Bill's Online Journal

To Use or Not To Use

2007-04-20T11:56:00.000-05:00

It's happened again -- only much worse this time in terms of numbers than we are used to dealing with. The proverbial "loner" gets a gun (or two), fills his pockets with extra ammo, and mows down the innocent as a way of avenging his sorrowful life. Monday, April 16, 2007, will go down in infamy at Virginia Tech and across this nation. The previous Friday, April 13th, I was there with my daughter on a college search visit. Little did we know as we sat through an introductory address in Burruss Hall and later walked among the proud academic structures built of "Hokie-stone" that just hours later this would be the scene of the worst mass shooting in modern U.S. history.

Two observations in the way of media analysis: The students who spoke to the media in the immediate aftermath and in the coming days did their school proud. They were, to a person, articulate, compassionate and remarkably composed.

And then there is the issue of the "multimedia manifesto" sent by the gunman to NBC. A great deal of criticism has been leveled over the decision of NBC's news division and others to air excerpts from the shooter's video ramblings. While there is no question that seeing these images has been painful for the victim's families, it also brought important information to the public, all of whom are at least secondary victims of the bloodshed. Many of us are tempted when confronted with such unspeakable horror to blame it on a person who just "snaps" and begins firing randomly. Watching the few carefully chosen portions that were aired showed us without question that, while the gunman may not have specifically targeted any or most of his victims, he nevertheless had planned his mission carefully, perhaps over a period of weeks. It is right that we should remember the victims in lieu of giving vent to a madman's ravings. But, if we are to honor these victims' sacrifices by doing what we can to ensure that this does not happen again, we have to understand what caused it in the first place. We can't turn away from evil -- we have to face it down squarely.

The Woodruff Juggernaut

2007-03-12T20:10:00.000-05:00

Yes, the Bob Woodruff Juggernaut rolls on -- most recently, in Detroit. Not that there's anything at all wrong with that.

In fact, there is a lot right with the way we are being re-introduced to the former ABC World News Tonight anchor who was gravely injured in an Iraqi blast early last year.

In the recent ABC special in which we got details of the blast, Woodruff's recovery, and the resulting book, producers wisely chose not to focus solely on Woodruff's ordeal. Not that an hour couldn't have been taken up with his story. It's just that a reporter is not supposed to be the story. It is undeniable that. were he not a celebrity, Woodruff's injury would have been worthy of no more attention than the tens of thousands of others that have occurred every day since the invasion.

So, the producers did the wise thing. They gave us roughly half an hour of Woodruff's story, then switched to the equally heartbreaking accounts of soldiers who have suffered disfiguring, life-altering injuries under similar circumstances. These soldiers have received far less attention than the regrettable death toll, and it was time to see a real generational tragedy up close. But not to be a total downer, we saw how the medical community is performing miracles daily on many of these soldiers and, yes, Woodruff himself. It was an admirable hour, and an emotional one as well.

Guys Not Wanted?

2006-10-02T21:30:00.000-05:00

The Minneapolis-St. Paul Star Tribune recently ran a story called The Disappearing Male TV Anchor. Reading it for me was another one of those "We're not in Kansas anymore" moments that become more and more frequent with...ahem...maturity. When I was in college in the 70s, taking my first tentative steps into TV with internships, on-air males were the rule, not the exception. The CBS affiliate where I interned had co-anchors at 6 and 11...but they were both male. There were women in the newsroom, but they were, for the most part, reporters. There was a female anchor at noon, but 6 and 11 were the sacred casts that weren't quite ready for the groundbreaking move of including an anchor who represents more than 50% of the population. Now, we learn (with the Twin Cities as an example) that the number of male anchors is at an all-time low -- percentage-wise they now represent only 43% of news anchors, and it's been dropping for ten years now.

And why is this happening? Well, it turns out that money's behind it. The article quotes the Bureau of Labor Statistics as saying the median anchor salary in 2004 was $31,320...not exactly a perk in the business world of the 21st century. Get this -- 10% of anchors earn less than $18,470! Now switch over to your average college crowd, where the ambitious males who are deciding where they want to be in ten years look at those figures. Hmmmm, exactly how much do I really want to be an anchor, anyway??

This trend gives every indication of continuing, at least for the foreseeable future. In most businesses, such a supply-demand inequity would make it a buyer's market, and send anchor salaries higher. But, as usual, broadcasting is a different animal. Don't hold your breath for salaries to soar.

Then again, with the changes going on in the business and viewership dropping, we might not NEED anchors that much longer anyway.

