radio station all played the Minnesota Nice version of paparazzi and waited patiently outside the Bloomington cop shop until a communications flack stuck his head out to sneer “No comment!” before slamming the door in our faces.
((RILEY/LIVE))
POLICE ARE STUMPED BY A
FISH FRENZY AT THE MALL
OF AMERICA TODAY.
I had just fed the aquarium tape back to the station from Channel 3’s live truck and was scripting my story. For television news each line is typed about two inches wide, making for easy reading, and timing out to about a second a line. This helps the newscast producer estimate the length of any story quickly. Instead of punctuation, I generally put a series of dots to indicate a pause point during my read.
((RILEY/NAT))
TWO ARMED INTRUDERS
BROKE INTO UNDERWATER
ADVENTURES AND
SMASHED AQUARIUMS …
LEAVING FISH
FLOUNDERING… NO
MOTIVE HAS YET BEEN DETERMINED …
The weekend news anchor, Erin Jackson, followed up with a planned question about an Underwater Adventure story a few months earlier in which a large tiger shark named Jesse tried to eat a smaller shark. The little shark survived only because a rescue team wrenched it, literally, from the jaws of death. Because a visitor’s cell-phone camera captured the drama, the shark exhibit broke attendance records by using the gripping photo in all their publicity.
Channel 3 was always anxious for any chance to rerun that particular image.
((ANCHOR Q&A))
AND HOW ABOUT THOSE
TWO SHARKS, RILEY …
WERE THEY AMONG
THE SURVIVORS?
((RILEY SOT/FILE TAPE))
YES, ERIN,
THEY’RE JUST FINE … NO
SHARKS OR OTHER
SALTWATER CREATURES
PERISHED IN TODAY’S
ATTACK … BUT MANY
OF THE MORE FRAGILE
FRESHWATER FISH WERE
NOT SO FORTUNATE … AND
THE FINAL DEATH
TALLY HAS YET TO BE
RELEASED.
I did my early newscast as a live shot without a hitch or glitch, filling a solid two and a half minutes about the tragic loss of fish life. But instead of letting me do the late news back on set at the station, like we’d agreed on earlier, the producer insisted I again go live in front of the Mall of America. Even though it was now dark outside. Even though it was now raining. And most insulting, even though the action was long over.
But that’s TV news.
oreen called me into her office the following Monday morning to admire a spike in the Saturday overnights and attribute it to my coverage of the fish story. Saturday usually has fewer news viewers than any other night of the week, but I declined the compliment because my coverage was really no different than my competitors’.
Then her motive became clear.
“You’ve been doing such a great job on spot news lately” she continued, “with the police shooting and the fish attack, I’m wondering if that’s a better place for you this May.”
She smiled like she was offering me a promotion. But her smile was insincere.
In the world of TV news, on-air talent succeeds by projecting warmth. That trait didn’t come naturally to Noreen, which probably explained why, even with her beauteous looks, she gravitated to management instead of anchoring. Viewers can sense a false performer. For bosses, a cool demeanor counts more and what subordinates think counts for nothing.
“No,” I answered, wasting no words on subtlety.
There’s nothing subtle about spot, or breaking, news. It’s News of the Obvious. Fire. Plane crash. Bank robbery. High on adrenaline and low on brains. Reporting live for a minute-thirty on whatever the latest news development is or was hours earlier, often fed to you by the newscast producer off the wire. It’s usually an entry-level job for rookies with lots of energy and little experience.
I’d been there, done that.
“No,” I repeated. “I have a job. I’m an investigative reporter.”
“I see. Well then, Riley, show me your investigation.”
Just then we heard an overhead page calling, “Riley Spartz, you have a guest in the front lobby.”
Normally I’d roll my eyes
((RILEY/LIVE))
POLICE ARE STUMPED BY A
FISH FRENZY AT THE MALL
OF AMERICA TODAY.
I had just fed the aquarium tape back to the station from Channel 3’s live truck and was scripting my story. For television news each line is typed about two inches wide, making for easy reading, and timing out to about a second a line. This helps the newscast producer estimate the length of any story quickly. Instead of punctuation, I generally put a series of dots to indicate a pause point during my read.
((RILEY/NAT))
TWO ARMED INTRUDERS
BROKE INTO UNDERWATER
ADVENTURES AND
SMASHED AQUARIUMS …
LEAVING FISH
FLOUNDERING… NO
MOTIVE HAS YET BEEN DETERMINED …
The weekend news anchor, Erin Jackson, followed up with a planned question about an Underwater Adventure story a few months earlier in which a large tiger shark named Jesse tried to eat a smaller shark. The little shark survived only because a rescue team wrenched it, literally, from the jaws of death. Because a visitor’s cell-phone camera captured the drama, the shark exhibit broke attendance records by using the gripping photo in all their publicity.
Channel 3 was always anxious for any chance to rerun that particular image.
((ANCHOR Q&A))
AND HOW ABOUT THOSE
TWO SHARKS, RILEY …
WERE THEY AMONG
THE SURVIVORS?
((RILEY SOT/FILE TAPE))
YES, ERIN,
THEY’RE JUST FINE … NO
SHARKS OR OTHER
SALTWATER CREATURES
PERISHED IN TODAY’S
ATTACK … BUT MANY
OF THE MORE FRAGILE
FRESHWATER FISH WERE
NOT SO FORTUNATE … AND
THE FINAL DEATH
TALLY HAS YET TO BE
RELEASED.
I did my early newscast as a live shot without a hitch or glitch, filling a solid two and a half minutes about the tragic loss of fish life. But instead of letting me do the late news back on set at the station, like we’d agreed on earlier, the producer insisted I again go live in front of the Mall of America. Even though it was now dark outside. Even though it was now raining. And most insulting, even though the action was long over.
But that’s TV news.
oreen called me into her office the following Monday morning to admire a spike in the Saturday overnights and attribute it to my coverage of the fish story. Saturday usually has fewer news viewers than any other night of the week, but I declined the compliment because my coverage was really no different than my competitors’.
Then her motive became clear.
“You’ve been doing such a great job on spot news lately” she continued, “with the police shooting and the fish attack, I’m wondering if that’s a better place for you this May.”
She smiled like she was offering me a promotion. But her smile was insincere.
In the world of TV news, on-air talent succeeds by projecting warmth. That trait didn’t come naturally to Noreen, which probably explained why, even with her beauteous looks, she gravitated to management instead of anchoring. Viewers can sense a false performer. For bosses, a cool demeanor counts more and what subordinates think counts for nothing.
“No,” I answered, wasting no words on subtlety.
There’s nothing subtle about spot, or breaking, news. It’s News of the Obvious. Fire. Plane crash. Bank robbery. High on adrenaline and low on brains. Reporting live for a minute-thirty on whatever the latest news development is or was hours earlier, often fed to you by the newscast producer off the wire. It’s usually an entry-level job for rookies with lots of energy and little experience.
I’d been there, done that.
“No,” I repeated. “I have a job. I’m an investigative reporter.”
“I see. Well then, Riley, show me your investigation.”
Just then we heard an overhead page calling, “Riley Spartz, you have a guest in the front lobby.”
Normally I’d roll my eyes
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