Well...here
it comes. Get ready for the biggest hi-tech TV
extravaganza in the history of the ole boob tube. NBC presents
the 2008 Summer Olympics.
And of course, they've turned on the faucet of dollars to equip
themselves with all the best and brightest state-of-the-art HD
hardware to showcase the 2 week affair, including DiveCam, and
UnderwaterCam and other assorted POV cams that should give viewers
a full assortment of angles and replays to highlight
all the action.
In
a side note...here in Baltimore we know that the greatest swimmer
in the world will no doubt dominate these games. Michael Phelps
grew up here and is returning here to live and work after the
games. With he and Baltimore's female sensation Katie Hoff, the
North Baltimore
Aquatic Club's finest are about to make history. Best of luck
to Michael and Katie!!
Here's
a video I think all TV news photographers should see. The newspaper
industry is fighting for its life. One way it hopes to survive
the new media transmogrification...by duplicating your TV news
efforts on their websites. You guys have seen this, but do you
realize the extent to which newspapers are homing in on your product?
This video will give you a idea.
Tim
Rutherford
PhotogsLounge.net
Needy Knees
Now
that it's weather for wearing shorts, I'm wearing shorts.
I know that photogs wearing shorts can often be pretty unsightly
depending on the legs of said shorts-wearer.
And I've seen every type of photog leg from bulldozer brawny to
vericose vein-ey.
Me...my legs are so skinny that one photog used to joke: "are
those your legs or are you riding a chicken?".
Anyhow...
Since my
knees are now available for inspection, the other day my daughter
said: "Dad...what's that on your knee?"
I'm like: "What?"
She says: "that thing on your knee?".
So in checking this out and I come to realize something I had
never noticed before.
I have callouses on my knees!
Worn,
old scaley patches of roughed up knee-skin.
I'm thinking...jeez I've been shooting news so long, getting down
on my knees for that oh-so artistic low-angle award-winning, god
I am so good video, that I have developed callouses on my KNEES!
I'd like
to know exactly when this happened so I can warn my fellow photogs
at what point in their career they can expect to have knees like
that of a strawberry farmer.
But I think this thing just kinda creeps up on you.
And now I have to live with not only bony kneecaps...but bony
kneecaps covered in what looks like low-grade sandpaper.
So go ahead
guys...check your knees right now.
You old-timers will discover you have well-worn callouses that
no amount of skin lotion and vigorous rubbing will ever make smooth
again.
And you young guys...if those patches of rubbed and scrubbed skin
aren't there yet...just know that your time will come.
Just another
visible reminder to one day show the grandkids.
"Yep...I worked so hard getting those hard-to-get angles that
my knees will forever bear the scars of my dedication and desire
to make my TV news stories great."
And at the
old-photogs home we'll all sit around and compare our battle scars.
Kinda like a night at the VFW...
except we'll toast the glory days with bottles of Jergens.
TV
Turmoil
" Revolving
door in small news markets part of the biz
Bozo
Dead
" Larry
Harmon, longtime Bozo the Clown, dead at 83
How To Be A Vee-Jay
"Who
will be easier to transition into this new VJ mode?
Reporters or photogs?
Train a person to write a basic TV story...or train a person to
shoot and edit a TV story?
Photogs with any kind of writing aptitude will win this contest.
And I can sense it. Reporters in general are unnerved by this
new development. They see how this may pan out and a lot of them
are feeling a tad insecure about the prospect, knowing that they
have no intention or desire to learn how to shoot and edit news."
MORE....
Tim
Rutherford
PhotogsLounge.net
Keeping the Passion Alive
From
time to time it's good to re-connect with the basics that make
for great visual storytelling in TV news. So here are a list
of standard procedures from photog Corky Scholl on how to
make your stories stand out from the pack. More...
Breaking
in the new reporter in most TV newsrooms usually involves nothing
more than handing them their assignment ( the crime de jour usually)
and sending them to the garage in search of a van. But there's
gotta be a better way than this sink or swim scenario.
