I gave my little project a name: Enterprising Experiment.
Can you add to the list to help new reporters enterprise local stories?
Here are my favorite less-obvious tips, not found in text books
*give out business card to everyone including MOS, they'll call you if they ever need anything,
*login to facebook, twitter every day. Friend/follow cities, fire spokespeople, restaurants, random people to see what they're talking about
*if you're covering a particularly negative story, like long wait times at ER, as spokesperson for a positive story to cover later. They'll jump on it.
*call your interview subject the day after, see what they think, but also bug in their ear, 'if you ever hear of any stories that might be interesting to our viewers give me a call... get all contact info then.
*read whole newspapers (even the **letters to the editor obits and the classifieds)
*Take a different route to work/school each day and take note of changes.
*Don't forget visiting the actual agencies. Like heading down to dispatch, or the courthouse to "check in."
*cafe's and coffee shops, the check out lines at Walmart or Target (eavesdropping) work well too.
Monday, October 26, 2009
Can you add to the list?
Thought this could be an easy-to-resource list for reporters when
struggling to pitch more original local stories.
Can you add to the list?
I sent it out to my old teachers, friends, and mentors maybe you
could do the same?
*don't leave interview without asking 'is there any other stories i
should know about, think we should be covering'
*read whole newspapers (even the letters to the editor obits and the
classifieds)
*follow local blogs and community bulletin boards.
*Sign up for newsletters for everyone from neighborhood associations
to local unions.
*Take a different route to work/school each day and take note of changes.
*Talk to people everywhere you go.
*Make weekly beat calls to people just to “check in” see what’s
happening—can be as short as five minutes. Develop an ongoing
relationship so they know to call YOU if something happens
*Keep business cards religiously. Always ask if everything is up to
date and spelled correctly on the card, get celll!!
*Think big picture next day stories. Who wins, who loses, who makes
money, who loses money, how many total people will be affected, what
will be the long-term effects, what is changing or different about
this,
*Go online every day before work and read headlines of top news sites
like looking for national stories you can localize, Abcnews.com,
Cnn.com, Washingtonpost, Ny times, et
struggling to pitch more original local stories.
Can you add to the list?
I sent it out to my old teachers, friends, and mentors maybe you
could do the same?
*don't leave interview without asking 'is there any other stories i
should know about, think we should be covering'
*read whole newspapers (even the letters to the editor obits and the
classifieds)
*follow local blogs and community bulletin boards.
*Sign up for newsletters for everyone from neighborhood associations
to local unions.
*Take a different route to work/school each day and take note of changes.
*Talk to people everywhere you go.
*Make weekly beat calls to people just to “check in” see what’s
happening—can be as short as five minutes. Develop an ongoing
relationship so they know to call YOU if something happens
*Keep business cards religiously. Always ask if everything is up to
date and spelled correctly on the card, get celll!!
*Think big picture next day stories. Who wins, who loses, who makes
money, who loses money, how many total people will be affected, what
will be the long-term effects, what is changing or different about
this,
*Go online every day before work and read headlines of top news sites
like looking for national stories you can localize, Abcnews.com,
Cnn.com, Washingtonpost, Ny times, et
Saturday, July 11, 2009
One Year Down, One to Go
One year into first TV News job.
One year to go.
Highlights.
*Story inspired viewers to donate money to local high school to help every kid pay for a cap and gown for their high school graduation.
*Promoted to Weekend Anchor
Goals.
Work on voice, delivery.
Score more livehots.
Blog more.
Get a second job.
One year to go.
Highlights.
*Story inspired viewers to donate money to local high school to help every kid pay for a cap and gown for their high school graduation.
*Promoted to Weekend Anchor
Goals.
Work on voice, delivery.
Score more livehots.
Blog more.
Get a second job.
Thursday, September 6, 2007
Crazy 48 Hours!
Wow it's been a great but crazy last 48 hours!
I woke up Tuesday to hear my story made the front page...
I woke up Wednesday, shot a pakage for a friend...
rushed back to the newsroom to prepare my story for 3:00 newscast...
found that my first cover story featured in SPM looks great!
Hear that Grand Junction News Director wants to see my resume tape...
Then to top it all off... did my best live shot yet.
:)
Like I said, a great but crazy 48 hours.
I woke up Tuesday to hear my story made the front page...
I woke up Wednesday, shot a pakage for a friend...
rushed back to the newsroom to prepare my story for 3:00 newscast...
found that my first cover story featured in SPM looks great!
Hear that Grand Junction News Director wants to see my resume tape...
Then to top it all off... did my best live shot yet.
:)
Like I said, a great but crazy 48 hours.
Tuesday, September 4, 2007
My first front page article!
Another great story honoring soldiers.
