A "No Car Wrecks" Policy at your station?

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Shaky & Blue

Well-known member
When Elvis is positively identified as a victim of an automobile accident in my town, I'll expect to see it on the news. Accountant Herbert Lufton being the victim really isn't as newsworthy.
 

ransom

Member
I can understand why car wrecks make it to air in very small markets but they should only be a last resort. I know the young bucks get a rush out of life and death car wrecks. It's not very imaginative news coverage. Wrecks shouldn't be on the air unless someone dies. I can smell it in the air. The holidays are coming so all you local guys will be put on drive safe stories complete with a highway patrol interview. Isn't it funny how news stories are seasonal. I say it's a sign of the sad state of affairs in newscast producer talent. The traffic stories are one of several I am so glad I never have to shoot again!
 

Photog Cowboi

PRO user
OK...So People take the "No Car Wrecks" Stance...then what? What if you are having a really slow news day (to the point that even bugs have a news story) or better yet...your producer is lazy and yet you hear about the wreck or see it yourself on the way back from another story? Plus...in a smaller market, or any market for that matter, I could see a wreck being covered if even though there are no injuries or fatalities...it is a nuisance to other drivers! Besides, I would rather cover a wreck than do a man on the street (or ask joe blow) story or a good one in which Hay is on fire due to internal combustion (and don't tell me that, that stuff does not happen because I covered a story with a fellow photog in college about that and it was also a story on a station in Phoenix, AZ!!!)
 

ransom

Member
Originally posted by Photog Cowboi:
OK...So People take the "No Car Wrecks" Stance...then what? What if you are having a really slow news day (to the point that even bugs have a news story) or better yet...your producer is lazy and yet you hear about the wreck or see it yourself on the way back from another story? Plus...in a smaller market, or any market for that matter, I could see a wreck being covered if even though there are no injuries or fatalities...it is a nuisance to other drivers! Besides, I would rather cover a wreck than do a man on the street (or ask joe blow) story or a good one in which Hay is on fire due to internal combustion (and don't tell me that, that stuff does not happen because I covered a story with a fellow photog in college about that and it was also a story on a station in Phoenix, AZ!!!)
I'd love to see your story compared to the one by the regular station.

What do ya mean by "cover" a car wreck? A package? A live shot?

At best a car wreck never rates more than a voice-over. The exception is if someone famous dies or the wreck causes damage to something important to the town.

All the other reasons you listed to cover a wreck scream of small market. I'm not dissing you. Weak news judgement is the biggest reason wrecks make air. It's easy. Simple and fills time.

In a real town with real news car wrecks only make the morning show if they affect traffic to and from work. Even then it's a short V/O.

I used to judge NPPA quarterlies and we'd always laugh when we saw a car wreck as a package. It was an automatic tape ejection! :D
 

Lost in Alaska

Well-known member
Originally posted by ransom:

At best a car wreck never rates more than a voice-over. The exception is if someone famous dies or the wreck causes damage to something important to the town.

All the other reasons you listed to cover a wreck scream of small market. I'm not dissing you. Weak news judgement is the biggest reason wrecks make air. It's easy. Simple and fills time.

In a real town with real news car wrecks only make the morning show if they affect traffic to and from work. Even then it's a short V/O.

I used to judge NPPA quarterlies and we'd always laugh when we saw a car wreck as a package. It was an automatic tape ejection! :D
I couldn't disagree more. I covered one on Friday that blocked one of two highways out of town. We also used it as a reminder to be cautious when driving in slick conditions.

Here was the situation. Northbound Subaru slides, driver overcorrects and slid sideways into the path of a southbound full size Dodge Ram. The front bumper of the Ram hit the passenger seat from the drivers side.

We don't cover every fender-bender, but accidents do have their place in news if it is worthy.
 

Shaky & Blue

Well-known member
Originally posted by Photog Cowboi:
OK...So People take the "No Car Wrecks" Stance...then what? What if you are having a really slow news day (to the point that even bugs have a news story) or better yet...your producer is lazy and yet you hear about the wreck or see it yourself on the way back from another story?
The problem comes before the slow news day and before you see or hear about the wreck. The problem is that you're having a slow news day in the first place.