As this
report notes..."a newsroom that invests a little time
early on to help new hires learn their way around will reap rewards
more quickly in the form of better and more original stories."
Here's a
how-to on breaking in the new guy
the RIGHT way. MORE...
Tim
Rutherford
PhotogsLounge.net
New Gadgets
Everybody
likes new gadgets...right? Most TV news photogs are gadget freaks
to some degree. So here for your perusal are just a few of the
new devices
making their debuts.
Get a load of the new developments in 3-D TV (without the funny
glasses), the latest in ultra-high definition TV, a new HD flash-based
camcorder from Sony, and the coolest new shockproof mini-cam to
stick on a helmet or cycle for catching that POV stuff on a wild
ride. MORE...
Tim
Rutherford
PhotogsLounge.net
MAKING NEWS: Savannah Style...
Here
from Nick Davis Productions is the 1st episode of the 2nd season
of "Making News"...an in-depth look at the behind-the-scenes
action at a local TV news operation.
You might remember the first season of this series that followed
the drama of a TV news station in Midland, Texas.
Now they've moved on to Savannah, Georgia.
In Episode 1, we meet the team of WJCL-TV, possibly the lowest-rated
ABC affiliate in the country. Follow the anchors and reporters
as they launch a campaign to get a foothold in their community.
Even
more layoff buzz around the industry.
It looks like we're in the beginning stages of a paradigm shift.
Some are predicting that "the local TV news formula of using
star anchors to attract viewers may be headed for the ash heap."
With "more emphasis on delivering the news by means other
than traditional broadcasts and less on presentation by highly-paid
anchors and reporters."
I can't help but see opportunities here for those of us who are
open to expanding our skill sets and thus becoming more valuable
to a TV operation. MORE...
Tim
Rutherford
PhotogsLounge.net
Antennas -Back to the Future
The
fact is that there are still many unresolved issues with DTV reception
problems with indoor antennas. A lot of people are either
going to be headed to their roof to affix one, or perhaps just
give up and call their local cable provider. MORE...
In
the field I sometimes use my little Casio 2.5" TV as a monitor
during live shots and such. As of February of course, that comes
to an end.
A whole lotta little TV's like this one are going to end up as
paperweights soon enough.
In fact I think most people, if they don't have cable or satellite
TV, won't even bother getting new tuners for TV sets up to 19"
or so. The landfills are going to be bursting with discarded TV's.
Seems a shame to deep six a perfectly fine TV just to fulfill
the FCC's demand to go digital.
Eventually digital TV tuners will be integrated into most cell
phones I imagine. The tuners to allow it are getting smaller
and smaller.
The Asuka Corp. out of Taiwan has come up with what may be the
smallest
digital TV up to now. A 3" screen that won't work in the U.S.
Go figure.
So until those cell phones can receive the digital TV signal,
we TV guys in the field have no way to monitor our picture away
from the truck. And my little Casio was so sweet.
Damn the FCC.
Tim
Rutherford
PhotogsLounge.net
The "Mo-Jo" vs. The "Vee-Jay"
What
we in the TV news industry are calling the "one-man-band', or
"vee-Jay" (video journalist), the newspaper industry seems to
like the label "mojo" or mobile journalist.
The difference: very little.
As newspapers
struggle to survive in a new world of instant access, they seem
to be merely copying what the TV news folks have been doing for
decades.
Mojos are
being equipped with video cameras and laptops and sent out the
door to create news stories. That sure sounds familiar to me.
Instead of producing news for a daily paper, they are turning
stories for their web sites. Also just like TV stations.
Old newspaper
types of course, look down their noses at this type of news coverage.
Is it merely a fad they ask.
Many feel
that being out of the newsroom for extended periods means less
face-to-face discussion with editors and colleagues. Communication
can get muddled or missed. That argument to me seems to be a reach.
These mobile journos have cell phones, right?
Either way,
the bottom line is that TV stations and newspapers are morphing
into using the same tools to capture the news. These two media
entities in the future will compete for patrons in much the same
way.
