What Makes Great TV News Stories?

What Makes a Great Broadcast Journalism Story?

Journalists don't just give information, they tell stories. There are certain elements to every story no matter what the subject matter. Al Tompkins writes in his book, "Aim for the Heart," when writing in a hurry he relied on a classic story telling frame. He describes it as follows:

Once upon a time...  (the setting)
Suddenly...               (the complication)
Fortunately...            (the resolution)
As it turns out...       (the closing/summary)

This system works great especially on deadline, and Tompkins is definitely a master story teller. However, when more time is available, there are a few extra elements I like to consider. The difference between an ordinary broadcast story and an extraordinary one is just that, something extra. To help me remember what makes a great broadcast journalism story I made an acronym. A great journalist doesn't just tell stories, a great journalist uncovers.

A Great Journalist's Story UNCOVERS

U – Universal Appeal
N – New Information
C – Characters
O – Opposites (meaning tension and conflict)
V – Visual variety (Wide, Medium, Tight, Tight, Tight)
E – Ending/closure to the story
R – Research
S – Surprises, Sequences and Sound

Universal Appeal: People have to be able to relate to your story or they won't care about it. The story must convey an emotion they are familiar with. The story could be about struggle, loss, triumph, pain, relationships, etc. but it must produce an emotion in the viewers when they see it.

New Information: A great story has new, current, fresh information. The story must tell viewers something they don't know, even if they were "there." Great journalists explain why the story matters early in the story, if not before the story starts.

Characters: People are more important than property, meaning when something happens, tell us who was affected before what happened. If you are going to tell a story in 70 seconds or less, you will probably only have time to introduce one character.

Opposites and Tension: When it comes to video, boring is bad. Get to the conflict or tension of the story as quickly as possible. This is important.

Visual Variety: Don't be boring. Make sure your video is interesting. Edit your stories in sequences, meaning two or three shots from each scene. Avoid pans, pulls and zooms that don't have a purpose. Also make sure there is variety in the shots you use. Remember to shoot shots that are wide, medium, tight, tight, tight.

End, Beginning and Middle: Every great story needs a beginning, middle and end. Think of a creative way to start and end the story and the middle will take care of itself. Start by jumping into the action of the story. End the story with a feeling of closure.

Research: Do your homework. Know your stuff. Don't waste people's time. Tell them something they don't know. It will pay off in the end because they will keep coming back to you.

Surprises, Sequences, Sound: Surprises are an important part of story telling. People love to be surprised so try to work them in as often as you can in unexpected places. Sequences are important, edit your video using sequences of two or three shots per scene. Sound is also an important "s" word. Sound will give viewers a feeling of being part of the action. Try to work in natural sound pops as often as you can. It will take your story to the next level.

Great Journalists Do Their Homework: Reflecting on Journalism

Good reporters do their homework. Great journalists don't just get interviews and report what is happening now. Instead, they do their homework and put it in perspective.

Lately there has been a lot of media coverage focusing on Donald Trump possibly running for president. In this story covering the matter, David Folkenflik answers all the important questions but he also puts it in perspective. The question on everyone's mind is whether Trump is serious or just wanting publicity. Of all the reports I have heard and read about the topic, none have quoted the interview Folkenflik found by Tom Brokaw interviewing Trump about whether he would run for president back in 1999. This quote from 12 years ago, I think brings light to the story today in a way no other journalist has done.

Fulkenflik's story covers the other important points as well, such as Trumps business history, his personality, his campaign points, and the fact that it is really up to voters to decide whether Trump is serious or not. The fact that he found this little fact I think sets his story apart from the rest.

Listen to it yourself.



http://www.npr.org/blogs/monkeysee/2011/04/21/135604711/donald-trump-is-thinking-about-running-for-president-or-maybe-not

The Story Behind the Story: Columbia Energy Center

When elections get close, the coverage gets fierce. One of my broadcast professors always says "you make your own luck." Well, I don't know if I made it or not this day, but I definitely got lucky.

Elections for Mid-Missouri were about a week away and it was a relatively slow news day. I decided the best option would be to do an election preview story on Proposition 2. I got all my interviews in relatively the same area of town and it was time to get my broll and standup. As I drove past the location to see the different shots I could get, I saw one of our competing stations vehicles at the scene. I drove past, and our competition didn't notice that I was there. Liked-minded minds think the same way.

