Comments on: Friday noir

By: John

John — Tue, 02 Dec 2008 01:35:39 +0000

Local TV coverage of Black Friday. As nauseating and repetitive as its coverage of holiday airport travel.

“Airport officials expect busy days. Parking will be difficult [except for live TV trucks that get primo spaces]. If you are flying, be sure to arrive early.”

By: Atlanta blogs today | Fresh Loaf

Atlanta blogs today | Fresh Loaf — Mon, 01 Dec 2008 16:49:07 +0000

[...] And what is Christmas without local news stations covering the first official day of shopping? At Live Apartment Fire, Doug critiques the wall-to-wall coverage, including the reporter who did a story on finding a [...]

By: Atlanta Viewer

Atlanta Viewer — Mon, 01 Dec 2008 05:56:23 +0000

Doug:
Julie talked to Santa at 7 a.m. on WATL (He was excellent, by the way)

By: gooberpeas

gooberpeas — Sun, 30 Nov 2008 22:41:49 +0000

this is the time of year that I watch the least amount of tv news…I’ll try to catch the weather and then change the channel to something interesting…..I really don’t care to hear about how crowded the malls are and how much people are spending, or how worried retailers are…..and like the previous poster said, it’s just the same old stories anyway.

By: daryll

daryll — Sun, 30 Nov 2008 21:42:37 +0000

I find almost all of the Black Friday stories to be re-gifted from previous years and less than compelling. The thought of Paul Yates or Richard Belcher pulling duty on one of these nonsensical stories is depressing. Give them the day off and give them a real assignment. There are plenty of reporters on Atlanta TV born after the creation of MTV who can "handle" these non-news time fillers. Nice clean explanation of VO-SOT. I would love to hear your director's track critic in real time of any of the local newscasts in Atlanta. Sounds like an opportunity for TomorrowVision.

By: live apt fire

live apt fire — Sun, 30 Nov 2008 17:51:28 +0000

Hi Shawn– vo/sot stands for “voice over / sound on tape.” Anchors perform them in studio all the time. It means that an anchor reads the material live while video plays, then pauses for a soundbite.

Most reporters cover stories and produce packages, which include pre-recorded voice tracks, soundbites and hits of natural sound. A package showcases a reporter’s storytelling ability, and the reporter’s (and photog/editor’s) ability to blend visual and audio elements into something that approaches a “complete” story.

WXIA often asks reporters to perform live vo/sots in lieu of packages, presumably to save time. I think that if reporters are going to spend all day covering a story, let them showcase their storytelling skills. And if it has to be shorter, make ‘em do a shorter package.

Given the high skill level of many WXIA reporters as package producers, it seems to me to be a waste to have them do live vo/sots, which looks and sound like a throwaway coverage.

My two cents of course. Thanks for asking.

By: ShawnG

ShawnG — Sun, 30 Nov 2008 15:35:39 +0000

Hey LAF,

For those of us not in the biz, what is a “live VO/SOT”? Just wondering. Thanks