Bob Woodruff Update

2006-09-14T19:01:00.000-05:00

Nearly eight months after being seriously wounded in an Iraqi explosion, ABC anchor/reporter Bob Woodruff continues his recovery from head injuries. Now, Bob's wife Lee has sent an update on his condition. Lee says Bob continues to improve every day and talks warmly of the time he has had to spend with his family. He even went into his office at ABC for a few weeks, and she says he is "planning to be back at work more regularly in the fall."

And, in addition to her joy at Bob surviving to celebrate his 45th birthday, Lee adds, "I think if you haven't seen Bob, you would be amazed. His hair has grown in; he has been playing some killer tennis, driving the boat for the kids to tube, doing some Pilates with my sister and playing Scrabble like a fiend. He looks and sounds so much more like himself each week."

Katie In Charge Part 1

2006-09-05T20:48:00.000-05:00

History was made this evening as Katie Couric became the first woman to solo anchor a major network evening newscast. Along with the new face came a new set, new graphics and new music -- in other words, a total makeover. Her demeanor started off a bit stern (probably the nerves showing), but she noticeably loosened up as the newscast went on. Perhaps more notable than who was delivering the news, despite the history involved, was the content of the newscast. In one sense, it continued the trend away from news that happens today to more in-depth and investigative pieces. Not only that, but the newscast was notably on the "light and fluffy" side, quite a change over the years from the CBS legacy. In the second half, Couric introduced a new feature called "Free Speech," which invites viewers to air their thoughts on...whatever. The first was delivered by filmmaker Morgan Spurlock who spoke on civil discourse. While interesting, I look forward to views from more unheralded private citizens (non-celebrities). The strange segment of the evening came with something called "CBS News Snapshots," which made an analogy between early photos of Prince Charles on the CBS Evening News with Douglas Edwards back in the 1950s and new pictures of the well-hidden child of Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes. A stretch indeed, and one that doesn't give much of a clue what that segment will be like on an ongoing basis. That was followed by a feature story by Steve Hartman. I often used his stories back in the early 90s when I was an anchor/producer and he was a local reporter in the Twin Cities. Still, this was an unusual amount of soft news for a nightly network newscast. And they weren't done. The final segment was a commentary by Couric on what her "signoff" should be each evening. She even invited suggestions from viewers to the CBS website.

It will take more than one viewing to give any kind of accurate assessment of the changes CBS has made in the Couric Era to come. CBS has a long climb to overtake NBC's first place lead, and there is the across-the-board problem of younger viewers who avoid the nightly newscasts altogether. This reporter thinks it is unlikely that softening the newscasts to this extent will bring those lost viewers home, but then, it is also likely that what we saw this evening is still a work in progress. Katie Couric has made history and deserves credit for traveling a rough road to get there. The bumps have only just begun.

They Sure Get JAILED Like Journalists!

2006-08-02T23:47:00.000-05:00

Are bloggers journalists? The truth, of course, is that some can probably claim that distinction (curse?), but many are clearly not. What is indisputable is that in more and more cases bloggers are claiming to be journalists, but be careful what you wish for. California blogger Josh Wolf, 24, has just been ordered to jail after refusing to hand over to a judge video he took at an anticapitalist protest in San Francisco. Wolf also refused to testify before a grand jury about crimes he may have witnessed at the protest. He claimed he had a right as a journalist to protect his sources, but the judge ruled the grand jury "has a legitimate need" to see what Wolf recorded. Observers point out that, even if there were a so-called "shield law" at the federal level allowing journalists to protect their sources, it is not settled whether bloggers would be considered journalists under that law. One more question for our courts to sort out. Meanwhile, Wolf's attorney says his client could potentially be imprisoned until next summer, when the term of the grand jury expires.

You Break the News

2006-07-31T09:20:00.000-05:00

Things aren't moving fast enough for you in our hyper-cyber world? Then how about these two news items. Just as many over-35s are getting used to a world in which it seems everybody but them is participating in an online block party known as Myspace, now it turns out that YouTube, an upstart service in which people with too much time on their hands can upload their own homemade video clips (and download others)has ALREADY surpassed Myspace as the most popular community site on the Web.

Give yourself all of 10 seconds or so to let that news become part of your body of knowledge. Now, consider that CNN is reportedly going to announce tomorrow (Tuesday) that it will be establishing a new program to allow viewers to send in digital audio or video clips from breaking news events. This, of course, takes a giant leap from just a few years ago when networks and local stations began accepting (and occasionally paying for) video of breaking news (or just cool video) from the public.

