a lazy photog...

[shootist]

...would love to have had the day I had today. Shoot 20 minutes of tape. Edit a :15 voice-over for noon. Drive around for a few hours. Do a 1 minute live shot at 6:00. Drive back to the station and claim your hour-and-a-half of time-and-a-half. See you tomorrow.

I hated today. Because I caught a whiff of IT. I could taste IT. IT was “good television” and IT was within reach. And against all good judgement and against the tide of all recent history here, I (damn it) cared about IT.

It wasn’t a big story...just a good one. But it really never had a chance. Because we do so few of them...we don’t remember how to do them well.

Like the vo for noon. After the factual errors were removed, the script was adequately bland. The vo was cut by 11:50 and set to air at 12:25. At 11:55, I wrote a script that not only matched the vo already written, but more accurately told the story and...God forbid...might actually make the anchor reading it look like he has a personality. Presented to an EP...that’s where it stopped. Original script airs as written. Bland Rules!

See, though this was the story of a rescue...it was a light story. A feel-good story. A story people would remember and talk about. A dog was rescued.

Noon show's over.

This could be a package for the 5 or 6. Or a vo/sot. Or a vo. Or nothing, really. It wasn’t really news...just good television. A guy walking with his dog along the river. Poor dog (14 year-old half-blind Jake) falls off a retaining wall some 20 feet into the Monongahela. Jake manages to swim to a small piece of shoreline where he waits 3 hours ‘til his owner gets police and EMS involved. The guys from Rescue 1 finally get Jake out of there with a harness and pulley rig. I get all of it. Good sound ops...good nats...happy ending...good story= good television.

I present my case for a natural sound package. I’ve got everything I need for a full piece if that’s what is wanted. It’s 12:45 and while waiting for a decision, I begin to cut the natpack “on spec”. I’m pulled away to go check out a report of police finding a car they’ve been looking for. It’s not the car. I’m back to the station at 2:00.

A producer is logging my tape. It’s going to be a package tracked by a nightside reporter. I again make my pitch for a natpack. It doesn’t make sense to me have an anchor/reporter track this piece. It doesn’t fit. This is NOT a hard news life-and-death rescue! This story was MADE to be told as a natpack. For all the “Think outside the box” we’re thrown...we always seem to be on the inside looking out.

It doesn’t really matter now. I’m headed an hour out of town in a live truck to meet up with another crew.

The rescue of Jake is now in the hands of producer who doesn’t know the story...to be tracked by a reporter who doesn’t know the story...and edited by an editor who doesn’t know the story. It’s in the hands of three people who don’t know the story. It could have been left in mine. Three. One. Only here is this considered an efficient use of personnel.

This is not to say I shouldn’t have gone to that live shot. And I’m not saying the dog rescue was bigger than anything else I may have been sent on. What I’m saying is: There was never a chance that the telling of this story would be as good as it deserved. And that sucks.

An argument can made that if you live by breaking news, you’ll die by breaking news. We chase everything and throw so damn much away in our chase.

Managers here feel morale is low because the reporters and photographers feel overworked. WRONG! Why the hell can’t they get it? Here it is: We don’t do good television. It really is that simple. Whether it’s in organization...or decision-making...or staffing...or whatever...we rarely have the opportunity to do really good television. And when we do have that opportunity...it too often is thrown away. If we’re hitting story count...or hitting clicks...then some people are doing their jobs well. But the reporter/photographer teams never feel they’re given a chance to do theirs as well as they could or, more importantly, should. That’s when morale plummets...at the end of another day of “what could have been.”

Now yesterday was different. 2 packages. 2 lives. One package consisted of tracked walkover. Give me a break. The other was an example of what has become “The Usual.” One part Official Head...one part file tape...add water... mix. This crap never had a chance. It’s filler. Not only accepted but expected and endorsed. No hard feelings but no good feelings either.

If I were lazy...if I didn’t care...today would have been a great day.

In fact...if I were lazy and didn’t care, every day would be a great day.

How is that? How did this become the place where the lazy thrive and the careless shine?

