I'm going to try not to butcher this a la George Bush, but isn't there a saying that the whole is greater than the sum of its parts? This is true when it comes to our morning newscast. As a whole it comes off looking decent. But the idiots involved in putting it together are worthless.
My 5 a.m. producer is ... well, an idiot. The rumor is, he's mildly autistic. So, that's great that he's functioning and able to hold a job. Good for him. But he needs to function in a job that's not over his head. This 5 a.m. producer has NO news judgment. Instead of major international stories, such as the elections crisis in Zimbabwe, he includes video of people in the Philippines hosing each other down to celebrate Saint John the Baptist Day. In lieu of important national stories (you know, the Democratic primary, etc.), he picks stories about wall collapses in Texas or a gas protest in Minnesota.
Today just happened to be a huge news day because of a major event in our area. Because I give a rat's ass about my newscast, I spend yesterday vigilantly writing breakouts and pacers -- 17, in all. Then, I formatted the 5 a.m. newscast for him with live hits so he wouldn't be overwhelmed. I talked to the reporter, photog, director and meteorologist about the changes. So, I come in at 2 a.m. and he tells me his show is done. I'm doing the 6 a.m. today because that producer is sick. I focus on getting the 6 a.m. done without much thought about the 5 a.m. since he's "done."
I wrap up the 6 a.m. and start looking over the 5 a.m. It's not done. He still has me assigned to write his headlines, teases, top stories and a couple other story intros. He's done because he only wrote three stories -- for the entire hour-long newscast. So while I'm working on his show, he's playing computer games. Seriously.
What a fucking idiot.
Friday, June 27, 2008
Wednesday, June 18, 2008
Oh, to be a meteorologist
When I first started on-air, I began as a weathergirl. Yep, I was the weekend weather girl at a station with a history of bad decision-making. I was terrible, but now that I look back, I realize I should have kept at it.
This is a day-in-the-life of a typical on-air weather person:
*Get to work an hour before the newscast starts
*Make a few lame graphics, record radio spots
*Do newscast
Now, this is where things start to vary a little bit. For example, if the weather person works the morning show, he/she will usually have an hour-long lunch, come back to the newsroom to do some Web surfing, then go home. This equates to a six-hour work day.
If the weather person works in the evenings, he/she goes home for two to three hours, returning -- in some cases -- mere minutes before the 11 p.m. newscast.
Oh, to be a meteorologist. Six-hour days, three-hour lunch breaks ... I gave up too much to become an anchor/reporter. I've decided I've just taken on too many hats. As producer/writer/photog/editor/anchor/reporter, I don't really have much time for a break during the day.
Here's my schedule (to be compared with that of weather people):
2 a.m. -- Get to work, check work e-mail, read scripts, rewrite scripts, suggest reordering stories, type up our crawl and build and print cut-ins.
4 a.m. -- Hair & makeup time
4:45 a.m. -- On set, ready for my two-hour newscast to begin
7:00 a.m. -- Newscast finishes
7:05 a.m. -- Tape cut-ins
7:20 a.m. -- Time for a bathroom break
7:22 a.m. -- Write and edit clips from the newscast for our Web site
8:00 a.m. -- Record radio reports
8:15 a.m. -- Look through schedules, files, newspapers, etc. to find day-of stories for the following day
8:30 a.m. -- Write those stories
9:00 a.m. -- Generate story ideas for today
9:30 a.m. -- Morning meeting, discuss story ideas, assign reporters to stories
10:30 a.m. -- I usually have some type of interview set up around this time
11:30 a.m. -- Get back to station, log, write and edit my pkg.
1:00 p.m. -- Make calls for my series pieces, make beat calls
1:30 p.m. -- Go home
Rest of the afternoon -- Field calls from the rest of the world -- people who work 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. and don't understand why I'm already home.
5:00 p.m. -- Try to go to sleep
7:00 p.m. -- Fall asleep
1:00 a.m. -- Time to get up and start it all over again
Did that make you tired? It exhausted me. Damn, I should have been a weathergirl.
This is a day-in-the-life of a typical on-air weather person:
*Get to work an hour before the newscast starts
*Make a few lame graphics, record radio spots
*Do newscast
Now, this is where things start to vary a little bit. For example, if the weather person works the morning show, he/she will usually have an hour-long lunch, come back to the newsroom to do some Web surfing, then go home. This equates to a six-hour work day.
If the weather person works in the evenings, he/she goes home for two to three hours, returning -- in some cases -- mere minutes before the 11 p.m. newscast.
Oh, to be a meteorologist. Six-hour days, three-hour lunch breaks ... I gave up too much to become an anchor/reporter. I've decided I've just taken on too many hats. As producer/writer/photog/editor/anchor/reporter, I don't really have much time for a break during the day.
