First Jobs: Continuing Coverage
Continuing Coverage: Oil Rig Explosion
BiB Contributor | Haley Cihock
A newsroom discussion about continuing coverage the other day made me realize – that’s definitely something I didn’t learn in college. The ability to tell a story well, over a series of reports, as it develops, is a valuable and marketable skill.
Tonight, I wrote updates on the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, the mass shooting at Fort Hood, the new immigration law. Some stories will live on for weeks, months, years.
When you’re interviewing for your first job, it would be so nice to be able to tell the employer, “I have follow-up reports to the story you saw on my resume tape, if you’re interested in some examples of continuing coverage.” I know that’s not always a possibility. Many college newscasts are weekly, and encourage fresh reports rather than a follow-up to the previous week. But it’s something to think about during an internship, where you’ll have the opportunity to see how the station handles a developing story.
A few things to keep in mind:
- Each story must stand alone. You can’t assume a viewer has seen your previous report. So, no matter how brief, you’ve got to sum up the big issue and critical points of background information.
- Stick to the big developments. Viewers don’t want you to waste their time by blowing a tiny addition into a 2:00 report that is mostly information you gave them yesterday. A good producer will give the update the time it deserves, nothing more, nothing less.
- Don’t forget the basics, like writing to video. I’ve been guilty of running an initial report with stunning visuals, then using that awesome video as wallpaper for future updates. You will always have a better chance of holding a viewer’s interest by matching what they see with what they hear.
- Find your focus. Your follow-up will sound like a completely different report if you are able to zoom in on one very interesting aspect of the bigger developing story, or find a unique perspective.
If some of that sounds contradictory, it probably is. It was a tough concept for me to grasp and even tougher to execute well. I’m just saying, it’s something to consider when you’re observing a station’s decision-making process. The networks are masters at this, as they should be. If you’re not watching them already… set your DVR.
Tags: breaking, broadcasting, continuing coverage, developing news, internship
