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Multimedia Minutes: Not Your Typical Live Shot
October 29th, 2010
Enjoy the fun. This isn’t your typical live shot.
You can still learn alot — even if you don’t cover sports or the World Series. It’s about connecting with your personality as this sports anchor from Dallas station KXAS did.
Posted in Bob Kaplitz video, broadcast journalism, Multimedia Journalism, Power Tools for TV Journalists, TV news training | No Comments »
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Multimedia Minutes: Digging into School Violence
October 29th, 2010
You can learn a lot from this story.
It’s about a viewer hot button — school violence — and requires going the extra step. Also, in this review of KSNV’s (Las Vegas) “Anchor Mom” story, note my comments about the photography.
Checklist:
- Call schools to find out which are the most violence and safest.
- Show viewers your lists.
- Plan to use a locator map showing the schools.
- Ask the principles the questions viewers want answered.
- Let viewers hear your questions instead of cutting them out, which happens frequently.
- Make sure you give the principal’s side of the story.
- Use your website to provide more detailed information.
- Provide advice for parents.
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Multimedia Minutes: Where are You with Enterprise Reporting?
October 28th, 2010
Enterprise reporting can separate you from others.
You’re not just reacting to the news of the day –
you’re driving the news agenda for the market. Plus you have more control over your story. Where do you stand?
It all starts with first time sources, then builds to the point of a so-called “whistle blower big story” revealing something big.
Contact people in a position to know what’s going on — especially people in government. Tell them you want to do a better job and would like to meet with them for an hour so they can answer your questions. No cameras, just background information.
MMJs who take this approach say it works well because most officials never hear from reporters simply wanting to do a better job.
You can also take the opportunity to say: ”To put this story in perspective, this isn’t the first time this has happened. The city manager told me during a briefing I requested…” You rarely hear that, so it’s an efficient way to set yourself apart. And it works well for on-camera storytelling when you’re your best video.
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Multimedia Minutes: Smart Use of Stills
October 26th, 2010
Still images capture moments making stories memorable.
Here’s an example from Binghamton University in New York State. You don’t have to watch TV news stories to gain insights about visual storytelling.
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Multimedia Minutes: On-Camera Storytelling with a “Deadly Weapon”
October 25th, 2010
This show-and-tell is a strong example of making a point in a powerful way.
The story on Fox NFL Sunday is about new regulations to try to make the game safer. Watch the show-and-tell captured so well by camera work.
What are the regulations to keep kids playing football safe in your area? Any thought of changing them? If you find a story, this type of demo or a similar one can illustrate your point.
While traditional sports stories score low in overall viewer interest, stories about kids’ safety score high. Moms, dads, relatives, and friends are interested.
Posted in Bob Kaplitz video, broadcast journalism, Multimedia Journalism, Power Tools for TV Journalists, TV news training | 6 Comments »
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Multimedia Minutes: Bob Dotson on “Does the Web Take a Toll on Storytelling?”
October 24th, 2010
Is all this convergence and the rush to “get it online” taking a toll on old-fashioned storytelling, or will we still have the Bob Dotson’s around 10 years from now?
Bob Dotson:
No question journalism is changing, but the techniques of storytelling are unchanged. Poets have been composing compelling stories at Twitter-length since the beginning of time.
We’ve always had deadlines that sliced time too thin for thought. But I’m hopeful. Visual storytelling used to be like writing on smoke. The story appeared one time and then faded away. Not any more. Digital technology puts your best efforts on an electronic shelf that viewers can find when they have time. Six million people see my stories on TODAY. On the Web many, many millions more. That reality provides production money for would be Bob Dotson’s to keep telling stories about us.
Look for people who are practically invisible, the ones who quietly change our lives, but don’t send out press releases. After all, America was built, not just by great heroes or great politicians, but by ordinary people with wonderful ideas — by thousands whose names we don’t know, but should. They may not run for President or win a “Reality Show,” but without their contribution, the kind of country we know would not exist.
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Multimedia Minutes: Finding a Perfect Beginning or Ending
October 24th, 2010
In your book, you talk about writing the middle of the story first. Is this always your practice, or do you sometimes find a perfect beginning or ending, and fill in the middle later?
Bob Dotson:
I write the middle first when I’m stumped for an opening line. Sometimes the opening line falls into my lap. A videographer I worked with once covered an all-night concert. I came to pick up his tape.