Although CNN says it will have editors scrutinize the video in the same way they currently do with news tips and reporter-generated stories, you can be sure that the day is not too far off when an elaborate video hoax will somehow find its way onto the air. Still, these developments give viewers still more power in a world where the words "media" and "general public" are becoming harder to distinguish. This news proudly brought to you by your neighborhood blogger.

Don't Believe EVERYTHING You Read (But Worry About Those Who Do)

2006-07-23T21:08:00.000-05:00

This past week, NBC's Today show broadcast a story about yet another quirky web site. This one, called Urbanbaby.com, is a resource for young mothers, including tips, expert advice and even a message board with questions and answers from readers. The site is also localized, with a number of new cities about to be added to the original seven. While the "water cooler" conversation aspect of the information provided is of indisputable value to new mothers, there is also a cautionary note. Some of the entries are not for the easily offended (a recent entry in which a mother allegedly told another she had a sexual dream about her and then offered a real-life massage comes to mind). But, while some entries have more value and less titillation than others, the fact is they all remain on the board for all to see.

That can be the downside of the web for businesses. Internet postings that are untrue, unfair or even scurrilous last just as long as the accurate and valuable. Due diligence requires that we monitor what is being said about us on the Internet and work to get the truth out. Among the actions we can take are to counter the innacuracies and/or to publicize our positive messages for balance. That can be easier said than done, but it is an investment worth making. And a well-crafted plan can make all the difference in the world in how we are seen by an audience that increasingly makes its decisions by what it reads online.

Let The Good Times Roll

2006-07-16T23:03:00.000-05:00

Who would have believed just a couple of years ago that in 2006, all three major network newscasts would feature new anchors. Many would (and do) say, "Who cares?" a reaction reinforced by the ratings. Fewer and fewer Americans depend on the major networks' nightly newscasts to tell them what happened each day and, worse yet, it's part of a trend that shows no signs of abating.

Nevertheless, by the time Katie Couric signs on as the anchor The CBS Evening News in September, all three of the networks will have had recent turnovers. In fact, NBC's Brian Williams, who signed on as Tom Brokaw's successor on December 2, 2004, is now the dean of the nightly anchors on NBC Nightly News. At ABC, Charles Gibson gained a few weeks on Couric by taking over the helm of World News Tonight.

Will Couric's star power be enough to propel CBS to number one? Does Williams have anything to worry about in holding on to NBC's traditional number one slot? Or can Gibson's maturity secure first place for ABC? Perhaps more importantly, will the network newscasts evolve over the next few months or years into something very different from what they present today? Or will they follow the standard trend of denying the reality of their own obsolescence until they officially become anachronisms? Experience suggests the latter. Stay tuned.

50 Pages a Week

2006-07-10T22:25:00.000-05:00

Rarely if ever do I use this space to endorse a product or service. There's plenty of that out there already. But I found a magazine a few months ago that is the best example I've ever seen of brevity and an international perspective that one rarely sees in the domestic media. It's called The Week, which calls itself The Best of the U.S. and International Media. And it is. Each issue begins with a look at how the main stories of the week were covered both domestically and internationally, a combination that often serves to show how differently we see the same stories. There's also the Controversy of the Week. The world at a glance gives us short snippets of interesting stories from other countries, few of which you probably saw in domestic newspapers. Never too highbrow, each issue has a page featuring gossip from your favorite tabloid, but there are also pages devoted to the best national and international columns, political cartoons, arts, music, stage, cinema, travel and business. A two-page essay called The Last Word is consistently interesting, and the final page gives you the highlights of the coming week on television. If it all sounds a bit cluttered, it is, although it is compartmentalized in an easy-to-read format.

And, most importantly, it is absolutely addictive. A recent issue featured the various ways the death of Abu Musab al-Zarqawi was viewed in various U.S. cities, a question-and-answer page on the search for a humane form of execution, short articles on bloggers and Ann Coulter, and a last word on the overnight world of UPS.

I can't get enough of this magazine. Try it (no, I'm not getting any residuals for this), and see if you don't learn a ton of new things in each and every issue.

Bob Woodruff Update

2006-04-22T23:19:00.000-05:00

All pictures courtesy ABC News

These pictures are the first of ABC anchor Bob Woodruff to be widely distributed after his life-threatening injuries while covering the war in Iraq. A recent comment bemoaned the fact that, while we spend lots of time discussing the Katie Couric job change, we aren't hearing much from ABC (or elsewhere) about Woodruff's condition. Much of that, of course, may be out of deference to his family, but it is true that we tend to move from story du jour to story du jour, without much follow-up on issues of importance.