Why does caring almost always equal disappointment?

A Lazy Photog...goes home happy.

I go home frustrated.

Thanks for the rant space. I feel better.

sort of...

[<coverage you can crap on>]

i hear you brother.

[<Russ>]

Good rant. You've really summed up well the ill feelings that can come over a photojournalist when the golden oppurtunity is missed.

As far as advice, and I hesitate to tell you this since it sounds like you have your act together, but - you could have stayed, cut it for the ten or eleven then showed it to the producer. If they wouldn't have taken it you could have left it for the morning show. This way you could put the story on your RESUME TAPE so you get the heck out of that station and get someplace where you have more oppurtunities for that kind of activity.

Consultants are busy telling any manager who will listen that nat packs are not good T.V. They don't engage the viewer, they don't showcase talent, they're confusing, artsy, pointless. It's better to write a pack that allows talent an oppurtunity to demonstrate their humanity through their concern for the doggie. Then throw in a couple clever play on words and presto the talent looks clever as well.

In order to really do the stuff you want you almost end up being a jerk - well actually you do end up being a jerk. You gotta be so passionate that you bully everyone else into seeing your point of view, or you ignore everyone else's problems to pursue your own vision - cause you can't buy everyone in the newsroom drinks.

Bummer, i gatta split for some M.V. Ped bull crap shoot. Later - good luck.

[<satpimp>]

That rant was at the same time exasperating and uplifting! I am not alone! Others feel the pain of an industry going to the wolves of flash in the pan, hit and run "breaking news". The easy road is reacting to events. The road to good tv is telling stories with the help of pictures and auido. Treat TV like a medium and you get compelling content. Treat it like a number driven business and you lose the impact. TV (lazy TV) is becoming the background noise of an era with contempt for the brief moments in time that make us human and interested in the world beyond our comfortable routine. The rare moments of good TV are almost blinding now because they are so infrequent. Keep pushing and maybe...just maybe one of 23 year old masters degreed neophytes will listen to someone who has worked in the community for more than a minute and actually air a good piece that will be talked about and not a hold up that will be forgotten by the time the next commercial break starts.

Start a rant get a rant.....goddamn that was catahertic!

Satpimp

Oh yeah I worked in the burgh and know the Mon River well!!!! Is Majorca still open at the Southend of the the Birmingham bridge. AAAAH Sangria and Broiled Steak....MMMMMMMMMM

[<satpimp>]

That rant was at the same time exasperating and uplifting! I am not alone! Others feel the pain of an industry going to the wolves of flash in the pan, hit and run "breaking news". The easy road is reacting to events. The road to good tv is telling stories with the help of pictures and auido. Treat TV like a medium and you get compelling content. Treat it like a number driven business and you lose the impact. TV (lazy TV) is becoming the background noise of an era with contempt for the brief moments in time that make us human and interested in the world beyond our comfortable routine. The rare moments of good TV are almost blinding now because they are so infrequent. Keep pushing and maybe...just maybe one of 23 year old masters degreed neophytes will listen to someone who has worked in the community for more than a minute and actually air a good piece that will be talked about and not a hold up that will be forgotten by the time the next commercial break starts.

Start a rant get a rant.....goddamn that was catahertic!

Satpimp

Oh yeah I worked in the burgh and know the Mon River well!!!! Is Majorca still open at the Southend of the the Birmingham bridge. AAAAH Sangria and Broiled Steak....MMMMMMMMMM

[AKinDC]

"It wasn’t really news...just good television."

Boy, does that make me cringe. I was totally with you til I saw that line. If there was no other news to cover, than it would have been nice for you to have the time to work on your story. But if you were diverted to cover something with actual news value, than I agree with your management's decision. I know it's frustrating not to be able to follow through with a potentially great story, we've all dealt with it, but having one photographer spending an entire day on a cute feature story is rarely the best use of time. Did you offer to stay after your shift and cut a nat pack for the late show, or the morning?

