Suspect in fatal crash found in TV vehicle

NBC11 Reporter Robbed While Covering Story On Smash-And-Grabs

LA TV news stringers to become TruTV series

Wilmington to be digital TV test market

Barrington To Slash Staff

WNBC Plans 24-Hour News Channel

ABC News to launch on-campus bureaus

Some Pappas Telecasting Stations file for Chapter 11

This Week's Highlights

Documents Say Photographer Worked For Adult Nightclub
"
"told his reporter he would not be able to go on the raid because he knew too many people who frequented the club""

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Local TV news faces economic challenges
"

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.”

Have a look at them here.

Tim Rutherford
PhotogsLounge.net

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

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

"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...

Tim Rutherford
PhotogsLounge.net

This Week's Highlights

Political Season Can't Save Local-TV Sales
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"The downturn could accelerate stations' chase for new revenue streams, such as online classifieds and streaming video"

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Carjacker stops to ask TV news crew for directions

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

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

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

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

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...

Tim Rutherford
PhotogsLounge.net

This Week's Highlights

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."

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TV news photographer arrested

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

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

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.

Students are now not only encouraged to go it alone, they are also being asked to develop their entrepreneurial skills in looking for opportunities.

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.

TV stations are in a battle for advertising revenue. Every major ownership group is cutting back and paring down.
Gannett's TV news division boss has said: "If a newsroom is only sending out eight reporters on a given day, what happens if they re-engineer the workflow and can send out 24 a day? That’s an example of where technology is letting us go."

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

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.?

Tim Rutherford
PhotogsLounge.net

This Week's Highlights

When Mistakes Happen…
"
"...errors are common in both large and small markets, occurring at least once or twice a week."

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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

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...

Tim Rutherford
PhotogsLounge.net

This Week's Highlights

NPPA names best of photojournalism winners
"
Scott Jensen of KTUU-TV in Anchorage, AK, has been named the new Ernie Crisp Television News Photographer of the Year

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This Week's Highlights

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...

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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."

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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...."

More Photog Lounges

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.

Some folks have higher aspirations.
Like teaching kids or even running for public office.
That last one opens up its own set of ethical baggage.

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!! 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...

Tim Rutherford
PhotogsLounge.net

This Week's Highlights

Super Bowl cameraman juggles to catch jingle
"
Photog hustles to get "I'm going to Disney World"

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Using file tape should be a red flag. Be careful! Video that made sense yesterday, or the day before, the week before, months before, or years ago, may confuse the viewer today. More...

Tim Rutherford
PhotogsLounge.net

One year and counting.
That's how long we've got until the Big Switch from analog to digital TV broadcast signals.

On February 17, 2009, the TV world as we have known it since its inception will disappear. And in its place?
Better picture and sound quality that will make "American Idol" more mesmerizing and "Green Acres" re-runs more....uh...

C'mon really.
Do you need TV Land to look better? Or even "CSI"? Or "Bones"?
Super Bowls? Yeah. I'm all for HD sports and special events.
But do we really need the "Price is Right" to look better?

The FCC jammed this one down broadcasters' throats and some of them have paid for it big time.
After many delays, even now the FCC's plan is still under fire.

As the converter box givaway program inches along, and comes up short, the FCC is now backing off the plan of forcing broadcasters to educate the public about the switch.
The confusion has led to untrained retailers giving out bogus and misleading information.

And who is actually going to get hit with the economic realities of the switch?
The usual folks at the bottom of the economic ladder.
And that includes entire ethnic groups like Hispanics and aging seniors on fixed incomes. All of this to make TV look "better".

Truthfully, I'm not so sure it was needed nor was there a demand for it by the public.

At my TV station it has economically handcuffed us, and pressured us with regulatory threats.
Yes, we now have multiple streams of transmission available to us.
But so far, all I see any broadcasters doing with these is throwing their weatherman at us 24/7. Just what TV needs, another few thousand "Weather Channels".

Someday we may all look back on this and realize how important this transformation was to our industry.
Right now, I think every broadcaster in the U.S. would say it's been nothing but a royal pain in the ass.

Tim Rutherford
PhotogsLounge.net

My TV station is about to start experimenting with live Slingbox video. A consultant has convinced our managers that this will make us more "urgent" on the air. I'm not convinced this technology is ready for everyday use even in our newsroom.
At this point, just getting it into one van is proving difficult. I'll keep you updated on the progress and quality. In the meantime...here's a story about CBS-5 in San Fran using it. And also a link to a video describing the setup and use. Here too is a B-Roll thread on the subject.
Remember...this is SlingBOX...not SlingBLADE.
No french-fried pa-taters here.

Tim Rutherford
PhotogsLounge.net

This Week's Highlights

News Trucks Burglarized in Jersey Corridor
"
At least three newsgathering trucks have been burglarized within a 20-mile stretch of New Jersey over the last two months

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This Week's Highlights

NOT SO PRETTY
"
TV’s emphasis on how female anchors look is an anachronism that needs to be scrapped.