I decided that I would film on the far side of the power plant that way our coverage was better than our competitors. There was a decent location for my standup. After I filmed my stand up I went over to the sub-station to get a few shots. By this time our competing station had left. Not long after I started getting some shots of the sub-station I realized that unless I could get inside the fence most of my shots would be very wide and boring. Shortly after this realization a truck parked in the lot and a man started walking my way. To my surprise he offered to take me inside the fence and explained everything there is to know about conducting electricity to power a city. I got some really great shots and I also got some great NAT sound of the "buzz/hum" of electricity. That night our competing station aired a VoSot on Proposition 2 and filled their newscast national and wire stories. Our news cast has more local news and more in-depth local news. Where they had VoSots we had PKGs. That made me feel proud to work for KOMU. My piece ended up being about as exciting as any proposition piece can be.

Here is my story. Check it out!

The Story Behind the Story: FFA District Competition

There is something exciting about finding a story and telling it well when competing stations don't even cover it. Often called "scooping the competition," I believe what makes it such a coveted experience is the satisfaction of knowing you have enterprised a story no one else knew about. It is a personal evaluation instead of the usual group evaluation through ratings that you are a good journalist, that you are connected with your audience, and cover what they are interested in.

I was really excited when I found this story idea. None of our competing stations covered this, and it was a major even that affected hundreds of local students and teachers. Seventeen hundred students came from all across Northeast and Central Missouri to prove their skills and compete against one another. I found the idea while I was searching through community calendars.

One thing I learned from this story is just how valuable pre-planning stories can be. I called a day before to evaluate just how many people would be affected by it. I got most of the who, what, when, where, and why answered before I even pitched the idea in our assignment meeting the next day. I was able to think through how I would tell the story and what I would need. Pre-planning helped me get just what I needed and when I headed back the the station I was ahead of schedule. There is great value in pre-planning. I learned that from this FFA District competition story.

Here is the story if you want to watch.

Next Generation News and Partisanship: Reflecting on Journalism

I have learned that political news is a touchy subject. Opinions are high, differences are vast, and perception of equal representation is almost impossible to achieve. It would seem that pleasing a bipartisan audience is unfeasible, especially when it comes to cable news.

NPR's All Things Considered recently did a story about FOX's news programs verses its opinion programs. The report focuses on Bret Baier, a young anchor of a political newscast that airs nightly on FOX. The story, done by NPR's David Folkenflik, reports that Baier's popularity in the cable news sphere is only surpassed by Bill O'Reilly's opinion show, and it raises questions as to whether FOX news programming is as "fair and balanced" as its executives claim.

I think this report was done well. Folkenflik asks important questions and presents both sides' arguments. He doesn't tell people what to think, but rather what to think about. That is the definition of good journalism and good news coverage.

If you want to listen to the report yourself, just click the link below.


He is a summary of Fulkenflik's story:
Baier's political-coverage balance was brought into question because during an exclusive interview he got a year ago he kept interrupting President Obama while he answered Baier's questions. Shows on FOX have been harsh on Democrat's perspectives in the past. FOX Networks executives say their network gives fair and balanced political news coverage.

Jamie McIntyre, a former reporter for CNN, said of Baier's work "I remember thinking that if you took the average Bret Baier report and you took mine and you stripped the names out so you didn't know who was producing them, I'm not sure you could tell which report was generated by CNN and which was generated by the FOX news channel."

McIntyre does say that assignments at FOX speak to the conservative audience that watches FOX reporting. David Folkenflik reports that story assignment aren't too unusual for a station to meet the needs of its viewing audience. Portland news stations cover things that happen in Portland more than they cover other news topics. If conservatives watch FOX, as PEW research has shown, then naturally FOX coverage will be more about issues that conservatives want to hear about.

Part of Baier's show is a panel discussion. Folkenflik reports over the past six months the panel has consisted of two clearly conservative people and a third usually a journalist form a "non-idological news outlet." This would clearly swing the conversation to a biased perspective with underrepresentation from members of the democratic party. Perhaps this is the best observation Folkenflik does in his story.

Folkenflik told Baier that having an unbalanced panel like that would underrepresent the left and also cast reporters as though they are surrogate liberals. To which Baier said "numerous people can make the case of what the [FOX] administration is trying to do, trying to say that provides a perspective not perhaps advocating for that position but analyzing it."

