The ten rules of newsgathering are primarily for the benefit of TV reporters. However, you are encouraged to apply them to your everyday life as well. 1. If something happens “all the time,” it’s unlikely to happen when you deploy a camera to shoot it. 2. When shooting “man on the street” interviews, always ask [...]
Archive for August, 2009
27 Aug
Say something nice…
“We’d like to have somebody on the story who was actually alive for much of his career.” This was the line I heard from a manager Wednesday morning. It was intended as flattery for an old guy who’d already had children by the time the Cold War ended. The story was about Teddy Kennedy, and [...]
26 Aug
Decorum
The story was odd and therefore appealing. Faculty at the University of Georgia’s Grady School of Journalism were “feuding” with UGA’s public affairs department, according to a headline Tuesday in the Red and Black. At issue: Camera access to the Miller Student Learning Center, a busy building with a popular coffee shop. J-school students liked [...]
23 Aug
Priorities
By Mike Daly On Tuesday, August 18th, I was the videographer for a crew shooting a story near Blairsville, GA. I was contracting for a national television show. I drove a car which had no logo on it. The story follows the search for Kristi Cornwell, who disappeared one week earlier. She went for an [...]
21 Aug
Trouble in paradise
Update: See video below. It’s been a rough week at WGCL, where General Manager Andy Alford abruptly resigned. It’s worth noting that his replacement will be multi-tasking, just like many of his minions in his news department. According to the WGCL memo announcing the switcheroo, new GM Kirk Black “will oversee our eastern hub in [...]
20 Aug
Live twist
“It’ll work,” said Bill. Bill is a satellite truck operator at WXIA. He was handing me the box into which I would plug my earpiece for an upcoming live shot in Talbot County, Georgia. My earpiece was probably ten years old, a vestige from another workplace. The earpiece is one of those morning departure accessories [...]
16 Aug
The new workplace
One of my first acts during my first day at work was to ask the location of the supply closet. Turns out WXIA has no supply closet. However, there is a supply drawer. Looking for a stash of pens, I instead saw a claw hammer and a box of disposable dust masks. There were also [...]
13 Aug
Navel gazing 2.0
Last week, WXIA broke a story about a town hall meeting held by Congressman David Scott in Douglasville. During the meeting, Scott raised his voice when questioned by an opponent of the Democrats’ health care reform bill. There was a somewhat fiery exchange. The story went national. On CNN, Scott claimed that WXIA had edited [...]
11 Aug
Day one
8:55 am. I arrive at One Monroe Place, and stalk the back door at WXIA. I’m hoping an employee with a key card arrives and will let me into the building. I have no key card. It’s my first day of employment there. 8:59 am. A man arrives whom I’ve never met. Ignoring my naturally [...]
9 Aug
Same as it ever was
By Mrs. Live Apartment Fire This week my spouse returns to the tube. It’s taking some getting used to — thinking about him having to “make deadline” again. Suddenly, all this stuff will return to my life: * Folded up pieces of paper with the word “slug” and “timecode” clogging up the lint trap. * [...]
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