It's still far too early to know how long Woodruff's recuperation will last, or how he will assume former duties he and his fans treasured. Still, it is reassuring to see photos like these that show us Bob still has that winning smile and is beating the odds. All of us who are pulling for him hope for more positive follow-up reports in the coming months.

Good News Doesn't Sell??

2006-03-29T00:31:00.000-05:00

You've probably already seen or read the story of Jason. He's a star. He did the unbelievable. And if watching what he did doesn't make you cry, well, there's something seriously wrong. HE, of course, is Jason McElwain, a 17-year-old autistic boy in Rochester. A kid who was happy as the manager and unofficial cheerleader for his high school basketball team. That and nothing more. Until late in one game when his team already had a double-digit lead over its opponent. That's when Jason's coach sent him in. In the next few minutes, Jason touched the world and changed forever the perception of autism. After a couple of errant shots, Jason caught fire, scoring six consecutive three-pointers and a two-pointer, all in the last four minutes. 20 points total. From a 5-foot-6-inch tall kid who couldn't even talk until he was five. That's part of the story.

The other part is how the crowd reacted. Fans, mostly teenagers, from BOTH sides rushed to lift Jason on their shoulders and wildly cheer his victory. His moment was their moment, even those on the losing side. They are still asking Jason for his autograph (to go along with the reported movie offers). Keep that in mind when someone talks about the teens today and their misplaced priorities.

Oh, and there's another part. It's a lesson to all those who say the media doesn't care about good news. Ask anyone in the media whether Jason's story was not one they wanted to carry. After all, no one was killed, assaulted, even insulted. It brought out the tears, all right, but not tears of sorrow or despair. Tears of real joy. Even the President (who took the opportunity to meet Jason and his family) said he cried. Yes, good news DOES sell. More often than not, we blame the media for not caring about good news when the reality is -- it's not really news. Just because you care about it or your company cares about it doesn't mean the public at large does. You need to be your toughest critic before you ever call the news media. Would your neighbors care about your story? People all across the town? If it survives that "give a darn" test, you just might have a winner. Like Jason McElwain.

Waiting Until You're Sure

2006-02-27T22:57:00.000-05:00

Is there anything that hasn't been said about Vice President Dick Cheney's inadvisable decision to avoid informing the media about his mishap on a Texas ranch? Without belaboring the issue, suffice it to say that Cheney continues to defend his waiting nearly 24 hours to inform the media that he had accidentally shot his friend while hunting, the fact that the media was informed through a small Corpus Christi newspaper rather than notifying the White House Press Corps, and that it was days later before Cheney himself had any comment on the matter.

This will go down as a perfect example of how, when dealing with the media, how an action appears can be more important than whether it is defensible. Was the Vice President correct in saying that it was prudent to have someone who understands weaponry write the original story and transmit it through the wire services? Well, maybe, although who determined that only the Corpus Christi paper was capable of getting it right? And besides, was the real issue understanding the dynamics of shotguns...or of what happened and why?

The price of waiting to release information was to create the impression that it was more important to manage the news than to be upfront about it. We would all like to write our own stories when a crisis occurs, but that's not going to happen. What we can do is to build relationships based on honesty and trust with the media when times are good, and then to let that built-up trust navigate the public through the inevitable holes that open up in any crisis.

All crises create a void of information...a void that will be filled one way or the other. To let it be filled by others is to guarantee we have no say in the outcome. Then, we have no one to blame but ourselves.

Bob Woodruff

2006-01-31T09:45:00.000-05:00

Good news to report this morning on the condition of Bob Woodruff, co-anchor of ABC's World News Tonight. He and his cameraman are headed back to the U.S. after a short stay in Germany following their serious injuries in an Iraqi roadside bombing incident.
It doesn't seem long ago that Bob and I, local news competitors, were covering the same story on a military unit that was leaving for the first Gulf War. I remember it was one of those "hurry up and wait" stories where we had time on our hands while waiting for our interview. Bob and I came to realize while we were talking that we were the only two TV reporters in Richmond with law degrees. As I recall, that led to some joking about, "So what exactly are we doing out HERE then?"
Bob left the market a couple of years later under different conditions than he probably expected. A reporter at the CBS affiliate, he had accepted an anchor job at the ABC affiliate in the same market, assuring them that his non-compete clause did not apply because of the job differences. The CBS affiliate disagreed and threatened legal action. The ABC affiliate then backed down, and Bob was off the air...but not for long. He made a nice move to Phoenix and, two years later, to ABC's Chicago Bureau.
I never knew Bob well, but I remember liking him a lot during the one story where we had time to talk. Although the full extent of his injuries is not yet public, I'm happy to hear things sound encouraging. His brush with death is a reminder of the risks the networks take when their news stars are put in harm's way. Like it or not, these anchors are franchises -- the face of their respective networks (or local stations for that matter). Placing them in life-threatening situations is cause for careful thought, but so is keeping them insulated from the real world when their job is to act as the eyes on that world for the rest of us.
We pray that, for Bob Woodruff and his family, his latest experience will ultimately be seen as a painfully close call and nothing more.