[shootist]

yeah, ak... that was perhaps a flip line i laid out there.

when i said "it wasn't news"...what was meant but not said was that it didn't fit into the narrowly defined constraints by which news is defined at our shop. meaning crime. so as i uttered that line...i certainly wasn't discounting the importance it could play in a newscast.

our consultants constantly harp on "memorable" stories. this would have been it.

as far as the other assignments...like i said...i don't say this story was more important than the others...just that our shop through whatever shortcomings always reacts first without a plan. meaning there were ways we could have gotten it ALL done.

besides, i certainly wasn't looking to have all day to work on this piece. i'm not that slow or naive. i would have had the piece done by 2:30 if they had let me...and i would've made that 6:00 live shot with 2 hours to spare.

did i offer to stay and cut it for the 11:00pm or morning show? well...no...the 11:00 producer wanted a vo. next am? the story didn't have the legs to go 24 hours. so i'll put it together for myself. not for a resume tape...not for awards...just for myself...just to keep sharp in case i care again.

and yes...satpimp...mallorca is still satisfying palates from all over the 'burgh. in fact, i'm overdue...thanx for the reminder. ;)

[<say it, brother...>]

Man, you read my mind. I get tired of the mindless drivel (sp?) that our decision-makers chose to cover every day. I go home tired, frustrated, fed up. I'd kill for a chance to shoot something "fun", you know, with creative shot chances, good nat sound, etc. I do everything I can to keep my interest up...try different lighting schemes, looking for different shot angles, whatever. But I feel in a rut, tired and apathetic. I've been through this cycle before, but this one seems longer than the others. I'm glad, in a selfish way, that I'm not the only one fighting these problems.

I guess I needed a rant, as well.

[memphis-vid (ex-longhaul)]

preach on!!! i hear you, and used to feel your pain. but, one day i too saw IT. IT was called good morning memphis or GMM for short. you are probably thinking, "a morning show?"... yes my weary friend, a morning show. but GMM is not just any morning show. GMM has a dedicated feature reporter, our responsibilites are four live hits from 6am to 8am, the sometimes vo/sot for mid-day, and then the PKG runs at 5pm (usualy toward the end of an hour long show). "it's too good to be true", you say "there must be a catch." well there is, work starts everyday at 4am, and there is also a "hard" news reporter. you may wonder how i do two live shots in two diferent live shots in two diferent locations at the same time...i don't, there are two photogs and two reporters. a hard news "crew" and a feature "crew". in the intrest of fairness the photogs alternate weeks. while the feature weeks are cake, the hard news weeks are considerably more like your post, and much more frustrating. but it's real easy to put up with that frustration when you know that next mon. you will be back to features, and all the time you want to shoot and edit. i'm not posting this to rub anyone's nose in my happiness. i am simpily trying to point out the morale boost that can come from doing features... every shop needs a feature reporter. if you doubt me, our feature reporter is our most popular reporter with the viewers, and our day-side shooters have been noticibly less content since TOM went to mornings. all you bosses out there need to wake up, features are good for news.

[<CHIEFPHOTDOG>]

Stop, your making my mouth water, I remember those days. Went to a shoot me and the reporter it was like art. then it became a magic trick turning crap into gold I got a reputation of being able to pack a rock. One day I'll be at a where people love the biz and not themselves on the tube. That will happen around the same time I find the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow.

[Lost in Alaska]

Originally posted by longhaul:
every shop needs a feature reporter. if you doubt me, our feature reporter is our most popular reporter with the viewers ... features are good for news.Down at KTVB in Boise there is (or was) a feature reporter by the name of John Miller (not the guy on ABC). He did great stories and was one of the most liked people in the community. The features would also give the photogs a break from the dfaily grind of "hard" news.

[<war>]

just tie it into the war somehow and the ND's and managment will drool over it and probably force you to do it.

