Archives for May 2007

makes me proud.

The first week in June sees a lot of television reporters and producers holding their breath. Like the third week into fall practice for NFL Teams, it is often a time to make cuts.

The all-important May book is over. Reporters who’ve been working without a contract due to failed negotiations in December are especially vulnerable. So are employees at stations that have undergone ownership changes.

That was the case with me three years ago. Negotiations didn’t work out. They offered ‘take it or leave it’ and I left it on the table. The station kept me churning out stories until the end of the book and then sent me on my way the first day back from the Memorial Day holiday. This was also the time when two other stations interviewed me for openings they wanted to fill by June.

But speaking of any trend, here are some numbers I found:

Last June, WDAF laid off 13 newsroom people.
WOLO laid off 30 anchors, reporters and producers June 4, 2002
WPXT shutdown its newsroom June 19, 2002
end of May, 2002, NewsChannel 8 cut 30 jobs.
WEVV waited until July 17th to shut down its newsroom.
WMDN did the same July 7, 2005

I suppose the thinking is to wait on layoffs until sweeps is over. No sense in shaking up the newsroom when the diaries are out.

Folks in the newly sold NYT group tell me the new owners have told them there would be no additional layoffs to the ones done before the transaction.

I hope they’re telling the truth.

Found this from an old News Channel 3 show from August 2001.

Funny clip from when things go wrong on local tv news.
right off the top there’s a blooper and check out April Thompson’s chroma-key intro and tag to her story. She’s having a hard time keeping from laughing.

Can’t embed the video here so you’ll have to click the link.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=32_jvB-TDq0

Joe posted an interesting story today of tv stations in Orlando who staged a first meeting between two women part of a news story. It seems two crews showed up late and missed the actual “first meeting” so they asked the women to “meet again”.

It made me remember one of my favorite stories in Memphis. I had only been there a couple of months when I got assigned to cover a sphere going up on a church steeple in DeSoto County.

The angle was this steeple and sphere would be the tallest point in the county. The real reason we were covering it was that the church was also the home church of the New York Times VP, but that’s another story.

But anyway, my photographer Hutch and I get out there to find a photographer for the Commercial Appeal wanting to get the “money shot” of the sphere being placed on top of the steeple. The construction crew invited us all to go up in the bucket to get our shot so the C.A. photog called dibs on the first trip up, so he could get the actual placing of the steeple.

I didn’t think it was any big deal and said “sure…we’ll just have them do it again for our camera”. The photog made me feel like a heel saying “oh…you guys stage the news all the time, what’s one more shot?”

Hutch couldn’t have cared less/

The C.A. photog goes up, gets his shot and comes back down.

Hutch and I go up and ask the worker to take the sphere off and put it back and we get our shot.

Back on the ground the C.A. photog gives me that look like “I can’t believe you tv people”.

I ask him: “which time was the worker really putting the sphere on the steeple?”

The Commercial Appeal didn’t run their photo.

Is it the paycheck? Sure, I guess most of us would say the envelope from our employer gives us some motivation. But really though…there’s something else isn’t there? If we’re lucky.

I’m nearing the end of a time where I’ll work 16 of 17 straight days. Also in that span I worked one 13 hour day and a couple of other 9 hour days. Last week, counting live shots and vo/sots in different shows, I produced 10 stories, VJ style. Shot it all, wrote it all, and edited it all.

I’m exhausted tonight after covering a 2-day festival in downtown Nashville. VJ style. This morning, the morning anchors called at 6:30, live on the air for me to talk about the 2-day Christian music festival I covered downtown this weekend. That, after turning two stories on both Saturday and Sunday. By myself. Not complaining in the least little bit. To the contrary. I’ve never been happier working for a tv station. Now why is that?

I’m sure you’ve done something like this too. Working really really hard. Maybe as hard as you’ve ever worked. And you couldn’t be happier about it.

Now why is that?

It isn’t the overtime, at least for me, I don’t get it. It isn’t the comp-time either. I already had a couple days off at the end of this book. So what makes the difference?

Ownership.

I’ve been working hard at covering the stories I’m covering because they’re my stories. I’ve taken ownership of the religion stories that come out of News 2. Much like how the folks in the weather department get jazzed over severe weather, much like the sports guys get fired up covering the Titans or Sounds or Preds when they’re doing well. It’s my thing.