For me, remembering these men and women are only in their early twenties...
my age...
puts the war into perspective.
When I asked Adrian what one of the major differences between walking around campus and Afgan was.... he said...
"relaxing." Walking around without the constant tension of maybe being shot at any time.
ASU students in Guard return to war
Carolyn Carver, For the Tribune
Adrian Coss, 22, joined thousands of students last month starting classes at Arizona State University. But on Thursday, the English major will fly back to Afghanistan with the Arizona National Guard, where he’ll spend the rest of the semester in a war zone.
Coss was planning to graduate from ASU in May. Instead, he will join about 1,200 other Arizona National Guard members fighting the war on terrorism overseas.
“I think about home when I’m in Afghanistan, lying in bed at night alone with my thoughts,” he said. “I know my mother worries, and I wish I could tell her not to.”
Another ASU student, thrust into war during college, said she misses her Tempe life of prickly pear margaritas, date nights, Mexican food and sushi.
“I think about home all the time,” 24-year-old Geneve Mankel said during an e-mail exchange from her base near the Afghanistan-Pakistan border.
Like Coss, Mankel had planned to graduate from ASU in May.
She said she misses the “little things,” like not having to walk 50 meters to use the bathroom, taking baths and eating “real food.”
Arizona National Guard spokesmen Maj. Paul Aguirre said about 5,000 of the 7,500 Arizona National Guard troops have been deployed overseas since Sept. 11, 2001.
Corey Harris, 31, a senior at ASU from Scottsdale, said he enlisted in the Guard because he wanted to help the community he grew up in.
“For me, it was that the National Guard is local and about being here and able to help,” he said.
When Harris was activated to Iraq in 2003, he said it was a sacrifice. But he also says he would go back in a second.
“Everybody leaves with a greater appreciation for what it means to be an American,” he said.
While Harris believes the war turned out to be a great opportunity, Sgt. Steve Gibson, a 24-year-old Guardsmen from Chandler, said he has concerns that the Guard’s new role abroad could spread its resources too thin.
He joined the Guard just before the 2001 terrorist attacks to help pay for college. While Gibson said he recognized the value of fighting abroad, he would never want to go back.
“It was a million-dollar experience I wouldn’t pay a penny for,” he said. “If you don’t want to get sent to war, don’t sign up.”
Aguirre said Mankel and four Arizona National Guards units will be home by spring of 2008, but there’s no word yet on how many more will be deployed.
Mankel, a journalism major, said she’s looking forward to finally graduating, seeing her dog Sebastian, eating pizza and hanging out with her friends.
“Before being deployed I was living the normal college life — a part-time job at a boutique, a full-time student and going out,” she said. “I’ve adapted well to this place, but nonetheless I can’t wait to get home to my family and friends and back to normal life.”
When Coss heads back to Afghanistan next week, he’ll serve on the front lines as an infantryman and help to reconstruct schools, hospitals and roadways.
Although he said he will miss the beautiful girls, board shorts, flip-flops and going out on Mill Avenue on Thursday nights, the self-proclaimed romantic said he embraces the nobility of military service.
“If I could choose my own death, it would be on the battlefield,” he said.
For me, remembering these men and women are only in their early twenties...
my age...
puts the war into perspective.
When I asked Adrian what one of the major differences between walking around campus and Afgan was.... he said...
"relaxing." Walking around without the constant tension of maybe being shot at any time.
ASU students in Guard return to war
Carolyn Carver, For the Tribune
Adrian Coss, 22, joined thousands of students last month starting classes at Arizona State University. But on Thursday, the English major will fly back to Afghanistan with the Arizona National Guard, where he’ll spend the rest of the semester in a war zone.
Coss was planning to graduate from ASU in May. Instead, he will join about 1,200 other Arizona National Guard members fighting the war on terrorism overseas.
“I think about home when I’m in Afghanistan, lying in bed at night alone with my thoughts,” he said. “I know my mother worries, and I wish I could tell her not to.”
Another ASU student, thrust into war during college, said she misses her Tempe life of prickly pear margaritas, date nights, Mexican food and sushi.
“I think about home all the time,” 24-year-old Geneve Mankel said during an e-mail exchange from her base near the Afghanistan-Pakistan border.
Like Coss, Mankel had planned to graduate from ASU in May.
She said she misses the “little things,” like not having to walk 50 meters to use the bathroom, taking baths and eating “real food.”
Arizona National Guard spokesmen Maj. Paul Aguirre said about 5,000 of the 7,500 Arizona National Guard troops have been deployed overseas since Sept. 11, 2001.
Corey Harris, 31, a senior at ASU from Scottsdale, said he enlisted in the Guard because he wanted to help the community he grew up in.
“For me, it was that the National Guard is local and about being here and able to help,” he said.