Shared Heartbreak...and Inspiration (2)

2006-01-18T11:58:00.000-05:00

George Widman/AP

One of the most heartbreaking scenes from the recent West Virginia Sago mine tragedy came when one of the deceased miner's widows was interviewed on national TV and said something to the effect of, "We may be stupid, but we still love our families."

As with any tragedy where reporters, photographers, cameras, lights and microphones intrude upon the most personal of moments, there were examples of both the best and worst of human nature on display. The nation (or as much of it as heard the news at that late hour)rejoiced with the families as they celebrated the news that all but one of their loved ones had survived the disaster, and grieved with them when it turned out that all but one had not survived.

Despite some admirable actions on the part of the company, this crisis could have been handled much better, so we saw other more troubling images as well. We heard the family of the miner who was listed as deceased early on talk about how uncomfortable they felt at seeing the other families celebrate and virtually ignore them in their pain. We saw the same families who had praised what they interpreted as divine intervention one moment express doubts about that same loving God the next, once the news turned out to be tragic rather than miraculous.

The explanation, of course, is that we cannot expect people experiencing the most emotional times of their lives to be consistent in their thoughts - to speak in the scripted way we have come to expect in our Hollywoodized culture. These most personal of moments are not always pretty, consistent or fair.

What we can do when planning for a crisis is to anticipate the worst - false information, angry victims, agonizing hours of rumor rather than fact - and plan our reaction to them. We need to always keep in mind that the victims and their families come first. If we doubt the good news, even though we cannot confirm it, we need to tell them. We need to keep the media informed on a regular basis, even if it is just to say we don't know anymore than the last time we updated you. And we need to show the compassion that comes from the knowledge that any of us could be in the same situation as the victims, and that human life always matters more than anything else.

Shared Heartbreak...and Inspiration

2006-01-08T23:41:00.000-05:00

George Widman/AP

"In the process of being cautious, we allowed the jubilation to go on longer than it should have." That was how International Coal Group CEO Ben Hatfield summarized an error of judgment that allowed the terrified families of 13 trapped coal miners to celebrate wildly the imminent return of 12 of their loved ones -- alive and apparently well enough to join their families at the local church rather than go immediately to the hospital for evaluation.

Problem was, the company knew for hours that there was a good chance the miners were not alive at all and, in fact, all but one of them were not. The families vented their anger and betrayal to company officials and the media once the truth came out.

Mr. Hatfield explained in a news conference later that he had no way of knowing which report was correct and did not want to add to the confusion until more was known. Usually, a decision not to speculate - to wait for confirmation - is a good one, but not in this case.

The company needed to have a representative standing by with the families for however long it took to ascertain the awful truth, and to report back to company officials at the mine frequently. Once Mr. Hatfield and others were informed that a celebration was underway, complete with church bells tolling to bring sleeping citizens back to the scene, the company needed to take swift action. The families needed to be told, in a gentle but firm way, that there have been mixed reports about the status of their loved ones. That miscommunication is easy when dealing with rescuers wearing oxygen masks far below the surface of the earth. That there is still hope, but nothing more than that yet.

A deadly crisis takes our notoriously shades-of-gray world and reinvents it, briefly, as a black-and-white universe. There are priorities that are unyielding for a time. The first priority is always those who are in harm's way - who may be injured or lose their lives. A close second are the families and loved ones of those victims. Handle the crisis well - make it known that nothing, absolutely nothing, is more important in your world right now than their well-being, and you can be forgiven for not having all the answers right away. But mishandle the crisis - let your good intentions stand in the way of good judgment - and you may not ever regain the trust of those who look to you for help.

More on the West Virginia tragedy later...

