• Avoid this Common Mistake with Contacts

    June 24th, 2011

    Many multimedia journalists make a mistake they don’t know they’re making. Some business people, too. The solution is a simple one you can implement immediately.

    Posted in Social Media, Social Media Video, Web Video | No Comments »

  • Breaking Through What’s Holding You Back

    June 19th, 2011

    A news director, seeing the investigative “Watchdog” reporting about the government trying to hide where tax money goes, asked why it’s so difficult for reporters to cover these stories. He points out many MMJs have trouble with the basics and with going the extra step, and wants a solution.


    My response:

    Great question. Best practices point to seeing your station as a learning organization, looking at staff members as individuals in different stages of their development.  The idea is to identify where each person is in their learning/development, what their next step is, and to help them get there. Otherwise, many people flounder.

    A basic way of looking at it is “What’s holding each person back?” This is very clear as I lead a team across the country training new multimedia journalists. Each person is at a different level. Get them to the next level, and the improvement is obvious. Many of the learning videos on my blog address just that issue.

    For example, some reporters’ stories are weak because they lack a news hook. That’s why you’ll see several videos on developing sources, which generate more relevant stories, which engage viewers. If you go to www.kaplitzblog.com, you’ll see a search box just above Recent Posts where you can search “enterprise.”

    News directors who critique on a daily basis, sharing the best examples of people’s work and challenges at least weekly, find they can accelerate learning. Plus clients call on me to conference with small groups in person or by phone, so we can identify specific flash points and tackle them.

    You can see the original report the news director liked and is sharing with his staff:  Investigate Where Your Tax Money Goes

    And follow me on Twitter.  Search for “bobkaplitz,” and “Follow.”  Here are examples of tweets.  The links will be live at the Twitter site:

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

    If you’re a multimedia journalist and news manager not getting the feedback you need to succeed, don’t complain. Ask for it.  Every news director I know welcomes those opportunities.

    You’re the one ultimately responsible for your own development, which builds your value and your personal brand.  Take advantage of every opportunity.

    Posted in Multimedia Journalism, Power Tools for TV Journalists, TV news training, Twitter | No Comments »

  • Investigative Reporting is Alive and Well

    June 12th, 2011

    Here’s a strong example. The reporter focused on a hot topic, wisely taking credit for the original story she broke.   While many stations have cut back on their investigative reporting, WSMV in Nashville continues to deliver with its I-Team.

     

    Even if you can’t deliver on this high level of reporting immediately, take the first steps.  Ask questions when it comes to taxpayer money and salaries for public officials.  The more questions you ask, the more you can discover.

    And WSMV News Director Matthew Hilk emails us:  ”Our Channel 4 I Team was just at IRE in Orlando accepting the national IRE award for “breaking news investigations” for our work uncovering government agency missteps during the great flood of 2010 here…that stuff is all on the site as well.”  Congratulations to Matthew and his team!

     

    Posted in Bob Kaplitz video, broadcast journalism | No Comments »

  • What’s Your Story?

    January 29th, 2011

    How good are you as a storyteller? 

    We’ve created a model showing the various levels of storytelling — from the basic “meeting deadlines” to possessing your own identifiable style. 

    Here are a few questions to consider as you look at the various levels.

    Which level are you at?

    What’s holding you back?

    What do you need to learn to move to the next level?

    How will you make that happen?

    How can you divide your development plan into steps to make it practical?

     How can AR&D help?

    Follow Bobkaplitz on Twitter

    Posted in Bob Kaplitz video, broadcast journalism, Multimedia Journalism, Power Tools for TV Journalists, Social Media, TV news training, Twitter | 4 Comments »

  • Multimedia Minutes: Separating Fact from Fiction in Politics

    October 16th, 2010

    You can do it on your own or collaborate with a newspaper.  

     The goal is to fact check political claims.  See it as a type of investigative reporting that benefits viewers. 

    If you can fact check on your own, you and your station will get the full credit.

    Follow Bobkaplitz on Twitter

    Posted in broadcast journalism, Multimedia Journalism, Power Tools for TV Journalists, TV news training | 1 Comment »

  • Multimedia Minutes: Keeping Viewers’ Attention

    September 4th, 2010

    How engaging are your stories?

    You Tube keeps tracks of videos posted on their site.   Here’s a story appearing on You Tube that engaged viewers more than most.  Look for viewer engagement to rise, then eventually fall in this example of on-camera storytelling.

    Click on the video:

    Tara researched and produced this story with the support of her mom and dad.  My idea was to get the perspective of a youngster who had her parents’ okay to fact find how to stay safe on Facebook.  What Tara lacked in visuals and production, she made up for with information.  I added the graphics you see on the screen.  Of the hundreds of videos posted at www.kaplitzblog.com and “stored” on You Tube, this engaged viewers longer than most, according to Google’s analytics.

    AR&D conducts Real Time Response testing of newscasts and promos which provide second-by-second information followed by discussions with participants to help us better understand the interest peaks and valleys.  That’s one way we discovered years ago how live for live sake accounted for many of the lowest interest levels we ever tested.  Speaking of live, click on:  Tips for Going Live

    Posted in broadcast journalism, Multimedia Journalism, Power Tools for TV Journalists, TV news training | 87 Comments »

  • Multimedia Minutes: A Simple, Powerful Way to Find Story Ideas

    August 1st, 2010

    How can you find story ideas when you don’t have much time to develop sources?

    As simple as it sounds, invite viewers to contact with story ideas.  They do it, as you’l see in these email examples.

    How do you ask viewers?  Be direct:  “We want to be sure we’re covering all the imporant angles of this story.  If you know of one we missed, let us know.  If you have a story, we’ll check it out.”

    Posted in broadcast journalism, Multimedia Journalism, Power Tools for TV Journalists, TV news training | 2 Comments »

  • Multimedia Minutes: What the Most Successful News Operations have in Common

    July 23rd, 2010

    “What do stations propelling their ratings have in common?”  The head of a group of TV stations recently asked me that question. 

    Although markets and challenges are different, one of the things they have in common is clear goals.  In going through my files, I pulled the example below of clear goals that I helped one station develop based on the research. 

    HOW CLEAR ARE YOUR GOALS? 

    Our experience shows, the best approach is to:

    – Focus on what’s most important to driving your ratings based on what you know about your viewers.

    – Keep the list to half a dozen calls to make it practical.

    – Contrast the old and new way.

    – Outline the “success path” to achieve the goals because they won’t happen on their own.

    – Identify the obstacles, which usually include “Don’t have enough time.”  Provide practical solutions.

     Here’s the example of the goals, which I recommend you review and adapt based on your action plan.

    You’ll notice the reference to “Watch any of our newscasts, and you’ll see…”  That’s because consistency is so important.  You can’t tell viewers “You watched the wrong newscast!”

    Posted in broadcast journalism, Multimedia Journalism, Power Tools for TV Journalists, TV news training | No Comments »

  • Multimedia Minutes: Can You Do Too Many Standups in a Story?

    July 10th, 2010

    Can you do too many standups in a story?  Watch this, and judge for yourself.

    For many, this story worked well.  The on camera storytelling helped viewers better understand the information.

    Posted in broadcast journalism, Multimedia Journalism, Power Tools for TV Journalists, TV news training | No Comments »

  • Multimedia Minutes: Tough Questions Watching Out for Taxpayers

    July 8th, 2010

    Viewers say they can’t get enough of this:  Asking the tough questions, serving as a watchdog for their tax money.   This promo makes the station’s brand of journalism clear.

    Posted in broadcast journalism, Multimedia Journalism, Power Tools for TV Journalists, TV news training | No Comments »

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