It's the new show on Fox 13 at 6 pm anchored by Sabrina Rayford, who knows very little about our state, but pretends to after joining less than two years ago. Yes, it had stories from Pasco, Bellingham, Hanford, Olympia, but it all looked like wire stuff with lots of graphic points and some wallpaper video. They also quoted the Bellingham Herald and the Tri Cities Herald. In other words, no original state news, just reycled. Regional weather as usual. Just a gimmick alternative. I found Rayford mediocre as an anchor, just telepromtered like it was all strange to her with minimal inflection, tone and urgency. Didn't sell the copy at all. The entire show mailed it in, IMHO.
If they are going to do this right, they need to have dedicated correspondents on the ground in the state's regional population centers on both sides of the mountains. I did see that they had reporters on the ground un both Pasco and Cle Elum for stories this week, so they do seem to have opened up the travel budget a bit. But they're going to need people in Spokane, Yakima, Olympia, Bellingham, etc full time in order to produce enough statewide content foe this show to really work.
ReplyDeleteUnlikely to expand state coverage. They will do it on the cheap and fool the viewers into thinking it has expanded. They should make deals with a few stringers in those areas, or a radio station reporter they could do zoom interview Q&A's for small stipend. It is not well thought out. Just a gimmick title newscast on my first view.
ReplyDeleteI agree that if they aren't going to deploy dedicated correspondents around the state, they need to at least make deals with stringers and/or radio reporters to fill the gaps. I also wonder if it might be worth making deals with some local newspaper reporters, who could also do Zoom interview Q&A's, in areas where local radio reporters aren't necessarily present.
DeleteIt's an expense they don't want, so it will continue to be smoke and mirrors. Watched again and they appear to be getting video from the Fox station in Seattle for the lead story which was a teacher's dispute of no interest to the core viewers in Seattle. Another Cle Elum bankruptcy story that keeps me awake at night. C'mon, Fox 13. Not a smart strategy IMHO.
ReplyDeleteI agree that a teacher's disupte in Spokane Valley is of no interest to Seattle area viewers. While Seattle area viewers might not mind hearing about happenings in Spokane every now and then, this isn't it. Hoopfest, on the other hand, which is going on in Spokane right now, would be far more likely to generate interest.
DeleteAs for the Cle Elum bankruptcy story, there might be more interest as so many Seattle area residents go through or visit Cle Elum for recreation and tourism, but even that is a stretch. A single report about it probably would more than suffice for most viewers.
The program has no focus, just thrown together state news from whatever they can dredge up. As I have said, it is just a name change and a show that doesn't have the previous replay attached. But there has got to be a better way to produce it. I would start, at least, with a billboard that sells why the Spokane teacher story matters to statewide teachers, and emphasize the tourism aspect of Cle Elum for Seattle visitors, teasing some stats and a list of places people visit there. It needs strong music and video production off the top to sell viewers that Fox 13 covers the state like no other station. How about maps where the stories fly from Kelso or Bellingham to sell the locations better. They simply have no producers with any imagination. You have to create a premise and there is nothing here to do that. Hoopfest, BTW, is a nice community feature bit, but the zoom interview was a bore. How about a graphic on how many participated last year and other info that would sell it? The story needed a two or three step lead to create pace and it had none.
ReplyDeleteAll of these things would have helped make this particular edition of the program better. I hope Fox 13 will take your excellent suggestions on board to improve the program going forward. It has potential, and it can be good. It just needs some investment and work.
DeleteI am sure they don't even read the blog, nor would they adopt them Here is my quick take on producing TV news. Producers must first build a lead-story sequence of 3-4 steps to prepare the viewer for the bigger takeout. Hitting a viewer with a quick lead-in and popping to the package isn't good enough to PREPARE the viewer, allow them to digest what's coming and how important it is. It doesn't work that way with fast-breaking news, but on a normal day, you can build it. Maybe a VO, a graphic, a second VO or tight sound bite. Whatever is available to present. For example: let's produce up a major council decision: 1. Anchor lead in on decision made. 2. Graphic on the bill (what was at stake), 3. split screen pics of Mayor and opposing council member who have been at odds, 4. the final vote count on screen as a second graphic with the names of the members who voted yes and no, then wipe to the full package. This may seem like a lot, but with producers controlling graphics themselves, it can be done in the workflow. Anyway, my two cents.
ReplyDeleteIt is a lot, but it all makes for a more complete presentation that viewers will be more likely to get some actual information out of, which is the whole point of watching the news: to be informed.
DeleteIt's like how web stories are often written on the web. The headline draws you in, but it takes four or five graphs of background before getting to the point. It is not a new idea at all. Thanks for weighing in.
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