In fact,
with the inherent gravitas that many newspapers have garnered,
they could win the battle of delivering news seekers what they
want.
If your major daily newspaper offered solid local video news coverage
along with its established print expertise on its web site, would
you even need to visit a TV station website?
Local TV
news operations need to recognize and address the fact that they
are now also in competition with the local newspaper for video
news content.
And newspapers need to realize that the world of print journalism
is no longer enough for the next generation of news seekers.
Truth is
that in many ways it is a race.
For the winner: continued survival in an age of immediate gratification. MORE...
"How
many of you producers and reporters are producing content for another
medium? This report says the number's
almost 70%. Although almost half of you say you need more training
to do it better.
Tim
Rutherford
PhotogsLounge.net
Top 10 Angry On-Camera Meltdowns
If
you haven't seen this yet, you've got to take a look at this video.
Anchors, hosts, weatherman and more all letting their anger get
the best of them on-air. What viewers don't really know is...this
stuff happens all the time. Behind the scenes we are often tired,
angry and loose-lipped.
I'd warn you
about the language in this video, but I'm pretty sure your boss
is busy cussing out the guy on the assignment desk right now, so
go ahead and play this.
Remember
the big shift that's supposed to happen with TV ENG microwave transmisions?
Sprint Nextel
was buying up all that "live shot" spectrum space and compensating
TV stations with new digital transmission and reception gear.
It's called
the "2 GHz relocation".
Every TV station
has to inventory its equipment, present a shopping list to Sprint,
have it verified by a third-party, receive the hardware, test to
make sure there is no interference and turn the whole thing around
literally overnight.
Quite a set
of demands.
And oh yeah,
this all has to happen by Sept. 30th of this year!
Some TV stations
like KTVK in Phoenix have already completed the turnaround. Yet,
as of today, the vast majority of TV stations with call letters
haven't received a single piece of new equipment. Much of it is
still sitting in a warehouse.
Sprint has
asked for an additional 29 months to make it happen. The FCC has
granted them 18
months.
What's the
holdup?
Well, if you
said LAWYERS...you win a Stewie doll.
In the great
clamor to make all of this happen, nobody figured out who was going
to pay the taxes on this stuff.
Read more about it here.
In
the meantime, suppliers are marketing gear outside of the relocation
process. Portable, compact microwave systems that can be carried
in a regular-size auto and set up on the fly for breaking-news events
are now hot items. These new wireless transmitters mount on the
back of a camera and are good for a short enough distance to make
them really valuable in downtown situations with a lot of buildings.
"You grab one of the news cars, throw it in the back seat,
run to the story, and set up and go.”
So
what's ahead for editing systems this year? A couple of trends
are emerging as was seen at NAB.
Lots of new formats, plenty of horsepower, and even stereoscopic
3D entries.
Editors today
are going to have to adapt and move quickly to keep pace with a
demanding market. MORE...
Tim
Rutherford
PhotogsLounge.net
Sony's New TV Dropping Jaws
It
costs too much. The screen is too small. But this new TV from Sony
is about to blow all the others out of the water.
The new OLED
technology is providing such incredibly lifelike images that you
need to catch your breath.
Name a drawback of plasma or LED screens and this TV overcomes it.
But at only 11" across and a price of $2500, it's not yet ready
for prime time.
Yet, the jaw-dropping
picture quality is about to set a new standard for high-end TV's.
Oh yeah...and it's only 3mm thick. MORE...
Tim
Rutherford
PhotogsLounge.net
Finding and Keeping Good Assignment Editors
"Show
me a good assignment desk, and I'll show you a winning newsroom,"
says Joseph Coscia, former news director at KDKA-TV in Pittsburgh
and once an assignment editor at New York's WABC-TV.
So where do
you find good assignment editors and how do you keep them? MORE...
I
thought in opening up another messageboard
that I would try to entice students in colleges, universities and
high schools to ask questions here and get them answered by folks
who are now working in the media.
Of course the
board is open to any and all posters on any subject, but I realize
that there are other more established forums for media kvetching.
