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Randy Hansen RANDY HANSEN lives and works in the Cincinnati market. He is a television news veteran with more than 20 years under his belt as a photographer, chief photographer, producer and assignment manager.  Randy’s career has taken him through several markets and successful news operations, WECT-TV in Wilmington, North Carolina, WINK-TV in Fort Myers, WFTS in Tampa and WDJT in Milwaukee.  Randy also posts regularly on his own blog, Monkey Simple Tech.  He can be reached at Randy@the247newsroom.com. Feeding the 24/7 News Cycle 2/21/2012 Junk in the Trunk The stuff I keep in my news car I’m assigned Unit 6 as my news vehicle. But I like to think of it as “my” car, it’s the one I use to cover the news. Unfortunately I have to share Unit 6 with someone else on my days off, so I guess it’s not truly mine. Before VJs, there was a time when I would get the exclusive use of an assigned news car. It was mine and mine alone without having to share.   In fact, in those golden days - long gone - I even got to bring it home every night.  Remember those days? You probably know the expression about people protecting and caring for things they have a stake in.  When something feels like you own it – whether or not it’s truly yours - you begin to add personal touches, just like my Unit 6.  So that’s what I did, I added personal touches and lots of ‘stuff.’ Over time, I equipped my news cars with all sorts of gear, some of it news related and some of it not. Some of it was to make my life easier and some of it was to make my reporter’s life easier, which in turn made my life a lot easier. One of my favorite assigned cars from my past was an SUV. A 2003 Suzuki XL-7 that was white with a tan interior. It was a nice compromise between size and comfort and could easily hold all of my news gear. Do I sound like a car salesman yet?  Sorry.  I really have nothing to sell, but this unit bought an air conditioner that blew an icy wind like a Nor’easter in Maine (this was a station in south Florida and good A/C is imperative). It also bought me some peace-of- mind knowing that it would start-up, run smoothly and save me the torture of dealing with the Desk. Back Seat Stuff But the best feature of this news car was the space under the back seat. Cavernous and long, this was the space where I stored two umbrellas, two rain coats, extra clothes in a small gym bag - bottles of water - a roll of paper towels -  a couple of hats - dry snacks (goldfish crackers and the like) – maps - an old book or two for those long, boring waits at trial jury deliberations and other wait- and-see news stories. Add to all that ‘stuff,’ I also had a box with seven or eight basic tools, a couple of DVCpro tapes in case I ran out of them or forgot to bring any at all, an old, clean bath towel folded and stored in a large ziplock bag, a woman’s size medium polo- again in a ziplock bag- with the station logo on it. I’m 6’4”and weigh 230 lbs so any shirt I wear looks like a circus tent on a 125lb. woman. This was in case my female reporter got caught in one of those famous Florida Monsoons or just needed a change of clothes…do people sweat that much in Florida? Oh, yes they do!. The best part of all this, there was still room under the seat for even more, if needed. Glove Compartment Stuff In the glove compartment box, I kept a first aid kit with bandages and aspirin, sample-sized bottles of hand lotion, a brush/comb combo thing, a couple of feminine pads and Midol in a sandwich bag (c’mon- we’re all adults here), a half dozen single use packages of Crystal light to add to the water bottles under the back seat and an old pair of clip on sunglasses. Door Pocket Stuff In the door pockets, I kept pens, pencils, 3,000 fast food napkins, more bottled water and at least two full-sized bottles of sunblock and a large bottle of mosquito repellant- remember, we’re in south Florida and the mosquito is the state bird. I also kept a couple of old reporter notebooks in the passenger side door pocket plus 3,000 additional napkins and a few dozen handi-wipes. Seems like a lot to tote around doesn’t it? Well, it was but I can tell you just about all of those items came in very handy when we needed them. I normally carried two of most items because reporters tend to not think of these things and don’t really have the ability to carry most of these items anyway. And if I brought only one of everything, I would have ended up wet, hungry and thirsty more often than I would have liked. I carried a few feminine-care products because they have been needed in the past and the reporter was miserable without them. We would often be far away from or not able to get to a store for these things and even if they bought us a couple of hours of comfort, then the brief embarrassment for the two of us was worth it. At its core, I think the true reason the car was stocked with all of this ephemera was the idea that we live out of the cars 8-12 hours a day. This job can be tough enough encountering the creeps, crooks, weather, broken gear and other challenges of the job without having to deal with the daily annoyances of just getting through the workday with a sane mind and a sense of preparedness. If everything was taken out of a photog’s car and a psychologist analyzed it, you might get an interesting/disturbing profile of that person’s personality.  I know other photogs stock their cars with similar items and some of them stock their cars with different items, but most fill their cars with a bunch of stuff that not only helps us do our stories better, but takes care of the reporters too. After all, if we don’t look out for them, who will? Editor’s note: Randy can be reach by email at randy@the247newsroom.com. And be sure to check out Randy’s blog Monkey Simple Tech. The Care and Feeding of Interns An instruction manual for the TV news professional (Editor’s Note: Randy Hansen was an intern at KCRA in 1985 & KXTV 1986) Congratulations on your new intern! You’ll notice your intern is wearing a new suit or dress, smiles a lot and still has that new intern smell! This is on purpose as the innocent appearance of the freshly-minted intern is meant to engender pity and a parental instinct of the photog assigned to mentor him or her in the ways of the bona fide television journalist. Your intern has been especially prepared to enter the world of television journalism at a highly regarded university and has wisely chosen your station to receive some real world experience. They’ve taken TV production 101, Intro into Journalism and News Writing 101 and 102 and “already know how to do all this stuff.”  