On this topic- I have to admit that I have not been able to track down where this story originally came from. Did the couple contact the media to sing the Walt Disney World Resort's praises, or did a sharp PR team recognize the story and put it "out there?" I don't know, but this story has all the elements an organization could want in a news story.
I have linked to a video version of the story below,
but here are the main highlights:
- A family is vacationing on a Walt Disney World Resort property
- There is a bowl and the wife has taken off her engagement, wedding and anniversary rings and placed them inside
- The husband, while cleaning up the room in anticipation of checking out, accidentally throws out the bowl and the rings
- Panic ensues when the mistake is realized, but it is too late- the trash has already been removed from the room
- Enter the hero Walt Disney World Resort employees who apparently volunteered to go through the trash by hand to help find the rings
- Lo and behold, the employees are successful, and are able to return the rings to the family.
- The husband is now out of the dog house and the media has a FANTASTIC story to play with.
If you would like a more coherent wire-copy version, you can link over to it here.
Obviously this plays perfectly into what Disney is all about: making dreams come true. And this has a fairy tale ending.
It also helps that the family has been media-friendly, talking to newspapers, radio stations and TV stations as each request came in.
Plus, it is a VISUAL story. We can mix in file b-roll of the WDW resorts along with video of the family, their pictures from the trip, and video of the rings.
The only critique I have for the folks at WDW is that they really should have allowed the hero employees to speak on-camera to the local Orlando media. Then the story would get more play in both that market and in Boston (since the family was from Worcester, MA which is a city one hour west of Boston and in the DMA). It's disappointing that this great element couldn't have been made available.
Kudos to Disney -- keep it up. And next time, open up even more.
Tuesday, April 22, 2008
Wednesday, April 16, 2008
Percent Change
A dramatic number can be a great headline for both TV and print. And sometimes it takes an extra step to translate numbers from an official to put into context. And finding the right headline can lead you to a great story. Let's use the following article as an example. It comes from the Standard-Times and its headline is a dull "New Bedford school lunch prices going up in 2 stages." Here is one of the key details:
So after calculating the difference between $1.50 and $1.75, which is 16.6%, we can say that
And school lunch stories- if you can find a school that will open its doors for you- can be visual. Plus it has the added-bonus of affecting many people in your audience.
"For elementary school students, from the current $1.50 per meal to $1.65 and the following year to $1.75."I am terrible with math. But I know where to find useful math calculators. So I punched these numbers into an online web site that will tell you what the percent-change is between the numbers.
So after calculating the difference between $1.50 and $1.75, which is 16.6%, we can say that
"Students Face 16% Increase for School Lunches Over the Next Two Years."This is also a useful tool to figure out whether or not the price increase being charged by the school matches the general rate of inflation for food in the general economy. Those numbers can from from the Consumer Price Index, and for the purposes of this blog entry, I will cite figures from here. Well, food prices are certainly rising:
"The food index rose at a 5.3 percent SAAR in the first quarter ofThat totals a 10.2-percent increase over the last year- with more increases to come. In other words- with the way inflation is going now, it is reasonable to assume by the end of the year, food costs will have increased to a total of at least 16-percent (if not more). So the increase school officials are looking for may well be justified request. And these calculations can help you make that connection easy to understand for your audience.
2008, following a 4.9 percent increase in all of 2007."
And school lunch stories- if you can find a school that will open its doors for you- can be visual. Plus it has the added-bonus of affecting many people in your audience.
Friday, April 4, 2008
Covering a Large Market
A lot of TV markets - from big to small - have a seriously large area that their signal can be seen in. This creates logistical challenges for any tv station that wants to cover the whole area - up to the boundaries - of their designated market area. Most TV stations are- understandably- located in or close to urban areas, so making treks to the outlying areas of a coverage area can be tough.
To combat this, some stations with a particularly large ground to cover sometimes open up small bureaus and staff them with a reporter and photographer (or, often, a one-man-band). The office is usually equipped with a studio camera, an edit deck and some way to feed video back to the main station.
Other large stations have a news helicopter that can be sent to breaking news in remote areas.
Meantime, some small towns that lament the lack of coverage from a TV station may simply be quiet places to live! After all, the news is not needed in places where everything is working well.