Hopefully with some prodding, I can find students with legitimate
questions about TV journalism that will be answered here.
If not...well
then start kvetching.
Registration is quick and painless so please take 15 secs and join
up.
Tim
Rutherford
PhotogsLounge.net
Share the Wealth
I
have a good friend who is a production freelancer who has asked
me many times: "Why do all of the TV stations have cameras at a
press conference, shooting the exact same thing, wasting resources
on duplicating an event, when one camera's video is all you need?"
"Why
don't your bosses work out a pool arrangement for stuff like that?"
I start talking
about "competition" and "getting an edge" and he wisely says: "At
a news conference!!"
Well...it
looks like some news bosses in Philadelphia are taking my friend's
advice. The NBC and Fox affiliates there are working on an arrangement
to share video at just such events. The costs of doing business
may make this kind of working agreement more of a reality in news
markets everywhere. And ya know what?....it makes sense to me. MORE...
Tim
Rutherford
PhotogsLounge.net
The Battle for "Smallest HD Camcorder"
Yes...the
battle of "smallest" HD camcorders has begun. But in this
case, smallest also means "most compromised". You're going
to get a debatedly great video picture with these new camcorders.
But you'll also give up wide angles, need a powerful computer to
deal with their new capture format, and not even bother if you own
a Mac.
With these
cams, smaller isn't necessarily better. But the HD camcorder war
is only just now heating up. MORE...
Tim
Rutherford
PhotogsLounge.net
Avoiding the "Instant"
A
tragic
accident in Maine has focused attention on TV live trucks as
one was involved in a fatal collision this week
It looks like the TV truck was not at fault as the other vehicle
crossed the center line and collided with the truck.
We can only pray for the poor young woman who lost her life and
for the occupant of the truck to quickly recover. Nothing you can
do to prevent something like this. Fate put those folks in that
position.
But
it does offer up an opportunity to mention the safety procedures
to be used by TV live truck operators.
Mark Bell is the head honcho for live truck safety. Check out his
site at www.engsafety.com.
Of course, the main thrust of Mark's site is to not throw that mast
up in the wrong circumstances, but driving issues are also addressed.
At my station
lately, there has been a much greater emphasis placed on safety
procedures. That may be true at many stations across the country
as owners look to lessen the problems that accidents create. Hopefully
you will take the time to review the safety procedures where you
work and take them to heart. As we know all too well, your life
can be taken in an instant. Avoiding that"instant" may be the most
important thing we will ever do.
Tim
Rutherford
PhotogsLounge.net
Transferring Old VideoTapes To DVD
Fortunately,
high prices and intimidating learning curves have been replaced
by cost-effective, user-friendly editing solutions.
Features previously available to professional editors only are now
in the hands of the everyday consumer.
Even with the most basic video-editing software and hardware, you
can convert analog tapes to a variety of digital formats easily,
including DVD. MORE...
LiveNewsCams.com
" "...The
concept is simple, let people watch news as it happens anywhere
in the world…raw, unedited on your computer at work or home."
In
honor of the new baseball season, and the Baltimore Orioles being
off to the best start in all the major leagues...(you heard right
Pancho), here for your enjoyment is the BEST
baseball blooper you will EVER see.
In my town...this video is a hometown staple. It is best watched
either before, during or after the consumption of a crabcake and
the downing of a Natty Boh.
Introducing...the indomitable...the unconquerable...the unstoppable,
the one...the only...the EARL of Baltimore...EARL
WEAVER!
(WARNING: You are about to hear an uncensored version
of a no-holds-barred, unrestained, full-tilt Weaverfest. Plan accordingly.)
Tim
Rutherford
PhotogsLounge.net
The New Toys Your Bosses Want
Among
the throngs at the National Association of Broadcasters convention
April 11-17 in Las Vegas will be the top engineers for major broadcast
groups.
All
come with slightly different agendas and some with radically different
timetables. All of them, however, will have their minds on one date
for certain: Feb. 17, 2009, the last day broadcasters will be allowed
to transmit an analog signal.