Missing the Forest for the Trees

2005-12-27T23:29:00.000-05:00

Maybe it's because, if they were trees, the buildings in New York would be the redwoods of our American urban forest. Whatever the reason, the media, for all its vaunted globalism, still betrays at times an appalling inability to discern what is important to the public it serves.
The latest example (or the one that stuck out to this observer) was last Tuesday, when the major network news programs led with a story that must have seemed a no-brainer to them. Because of a transit strike, some seven million New Yorkers had to find a way to and from work other than public transportation. That's a lot of stranded commuters, no question -- more than the populations of several Western states combined, as NBC Nightly News anchor Brian Williams reminded us.
The problem with this lead, though, was obvious. As disrupted as the day was in Gotham, no one outside of the Big Apple cared at all. It didn't affect them a bit. And it's disingenuous to suggest that the numbers justified the placement. If some major transportation snafu had caused headaches for seven million commuters anywhere else, it would have been a story, but the LEAD story? Nah. This was the lead story precisely because the major media outlets were located in New York, and it disrupted THEIR day.
It's like watching the world of a child. A small child's world extends only as far as he can reach, which is why it's all about him. Nobody else matters, and that's why it's so monumentally important when another child steals his ball. Stop the presses! That was MY BALL and someone took it!
News decisions are supposed to be made differently, and often they are. But leading the nation's premier newscasts with stories about one city's transit nightmare is one more reminder that fairness is not what rules in the nation's newsrooms. Most outlets normally do a good job of weighing the stories of the day and presenting them in some general order of importance. But not always.
So don't let that stop you from being vigilant about how (and where) your story is presented. These are humans making these decisions, and hey, maybe you didn't understand. That was MY BALL!

The Future Is Now

2005-10-17T00:06:00.000-05:00

For some time now, I've been telling clients that the days of the media teasing us with "an upcoming story," knowing we will have to sit through the entire newscast to see it, are numbered. Why should everything BUT TV news be on demand? Now we hear that the iPod, that little device that lets you carry your home music library in your pocket for easy access anywhere, is already getting an update. Now you are able to download video as well as audio into your little friend, which should make podcasting grow exponentially. How long will it be until we will all click on the stories we want to watch, rather than sitting through others we don't want? Stay tuned (wait, isn't that what we're NOT going to do anymore??).

Your questions and/or comments are welcomed.

Pack Journalism's Catch-22

2005-10-10T00:19:00.000-05:00

Laci Peterson, Lori Hacking, Natalee Holloway...the list goes on and on. Attractive young white women who disappear mysteriously...most never to be seen again. And always some sinister underlying subplot that the media can use to dangle menacingly in front of a voracious consuming public.

The latest has occurred very close to this reporter's home. In fact, Taylor Behl had just begun her freshman year at Virginia Commonwealth University, where I have taught as an adjunct instructor for a number of years. On September 5, she disappeared. With the addition of the all-important sinister subplot involving a local troubled photographer (although the exact relationship and connection to her disappearance has yet to be explained), the national media picked this as their latest "missing attractive young white woman of the month" story line. Later, tragically, remains were found that proved to be those of Taylor Behl.

Taylor's story is tragic, as all innocent untimely deaths are tragic. What's become notable about this one is how the media is starting to scrutinize itself. In many of the flood of stories that have been written over the past month about the Behl case, reporters ask why this case gets more attention than those of missing young black women, missing young or old men of any race, or even those of missing young white women who happen to be...ahem...less photogenic than others. Invariably, they find the reasons -- among them in this case, Taylor's disappearance calls attention to the fear all parents face as they send their children off to college for the first time, the dangers faced by young people who dally with dark relationships, etc.

Meanwhile, those who ask these questions also contribute to the ongoing flood of stories. What they do not do is tell the other stories -- the ones that just aren't Hollywood enough to warrant a Dateline NBC cover story or a visit from Greta Van Susteren.

When the media chooses the path of least resistance and follows the story everyone else follows, ignoring those that don't fit the prevailing pattern, it is our responsibility to help call their attention to those other stories. Perhaps, even, to explain why those other stories are more important than the ones that fit the pattern.

Please leave your comments on this or other media issues!

Watching Your Own Deadly Crisis Unfold

2005-09-24T15:45:00.000-05:00

Most of us realize that, if we were in a deadly crisis, we might only hear what those in charge of the rescue effort wanted us to hear. That might have been the case with the infamous Jet Blue flight to L.A. this past week...but it wasn't.

In this case, the passengers not only had to deal with their own fears about their plane's malfunctioning landing gear, they had to deal with the fears of those on TV who carried the story live -- a story that was also carried live into the circling plane as it tried to burn off fuel before attempting an emergency landing. By all reports, the media speculation about how the experts had never seen this happen and the concern in their reports contributed to even more panic on the part of passengers who, nonetheless, remained remarkably calm.