KOMU-TV in Columbia, Missouri wrote an interesting item on its web site in response to a viewer's email asking if the population of a town influences coverage decisions. I thought they gave a pretty good response,
To combat this, some stations with a particularly large ground to cover sometimes open up small bureaus and staff them with a reporter and photographer (or, often, a one-man-band). The office is usually equipped with a studio camera, an edit deck and some way to feed video back to the main station.
Other large stations have a news helicopter that can be sent to breaking news in remote areas.
Meantime, some small towns that lament the lack of coverage from a TV station may simply be quiet places to live! After all, the news is not needed in places where everything is working well.
KOMU-TV in Columbia, Missouri wrote an interesting item on its web site in response to a viewer's email asking if the population of a town influences coverage decisions. I thought they gave a pretty good response,
"KOMU loves news tips. The more people that call and e-mail the station to let KOMU know what's going on, the better the news."It's true! The more people in the audience who write us and contact us, the more stories we can consider and the greater the likelihood that we'll actually be able to come to one of the story ideas.
Monday, March 10, 2008
Assignment Editors are Geeks
Well, chances are, if you are an assignment editor, you are probably a geek.
This is probably true because you have an unnatural obsession with one of the following:
1.- Police radios/scanners/frequencies
2.- TV news
3.- Current events
4.- Extensive television technical knowledge
5.- No desire to be on television
Well, one of our fellow assignment editor-geeks is going to get to prove his geekdom.
From the Lompoc Record, a local assignment editor in California is going to star on the CW's Beauty and the Geek:
Good luck Joe from all of us at Newsdeskblog and your fellow assignment editors around the country!
This is probably true because you have an unnatural obsession with one of the following:
1.- Police radios/scanners/frequencies
2.- TV news
3.- Current events
4.- Extensive television technical knowledge
5.- No desire to be on television
Well, one of our fellow assignment editor-geeks is going to get to prove his geekdom.
From the Lompoc Record, a local assignment editor in California is going to star on the CW's Beauty and the Geek:
Joe Cortez, who was raised in Nipomo since he was 8, graduated from Arroyo Grande High School, went to college in Ohio and currently works as an assignment editor for KCOY/KKFX TV in Santa Maria, said it wasn't really his idea to try out for the show. A co-worker suggested he audition.Does this sound like any assignment editors you know:
Cortez acknowledges he is not socially adept and doesn't know how to pick up girls. He only knows his work, he said.If you'd like to see what Joe looks like, click here.
Good luck Joe from all of us at Newsdeskblog and your fellow assignment editors around the country!
Sunday, February 3, 2008
Good Luck NYC
To all the assignment editors in New York City and the Empire State:
Good luck!
Now that you have won the Superbowl, and your Giants have defeated the New England Patriots, you can plan on extended coverage through Tuesday.
Good luck getting the resources in place to cover the victory parade.
And good luck covering the OTHER enormous story of the day: Super Tuesday.
You're not going to have enough resources to cover it all.
Thank goodness the parade will be during the day and the election returns coming in at night.
You are in my thoughts.
Good luck!
Now that you have won the Superbowl, and your Giants have defeated the New England Patriots, you can plan on extended coverage through Tuesday.
Good luck getting the resources in place to cover the victory parade.
And good luck covering the OTHER enormous story of the day: Super Tuesday.
You're not going to have enough resources to cover it all.
Thank goodness the parade will be during the day and the election returns coming in at night.
You are in my thoughts.
Thursday, January 31, 2008
How Involved to Get?
KSN-TV in Wichita, Kansas did a routine story about a fire in the city. It described the family having a difficult time getting by a week after a fire destroyed everything they owned.
The piece closed by saying,
I worry about a few things here:
1.- Why is the TV station acting as a bridge between the family and viewers? It is one thing if a viewer sees a story and calls the station on his or her own to find out if contact information is available to help. But directly offering to be the "point person" seems a little strange.
2.- How does the station know what the family will do with the money? Viewers trust their local newscasters. If KSN goes on TV and says "you should help this family," viewers have the natural assumption that the station has done its homework and that the family is a worthy charitable cause. How does the station know where the help will go? Will there be follow up reports to ensure the family doesn't misuse any resources donated to them? Does the station even want to go down that route?