“Anything going on?” I asked.
“Not much,” he answered. “Breakfast was either smoked or passed around in a bottle.”
I grinned. “Bet you got pictures of that.”
“Yep.”
“Well,” I chuckled. “Thanks for my opening line,”
“Huh?”
“‘Breakfast was either smoked or passed around in a bottle.’ I think that kind of sums up this party, doesn’t it?”
“Well….”
“Thanks,” I said. “You’re a helluva writer.”
From the first moment I’m assigned a story, I play a little mind game. “What if I had to write this right now? What would be my close?” In that way, I’m always on the lookout for the best last shot, the best final sound bite. They often come early in the shoot. Once you have the close the story goes together more rapidly. You don’t have to gather everything. All you have to do is find the best details that help you build to that close.
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Multimedia Minutes: What Irritates Bob Dotson the Most about TV News?
October 24th, 2010
What irritates you most when you watch news?
Bob Dotson:
In this age of endless live shots we rely too much on press release storytelling. Local news now has to fill 24 hours. That leads to formula reporting. Live Open. Voice over. Interview with the mayor. Live tag.
“Back to you, Biff. I’m Bob Dotson and you’re not.”
Formula reporting kills communication. It either puts viewers to sleep or sends them clicking somewhere else.
Those big layoffs in local news aren’t just happening because of the bad economy. We are running the risk of becoming irrelevant, chasing celebrities and letting politicians spout talking points like stuck records.
People want something from your reporting — understanding and insight. Look for ways to help your viewers feel something about the story and it’s subjects. If feeling is present, the story will be memorable. It will stick in the viewers’ minds.
Posted in Bob Kaplitz video, broadcast journalism, Multimedia Journalism, Power Tools for TV Journalists, TV news training | 7 Comments »
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Multimedia Minutes: Bob Dotson on the Most Important Thing to Do Before an Interview
October 24th, 2010
What is the most important thing a young reporter can do before an interview? After the interview?
Bob Dotson, Today Show national correspondent, responds:
As a young reporter, I once showed up late to a Governor’s news conference and begged the Governor to stay and answer just one more question. The Gov, up for re-election, obliged. I focused up and said, “Go ahead, Governor, answer a question.”
“What question?”
“Well, I don’t know. Didn’t you just have a news conference?”
“Yes.”
“Did they ask a lot of questions?”
“Of course.”
“Well, pick one out and give me eight seconds!”
And, you know — he did.
Most people you interview cannot do that, so it’s important to help the person forget about your camera and lights. Put them at ease, so they’re comfortable enough to tell you what you need to know.
Talk about their hobbies, not your equipment. Make the technical stuff seem no big deal. If they’re still nervous (and who isn’t?) tell a funny story about your own struggles with all this. For instance, my mom always worried about me working with all this stuff. The first time she got a chance to see one of my stories, I asked her what she thought.
There was a long pause and then she said, “Bobby, I think you ought to learn a trade.”
“A trade!”
“Yes, they’re not going to keep paying you for two minutes work a day!”
After an interview, the most important thing to do is look for those answers that gave you a lump in the throat. Something you feel compelled to tell. Don’t settle for the clichés. Look for the compelling emotion. Will it make them mad? Happy? Sad? Your story can be built on that central emotion.
Posted in Bob Kaplitz video, broadcast journalism, Multimedia Journalism, Power Tools for TV Journalists, TV news training | 5 Comments »
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Multimedia Minutes: Bob Dotson on Finding Stories Others Miss
October 24th, 2010
Any suggestions for helping digital journalists come up with story topics and interview subjects that must be covered quickly?
Bob Dotson:
Look for stories people might miss, even standing next to you. Try covering a basketball game from the Mascot’s point of view with your camera inside the headgear. Be curious about seemingly ordinary lives. Is the custodian who raises the flag at your school a veteran?
I asked that question to a guy last week who works as a greeter at Wal-Mart and found out he had eight brothers all in the military at the same time. Eight. The man saved hundreds of lives as a combat medic. Great stories can come from people nobody else bothers to talk with in depth.
I’ve made an effort — all of my career — to look behind the media mirror that reflects celebrity and power to find compelling tales about the rest of us. A lot of people standing in the shadows have such stories.
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