In a reporter-driven station where reporters work real beats, there's no such thing as a slow news day, because the reporters are working stories in advance and anticipating days that don't just hand them stories. A good beat reporter will have a few stories in reserve, ready to go, so that they don't have to rely on spot news and pray for something bad to happen to people for them to earn their money.

These are the stations and the reporters who find those out of the way stories that no one knew about until the reporter brings it to light. These are the stations that break stories. They're not all as "sexy" as the producers might like, but they do matter to the community and fill the newscast.

I'm not criticizing you for not knowing this, however, because there aren't many stations like this any more. Most stations have taken the power out of the hands of the reporters and put it in the hands of the producers. Reporters aren't allowed to work that way, so not many of them really know how to find stories any more.

Thus, you end up with (so-called) slow news days, when none of the reporters have thought ahead, and the producer is desperate to fill the newscast with anything. The real problem isn't that car wrecks are total crap; the real problem is that people making the decisions these days don't understand the difference and wouldn't know what to do about it if they did.
 

putmeontv

Member
Hey "Lost in Alaska", you guys had to remind yr viewers about the dangers of slick driving conditions... in ANCHORAGE? That is too funny.
 

Lost in Alaska

Well-known member
Originally posted by putmeontv:
Hey "Lost in Alaska", you guys had to remind yr viewers about the dangers of slick driving conditions... in ANCHORAGE? That is too funny.
Most of the people here are either too comfortable with driving in adverse weather, or they are receint transplants from the lower 48. We have an ariforce and army base on the north side of town. Some of those people have never seen snow in their lives. This was also some of the first snow of the season and people forget how to not be stupid.
 
Most of the SF Bay Area stations do not run auto accidents. They have to be 802s or very unusual such as a vehicle into a building or city,state and municipal accidents. I will respond to a 519 but seldom shot anything.
 

Shaky & Blue

Well-known member
Originally posted by NewsJunkie:
They have to be 802s... I will respond to a 519...
Why are you writing in cop jargon? You don't actually talk like that, do you?

Different police departments use different code systems. Whatever a 519 is in your area may be called a signal seven in mine. Thus, it is likely that a good chunk of the photogs who read this, if not the majority, have no idea what you're talking about.

Were you trying to be misunderstood?
 

Photog Cowboi

PRO user
Well...You're right...I don't know much about reporter driven stations because I have not worked with reporter/photog driven stations. When I was in New Mexico and doing news with the student run news program on PBS and well...it was producer/photog driven. Some of the producers were shooters also and well...it was fun. You could tell who was producing by the content and the flow. We did do car wrecks, we did Burning hay, Crime,politics and military stories (nothing better than living near the air force base). So yes I am clueless as hell with certain things. Help me get a clue? I really need to learn more about why the no car wrecks/car wrecks argument. By the Way...Use English! I don't do cop jargon nor do I always do photog jargon :)
 
Sorry for the police jargon. A 519 is an accident with injuries and an 802 is a dead person. I will refrain from the criptic codes and use plain english. Among other shooters we do talk like that. We have been doing this for a long time and it just evolved over the years. All I shoot is the crime beat so all my interaction is with police ,fire, parametics and other TV news stringers who also do the same type of work. The regular network folks call us when they do not want to go into the dangerous stories or really bad sections of the city. We get paid by what we bring in to the assignment desk and they know they can count on us to get the story. I started in 1975 covering the Black Panther, American Nazi Party, Ku KLUX Clan, Mount Saint Helens and 3 months in Belfast as well as my fair share of civil disorder. I like what I do and work hard at bringing back the best I can.
Bill
 
Just got a chance to read a few...

Two things I have to agree on! One! I agree that really only the serious ones need to be covered..but by the time the desk figures out that it is..I'm shooting the tow truck driver hoisting the car onto it's deck!! that...sucks

Two: The way you shoot accidents can make it more of story then just blatant gore tv. The last fatal I was at, the guy needed to be extracted. So instead of going for the gruesome I focused my attention on the large number of emergency workers trying to get this man out! Tight shots of these guys working can get you some real great stuff! I mean, it brings in a whole different emotion for the viewer. The way it is edited too can bring out the impact! I (and this is opinion only) believe that once you've established the scene with a wide, don't use anymore. Keep it tight now. Get the faces the hands working..the lights flashing, the cars being diverted. I can't stand seeing 5 to 6 wide shots of the same wreck. I already can tell the cars are smashed up!! What's the "action" that's happening...!!