3.- Why not offer help through an intermediary? I have to assume that the American Red Cross or other reputable charity will be assisting the family in the immediate aftermath. Why not direct viewers to contact the local charity who- in turn- is in the business of helping people?
I do not doubt the sincerity of the assignment desk or the management at KSN that they sincerely want to help this family out. It is in a midsized market where there is probably much more reporting on community-based issues than one would see in the big markets. But the question is how far should a station go to actively recruit resources to help the
people it covers? It seems to me that they should still be keeping a distance.
The piece closed by saying,
The family is hoping to set up a fund for donations. If you'd like to help you can contact the family through KSN. Simply email our assignment desk at news@ksn.comMy question in whether or not this direct involvement is appropriate for a TV station. It is one thing to have a foundation set up and to put a full-screen graphic up directing viewers to a bank account. But this KSN offer seems directly involved. If you want to "contact the family," you should mail the desk directly.
I worry about a few things here:
1.- Why is the TV station acting as a bridge between the family and viewers? It is one thing if a viewer sees a story and calls the station on his or her own to find out if contact information is available to help. But directly offering to be the "point person" seems a little strange.
2.- How does the station know what the family will do with the money? Viewers trust their local newscasters. If KSN goes on TV and says "you should help this family," viewers have the natural assumption that the station has done its homework and that the family is a worthy charitable cause. How does the station know where the help will go? Will there be follow up reports to ensure the family doesn't misuse any resources donated to them? Does the station even want to go down that route?
3.- Why not offer help through an intermediary? I have to assume that the American Red Cross or other reputable charity will be assisting the family in the immediate aftermath. Why not direct viewers to contact the local charity who- in turn- is in the business of helping people?
I do not doubt the sincerity of the assignment desk or the management at KSN that they sincerely want to help this family out. It is in a midsized market where there is probably much more reporting on community-based issues than one would see in the big markets. But the question is how far should a station go to actively recruit resources to help the
people it covers? It seems to me that they should still be keeping a distance.
Tuesday, January 29, 2008
Newsroom Swearing
People in television news have some of the most foul mouths I have ever encountered. And in my time reporting, I have dealt with plenty of potty-mouths ranging from cops to DPW workers.
But newsrooms are an anomoly in corporate culture. We are under constant deadline pressure and there are strong personalities, so sometimes swearing and temper tantrums are common. In a corporate bank environment, for instance, swearing and tirades would probably not be tolerated.
In a TV newsroom, they are the norm and even expected.
That doesn't necessarily mean it's OK to start throwing the F-Bomb around, but rather it is generally viewed as a necessary evil to let stressed out personnel let off some steam.
That's why this blog entry by Terry Heaton is so interesting. It describes how he created a swear jar and made his employees put a quarter into it every time they swore in the newsroom.
The funds were then used for parties for the whole newsroom.
The best. Line. Ever. involves an assignment editor, of course!
This whole subject has gotten a lot of chatter on the internet because of a discussion going on over at the Poynter web site which has people discussing whether they have ever been reprimanded in a newsroom for vulgar language.
But newsrooms are an anomoly in corporate culture. We are under constant deadline pressure and there are strong personalities, so sometimes swearing and temper tantrums are common. In a corporate bank environment, for instance, swearing and tirades would probably not be tolerated.
In a TV newsroom, they are the norm and even expected.
That doesn't necessarily mean it's OK to start throwing the F-Bomb around, but rather it is generally viewed as a necessary evil to let stressed out personnel let off some steam.
That's why this blog entry by Terry Heaton is so interesting. It describes how he created a swear jar and made his employees put a quarter into it every time they swore in the newsroom.
The funds were then used for parties for the whole newsroom.
The best. Line. Ever. involves an assignment editor, of course!
One day, my assignment editor arrived in an especially foul mood and announced she was putting $5 in the jar, so that we all should be prepared. I’ll never forget that.Turns out that assignment editor has since cooled down and is now a news director. Fun!
This whole subject has gotten a lot of chatter on the internet because of a discussion going on over at the Poynter web site which has people discussing whether they have ever been reprimanded in a newsroom for vulgar language.
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