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Anchor in trouble for FB posts

Discussion in 'Journalism topics only' started by Evil ... Thy name is Orville Redenbacher!!, Mar 25, 2016.

  1. wicked

    wicked Well-Known Member

    One of the anchors/reporters here has a program on her laptop that snaps selfies, which she then tweets out during the newscasts. She's pretty, but damn, I don't need to see 10 photos of you during every one of your work days.
     
    HanSenSE likes this.
  2. Ace

    Ace Well-Known Member

    It's a really jarring mix of homespun concern, bloody details, condecension and thinly veiled racism. It's like it was written by David Duke's sweet old grandma.
     
    Doc Holliday likes this.
  3. Riptide

    Riptide Well-Known Member

    Sarah Palin could bang (!) that out in 3 minutes.
     
    Ace likes this.
  4. BitterYoungMatador2

    BitterYoungMatador2 Well-Known Member

    Anyone else here watch the Facebook Live broadcasts of local news just to see the stupid, pervy comments of viewers?
     
  5. exmediahack

    exmediahack Well-Known Member

    I do. I have friends that have to do it in other markets. It's mostly pervy comments.

    And now... the boom has come down. We have to do FL starting next week.

    Four hours of anchoring a day and now anyone who wants will be able to watch us like circus animals. Co-anchor and I are planning to bring notepads with us to communicate on things that we don't want broadcast and even are working on some coded language, not unlike a pitcher and catcher.

    The four hours of news time is really a series of focused sprints and light jogs. First ten minutes of every half hour are intense news blocks with high story count. Rest are weather, weather updates, lighter stories, sports. Curious on the physical approach where I'll have to be "on" the entire time.

    Joked with my co-anchor that we will be on the main shows in no time as our evening team is wildly undisciplined and may say something horribly inappropriate on FL. Perhaps a blessing in disguise. :)
     
  6. wicked

    wicked Well-Known Member

    I don't think any stations here have gone to Facebook Live for their newscasts, so I don't understand the strategy. Is it so people can see "behind the scenes" stuff during breaks?
     
  7. Ace

    Ace Well-Known Member

    Do I have to turn in my SJ.com card if I have no idea what Facebook Live is and no interest in finding out?
     
  8. murphyc

    murphyc Well-Known Member

    PC and ex, I second Donnie's appreciation of the insight you have provided on this topic.
    Like others, I'm not too familiar with Facebook Live and, from the sounds of it, have no desire to be. Would you say Facebook Live is the TV equivalent to print reporters being expected more and more to tweet as much as possible, even if it interferes with the main job of writing a story?
     
  9. exmediahack

    exmediahack Well-Known Member

    Here's what Facebook live is for those of us in TV News.

    Take your phone, launch FL and point the camera on your phone at you and your co-anchor.

    Leave it there for the entire newscast. Commercial breaks, sound bites, the whole thing.

    Imagine a basketball coach being Mic'd up the entire game but with no filter. In the NBA, they only show the coach in the huddle encouraging his players.

    In our newscasts during the breaks, we are making script corrections, following developing stories, trying to hold our bladders for three hours at a time and do it all while being authoritative, engaging and funny.

    Think of being a sports writer and having a camera follow you around for the entire game that you cover. Think of the snarky or funny things you say to a colleague while watching from the press box. Then have a camera on you as you're actually writing your column, story or sidebar.

    I strive to be very very patient and accommodating to my younger colleagues who do work behind the scenes. I correct with care when I teach on not writing in passive voice, using cliches or to not writing teases that only scare and represent what people hate about TV news. I also am happy to praise them when they do "get it" and are ready to move to their big markets.

    Yet if I am on FL correcting something that needs to be fixed, I'll probably come across as a pompous anchor who hates the producers. And that's not the case at all.

    What FL will do is essentially show me acting as if I would act on a job interview. Cautious. Boring. Not that interesting to watch.

    I think it also presents a moderate security risk. I have tens of thousands of people who follow me online. A few of them are unstable. Female anchors have it much worse and I'll admit this. FB Live will mean that I won't say anything about my life when it's on. Not what I am doing after the news. Not what I'm doing for the weekend. It will kill the crosstalk in the commercial breaks that leads to good chemistry when we are all on the air.

    It may also make the unbalanced, in this age of no mental health funding, feel they can approach us anytime.

    Example. I never say the names of our kids nor post their pictures on social media. Never. As my co-anchor's kids get older, I'm encouraging that as well for her and she is heeding my words for their safety.

    Not only this but the comments will come in by real time. So if there's one person who wants to comment and say "nice tits" to my co-anchor or something cryptic and horrible at me, I'll be watching the public's comments while I am trying to focus and DO MY JOB - which I do very well.

    In this era of the Roanoke crew killed and the Little Rock anchor killed, I do not understand why news managers want to expose us to the public even more than we already are.

    When you let the public in, it almost always goes poorly in the end.
     
    Donny in his element and murphyc like this.
  10. TheSportsPredictor

    TheSportsPredictor Well-Known Member

    Can you force your employer to provide the phone?
     
  11. murphyc

    murphyc Well-Known Member

    ex, I appreciate this response and your others on this thread. Likewise to PC.
    Is there any idea yet what would convince the higher ups at TV stations to realize this isn't a great idea and does more harm than good? Would anchors complaining do any good, or would they have to see numbers showing it's not attracting the desired attention in order for them to call the whole thing off? Or is it too late for the higher ups to reverse course now?
    You're not seeing any benefits from where you sit, but I'm also not seeing any benefits for the viewer. If I'm really curious to see what anchors say during commercial break, seeing nothing being said during commercial breaks for multiple hours would pour ice water over any such interest. Besides, during commercial breaks, whether it's the news, regular TV, sports or whatever, I'm doing other things like grabbing a snack, going bathroom, etc.
     
    exmediahack likes this.
  12. exmediahack

    exmediahack Well-Known Member

    I have stated by concerns in a light manner. The nice part is that our evening anchors whine, moan and complain far more than I do. I'll let them walk out on that ledge.

    I'm fortunate in that I'm overpaid for what I do so I add on extra responsibilities and that's fine. This one just has me concerned from standpoint of how well I do my job.

    I've survived every layoff in 20 years because I was cheap when I younger and because I have the best skill set in every newsroom as I got older and more expensive. I can do everything except for weather - news, sports, anchor, produce, write for online, shoot, edit video, run the desk, assign crews, manage travel budget, etc. I can still operate a damn satellite truck!

    The frustrating part is that this is in the chase for Facebook "likes" and activity. I've cultivated a deep and loyal following because, unlike many in teevee, I try to write clean copy and posts that are sincere, heartfelt and show compassion amid the stories I encounter.

    After being the newsroom model for doing social right...

    Now they just want clicks.
     
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