotcha!” This is an important distinction for many reasons. First, it helps you “build up” sections of your newscast for the “big moment.” Remember, great newscasts come across as conversations. There are natural lulls and high points in conversation. One producer I know explains it like this: “Watching my shows is like hopping on a roller coaster. You will get moments to catch your breath, but you will also get plenty of stomach churning action.”

Let’s build on that idea. When you get on a roller coaster half the fun is the ride up that first hill, knowing that a big thrill is just over the crest. When you think of it that way those “pacer” stories have a lot more meaning don’t they? You have to keep building up to the big moment. Teases are a lot more important also.

Too often when consultants and news managers preach about the ”quarter leads” they only want to know what those chunks are. They miss a big part of the concept. Some of these chunks can happen at the end of a block. They cannot all be the same type of big moment. You want a thrill ride to be a stomach tickling, heart pounding, close your eyes and take your breath away experience! Each one has a different feel. Same idea when applying the concept to producing. You can’t just take 4 big stories of the day and throw them in at those meter points. You must remember you are having a conversation. Distinct types of topics make a difference. Viewers expect different types of stories at different points in their interaction with the anchors.

Case in point, where these “quarter hour leads” play in rundowns and definitions:

• Top of newscast: The first lead is biggest impact story of the day.

• 15 minutes in: Depends largely on your station’s news philosophy. This might actually fall closer to 20 depending on day part and if you have a weak spot in viewer retention.

• 30 minutes in: Depends on your day part but the story needs to have “today” relevance.

• 45 minutes in: Again depends on your station’s news philosophy and it’s pledge to viewers. Depending on day part, that “big moment” may actually happen closer to 50.

You cannot take throwaway vo’s and slap them in, leading up to that final “15 minute lead.” The viewer cannot sense he/she is on that hill, click-clacking up to the top of a final hill and a final thrill. This is the area I see mis-designed most often in rundowns that follow the 15 minute lead model. The viewer stuck with you for a long time. You need to reward that loyalty. Therefore, each story has to count. This conversation needs to end on a high note. By this I do not mean a water skiing squirrel! I mean something really worth hanging around to see. Something that will make a difference in that viewer’s day. Perhaps it’s a great consumer story, way to save time or maybe a smart phone app that’s going to make their life a little easier. You can also “go human.” Introduce them to someone in your community that will make them proud they live there.

Because of the extra importance of that last quarter hour, how you tease throughout the newscast has to be looked at closely. Too often producers executing a 15 minute lead concept, focus on the next 15 only in their tease structure. You are designing a rundown with a ton of compelling content. So your teases need to scream: “Hang on, we have a ton of great stuff to talk about!” Do not be afraid to tease more than two things. But, your teases need to rock, every line, every time. You are building up a great conversation, full of high notes. Teases cannot be the lulls in conversation. (The “lulls” are occasionally more information-type, perspective moments, where viewers can gain more insight, without emotion tied to it.) A truly well executed 15 minute lead concept, focuses heavily on tease structure. In fact that structure is as important as the design of each lead itself.

Which brings us to one final point. These leads are not just long packages you tease a few times. Showcasing counts! These are areas where you need to think “3 screens.” These are areas where you add extra information so viewers can walk away with valuable nuggets of knowledge. And I’m not just talking about inside the package. You build up the lead, let viewers experience the thrill ride, then reward them for watching. This has to happen 4 times, effectively, to win the 15 minute lead concept. In a sense you are creating sidebar topics, each quarter hour as part of a great hour long conversation viewers won’t soon forget. If that doesn’t smack of “Gotcha!” and also lead to ratings gains, nothing will.

What is a producer’s newsroom? The answer could redefine TV news.

An EP recently asked me to write an article on this subject. So what makes up a producer’s newsroom? There’s a traditional answer and a more big picture answer. Let’s start with the traditional answer. In a producer’s newsroom, producers have the most control over content.

Often in these newsrooms, producers come into editorial meetings with a defined idea of what the top stories are and assign crews. That’s not to say that reporters do not pitch stories, but often producers are required to pitch stories and have a rough outline right away. Reporters are often brought into editorial meetings to be told what their story is. Furthermore, when judgement calls are made about how to handle situations, producers get final say.

But let’s think bigger picture. Why would newsrooms call themselves producer shops? Let’s break down what the goal is for newsrooms that call themselves this. They usually have ambitious mission statements or news philosophies. Some examples: On Your Side, Holding the Powerful Accountable, Coverage You Can Count On and (call letters) Investigates. By the nature of these slogans, these stations MUST source build. If they do not break new content or at least new angles, then they do not live up to the philosophy. Can producers source build? Sure, but frankly you have to get out and mingle with people to really get deep sources. This means reporters and anchors are every bit as important in driving content. The emphasis on “producer” is as the creator of original content. So a “producer’s newsroom” is a newsroom where all the journalists collaborate to produce compelling content, that is original and/or emphasizes community impact. This also involves a lot of showcasing, so you will find very strong line producers in these newsrooms. You also will find great storyteller reporters.

A true “producer’s newsroom” needs to have a heavy emphasis on showcasing the information in compelling ways, so that the viewer is well served. It should have an ambitious slogan and truly live up to it. The managers should create a truly collaborative environment where every journalist, whether a producer, reporter, photojournalist, video or assignment editor has a say in what the stories will be and how they will be presented. This will make the newsroom more representative of the community and help better serve the viewer. In these newsrooms, when calls are made about how to handle situations, there often is a clearer answer because of the defined slogan. If not, management tends to make the call on a case by case basis.

One of the most read articles on “Survive” was “Producer Driven Does Not Mean Absolute Power.” Many newsrooms call themselves “producer’s newsrooms” or “producer driven” simply because they give producers more power and their opinions more weight. But the emphasis on producer needs to be broader scale than the person who puts together the newscasts. For newsrooms to remain relevant in the community, they need to have a variety of journalists weighing in on the stories and the impact they can have.

In a time when many question whether television news will remain relevant or if social media will take over as the top news source, the definition of “producer’s newsroom” needs to be taken seriously. The term producer really needs to be looked at. If defined as “creator of compelling relevant content” the newsroom will change dramatically. Newsrooms that de-emphasize the role of reporters and anchors really tend to struggle with relevance and original content. Showcasing also suffers if the reporters and anchors are not invested in the information. A true “producer’s newsroom” needs to be a place with a well defined slogan, rooted in watchdog journalism with an emphasis on investigative and showcasing. This will create relevant stories, with characters, powerful images and crucial information viewers need to know each day. The reporters will come across as genuine and invested in the community they serve. The line producers will go home gratified because the information they helped generate actually impacted people each day as well. By redefining “producer’s newsroom” TV stations across the nation can reinvent themselves and reconnect with the communities they serve. May the title no longer reference a power struggle in newsrooms, but instead focus more on the collaborative efforts a newsroom puts forth each day to best serve it’s community. I truly hope all TV newsrooms become this kind of “producer’s newsroom.”