It brings back bad memories of how, in this age of omnipresent media, people who face deadly peril sometimes spend what could be their last moments watching the rest of the world watch them. It happened on 9/11, it happened earlier with Columbine and it's still happening.

The media seems as unprepared for this new reality as the rest of us, although they shouldn't be. It learned during Columbine not to show where SWAT teams were moving in preparation for an assault. It learned (or says it did) during high-speed LA freeway chases not to zoom in live where dinnertime viewers might unwittingly be exposed to a live shootout in their living rooms.

How will the media regulate itself so as not to cause this kind of collateral damage? In many cases, it won't. But for our purposes, it reminds us of how many different audiences we may be reaching in a crisis. Not just the surrounding community, but also those who love the people who are in danger's way, and even those in danger's way themselves.

We owe it to those audiences not to stay silent "because we don't have all the answers." We owe them whatever reassurance we can bring, even if it is just to say that we have trained for these kind of unfortunate events and are doing everything we can to bring about a satisfactory resolution. And we owe it to them to actually train when times are good so that we can handle the times that aren't.

Questions? Comments? Please leave them here!

Lessons from the Unthinkable

2005-09-04T22:25:00.000-05:00

Courtesy NBC
What more can be said about the images from New Orleans that have not already been said? That the damage wrought by Hurricane Katrina and its aftermath are of Biblical proportions. That the heartbreaking tragedy exposed the desperation of an underclass that many of us either did not know, or did not want to know, existed. That the delayed response will prompt a long-overdue examination of how we ignore the most desperate among us until events force us to confront them.

There's an inherent unfairness in Monday morning quarterbacking. It's so darned easy to know what I would have done if only they had been smart enough to have me in charge. And yet, when we confront the real crises that our businesses face all too often, it's the post mortem examination that keeps us from being condemned to repeat history.

Crisis planning is an indispensable part of prudent corporate and organizational governance. But how often do we nod our heads at the resulting crisis plan...and then immediately set it aside while we tackle those front-burner issues? After all, a crisis may never happen if we're lucky, but we know the board meeting next week will happen all too soon.

That's what happened just a few months ago, in June, when the New Orleans Army Corps of Engineers budget was cut by 44 percent. That meant a study to determine how to protect the Big Easy from a Category 5 hurricane was seen as unimportant in comparison with more pressing needs (see Molly Ivins' column of September 1, 2005).

No one today would even attempt to justify such a study as unessential. But in June, when Katrina was not even a ripple off the African coast, it was. No, actually, it was always essential. We just didn't choose to see it. And that's the lesson for us. We need to plan now, and then go a step further and actually implement the recommendations that will help us to deal with the unthinkable. The possibilities that are most frightening to confront are often the most important.

Questions? Comments? Please let us hear from you!

Marketing Irony

2005-08-26T12:17:00.000-05:00

While watching the "Today" show last weekend, I noticed a trend. The guests who had been invited on for the lighter news segments all had one thing in common -- they had something unexpected to market. One was a therapist/author who had written a book advocating that married people pursue their own separate interests rather than feel like they always have to vacation together or do other mutual activities. The point was that separate activities can actually strengthen a relationship.

There's a lesson in that (the irony, not the separate activity thing) for those of us who want to market our stories to the news media. I was once asked by a friend of my wife's to help her get the media to cover a second grade play at the local elementary school. I told her that was not likely to be successful, despite the fact that there were lots of cute kids in costume as petunias, cumulus clouds and dragonflies.

In the course of our conversation, though, she mentioned that the kids would be learning early principles of science as part of this play that could help them in their Standards of Learning testing. So I helped her write a media alert that, instead of the costumes, stressed the fact that preparing for SOL tests did not have to be limited to rote memorization. As a result, two local stations had news crews on hand for the big play.

If your goal is to get coverage, give the media something out of the ordinary. Something they're not getting from every other person knocking on their door.

And if you can write a book about it, all the better!

Your comments are welcome! Questions? Leave those behind as well and we'll answer them!

News the European Way

2005-08-15T15:25:00.000-05:00

I've just returned from a family vacation to Europe and, while I did not spend a great deal of time staring at a television set, I did come away with one strong impression from the few times I did tune in. We in the U.S. are indeed woefully ignorant about the rest of the world. Whether watching CNN International or a Dutch or French channel where I picked up only the occasional word, I was struck by how comprehensive the news was from a global perspective. Nowhere did I see anything that looked like a Laci Peterson or a Tom Cruise or a Michael Jackson (I think I'd remember that). Instead, there were stories about the Middle East, about the Iraqi people (as opposed to just the Iraqi story from the American perspective) and even stories about South America. In short, these were stories that were chosen not because they were glamorous, or visual or titillating, but because they were IMPORTANT as a way of understanding the world.

