“We’re good, Tim”

LOL! The best ones are from newbies trying so hard to be serious.

 

Man, when I first saw this I didn't realize that she was one-man banding this. And until talking to colleagues I had no idea that was a common practice. (I've worked in a small market but it was a hell of a long time ago.)

That's inexcusable on so many levels. It should never happen at all -- but on a water main break in the dark, creating a chaotic traffic situation? Totally unacceptable.

And I realize whoever is producing that show has probably been in the business for two weeks or they wouldn't be working in West Virginia... but goddamn, you don't leave the reporter WHO HAS JUST BEEN HIT BY A CAR up live onscreen like that. Get off the shot. Have the anchor move on while you try to help the reporter. Jesus.

And a brief response to all the inevitable "OMG, live shot, LOL" posts that pop up... It's about pacing and mixing up the presentation of the news. Frequently it's done at a now-dead scene because that's where the reporter is putting the story together. A good reporter will make use of the live location one way or another.

 

The best live shots are the 5 am standups in front of X stadium — sometimes they even get the lights turned on inside.

 

As bad I feel for the 11 p.m. live shot reporters - I feel worse for those poor saps that have to do live shots for the early 5-7 a.m. news. Most of the time they are pre-planned segments with a group or business promoting something - like a seasonal toy drive or other community event and they'll wake up at that hour and get some others to show up to look busy in the background so the camera has something to shoot.

 

Tim is a rank amateur, because this:

“That’s a first for you on TV, Tori,” was Irr’s immediate response.

 

Milk it for all it's worth.

Tim Irr couldn't even see what happened on the monitor.

 

I was thinking that after the adrenaline wore off she might be hurting.

 

In 2015, in the hours after the Virginia killing, PCLL and I got into an ugly and regrettable exchange (one where I take full responsibility as I look back with regret on this) about live-to-be-live.

At that time, I anchored newscasts on weekends with skeleton staff. I didn’t have a lot of staff around for live shots unless something was breaking.

Now I’m back on weekdays/weeknights and we are live all the time. It does break up the monotony of the newscast and pacing. That’s all part of the formula. You still aim for viewer value with each move. Sometimes it happens. Often not.

Yes, a solid reporter makes any live shot good. Just avoid my live shot about a decade ago in -12 below at 10 pm.

“It was at this scene 11 hours ago, as we come to you live from outside this empty government building, when it was 2 degrees and not 12 below, when the county board decided to table any decision on approving being a sanctuary city for immigrants.”

Take PKG.

Bad: formal reprimand from the news director.

Good: they didn’t put me out in -12 below for a meeting 11 hours before again.

 

Same thing with actualities (sound bites/interviews) in the middle of radio newscasts. Most of the time, they're valuable IF you know how to write into them with context, instead of just "Joe Blow says." Some of the time, they're there to keep the newscaster from reading five consecutive minutes of copy.

I was also taught the "car window" rule of using actualities. If you couldn't make out what the person was saying -- either because of static or a bad phone connection -- by putting yourself in the position of the listener driving with the car window down -- don't use it.

TV is a different beast because you've got video to deal with. And I understand why so many gas stations get free advertising because the crew needs a standup, but like many pros on this board, there's a way to present a standup in an entertaining and informative manner, other than the quick-and-dirty building backdrop.

Often, it comes off as "We've got reporters, expensive equipment and trucks. Let's use them." And it's hard as hell to get stuff LIVE. At least 98 percent of the time, you're trying to get to the sccene of something that's been over.

Weather. Traffic accidents. Hostage situations. Protests. You don't get many good gunfights on tape.

 

In this situation though, doesn't someone in the control room or off-screen have to tell the talent what happened?

 

The woman who does the 5-6 am live shots on the local NBC station is the backup traffic reporter
Her replacement does the early shift on weekends
One thing I don’t understand is this NBC station does a LOT of promos for News Nation
Station is owned by Nexstar
Could that be why?

 

Yes. CBS affiliate in my corner of the world is Nexstar, and tries to run News Nation teases with credibility. Because it's Nexstar, we know that to be FOS.