As a public service to both the intern and their future TV employer, it’s imperative to have these courses erased from their memories and insert on their place those truly useful methods of news gathering…  learned from you.  Your new intern needs no special feeding or watering, but does require careful handling and constant supervision.  So consider the intern an empty vessel, ready to listen carefully and follow your instructions to the letter in order to fill that vessel with the benefits of your experience and knowledge. As a long-time TV journalism professional you carry a heavy burden to impart as much of your hard-earned know-how to the next generation of wanna-be anchors and when- can-I-do-my-standup reporters. Your position as a news photographer requires you to behave with the upmost professionalism as a mentor to our journalistic progeny. There are, however, a few things you should avoid when introducing your intern to the glory-filled life of broadcast journalism: - DO NOT send your intern into the local town square with a large, white poster board and have them hold it over their head while engineers at the station “get a white balance for the weather camera.”  And do not have them walk several blocks holding up the board to “test” the pan/tilt mechanism on said camera.  Lastly, do not secretly shoot all this activity for later, hilarious playback on the joke/outtake reel. - DO NOT tell your intern that your AVID editor has enough color bars, but you’re running low on tone. Also, do not send them to engineering to get a fresh bottle of tone to refill the computer as this will confuse the intern and amuse the engineers (the last thing we need is a smiling, happy engineer). - DO NOT instruct the intern to blow constantly and repeatedly into the other end of an XLR cable for more than 15 minutes in order to “clear out some static” in the audio. - DO NOT laugh (at least not very long or loudly) when your intern expresses an optimism that at her first job she’s willing to start out as the 5pm anchor before moving into the main chair or shows no interest in anything other than shooting standups or wanders off, texting on his phone, after stating “this story blows”. - DO NOT expect your reporter intern to believe you when you tell them they will likely shoot their own news video for themselves most or all of their future career. Please don’t take their disbelief personally - few of them think photography is important or they’ll ever need to know it to any great degree because in their fantasy career there will always be someone to shoot for them.  Resist the urge to leave them at the fire scene when this happens. It is important, however, to ensure your new and shiny intern has a full experience and truly understands life in television news outside the classroom.  Follow these simple steps and your intern is sure to get a full measure of the life of a true journalist: - DO take them into the worst part of town for a breaking news shoot 10:30 at night after the Social Security check are issued and allow them to experience the full breadth of dealing with the local constabulary, declining invitations to “party” from interesting women, and not frequenting the small businessmen lingering on the corner near the spot the teen was shot because he crossed the wrong street while wearing a blue shirt. - DO allow them to see what it’s like to eat a burrito in a 15 year-old live truck while driving 65 miles per hour, talking on the phone to the desk and dodging potholes to keep gear from falling off the racks in the cargo area. - DO show them how to use the lens of the camera as a mirror to make any last-minute adjustments to their tie or hair. After all, appearance is the only thing that matters in a reporter, right? Make sure your intern also gets to experience the life of the much-valued and always loved assignment desk person, the lackadaisical life of the television producer and to discover why all newscast directors are so laid back and easy- going.  It’s important your intern sees all aspects of the television news production process so they leave your mentorship with a true idea of how television news works and whether or not it will work for them as a career choice. WARNING! Finally, there is one last action the authors of these instructions would like you, as a leader and role model of these impressionable young people, to never, ever  do if you ever have a hope of getting off the weekend shift. And this is the most important item…Do not show them your paycheck! This unnecessarily frightens the hopeful journalist and often results in a change of their college major. Enjoy your intern! Editor’s note: Randy can be reach by email at randy@the247newsroom.com. And be sure to check out Randy’s blog Monkey Simple Tech. 10/18/2011 “Let me ask you this...” Interview Techniques for Photogs The other day I went alone to interview a local official about some thing or another. As I set up my gear, he kept looking around, scanning the hallway.  I knew who he was looking for, but I kept quiet, smiled to myself and turned on my wireless mic and checked it for a strong signal.  I framed him up properly, sharpened the focus and he finally asked the question: “Where’s your reporter?”  When I told him that I was going to be asking the questions, he raised one eyebrow, huffed a little bit and grumbled “sure, ok…go ahead”. If the viewing public only knew the majority of the stories they see every day never had a reporter anywhere near the event.  More often than not, it’s expected the photographer will be the one asking the questions with no more information than what’s written on a press release or information the assignment desk passed along over the phone. To make life easier, I’ve compiled a list of suggestions that a photog can use to get maximum information with minimal effort and the upmost efficiency.  