When Harris was activated to Iraq in 2003, he said it was a sacrifice. But he also says he would go back in a second.
“Everybody leaves with a greater appreciation for what it means to be an American,” he said.
While Harris believes the war turned out to be a great opportunity, Sgt. Steve Gibson, a 24-year-old Guardsmen from Chandler, said he has concerns that the Guard’s new role abroad could spread its resources too thin.
He joined the Guard just before the 2001 terrorist attacks to help pay for college. While Gibson said he recognized the value of fighting abroad, he would never want to go back.
“It was a million-dollar experience I wouldn’t pay a penny for,” he said. “If you don’t want to get sent to war, don’t sign up.”
Aguirre said Mankel and four Arizona National Guards units will be home by spring of 2008, but there’s no word yet on how many more will be deployed.
Mankel, a journalism major, said she’s looking forward to finally graduating, seeing her dog Sebastian, eating pizza and hanging out with her friends.
“Before being deployed I was living the normal college life — a part-time job at a boutique, a full-time student and going out,” she said. “I’ve adapted well to this place, but nonetheless I can’t wait to get home to my family and friends and back to normal life.”
When Coss heads back to Afghanistan next week, he’ll serve on the front lines as an infantryman and help to reconstruct schools, hospitals and roadways.
Although he said he will miss the beautiful girls, board shorts, flip-flops and going out on Mill Avenue on Thursday nights, the self-proclaimed romantic said he embraces the nobility of military service.
“If I could choose my own death, it would be on the battlefield,” he said.
Saturday, August 25, 2007
Hero's Come Home
http://www.zwire.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=18743709&BRD=1817&PAG=461&dept_id=68561&rfi=6
What a way to start off a great semester at Cronkite NewsWatch.
The first story me and a photographer get assigned... 170 Arizona National Guardsmen and women returning home after fighting the war on terror in Iraq for over a year.
Is there a better story to tell?
With my most pressing deadline the story was definitely a challenge.
But after a failed live VSOT at 5:00 (technical problems) my story finally went on the 10 pm newscast on KYMA, Yuma's NBC affiliate.
And apparently was a success.
Wow!
If only every story could give you chills... in a good way.
Look for the story on my video blog coming soon!
Monday, August 20, 2007
Last First Day
From kindergarden to 12th grade my mom made me pose in my out-fit I'd planned out weeks in advance for my first day of (blank) picture she'd likley do nothing with.
But it was kind of sad this morning when I called to remind her it was my last first day ever.
One year left of school.
One year to enjoy parental support.
One year to find a job.
Yikes.
Instead of panic I'm starting to feel excitment.
I spent my last first day preparing for an intense semester in Cronkite NewsWatch generating, researching, shooting, writing and editing my own stories.
Finally I get to do what I've spent 16 years trying to accomplish.
Check out my first three packages ever produced on my own at carolynvideoblog.blogspot.com
Look for many more and much better to come!
But it was kind of sad this morning when I called to remind her it was my last first day ever.
One year left of school.
One year to enjoy parental support.
One year to find a job.
Yikes.
Instead of panic I'm starting to feel excitment.
I spent my last first day preparing for an intense semester in Cronkite NewsWatch generating, researching, shooting, writing and editing my own stories.
Finally I get to do what I've spent 16 years trying to accomplish.
Check out my first three packages ever produced on my own at carolynvideoblog.blogspot.com
Look for many more and much better to come!
Tuesday, August 14, 2007
Tips from the Pros
Travel Writing Tips and Sites
ifreelance.com
roadandtravel.com
Job Listings, Consultants, Etc.
http://www.angelfire.com/biz/tvq/links.html
http://www.freep.com/jobspage/toolkit/cover.htm.
Industry News
www.tvspy.com "Shop Talk Newsletter"
www.spj.org/quill_digital
www.newswise.com
ifreelance.com
roadandtravel.com
Job Listings, Consultants, Etc.
http://www.angelfire.com/biz/tvq/links.html
http://www.freep.com/jobspage/toolkit/cover.htm.
Industry News
www.tvspy.com "Shop Talk Newsletter"
www.spj.org/quill_digital
www.newswise.com
Deadlines
Sleeping odd hours of the day and not sleeping even stranger hours of the night. I can't decide if it's because I'm jet-lagged or stressed about my impending deadlines.
Deadlines. A telling paramount quality of an aspiring journalist.
I have one year to get a job.
I have one month to make a great resume tape.
I have three weeks to finish my web-site, build my multi-media blogs, get a haircut and get head shots.
I have one week to enjoy the rest of my summer and write thank you notes to all of the people who've helped me at my internship.
Deadlines.
For me - That's when I'm at my best and I can't live without em'.
Deadlines. A telling paramount quality of an aspiring journalist.
