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Must have mobile tools for TV reporters
by Deb Halpern Wenger When Tony Russell heads out to cover a story for KOTV in Tulsa, Oklahoma, his toolkit includes two phones and a host of apps. His favorite is Instagram. “I use Instagram because...
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Finding stories by asking your audience
Having trouble coming up with story ideas? There’s an app for that: a new service designed to help newsrooms find “stories hidden in plain sight.” According to a review on Poynter.org, 20 news...
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Using social media for daily reporting
For journalists, there’s no getting away from social media. Just about every newsroom expects reporters to be on Twitter and Facebook, at a minimum. But how are they using these platforms? Most...
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How to search social media by location
How do you locate sources and original content during a breaking news event? Every newsroom turns to social media, but some are more efficient than others at finding what they’re looking for. In these...
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How to find an expert in a hurry
When you’re on deadline and you need an expert on a particular subject, where do you turn? Google is great, but it’s massive. Type in “stock market expert” and you’ll get 34 million results in seconds,...
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Morley Safer: One of the greats
He was a courageous reporter, a gifted writer, and a man who loved to laugh. Morley Safer spent more than 50 years at CBS News and is best known for his work at 60 Minutes, which aired a fitting...
View ArticleTV storytelling one on one
Who comes to mind when you hear the words “TV news” and “storytelling?” For me, it’s a short list. The late Charles Kuralt and his On The Road stories for CBS News. Steve Hartman, who revived the On...
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Reporting tactic: Soliciting leaks
Less than a week into the Trump administration, multiple government agencies have told their employees not to speak to the news media or release information to the public. Journalists have responded by...
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Podcasting tips from a pro
If it seems to you like podcasting is making a comeback, hold it right there. It never went away, according to Michael O’Connell, host of the It’s All Journalism podcast and author of the forthcoming...
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Covering risk after Hurricane Harvey
Now that the floodwaters are receding in Houston and the rest of South Texas, many journalists are focusing on new dangers faced by survivors. One of the hardest to quantify is toxic pollution from...
View Article3 strategies for solo live shots
Backpack journalist, MMJ or SoJo. Any number of names are given to broadcast journalists who do it all, from reporting to shooting to writing and presenting. Juggling those tasks is hard enough, but...
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Reporting accurately on mental health and violence
The U.S. Surgeon General has reported that the likelihood of violence from people with mental illness is low. In fact, “the overall contribution of mental disorders to the total level of violence in...
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How CBS reporter Hartman adds surprise or the “aw” moment in stories
Steve Hartman has what looks like a dream job. He travels the country, telling uplifting stories that run once a week on the CBS Evening News. “On the Road” is a legendary franchise once the province...
View ArticleBest of the best: Emergency response
Layoffs and cutbacks have taken their toll in local television newsrooms but quality TV journalism ain’t dead yet. Want proof? Six local stations won the prestigious duPont-Columbia silver baton this...
View ArticleBest of the best: Foreigners on the farm
Sometimes you find the best stories just by taking a closer look at what’s already in plain sight. What WCAX-TV reporter Kristin Carlson saw was a Vermont dairy industry in such dire straits that...
View ArticleBest of the best: Deporting justice
What started as a daily news story turned into a multi-part, award-winning investigation thanks to a simple question: Was the incident an isolated occurrence, as officials claimed, or part of a...
View ArticleiPhone flips the Flip
Idiot-proof, lightweight and compact–the Flip camera appeared poised to revolutionize online video when it was introduced a few years ago. Reporters and photographers quickly took to using Flips or...
View ArticleFind your focus, already!
Have you ever watched a television news story or read something in print or online and wondered afterwards what on earth it was about? It happens all too often when stories have no focus. Reporters who...
View ArticleTime-savers for solo journalists
If there’s one thing most solo journalists will agree on, it’s that doing it all requires terrific time management skills. Backpack journalist Kevin Torres of KUSA-TV in Denver literally backtimes his...
View ArticleManaging time for investigations
Most reporters don’t have the luxury of working on an investigative story for weeks on end. These days, being a “full time” investigative journalist often means filing daily stories while working on...
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