MaCintyre the former CNN reporter said Baier has "cracked the code. He has figured out what he needs to do with the employer he works for and I think he is also trying to uphold his personal standards, and I think he does that pretty well."

Baier gets 2 million viewers each night to watch his show and says that is evidence that what he is doing is right.

The Story Behind the Story: Gas Price Increases Impact Local Businesses

Every great broadcast news story starts with just an idea as its seed. No one can be a good journalist without having the ability to come up with story ideas.

I woke up Wednesday morning earlier than usual. I needed to find a good day-turn story idea with people that were able to be interviewed that day in order to make my assignment deadline. Since the story wouldn't air on the local station, fewer people were interested in lending me some of their time.

I found several ideas and started calling people. I made several calls but nobody was really coming through and I needed a story. I was getting desperate. The people that I thought would be most likely to give an interview weren't. I made so many calls that by the time I got the first call back agreeing to an interview, others called as well and I had to turn some away.

I went all over town and got what I needed to tell, I think, a good story on how gas price increases affect local business.

There is no magic bullet to finding stories; if there were, most journalists would be out of a job. Broadcast journalism starts with story ideas. No matter how good a journalist, if one doesn't have an idea then there will never be a great story.

Watch my story about gas price increases affecting one local business below.

Questions are KEY: Reflecting on Journalism

Questions are key to good reporting and storytelling. This is true for at least two reasons: good questions  initiate stores and they drive the rest.

Questions Initiate Stories

The key behind every good news story is thinking of and asking questions. Reporters don't have to know everything, they just need be curious and ask questions whose answers might be interesting for viewers. In everyday situations, hundreds of questions come into our mind. Good journalists write these down and use them as a story ideas. Some examples might be: Who cleans up after a parade? When it snows and the streets are horrible, how do snow-plow drivers make it in to work? What happens at the city council meeting and why should people care? Good questions are key to finding great stories.

Questions Keep Attention 

Leslie Stahl

In addition to being the source of story ideas, questions can move a story forward by teaching and entertaining. I recently watched an episode of 60 minutes about Mark Zuckerberg, Facebook, and a new movie The Social Network hosted/reported by Leslie Stahl. The topic has been in the news a lot lately because of the recent movie about the creation of facebook.com. Beyond being an interesting topic, one thing that really sells the story are the questions and the answers they provoke. Answers provide viewers with knowledge and dialog. Both inform and entertain which is the goal of television news.

Some hard questions Stahle asks are: how many people use facebook on a mobile device? Will email become obsolete? Are you trying to turn everything on the web into a social function? Can you feel the tectonic plates shift from google to facebook? Is the goal to own the whole internet? How would you grade yourself as CEO of Facebook? These are a few examples of some of the good questions that Stahle askes the people she interviews.

She addresses issues people want to know about. She uses play on words to make the questions entertaining. In addition to the hard pressing questions, she askes lighter, fun ones as well. For example: was it hard to watch the movie? How did you actually find out he was working on a different project? Why are you pounding away at this when you already have so much money? Are you (the Winklevoss twins) on facebook? Do you feel any remorse for the twins? Do you ever pinch yourself to see if this is real?

The truth is, good questions are key to great storytelling.

I have posted the videos below, in case you too would like to watch the episode of 60 minutes.

Part one:


Part two:

The Story Behind the Story: Missouri State Auditor's New Citizen Summary

Dry, unexciting story ideas can make really interesting stories--it all depends on how they are told.

Everybody loves the story about their favorite team winning the championship, the blizzard story, or the child prodigy. I also enjoy those stories, but true journalistic ability is taking a hard subject and making it simple; taking a boring subject and making it entertaining.

In addition to my broadcast class at the University of Missouri, I am also taking an investigative reporting class. It was while I was searching through state audit reports that I came across this story. The Missouri State Auditor had just taken office a few weeks prior and was changing the way things are run. He was implementing a new "citizen summary" so that it is easier for the average Joe to understand which government agencies are wasting money and which ones are running effectively--that is to the Auditor's standards.

I left Columbia, uneager to head south to Jefferson City. There was snow on the roads and several accidents on the highway. I finally made it to the Capitol building and passed the only open parking space near the dome. Don't you hate it when that happens? I thought it was too good to be true so I passed it thinking it wasn't a spot but then when I realized it was I had to do the loop again and by then it was filled. I would have to park far away.