Imagine that. Maybe if we had more news here produced from a standpoint of what is important to understand and less because it is sensational, we would be able to tell more complete (dare we say fair and balanced?) stories. But we have to deal in the real world, and that means no one can afford not to understand the media and how it operates.

Do you have an opinion about the news media or the views presented above? Please post your comments for all to see!

Tragedy for the Scouts

2005-07-31T00:36:00.000-05:00

This has been a tough week for the Boy Scouts, especially those who paid a great deal to attend the National Jamboree now going on at Fort A.P. Hill in Virginia. The jamboree began with the tragic deaths of four scout leaders from Alaska, who were electrocuted while erecting a tent near live power lines. Then, during an unusual heat wave that sent temperatures soaring to near 100 degrees, hundreds of scouts, parents and guests fell ill while waiting in a sweltering field for a visit from President Bush.

Equally unfortunate have been comments made during these tragic events. A scouting spokesman was quoted as insinuating that the men who died during the tent-raising were responsible for their fates by not following established regulations. True or not, the comments came across as insensitive following so closely on the heels of the accident and were followed within days by clarifications from scouting headquarters.

Then, when the opening arena show featuring the President was canceled after the hapless young scouts baked for hours in the summer heat, the announcer revealed that the decision had been made earlier to postpone the scheduled entertainment until the following evening. Unbeknownst to the crowd, only the President was scheduled to speak that evening, and now a quickly-advancing line of thunderstorms necessitated canceling even that appearance.

The same spokesman later said it was not practical to cancel the opening event in expectation of the extreme heat, and yet, that is exactly what was apparently done as far as the entertainment part of the program and was ultimately done with the President's appearance as well.

There are two lessons in all this to those wishing to avoid such public relations fiascos. One is to use Murphy's Law in planning out the smallest details, so that such mishaps do not occur in the first place, admittedly easier said than done when dealing with a makeshift city of more than 40,000 scouts. But the second lesson is equally important. Once a tragedy occurs, do not try to level blame. Commit only to doing everything possible to make sure such a tragedy never occurs again, and then redouble your efforts to make that pledge a reality.

As so many of us learn the hard way, it's all in the details and the planning.

Questions or comments? We'd like to hear them! We will take a break next week. Look for our next entry on August 14th.

The Legacy of Sarge

2005-07-24T12:58:00.000-05:00

This week, I attended a daylong symposium sponsored by the University of Virginia Center for Politics, spearheaded by Dr. Larry Sabato, an old friend from my TV days who has become perhaps the pre-eminent political commentator in the country. The subject of the conference was J. Sargeant Reynolds (pictured above), former lieutenant governor of Virginia, almost surely destined to become governor and quite possibly president. That is, until he was tragically cut down by a brain tumor at the young age of 34.

I happened to be a Senate page during the two sessions that Reynolds served as lieutenant governor and can speak to his charm and charisma. It takes a lot for a politician to break through in any meaningful way to a 14-year-old, but I worshiped him. He never talked down to us or made us feel unimportant. I can still remember crossing the street on my way to the bus stop after the session adjourned late one afternoon and hearing an oncoming car honk its horn at me. I looked up and there, behind the wheel, was Reynolds waving at me like I was an old friend.

One of the many interesting aspects of Reynolds that was covered in this symposium was his relations with the media. Despite his "Kennedy-esque" charisma, he tended to avoid news conferences, because he disliked the inevitable "pack journalism" questions. He was a man of substance and wanted that reflected in his media stories.

He also disliked traditional liberal-conservative labels. Just months before he died, he attended an old-fashioned political meeting in southside Virginia that, at the time, was closed to women and blacks to express his belief that a Supreme Court decision the previous day upholding school busing should be respected. He chose an unfriendly crowd to make his point, knowing they were precisely the ones who needed to hear his message. The following day, he made clear his personal opposition to busing. If it sounds unusual, that's because it's called political courage, and we don't see much of that anymore. We also don't see people who could wrap the media around their little fingers choose not to engage in certain types of exchanges because they lack depth. Imagine that.

J. Sargeant Reynolds has now been gone about as long as the total amount of time he was with us. I did not know him well, but he has a place in my pantheon of heroes.

As always, your comments or questions are welcomed by clicking below.