Even if your newscast is driven by its personalities, you must be first when breaking news rears its ugly head. I want to show you how we provided exclusive team coverage of Former Vice President Joe Biden during his “heavy petting” days. This is the amazing Eye Opener Dallas group from a few years ago! Continue reading THE VICE IN VP
Category Archives: Breaking News
PAPERBACK & KINDLE
LET ‘EM TALK IT OUT
Sometimes you’ve just got to let them talk it out. When the word “thug” became a news story, everyone on set had an opinion. It’s so important to allow them to discuss these issues – which strengthens the connection between your talent and your audience. In this example, we just let them talk right up to the hard break.
THE ELEPHANT IN THE AIR
WAZE 2 UTILIZE UR NEWS CHOPPER
One of my greatest resources while producing The KTLA Morning News was Skycam 5 – our news helicopter, and the people inside – traffic reporter Jennifer York, a photographer (often Martin Clancey) and their pilot (usually one of the Tamburro brothers). With L.A. traffic being a commuter’s worst nightmare, the chopper was in the air four hours daily with scenes from traffic tie-ups in every direction. The chopper was also one of our greatest tools in covering breaking news. In fact, early on, we found a huge audience from an exclusive story KTLA broke thanks to our chopper – the massive flooding in Ventura County where torrents of water literally washed away a mobile home park. You can check out a quick recap of that exclusive footage here before I go on to address the “elephant in the air”… Continue reading THE ELEPHANT IN THE AIR
VILLAGERS STILL WALK ON ALL FOURS!
60 Minutes Australia comes up with the most incredible stories that never seem to reach our shores. Have you heard about this tiny village in Turkey where people still walk on all fours? Absolutely astounding! Continue reading VILLAGERS STILL WALK ON ALL FOURS!
THE LOSS OF BRIGHT EYES
Lost a friend over the Christmas holidays. Robin Phillips has died in Houston. Robin anchored the weekend news at WLWT in Cincinnati when I was little Ray the intern. We covered many breaking stories together including a man barricaded in his home holding family members hostage. He suddenly started shooting from a window – Robin and I heard the bullets whiz right over our heads! That’ll teach you to keep your head down! Continue reading THE LOSS OF BRIGHT EYES
RHODA YOUNG LIVE ON THE SCENE!
Hey – anchors, reporters and news directors – I want to talk to you for a moment about Rhoda Young. You may not have heard of her or you may have dismissed her – either way – big mistake! She and other “vigilante” journalists are capturing compelling breaking news stories right there in your own backyards – stories that the local affiliates are either skipping or missing. More importantly, they’re capturing an audience (1.1 million views and counting). When was the last time you had one million people watching your house fire package? Continue reading RHODA YOUNG LIVE ON THE SCENE!
Report: US joins ranks of world’s most dangerous places for journalists for first time
The U.S. was ranked one of the deadliest countries for journalists in 2018 for the first time in an annual report from Reporters Without Borders.
FLAKE NEWS
Social media called out a Japanese news reporter and his crew who were reporting from the city of Sukayu, a hot spring town in northern Japan. The NHK reporter started his opening standup with: Continue reading FLAKE NEWS