Finally I got to the building and did my interviews. B-roll was very hard to come by, but I did my best. I was hoping that the person I would wrap the story around had worked at the office for a long time but that was not the case. (In a few ways this is a good example of the difference between preplanning and prewriting.) Nevertheless, I got what I needed, filmed my stand-up and headed back to Columbia. I am proud of the end result. It might not be the best story I have ever told, but it is one I don't mind putting my name on.

It is up to you as to decide whether I made this dry topic entertaining and human. Even if you think I did or didn't, I learned about journalism in the process and I hope to do even better in the future. After all, everybody will take an interesting story any day over a dry, boring one.

Watch the video and leave me your comments below.

The Budget Crunch, Reflecting on Journalism

Great journalism takes heated, complex issues and simplifies them so individuals can make informed decisions.

Neal Conan, NPR

NPR's Talk of the Nation with Neal Conan yesterday focused on the purposed Federal budget cuts specifically on the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB). Besides open debate, argument and reasoning, what made this program stand out as good journalism is the way the topic was handled. NPR is publicly supported by the tax money that is purposed to be cut, yet the program presented good arguments with many perspectives from both sides of the issue.

The program covered concrete facts, and let people voice key opinions. Conan read emails and tweets. People called in to express their ideas. All this in addition to having three key leaders interviewed on the show: Tom Rosenstiel, Doug Lamborn and Earl Blumenauer. Each was given equal time. The program is so polished it makes journalism look easy, but it's not.

Below are some my notes of the arguments presented both for and against using tax money to fund the Corporation for Public Broadcasting.

Earl Blumenauer D-OR 3rd D.

Arguments to Keep CPB's Budget

• CPB educates people.
• No other commercial news organizations cover foreign affairs as throughly.
• The content found on public radio isn't found on commercial stations.
• CPB Provides essential infrastructure to help educate, engage voters.
• CPB facilitates national dialog.
• Start by cutting big fish and worry about the small ones later.
• Cutting smaller programs will give a false sense of real fiscal improvements.
• Republicans simply cutting its budget because of its political ideology.

Doug Lamborn R-CO 5th D.

Arguments to Cut CPB's Budget

• Budget cuts must start somewhere.
• Budget cuts won't eliminate CPB.
• Everyone needs to give.
• Taxpayers can't pay for everything.
• If private sector can't sustain it then maybe it isn't worth keeping.
• CPB can find new sources of revenue.
• CPB might not be the national treasure that some people think it is.
• Others are also giving up things they don't want to loose.

Tom Rosenstiel, PEW Research

The Facts

• CPB receives $430 million each year from tax payers of which 75% goes toward public television and 25% to public radio.
• About 10% of NPRs budget comes from tax money.
• U.S. government spending a $1.6 trillion dollar deffecite just this year.
• U.S. national debt at $14 trillion dollars.
• Commercial television news (ABC, CBS, NBC) audience is half compared to what it was 20 years ago and so it's their staff.
• More poeple listen to NPR than all those who watch the major national newscasts.
• If CPB's budget does lose federal tax money smaller rural areas will be hurt the most.
• About 27 million people listen to NPR each week.
• About 20 million people watch the network evening news.
• More people listen to NPR than perhaps any other individual news outlet.

Conclusion

This piece is an excellent example of journalism. It is a touchy subject reported in such a way that each side is represented fairly. Balance and accuracy is crucial to good journalism. I think the piece encourages great journalism. If NPR can cover it's own potential budget cuts without losing objectivity then so should every reporter. Great journalists take heated, complex issues and simplify them so individuals can make informed decisions.

The Story Behind the Story: Blizzard Hits Mid-Missouri, Empties Grocery Stores

Sometimes the best stories are the ones that come crashing down on us when we are searching in a different direction. 

It was a Monday morning, and I had contemplated story ideas all weekend long when I finally decided on one I liked. It involved the Missouri State Auditor's office. I lined up my interviews and headed off to work where I found everyone talking about a blizzard that was supposed to hit town and interrupt everything.

One dedicated shopper fights against 18-mile-per-hour
winds to return his cart to the store.

As any good journalist, I was a little skeptical. There have been times when forecasters predicted tons of snow and none came. There have also been times when forecasters predicted an inch or two that turned into 10 or 12. I decided to take a video camera home just in case.