Here’s a look at how six of the major
broadcast groups will spend their time on the NAB floor making final
plans for the digital transition.
Tim
Rutherford
PhotogsLounge.net
The Whole She-Bang!
ONE-MAN-BANDS!!
There's a furious debate going on in TV journalism right now over
the use of one-man-bands, the solo video journalist who shoots,
writes, and edits his own news story.
Stephan Warley at tvspy.com has just written an article in "Defense
of Video Journalists", noting that "local broadcasters will
have to produce video content for multiple platforms: broadcast,
web, cell phones, and video on demand. Once again, the VJ model
is much better suited to distributing unique content to multiple
platforms."
The readers of B-Roll. net are most assuredly aware of Michael
Rosenblum's focus on turning TV newsrooms into "VJ" havens.
Stations like KRON have gone totally VJ.
But as of now ,completely shifting to that format seems risky to
me. Some stations using it have
not succeeded.
Still, the OMB option is proliferating.
Newspaper reporters are being
trained to gather video and assemble stories for their websites.
Awards
are now being specifically given to OMB journalists.
I know a lot of good TV news photogs want this thing to just go
away.
But fellas....it's not.
And like it or not, YOU may be asked to do it.
Let's face it, in the near future, either reporters are gonna learn
how to shoot and edit, or photogs are gonna learn how to write and
assemble.
I say....start doing some writing now.
Look at the packages you are doing and give it a go at writing it
yourself. You can create your own future if you have the desire.
Because the OMB model WILL become an accepted adjunct in the TV
newsrooms of the future.
It is economically smart for station owners and can create entirely
new levels of developing stories if done well.
I
know there are a slew of older photogs who want no part of this.
And the truth is, this thing is not going to happen overnight. Tomorrow you will still be out there in the van cranking
out another story with another reporter. Next year you will still be in that van cranking out that
story. (That reporter will have already lost his job as usual.)
But five years from now? It's looking different.
Yep...technology is forcing the issue. And bottom line...you can't
fight the technology.
You old guys...just hang on and pray. You'll probably eke out of
the TV news business as the last generation of the old style. ("Yep...we
used to have lunch and a smoke while the reporter logged and wrote.")
You new guys...brush up on your writing skills.
ALL you guys are due a beer or two for just surviving in a new landscape
being forced on us.
Tim
Rutherford
PhotogsLounge.net
Layoffs Everywhere!
Okay...this
layoff thing is starting to get serious. All over the country
TV stations are laying-off personnel left and right.
CBS is doing most of the hacking. Just this week, their are layoffs
in Chicago,New
York,Boston,San
Francisco and Pittsburgh.
Also Denver
and Sacremento.
For the most part, it looks like the unlucky personnel are the
higher-paid talent...anchors and reporters. Affirming the old
adage: "Never be the highest paid person at the TV station." But
producers and writers are also getting the boot.
As of now, it looks like news photographers have escaped the downsizing.
Not all photogs of course, but the union contracts at larger stations
and the lower salaries at the smaller stations have surely helped
keep us employed. For once, it's a good thing to be paid so poorly.
A'int that some sh-t.?
When
Mistakes Happen…
" "...errors
are common in both large and small markets, occurring at least
once or twice a week."
Simple Ways to Improve Your Desk
While
many TV stations are investing hundreds of thousands of dollars
in purchasing the latest cutting-edge technology, one of the simplest
and least expensive ways to make a newsroom more efficient is to
make changes at the assignment desk. MORE...
Tim
Rutherford
PhotogsLounge.net
Reality Rules
It
may seem that your life, your daily grind... seems routine. Mundane.
Hypeless.
Truth is:
it is.
But.
Hear me out brothers and sisters.
I'm here to tell you... that mundane is good. Boring can be good...I swear. MORE...
Enough!
"
Is
is when your end-of-tape warning light starts to blink?
Is it when the shot framed in the viewfinder looks like a duplicate
of the shot you made 20 minutes ago?
