Speak to Lead

Go behind-the-scenes with award-winning TV reporter

See how good you are at counting the number of segments needed for this 2-minute story. Then go behind-the-scenes with the reporter to see how many takes were required to get the final piece.

Michelle Michael is an award-winning "one-man-band" for the US Armed Forces Network. Like a growing number of reporters (or Video Journalists) at television stations and newspapers (For further insight into the profession read From TV News Shooter to One-Man-Band VJ  by NYTimes.com VJ Erik Olsen.), Michelle is producer, director, writer, talent, cameraman, audio technician, make-up artist, editor.

Start by watching Michelle's finished story (the second video on the page), then go behind-the-scenes (the third video). Click here for Michelle's Tips from a solo video journalist.

Special thanks to my PR colleague Ernie Landante of Novita Issue Communications for alerting me to Michelle's story.

Listening to media pundits: heard any ultracrepidarians lately?

Ultracrepidarian. How could I have spent over 30 years dealing with the news media and not been aware of this term? Thanks to my 365 Amazing Trivia Facts Calendar (Workman Publishing), I've now been enlightened!

Ultracrepidarian: a person who voices opinions beyond his or her scope of knowledge. 

The U.S. debt ceiling crisis has provided experts a media interview heyday. But were the "experts" expert? Or were they ultracrepidarians? Or an accountant waiting for a job interview?

I recall sitting in the green room of a network affiliate here in Washington, DC. I was with a client awaiting her appearance on the morning show. Suddenly a producer rushed

Media training: Storming out of a '60 Minutes' interview

Ragan's PR Daily post Watch interview subjects storm out of '60 Minute' interviews by Kevin Allen contains a video (also included below) featuring some of the walk-off highlights from '60 Minutes' history.

If you or one of your clients is being interviewed by '60 Minutes' and feels an urge to get up and walk off, here's some advice from Steve Kroft. Note his answer to the following question:

Q. When [someone walks off] do you feel the promise of a great story happening before your eyes, or do you feel a sense of failure?

A. I think it depends on the point at which they walk out. If they walk out in the first 10 minutes of the interview, you don't have a piece. If they walk out toward the end of the interview, then you've got a lot of material and you've got a piece. And you don't have to write the ending! 

So what's the message? Well, first of all if you've been properly prepared for the interview, you won't have to walk out. But if you haven't been prepared (If you aren't prepared is it hubris or stupidity that is causing you to do the interview?) and are doing poorly, better to cut your losses early.

 

Survey reveals how journalists rate public relations practitioners and what they want from them

Thanks to publication coach Daphne Gray-Grant for alerting me (via Twitter) to the Bulldog Reporter/Cision 2010 Journalist Survey on Media Relations Practices.

If you are dealing with the media, the survey provides useful information about productive relationships between journalists and those on "the dark side."

Some journalist complaints about pr practitioners are the same now as they were when I was starting out 30 years ago:

• They don't know what beats I cover.
• They pitch their product/organization, but don't give any reasons why my reader/viewer would care about them.
• Their writing reads like advertising, not journalism.
• They don't understand that when I say I'm not interested, I mean I'm not interested, don't bug me.

But the survey also indicates increased opportunities for public relation professionals. Journalists reported

• Nearly half are expected to produce a greater number of stories per week
• A fourth are covering more beats
• Almost a fifth are making greater use of press releases and other pr materials

More stories, more beats, less time for each means, as seen by the increased reliance on press releases, that communication professionals can do well if they pitch timely, creative, audience-focused stories.

What I especially enjoyed, however, were the comments journalists made about emails. Here are 3:

1. Subject line doesn't grab my attention (23.5%)
2. Doesn't get to the point quickly enough (43.2%)
3. Wastes time with pleasantries (11.6%)

The survey also includes how journalists rate the professional skills of pr professionals. Could make for some very humbling reading.

Media Interviews: Why Canceling Is a Bad Idea - Jon Stewart Rips CNBC Financial Analysts

Were William Congreve writing today, his oft quoted (or misquoted) remark might be, "Hell hath no fury like a TV host scorned."

Remember David Letterman when John McCain canceled? 

Now it's Jon Stewart over the cancellation by CNBC analyst Rick Santelli. Watch Jon shred the reputation of CNBC's financial analysts.

The Daily Show With Jon StewartM - Th 11p / 10c

CNBC Gives Financial Advice

Daily Show Full Episodes
Important Things With Demetri Martin

Political Humor
Joke of the Day

Special thanks to Marivic Valencia of Broadcast Interactive Media for bringing the Stewart piece to my attention.

Voice & Word Power: Paul Harvey - The Curtain Pulled Back

CNN contributing writer Bob Greene describes (Commentary: Paul Harvey, behind the voice) what it was like watching Paul Harvey prepare for and deliver his famous radio broadcasts. Note Harvey's routine and understanding of the importance of both style and words. 

Public Speech--A Defining Moment in American Communication

Today commemorates a defining moment in American communication. A moment marked by a speech broadcast over the air waves that continues to have an impact on Americans today.
No, I am not talking about Martin Luther King's I Have a Dream speech delivered August 28, 1963 on the National Mall in Washington. That certainly is a defining moment and one of the best American speeches.

I'm referring to a lesser known defining moment--the first radio commercial.
Eighty-five years ago today, station WEAF (which later became WNBC and WFAN) in New York broadcast the first radio commercial. The real estate promotion was 10-minutes long, and was read live by a representative of the advertiser.

How times have changed. Today many radio spots are 10-seconds long. Lesson for speakers? Brevity is not only a sign of wit, but also of wisdom.

Newspaper Hoaxes: The Great Moon Hoax of 1835 Didn't Need the Internet to Spread

Newspaper readers of 1835 didn't have the Internet to relay hoaxes to them, but they did have the New York Sun (no relation to the current NY Sun) to pass along the Great Moon Hoax.
I'm indebted to answers.com for alerting me to the fact that on this date in 1835, the New York Sun published the first of six articles reporting the discovery of life on the moon. Like all good in-print hoaxes, the report referenced an authoritative source (Edinburgh Journal of Science), and "quoted" a known authority (astronomer Sir John Herschel). Unlike Internet hoaxes, however, the articles did not end with "FORWARD THIS TO EVERYONE YOU KNOW."
For details of the hoax, including an illustration of temple-building bat-like winged humanoids, click here.
The reported findings are so bizarre, it's hard to believe anyone, even in 1835, would be convinced. But then when I think about some of the bizarre emails forwarded to me from otherwise intelligent, educated individuals, I realize how powerful the gullibility gene is. The gullibility gene, by the way, was discovered by researchers at the UCLA Medical Center in 2003. They were awarded the Nobel Prize in Medicine in 2005.