First came the freezing rain, then negative temperatures combined with 18-mph wind gusts, and it was all topped by 18-20 inches of snow. In less than a day the region went from cold to crippled. In Minnesota this would not be news, but it definitely was in Columbia, Mo.

MODOT truck plows through the intersection of Nifong and Providence.

Driving to the state capital, 30 miles away, was not possible. Even if I could get there, no one would be there to interview but I still needed a story. I found myself fascinated at the sheer amount of snow that covered the community.  I decided to do what all journalists in town were doing: a snow story. But I would need a unique angle, something fresh. Everyone knew it was snowing, icy, and cold, but few were daring enough to go out in it.

I decided to scout around with my still camera and see what I could find. The photos on this page were taken while I was scouting. I didn't find too many people out. Most of those outdoors were workers busy clearing streets and keeping parking lots cleared. However, I did find some people shopping at grocery stores. To my surprise, most were not getting milk and bread, but instead buying alcohol. This is an interesting angle, and it led to my story.

Some without four-wheel drive walk home after buying groceries. 

Questions lead to reporting. These are some of the questions I asked myself as I started thinking about the story. What types of vehicals were people driving in the snow? How are grocery stores impacted by the snow? When there is a blizzard in town, what do people buy? I answer all of these in my video story that you can find at the bottom of the page.

Reporting is an adventure. The outcome is never certain. Often there are twists and turns along the way. The only thing for sure is that at the end of the day the story has to air, whatever that story may be. Journalists need to be versatile. It is important to plan ahead and have a great story lined up, but if snow starts falling, cars start sliding, and the town shuts down then that's your story.

Watch the video below to see the piece. It is worth your time.

News Topic Distribution Discrepancy: What We Are Interested in vs. What is Covered

I am reading the book Aim for the Heart by Al Tompkins for my broadcast journalism two class at the University of Missouri School of Journalism. In the introduction, Tomkins says there are many similarities between the list of characteristics that journalists represent and the list of characteristics people want from journalists. However he says there is a large discrepancy between the list of topics people are interested in seeing on the news and the topics most often covered on the news. The two lists from the book are as follows (see pages viii-ix).

Journalists say the most important issues facing the country are:

• The economy
• Terrorism
• Energy Policy
• Urban sprawl/growth
• Traffic, transportation
• Family values, breakdown of the family
• Health care/coverage
• Environment issues
• Prescription drug costs
• Youth crime
• U.S./Foreign relations
• Schools/education

Journalists say the stories they most often cover are:

• Crime--usually drug-related murders
• Accidents/Incidents (fire, flood, storms, traffic mishaps)
• Celebrity news
• Planned community events
• Health stories, health studies, "breakthroughs"
• Government scandal
• Consumer tips
• Politician/government official press conferences

"Viewers say they are not watching because we do not thoroughly cover the stories that viewers, and even we ourselves, think are important," says Tompkins (page ix). Additionally he says that many TV reporters quit broadcast journalism for this same reason. He says they lose the energy that once was their driving force. When thinking of topics to cover, broadcast journalists should ask themselves, 'when was the last time I did a story about a topic found in the first list.' The first list has topics that might be harder to cover, but are much more rewarding. Enterprising stories is one way journalists set themselves apart. If you are just starting as a broadcast journalists or a veteran, take the advice of Al Tompkins and start covering stories whose topics are important to everyone.

The Power of Podcasts

Podcasts are the best thing since the microwave! A podcast (short for ipod broadcast) can be either an audio or video program that you download from the internet through programs like iTunes. You can then watch or listen to the shows on your iPod or computer. They are great because most of them are free and they can teach you so many things!

Here is a list of my favorite podcasts. Check them out!

• NBC Nightly News with Brian Williams (daily)
• This Week in Google (weekly)
• Wall Street Journal Tech News Briefing (twice dialy)
• Mac Cast -For Mac Geeks, by Mac Geeks (weekly)
• This Week in Media (weekly)
• Harvard Business IdeaCast
• On the Media
• NPR Technology Podcast

Just for fun

I made a podcast about how to save money called CheapTalk. You can find it on my website at www.imbrianjohnson.com/podcast/, at cheaptalk.podbean.com, or if you want you can download it from iTunes like every other podcast in the world. It has some good information in it, but it was mainly just for fun.