Just exactly when do you know that you've got "enough"? Enough
video that is, to cover all the needs of the news package you
have shot. More...
Your
Photog Lounges
Ray
Pfeffer KFMB-TV San Diego, CA
"Where's
the remote? It's been missing for months. The television in our
lounge basically stays on the same channel until someone new walks
into the room. Of course it's less than three feet away from anyone
sitting down at any given time. I don't think we actually care
what's on, the warm glow sort-of attracts photog's like gnats.
We also have a cafeteria and a BBQ grill and table outside."
Keith
Bubach KCPQ-TV Seattle, WA
"The "photog
lounge" at KCPQ in Seattle consists of...well.....Hey wait a
minute. We don't have a photog lounge. It took 8 months to get
a TV. The 7 photogs we have, ya' thats right 7, don't have a
lot of time to hang out and chill. We cover the number 12 market
with a staff of 7 photogs. Sure we only have to fill one 1/2
hour show.......BUT......It is still a big challenge. And a
fun one at that...."
The
recent ratings period results have led to some hard decisions being
made at my TVstation, as several people, including talent, have
lost
their jobs.
It's a tough pill to swallow for most folks I assume, knowing that
one person in a TV news operation only has so much control over
the product that viewers choose.
So...what to do with your life after tv news?
It kinda depends on how you left that last job.
Most folks are just forced out.
The constant personnel turnover in local TV news probably parallels
the turnover at the fryer baskets at McDonalds.
Still, the french fries always look the same.
How you are "let go" says alot about a company.
One reporter recently got her pink slip in
the mail.
Some are simply asked to "resign".
Some make their own trouble.
This guy from the BBC tried to board a plane with his stash
of weed not so well hidden.
Guess he sent his bong via FedEx.
But guess what? He didn't lose his job.
With
health care costs going thru the roof, it's not a bad thing for
a senior newsman to take
a company offer.
I've always liked: "I
want to travel" as a goodbye.
Even the transition from analog to digital is causing job
loss.
But there is life after TV news.
Most folks I meet who have given it up, always seem to be in a "better
place".
I guess some of us are still hoping the "better place" will reveal
itself within the tight confines of feeding the beast every day.
Until one day maybe, someone will just come in and kill the beast
outright. Unfortunately THAT day seems closer EVERY day.
Tim
Rutherford
PhotogsLounge.net
Freebies!!
Freebies!!
Swag!! Yeah baby! All you can carry. All the goodies you can suck
out of some PR flak without the boss catching on.
How far are you willing to go for a free T-shirt? Will you risk
the wrath of the news director for that free ticket to the Monster
Truck show?
These photogs give you some insight into the world of promotional
items and your ethical line in the sand.
More...
From
time to time it's good to re-connect with the basics that make
for great visual storytelling in TV news. So here are a 
The Asuka Corp. out of Taiwan has come up with what may be the
Remember
the big shift that's supposed to happen with TV ENG microwave transmisions?
In
the meantime, suppliers are marketing gear outside of the relocation
process. Portable, compact microwave systems that can be carried
in a regular-size auto and set up on the fly for breaking-news events
are now hot items. These new wireless transmitters mount on the
back of a camera and are good for a short enough distance to make
them really valuable in downtown situations with a lot of buildings.
"Why
don't your bosses work out a pool arrangement for stuff like that?"
Well...it
looks like some news bosses in Philadelphia are taking my friend's
advice. The NBC and Fox affiliates there are working on an 
A
But
it does offer up an opportunity to mention the safety procedures
to be used by TV live truck operators. 
ONE-MAN-BANDS!!
I
know there are a slew of older photogs who want no part of this.
And the truth is, this thing is not going to happen overnight. 
Okay...this
layoff thing is starting to get serious. All over the country
TV stations are laying-off personnel left and right. 
Ray
Pfeffer KFMB-TV San Diego, CA
The
recent ratings period results have led to some hard decisions being
made at my TVstation, as several people, including talent, have
With
health care costs going thru the roof, it's not a bad thing for
a senior newsman to 
