Months after I left a full-time job in the business, I still find myself channel-surfing during television news broadcasts, comparing and contrasting what different stations do with different stories ..... I honestly don't know if I'll ever truly, fully shake the habit ..... anyway, it might sometimes provide material for a post on my weblog.
Last week, I was bopping back-and-forth between two stations, and noticing a difference in how stories were covered, and where they were placed. One station led with new developments in the story of a student who died in an altercation at Midland-Lee High School, full package treatment that included audio/video from the boy's father, and a sit-down with a panel of educators about items of special note in this particular case. This was followed by the announcement that a suspect in an Odessa bank robber had been arrested, and included video of that suspect in custody. While all this was airing, another station had a brief announcement about a sex offender, then a full package about a service organization engaged in special efforts for the Thanksgiving holiday.
Don't get me wrong - the Thanksgiving meals package was a great report, well-written, well-shot and well-edited. And it also reported news that genuinely needed to be shared with the community. I thank that station (one where I used to work, as a matter of fact) for presenting the story ..... but I do question its placement at the head of the broadcast. Sitting, as I now am, on-the-outside-looking-in, I have to ask if that story was upper-most in people's minds.
I found myself asking similar questions this week, when one station reported live from Fort Stockton, digging out from under the weekend snowfall, as stranded travelers got back on the road, and crews got to work on damaged trees. While all this was airing, another station ran a full package that localized the 'Cyber Monday' shopping phenomenon ..... again, a good report, and one that genuinely needed to be shared with the community ..... but, again, I question its placement at the head of the broadcast.
And let's not single-out a particular outlet, or a particular medium. Eric asks similar questions with this post at Fire Ant Gazette, about story placement in a local newspaper ..... though his inquiry does follow different lines, and also offers some possible answers.
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Jeff ... I'm glad you bring this up. Being a print media guy, we have often been left with the impression that if a story isn't accompanied by video it's not played as well as stories with video. (OK let's be honest: often we think if a televised story doesn't have video it's viewed as not being a story by TV people). You see it on CNN, MSNBC, Fox et al, all the time. Stories that really AREN'T stories ARE simply because someone captured video of a derailed train in rural Oklahoma where no one lives for 50 miles in any direction. No one is hurt, the conductor is standing there smoking a Marlboro, surveying the mishap and there'a deputy writing a report but there is no impact on anyone anywhere. Is it a story just because someone takes a picture of it? A lot of stuff like that is a monumental waste of time and it gives us media guys a bad name. The whole concept of user-submitted video, I fear, may backlash and bring down the industry if we're not careful. Sooner or later, someone's gonna catch on as to why this user-submitted video stuff is being done. I know this wasnt the original itent of your post, really, but thought I'd talk to you about it.
I was very pleased to see you bringing up the order of certain news stories, at times it felt as if no one else saw this as a bit frustrating. I look forward to reading more of your entries, keep up the great work!
First, a disclaimer ..... none of the following addresses a specific story in West Texas media ..... all are offered as generic discussion points .....
Jimmy, I suspect that one could write a legthy tome devoted solely to the order of stories as they appear, and the reasonging that goes into that ordering.
I also suspect that some points of that reasoning might be shared by many-or-even-all media. Every now and then, a proud parent will contact a newspaper, and ask why a story didn't receive better placement ..... why it appeared on B1, rather than A1 (even below-the-fold).
"We have often been left with the impression that if a story isn't accompanied by video it's not played as well as stories with video." ..... If we're talking about Top News or Breaking News, then it will probably still run at the head of the broadcast, but a television station may not dwell on it as long as they would if they had audio/video to accompany the read text.
"Is it a story just because someone takes a picture of it?" ..... No, it's a story whether it gets a brief reader, or full-blown package treatment. BUT it could be a better story if someone takes a picture of it. A picture truly IS worth a thousand words ..... and that holds true for all media.
"Often we think if a televised story doesn't have video it's viewed as not being a story by TV people." ..... That's NOT really true, but it DOES illustrate the added challenge of television news. We are mindful of the adavantages our medium offers, and the reasons people tune-in television news. So, story development must cover - an addition to the usual bases - the question, 'what do we use for video?'
"The whole concept of user-submitted video, I fear, may backlash and bring down the industry if we're not careful." ..... I completely agree, especially with those last four words. There is a place for USV, but it's not in the A section, unless we're talking about something that is genuinely newsworthy. This is something CNN has already demonstrated with CNN Exchange and I-Reports.
And I should mention, there are other factors that might come into play when deciding story placement ... factors that, again, are shared by all media. Promotions and image, for example ..... a story may not qualify as top news in the regular sense. But if you have a unique, exclusive angle that no one else has, you may want to increase the story's profile, bump it up on the schedule. You still get the story out, AND you also say a little something about what your outlet/medium has done, that not other outlet, no other medium has done.
A publisher's/editor's philosphy might also have some impact. At the Fort Stockton Pioneer, we ALWAYS featured a large, colorful photo, above the fold, to one side or the other of the front page. Sometimes, it was top news, sometimes it wasn't. Sometimes, the text of our top story was wrapped around the photo, somtimes it was in a stand-alone photo box, with a caption. But that was the way our paper was laid out.
Good observations, Jimmy! Thanks for contributing!
Timely discussion, especially re: user submitted video. Fox is making a big deal about the video that supposedly shows Bobby Knight flying off the handle at someone who demanded that he and his hunting partner take their guns elsewhere, accusing them of peppering the videographer's backyard with shot. They ran the video -- horrible quality, I might add -- and all I saw was Knight responding in a quite tame fashion to a very belligerent guy, who, while he may have had the facts on his side, revealed his true motivation by accusing Knight of seeking special treatment because of his celebrity status.
It was a non-event. But, gee, they had VIDEO, so it must be important.
Original Bostongirl, thank you for stopping in, and for the kind words. Though broadcasts that inspired my original post were in a relatively small market, you sound as though you have asked similar questions after watching broadcasts in a much larger market.
Eric, I have not seen the video in question ..... but you have raised my curiosity, and I'll probably go looking after I post this comment.
However, what you have described about the (video) shooter's conduct suggests a problem with material submitted by inexperienced shooters ..... you have to ask, 'did you set the camera rolling, and capture the images - or did you provoke/direct the images in some manner that suited a particular intention, THEN set the camera rolling?'
"...or did you provoke/direct the images in some manner that suited a particular intention, THEN set the camera rolling?"
Exactly. The Schrödinger's cat paradox also applies to the news (or what passes for news).
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