I have one year to get a job.
I have one month to make a great resume tape.
I have three weeks to finish my web-site, build my multi-media blogs, get a haircut and get head shots.
I have one week to enjoy the rest of my summer and write thank you notes to all of the people who've helped me at my internship.
Deadlines.
For me - That's when I'm at my best and I can't live without em'.
Interesting dance
In the Denver International Airport about an hour before a 24-hour air adventure to Spain with my all-American family we made a quick stop at the book store to stock up.
I bought “The Secret” to inspire me, “Blink” because I wanted to see what all of the fuss was about, and “Dispatches From the Edge” (an Anderson Cooper memoir about himself, loss and 2005) because I was curious.
In an incredibly small sleeper train car between Barcelona and Balboa I was very hot and couldn’t sleep on the top bunk inches from the ceiling. That’s when I pulled out my Anderson Cooper book and started reading it to a small and dim reading light above my head. Spotlighting a paragraph at a time I found myself unable to put the memoir away.
News events and natural disasters lead the book’s dance with Cooper’s personal struggles with loss and with events from the beginning of his career in news.
The book inspired me and I’m sure prepared me for what’s to come. So much so I couldn’t wait to plug in the attached DVD into my dad’s computer, borrow my sister’s headphones and watch it minutes after finishing even the ¨acknowledgments¨ in the book.
I was on vacation in the beautiful beach town of Santander during the afternoon siesta.
His dance with print and broadcast is a lot like the one I’m doing now and that I plan to pursue.
To paraphrase my favorite quote…A TV news story is an interesting dance between pictures and words.
I find my life to be an interesting dance of decisions made up of tiny choices I’ve danced along the way.
http://www.cnn.com/CNN/Programs/anderson.cooper.360/book.html
Contradiction
It’s an awkward time to be a journalist.
Since diving into the study of journalism, let’s say in college, it’s been a contradictory mess.
In Europe journalism centered on uncovering facts. It seemed like the goal was to make every story different and not to reiterate what every news source was saying. The professionals thrived on incorporating new facts and disclosing a government flaw with every single story.
Sometimes I think the disclosing was overblown considering the new facts.
But at the same time the tabloids were seemingly more popular than they are here and the intrusive celebrity gossip seemed worse too.
While I think the percentage in Europe is much higher in the way of serious journalism compared to sensational journalism, here I think it’s the opposite.
Is that reflective of ratings (giving what the people want) or lazy media too scared to handicap a relationship with a source?
And then there’s me, the new inexpensive generation struggling to yell out the right story idea at the editorial meeting.
Should I find a new angle to the most popular story or try to cover a story I think has more impact on my audience?
Since diving into the study of journalism, let’s say in college, it’s been a contradictory mess.
In Europe journalism centered on uncovering facts. It seemed like the goal was to make every story different and not to reiterate what every news source was saying. The professionals thrived on incorporating new facts and disclosing a government flaw with every single story.
Sometimes I think the disclosing was overblown considering the new facts.
But at the same time the tabloids were seemingly more popular than they are here and the intrusive celebrity gossip seemed worse too.
While I think the percentage in Europe is much higher in the way of serious journalism compared to sensational journalism, here I think it’s the opposite.
Is that reflective of ratings (giving what the people want) or lazy media too scared to handicap a relationship with a source?
And then there’s me, the new inexpensive generation struggling to yell out the right story idea at the editorial meeting.
Should I find a new angle to the most popular story or try to cover a story I think has more impact on my audience?
"What would you do if you knew you couldn't fail?"
What would I do if I knew I couldn't’t fail?
Exactly what I am.
…or what I am trying/hoping/working to be… a broadcast journalist.
And it’s scary. A TV reporter finds themselves in a business you hear mostly horror stories about and in an industry brutal by nature.
….but predictable and safe are what you do when you think you’ll fail at the fun stuff.
A good friend of mine, already in the business for a lifetime, summed up my life’s inarticulated philosophy by posing this question… and I knew it would get me through a lot of the tough times I plan on facing in this business.
(from then on I knew I ‘ought to listen to her )
What would you do if you knew you couldn’t fail? Is it what you’re doing? Why not?
Exactly what I am.
…or what I am trying/hoping/working to be… a broadcast journalist.
And it’s scary. A TV reporter finds themselves in a business you hear mostly horror stories about and in an industry brutal by nature.
….but predictable and safe are what you do when you think you’ll fail at the fun stuff.
A good friend of mine, already in the business for a lifetime, summed up my life’s inarticulated philosophy by posing this question… and I knew it would get me through a lot of the tough times I plan on facing in this business.
(from then on I knew I ‘ought to listen to her )
What would you do if you knew you couldn’t fail? Is it what you’re doing? Why not?
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