Last Tuesday, I had two pieces that were scheduled and promoted for the 5 and 10 o’clock newscast. At noon, Rev. Jerry Falwell died. My managing editor decided (good call here too) to hold my two stories and put me on local reaction to Falwell’s passing. If I hadn’t taken ownership over the religion stories making news, I might have been ticked off that my two series pieces were put on hold. But I found myself grabbing my camera and rushing out the door to find locals who knew Dr. Falwell and get their reaction on the air by 4.

I found (with help from our 5 o’clock producer Stephen) the man who served as Falwell’s music director for 35 years. I had to talk him into putting on a suit (his call) and meeting me for a quick interview. By 2 I was interviewing a local pastor who had three kids graduating from Liberty University and who hosted Dr. Falwell on his last public appearance in Nashville.

If I didn’t feel some type of ownership, I don’t think I would have been as eager to bust my tail on the story. At least, I know I haven’t found that motivation at other stations.

I think when you’re a general assignment reporter, you take ownership of individual stories on individual days. But once the page has turned, you find yourself looking at all stories as sort of a temporary side street. I’ll bet health reporters and education reporters and any other “beat reporter” feels the same way.

I think maybe that’s the greatest thing about having a “beat” or a concentration. I imagine it may be the same for professors and teachers. Not only are you able to gather more information and intelligence about your particular subject, you find yourself in your hours away from the job, reading and studying more about the emphasis you’ve chosen.

That’s why tonight, instead of trying to get away from work, I find myself reading more about the stories I’ll be doing this week.

For the television viewer, or newspaper reader, they get a more focused and comprehensive story. Every time.
And for the reporter, it makes work, seem a lot less like work.

I don’t know of the nd was among the casualties at WQAD in Moline, but the station now owned by Local TV, LLC has a new one.

Leigh Geramanis is a former news anchor and medical reporter who started her career at WQAD in the late 80s.

Here’s the release:

Moline, IL — Leigh Geramanis has been named News Director, WQAD NewsChannel 8
after two decades working in television newsrooms across the country.

“I couldn’t be more thrilled about being back home, doing what I love, in the
station that gave me my start,” said Ms. Geramanis. “I am proud to lead such an
impressive news team and look forward to what promises to be a bright future
under Local TV, LLC.”

Geramanis began her career at WQAD in the late 80s, since then she has worked
as news anchor and an award-winning medical reporter, covering news from the
Mayo Clinic for KTTC-TV in Rochester, MN. More recently, she served as news
director for KAAL-TV, Rochester/Austin, Minnesota. Geramanis also spent six
years as a performance coach for news research and consultation firm, Frank N.
Magid Associates. Her clients included NBC NewsChannel, USA Today and some of
the most successful local televisions stations in the US.

“We are very pleased to have someone of Leigh’s experience leading our Live
Local Latebreaking news team.” said Dale R. Woods, WQAD President and General
Manager. “Leigh has a strong track record of innovation and quality, and we
expect you’ll see great things on NewsChannel 8 under her leadership.”

Up until now I’ve only read one newspaper article on the NYT cuts. That one came from the local paper in Scranton, home of WNEP.

Sunday, Huntsville Times Entertainment writer Chris Welch devoted some space to the cuts at WHNT. It turns out one on-air person was among the firings. Janine Reyes a reporter who’d been with the station for 2 years says she’ll be headed back to Texas where she’s from.

The article also quotes WHNT general manager Craig Mars who said the station now has immediate openings for seven positions.

article

“Now don’t go spending your money on me. I don’t want anything. I don’t need anything.”

I’ve been hearing that for as long as I can remember. Oh, one Christmas my mom did ask for something after much pleading from me. “Okay…I can use some warm socks.”

Well, we tried to get back home for Mother’s Day this year but won’t make it for another couple of weeks. So, this is a hastily produced video with absolutely no budget and no planning.

By the way, the forecast at the end of the video is from my son Trey and it was totally ad libbed. He watches the News 2 Storm Team every morning, first thing. When I had him on my green wall I asked “want to do the weather?”. You’ll notice, he nailed the seven day forecast.

So here you go Mom. I love you for everything you are and everything you are to my kids.

and here’s Mr. T. “pity the fool that doesn’t respect his mutha”