Here's my schedule (to be compared with that of weather people):
2 a.m. -- Get to work, check work e-mail, read scripts, rewrite scripts, suggest reordering stories, type up our crawl and build and print cut-ins.
4 a.m. -- Hair & makeup time
4:45 a.m. -- On set, ready for my two-hour newscast to begin
7:00 a.m. -- Newscast finishes
7:05 a.m. -- Tape cut-ins
7:20 a.m. -- Time for a bathroom break
7:22 a.m. -- Write and edit clips from the newscast for our Web site
8:00 a.m. -- Record radio reports
8:15 a.m. -- Look through schedules, files, newspapers, etc. to find day-of stories for the following day
8:30 a.m. -- Write those stories
9:00 a.m. -- Generate story ideas for today
9:30 a.m. -- Morning meeting, discuss story ideas, assign reporters to stories
10:30 a.m. -- I usually have some type of interview set up around this time
11:30 a.m. -- Get back to station, log, write and edit my pkg.
1:00 p.m. -- Make calls for my series pieces, make beat calls
1:30 p.m. -- Go home
Rest of the afternoon -- Field calls from the rest of the world -- people who work 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. and don't understand why I'm already home.
5:00 p.m. -- Try to go to sleep
7:00 p.m. -- Fall asleep
1:00 a.m. -- Time to get up and start it all over again
Did that make you tired? It exhausted me. Damn, I should have been a weathergirl.
Tuesday, June 10, 2008
TV news jargon
I find this is really a great source for explanation of some of the terms I use:
http://journalism.ukings.ca/journalism_3925.html.
Here's another good one: http://www.scripps.ohiou.edu/producer/thebook/jargon.htm.
Enjoy!
http://journalism.ukings.ca/journalism_3925.html.
Here's another good one: http://www.scripps.ohiou.edu/producer/thebook/jargon.htm.
Enjoy!
A place to vent
I work in a television market that's small, to say the least. But there's potential here, which is why I accepted a job here. However, there's also a lot of animosity between coworkers, a situation I haven't come across in three previous stations.
I'm what is called an "anchor" in TV news jargon. In the most basic sense, that means I "anchor" a newscast. I'm the face of the morning newscast at my station. But I don't just read off a teleprompter; I'm here at 2 a.m. each weekday morning to help producers out. You see, I also spent time as a producer, even scoring an Emmy nomination in a Top 20 market. So, I suggest story additions, different ways to stack the show, help write and answer any questions my learning producers may have.
Once the show wraps up, I have several more responsibilities. I'm also a one-man-band reporter at my station. That means I brainstorm ideas, shoot video for stories, conduct interviews for stories, write the stories and edit the video for them. This can all get pretty intense from time to time, as it is a lot of work. I'm salaried, though, so my employer benefits from my workaholic tendencies.
Here's where there's a problem. None of my coworkers work like I do. The evening anchors are lazy and don't even bother reading any of their scripts before air time. They rarely (perhaps once every six months or so) provide stories for our newscasts. When they do, they don't shoot or edit their stories; a photographer does that for them. Fellow reporters do as little as they can to get by and the meteorologists (the weather people) work about six hours a day.
Clearly, I'm not exactly happy in the situation. That's what this blog is for: venting about a work scenario I can't do much about and that no one understands. Hopefully, you'll enjoy getting an occasional glimpse into TV news -- and the drama behind the cameras.
I'm what is called an "anchor" in TV news jargon. In the most basic sense, that means I "anchor" a newscast. I'm the face of the morning newscast at my station. But I don't just read off a teleprompter; I'm here at 2 a.m. each weekday morning to help producers out. You see, I also spent time as a producer, even scoring an Emmy nomination in a Top 20 market. So, I suggest story additions, different ways to stack the show, help write and answer any questions my learning producers may have.
Once the show wraps up, I have several more responsibilities. I'm also a one-man-band reporter at my station. That means I brainstorm ideas, shoot video for stories, conduct interviews for stories, write the stories and edit the video for them. This can all get pretty intense from time to time, as it is a lot of work. I'm salaried, though, so my employer benefits from my workaholic tendencies.
Here's where there's a problem. None of my coworkers work like I do. The evening anchors are lazy and don't even bother reading any of their scripts before air time. They rarely (perhaps once every six months or so) provide stories for our newscasts. When they do, they don't shoot or edit their stories; a photographer does that for them. Fellow reporters do as little as they can to get by and the meteorologists (the weather people) work about six hours a day.
Clearly, I'm not exactly happy in the situation. That's what this blog is for: venting about a work scenario I can't do much about and that no one understands. Hopefully, you'll enjoy getting an occasional glimpse into TV news -- and the drama behind the cameras.
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