These tips aren’t a way to be lazy or produce poor results, but how to squeeze the most information with little fuss or bother to both parties. It’s a conversation, not an interrogation The theory here is to hold a conversation, not to grill the interviewee. There’s a time and place for formal a Q&A, but most of the time, a simple give-and-take about the topic at hand will result in more natural answers and a better flow to the whole process. Additionally, a more casual approach will put your newbie interview subject at ease more quickly and allow them to appear less tense on screen. The idea is to ask questions in a way you might with your real neighbor.  Instead of demanding from an eyewitness, “tell me about the fire,” a better and more conversational way would be to phrase it, “that’s a heck of a blaze, what on earth happened?”   Follow-up that question as you would on your own time, “what did you do after that?”   Or try something like, “I don’t know what I would do if that happened to me…what was going through your mind then?” Getting Noticed Once you’ve arrived at your assignment location, it’s time to find someone to speak to so you can know why you’re there and why it’s important.  Normally, the interview is the first thing you should do, so you can shoot more precise b- roll.  There may be video opportunities you’re not aware of that the interview subject will reveal during the Q&A process. However, until someone knows you’re there, this can’t happen. I find simply walking around with the camera on my shoulder makes me stand out like a neon-sign although being nearly 6’5” helps.  Often the very people I need to make contact with find me before I can find them. If this doesn’t work, look for someone with a badge on their shirt or blouse, identify yourself and ask to speak to the person who can help you with information on the story. And if that didn’t work, call the contact number on the press release or have the desk call someone for you.  Then go to an easily found location like the elevators, a fountain or the front desk. If, however, the story doesn’t require interviewing someone in charge and simply speaking to anyone who has an opinion, there may come a time when you have little to no information in your possession and you simply have to start asking something… anything that you can take back to the station…something useable to put the story together.   If you go back to the station empty-handed, you know what the conversation with the desk and producer will be like!     Get the ball rolling The very first question on camera should always be “Please tell me your name and spell it for me”.  People are very particular about the spelling of their name and get upset if they see it misspelled on the air.  Someone who pronounces their given name as “John Smith” but spells it J-o-n S-m-y-t-h-e will appreciate the effort to get their name right. It’s also good journalism. You can skip this step if the interview subject is very well known like the mayor or a celebrity.  In this case, asking the name might be perceived as insulting or a slight to that person’s self-perceived importance. If you have little knowledge of the story or simply need information to ask good follow on questions, it’s appropriate and smart to ask a simple question like, “tell me about your event” or something like “everyone seems to be having a great time. What’s going on?” These introductory questions serve two purposes: to genuinely tell you what the story is about in some detail plus it serves as a softball question to put the probably rookie interviewee at ease with an easy-to- answer first question. The “general to specific” theory of interviewing One method I like to use is to ask questions starting with a very general question: “what’s going on?”   Over time you can progress to more specific questions, each one more detailed than the last: “how did the baby actually drive the motorcycle?”  This method can have three or twenty steps, depending on the topic of the conversation, the personality of the person involved and how smooth the session is progressing.  If possible, take your time and let the conversation take it’s normal pace.  Ultimately, it will be more productive for all if you keep from rushing to the end. A variation of this method is to approach a touchy subject with a few softball questions before getting to the uncomfortable stuff. This ensures you have at least something in the can in case the interviewee calls the whole thing off or simply shuts down. It’s also important to set the subject at ease so when the tough questions start coming, they have a bit of momentum going and will usually go ahead and answer.  This is far more efficient than rudely launching into accusations or emotional interrogations. What to ask if you don’t know what to ask This happens.  You’ve simply run out of specific questions or you’re still stumped after the “what’s happening” first question discussed above.  Regardless of the topic, the following questions will help to provide you with additional information and help your producer choose a stronger bite.  Obviously they’re not applicable to every situation all the time, but I found at least one of them to be useful during my way too often what-do-I-ask-now as my brain freezes. One of these questions often frees my mental logjam and allows me to either ask a follow up question or end the encounter gracefully. “Why is this event important?” “If you wanted folks at home to know one thing about this event, what would it be?” “Tell me what you saw” “What happens now/next?” “How does that make you feel?” “If people want more info, what can they do?” Time to say goodbye Always end the interview with, “is there anything I missed, anything you think is important?”  This provides an opening for the interview subject to say the things they’ve been dying to mention and usually covers you incase you forgot to cover an important point. After the camera is off, take a few moments to thank the subject and make some small talk.  It’s important not to rush off like the building is on fire as the subject could feel like a nuisance and may make the next interview request a rough one for your fellow journalists.  No more than a minute or so is necessary, although if you have the time and interest, a little while longer won’t hurt. Yes, photogs shoot b-roll, gather information, edit and run live trucks. And yes, photogs conduct interviews too. Lots of them.  Everyday. Tell me again why we need reporters? Editor’s note: Randy can be reach by email at randy@the247newsroom.com. And be sure to check out Randy’s blog Monkey Simple Tech. © Tom Petner 2012