[<satpimp>]

Back in a former life as ND I had a senior photog named woody. He did his own feature segment called woody's world that he would enterprise report and shoot. They were great he was very creative. When I got there he had been pulled off the air and I brought him back. That one move did more for morale stationwide and the response was amazing. The community went nuts and ratings went UP...Yeah UP dammit. Coming from a production shooter background I always thought shooters/videographers/photojournalists were the most underappreciated talent pool in the newsroom. This small market shop proved it. The Photogs were the long term people and knew the community, the issues and the players. I worked hard for two years to bring their pay to parity, give them opportunities to be creative and have fun. It was a good shop. After I left it went back to the old ways Woody left and three other excellent senior photogs split. Guess what..the station's in the ****ter. Sad but shortsighted decisions have a way of creating a long term impact

[<yeah>]

Morale at my station has gone into the toilet, too...and for exactly the same reasons. I avoided going to run-and-gun shops, and suffered a crap paycheck, to continue to do the kind of stories I love. The problem is: we don't do that much of it anymore. I can't speak for my co-workers, but I know that this isn't the team that I ever wanted to play for.
It's good to know that this is apparently a nation-wide trend, and not that I'm just imagining things.

[ravenm]

in the same boat here, except our feature reporter now has an OUTSIDE SHOOTER come in and shoot with him. evidently, a news photographer can't shoot a feature. as for morale, it sucks right now. cut our photography staff a third over the last year...we no longer have a chief or assignment desk. our dayside producer actually hands out assignments most of the time now. you think taking orders from the desk is bad....

then to match, we haven't had cost of living increases in 3 years, still waiting for this years to go through and the most anyone is getting is 3%, but only if they've changed the face of television as we know it.

top that off with general over-worked, under-paid, under-appreciated and a general lack of care of anyone who still works here, and morale is absolute dog turd.

[Nuz-Shooter]

I used to work at KTVB and when I was there (left in '99), John Miller was still there and he shot his own stuff most of the time. Every now and then he would get somebody else to shoot.

You know you have a big story (or not enough reporters) when your features reporter has to go and do hard news.

I moved to Calgary Alberta, and I met a photogrpher that knew of John and would watch his stories when they came down on the feeds as he love Millers style and stories.

My 2 cents

[queen of blue]

What I find amazing is that if I'm doing good TV, I'm NEVER overworked .... I'm tired, sore, grumpy maybe - but content, and I'll work 'til I drop.

If doing bad TV - well then I'm going to start complaning at the end of my 9 hours .... time to go home boys and girls, I'm tired sore and grumpy and I don't want to be here anymore.

And THAT's why morale is bad. (Geez, did that even make sense? See I can't do a coherent sentence LOL)

[<Photog3535>]

That makes perfect sense. I am the exact same way. I worked at a shop where mediocre stories are the norm. On the few days we would get to do something extremely interesting, that's when it was fun and I'd love to put in extra hours. But let's face it. If it's 5:55 and a fender bender happens, I don't want to go. Sorry.. But unless someone is dead, don't send me and make me get overtime. It's just not worth it. Let me just get off at 6:00 and be done with it. I only get like that on days where nothing is going on, and the few things I shoot are crap assignments. I work in a medium sized market, but sometimes on the weekends it feels like a small market with the "news" we report. But then again, there are the days, which are happening more often for me, when I am extremely proud of the work I have done. And I actually feel a sense of accomplishent. And what's even better, I feel like my story might actually do some good. That's what it's all about. It's hard to feel like that everyday. Let's face it, we are all human. We all have our off days. But when you have those really good days, that's when its worth it.

[Wideangle]

Longhaul, you may be interested in this, 'cause
it happened at the "Q"...a long time ago..We had
a segment that ran every Friday as the kicker
called "Southern Exposures". It was a 2-2:30min
package totally done by the photographer. We
got a day to shoot it, and a day to edit it..
Something I know most of you find hard to believe..
It was a chance to really take on a feature and
do it the way you want to...nat sound driven, voice
under from the subject at times to guide the story, but foremost, visually telling a good feature. I still have a few that I would use on a
resume tape today, and they're probably close
to fifeteen years old. What I loved about it most,
is it forced you to think out the process of
molding and creating a piece from start to finish.
I doubt if I'll ever have that kind of creative freedom again....