Cheers'
 

HIDEOUSVlD

Well-known member
I work in a small market, and we cover car wrecks only if there are serious injuries or fatalities, and even then, it's usually just a VO. Our main anchor doesn't like to use car wreck vid during the week, too depressing, he says. Sometimes, though, on a slow day, we do use vid of wrecks w/o serious injuries just for time filler. ;)

Shootfirst has some good points....there are only so many shots you can get of the wrecked vehicles and broken glass. Tight shots of officers talking into their shoulder radios, emergency workers taking vitals, and PEOPLE watching. Especially if the wreck is bad, the standers-by reactions can convey a lot of emotion and tell quite a bit of the story for you. :D
 

Photog Cowboi

PRO user
Hmm...I have seen the ideas C and shoot have suggested be applied in some places. If I were shooting...I would go with them too. Question is...how far would you go with those shots...I mean...would you should a lot of graphic detail?
 

BoomDrive

Well-known member
Originally posted by TenaciousC:
I work in a small market, and we cover car wrecks only if there are serious injuries or fatalities, and even then, it's usually just a VO. Our main anchor doesn't like to use car wreck vid during the week, too depressing, he says. Sometimes, though, on a slow day, we do use vid of wrecks w/o serious injuries just for time filler. ;)
It sounds like everyone has the same general view on what's broadcast-worthy and what isn't.

I've had a few experiences with car wrecks that I won't soon forget:

1. While heading eastbound to a liveshot for another story, we passed by a flipped SUV in westbound traffic. It had just happened-- no emergency vehicles, cars started stopping to help the guy. A paramedic who happened to be passing by stopped, I used my camera light so he could see in the cabin and help the driver.

It turns out the guy was, of course, speeding. It had just rained for a very short time. As everyone knows, the worst time to drive is when it first starts raining: oil floats atop water. So, the surface becomes a lot more slick.

This guy tried ducking through traffic and other lanes, lost control on the slick surface, and smashed into the median, flipping his truck. Our angle was firefighters talking about how they see accidents like that often during the rainy season.

2. I was parked on the westbound side of a wide median made of loose gravel and sand. My assignment was to check out a fully-engulfed van on the eastbound side of the highway. Called back to let everyone know there were no injuries. We decided to shoot a VO just for the traffic havoc it caused.

My back was to westbound traffic. The flatbed truck sent to retrieve the burned-out van was in westbound traffic. The driver was cut-off by another car. He swerved to miss the car-- and came within three feet of slamming into me!

Needless to say, I was a bit shaken up. Once the flatbed came to rest and the dust and gravel settled, I could reach out and touch it with my right arm. The only warning I had that it was coming was the spray of dirt and rocks on the back of my legs a split-second before it landed next to me. A wrecker from the same service was sent to retrieve the flatbed, as it was trapped up to its front wheel-wells.

I learned that, no matter how aware of your surroundings you think you are, something can always go wrong. I came very close to becoming a Medivac chopper story myself, and am a little bit wiser because of it. Be careful out there!

3. Last week, while driving into work, I saw a semi three cars behind me (we were in the fast lane) smack against the guardrails, then swing across three lanes of mid-afternoon traffic as it jack-knifed. I hopped out of my van and ran back to the scene (keeping in mind, of course, my previous experience in #2), to make sure the driver was alright. Surprisingly, the driver missed every single car on the road. An officer on the other side of the highway stopped to help direct traffic.

I called the station as I ran to the scene to let them know what was going on, that I was okay, and that I wanted to check to see if anyone needed medical help. Fortunately, it wasn't the case. I grabbed a quick VO later.

It struck me as funny: it was such a dramatic scene, even in my rear-view mirror, but it was only worth a five-sentence VO in our early shows.
:)
 

ewink

Well-known member
I know how that is...

I once saw a Suzuki Sidekick roll in my rear view mirror... very dramatic...
 
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