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Ex-Newsman John McWethy Dies

"Go to the neighborhood and get reaction."

"Go to City Hall and get reaction."

"Go to the hospital and get reaction."

"Go to a barbershop and get reaction."

"Go to a campus and get reaction."

"Go to anywhere where people move their mouths and words come out...and get reaction."

I'm just thinking lately that if you took "reaction" out of a news managers arsenal, what would we do for TV news?
Honestly, "get reaction" has become such a standard directive in TV news morning meetings, that I'm beginning to think that we don't do anything BUT get reaction.

I suppose that is what TV news has become. We certainly aren't demanding anything more from TV news honchos because "reaction" seems to have become the basis for almost every TV story.

Issac Newton's third law of motion is that: for every action there is an equal and opposite reaction. The trouble with TV news is that that opposite reaction is almost never equal.

TV news prefers their "reactions' to be loud, boisterous, angry, harsh, critical. An even-tempered reaction is likely to end up not making the cut. Doesn't a loud-mouthed idiot make for "better TV' in a 90 second story?

How often in a community meeting have you skipped the reasoned response, and opened the piece with the knucklehead in the crowd who yelled louder and angrier than everyone else? It might make for better TV, but it might NOT accurately reflect the mood of the group.

In the morning meeting tomorrow go ahead and tally the count of stories that could be labeled "reaction" to one thing or another. There will be many. It's easier than developing a difficult story that might take too much time and too many resources.

And TV news almost always takes the easy route.
With the clock ticking and the beast very hungry, there is simply no time for anything else.

Tim Rutherford
PhotogsLounge.net

This Week's Highlights

Producer Burnout
"
"almost half of participants were suffering from high exhaustion."

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This Week's Highlights

Budget Busting Brewskis
"
Here's some top-shelf beers that will impact your wallet and your breathalyzer!

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This Week's Highlights

"You Can't Shoot Here!"
"
Photog's Rights and Remedies
When Stopped or Confronted

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This Week's Highlights

The first rule for live TV: 'Fill! Fill!'
"
...the dreaded 'dead time' and what happens to talk show guests who answer a question by saying, 'I don’t know.'

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Stories crammed with "official" soundbites often are dull to watch and difficult to understand. But they're fairly quick and easy to produce, so they keep turning up on the news. Beyond being boring, there's another drawback to these stories. Viewers don't see them as relevant to their daily lives, even though the issue involved may affect them directly. One solution is to "avoid the suits" and let other voices tell the story.
But how do you find those other voices?
More...

Tim Rutherford
PhotogsLounge.net

PhotogsLounge.net just celebrated its 10th anniversary. I'd like to thank all the fine folks who stop by here to catch a news item or a quick giggle. Hardly seems like 10 years already. Nice little chunk of ones' life...ten years.

Actually now I'm getting older, and even those 20 year chunks are easy for me to dismiss.
1988?
Yeah I know what I was doing.
I was doing the exact same thing for a living that I do now. Hell...yesterday could have just as easily have been Monday January 7th...1988. It was still just another day shooting news.
Another day with the camera on my shoulder and another day for a TV news story to be cobbled together.

I guess that's what I do for a living. I construct TV news stories. Like a little builder guy. "Hey I'm Bob the Builder everybody."
Building my little tv news stories for y'all...make the world a better place and everything...tell you all about the nasty...nasty mean ole snowstorm that's a comin? Better git to the grocery store hon!

After so long...are there any surprises left?
I'm not so sure.
Some day I think I'll be able to sit back and reflect on a pretty purposeful career I guess.
I mean...I have seen a lotta things...ya know?

I guess I do like the fact that what I do...what we do...everyday...is to put the day on "the record".
To be the standard bearer of the information deemed important that day. That year. That time.

Most people never get on "the record" in their entire lives.
Most people aren't in the newspaper. Most people aren't on the TV news. Most people are never asked to become part of the permanent record that is the history of our lives.
Unless they happen to be the poor dope I pulled aside for a quick M-O-S on yet another story that's gotta shock somebody...right??

When people say to me ..."Hey...put me on TV!...they're not being obnoxious...they're saying "Hey I wanna go formal. I wanna be on the record. I want my opinion heard. I WANT TO COUNT."
"Okay"...I say..."maybe you could start by describing some of your tatoos."

Well I might build 'em. But I can't make the horse drink it. If they don't want to watch my station, my work...nothing I can do about it.
And most of the news viewers here don't see my work.
It used to bother me. Now it doesn't.
I've already put it in its proper perspective I believe.
I know that after my final bye-bye...the TV train will spend exactly zero minutes bemoaning its loss. Afterall...they're already late to the mayor's press conference.

Tim Rutherford
PhotogsLounge.net

This Week's Highlights

Panasonic Unveils 150-inch Plasma, 1st Portable HD DVR

"Company Showcases Slew of Futuristic Television Technology at Vegas Gadgets Show

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