Jason Sandford
Jason Sandford is a reporter, writer, blogger and photographer interested in all things Asheville.
Here’s more response to the ongoing discussion of news producing, news judgement, etc., at WLOS. This, from newsace:(and no worries on the long post; we crave the discussion; it’s a good thing.)
Former Producer said:
“No experience outside Asheville equals narrow vision and stale tv.”
Yes, and no. In particular, the converse is definitely not true. Experience outside Asheville does not necessarily equal wide vision and fresh TV. Experience producing the overnight show for a year in a smaller market does not equate to a great “vision” for producing the 5:00 or 5:30 news in a larger market. That’s not to say that someone in such a situation might not come in with a great vision, but it’s rare, and it never happened in my nearly 13 years there. (And, yes, I’m sure there are those – perhaps many – who would say I was a prime example of the problem of stale, visionless TV.)
And it certainly doesn’t provide the perspective on this market that comes from spending years here does. That’s one of the big problems, IMHO, with TV news in general. All the so-called fresh ideas are the same crap that’s been circulating in newsrooms all across the country for years, merely repackaged. I’ve got photocopies of paperwork handed out by consultants from the early to mid 1980’s, elements of which still appear from time to time as “new” ideas in the NewsPro section of Television Week. And every newbie a couple of years out of a Radio & TV degree thinks his/her thrilling 9 months producing the Saturday morning news in market 150 has given him/her the immaculate recognition of “the way it should be done.” Likewise for every reporter/anchor from a smaller market who thinks a couple of years in front of the camera qualifies him/her to second guess every behind-the-scenes decision (and, naturally, every producer who thinks he/she is qualified to tell the anchors how they should have reacted when the live shot went down or the prompter died).
As long as I’m on a roll, none of WLOS’s producers has “sat in the same seat for more than a decade.” (That could not even literally be true, since WLOS got all new furniture when we moved to the new building in 2001.) Probably the longest any current producer has been producing the same show would be about five years. Like in any business, as you get better, you move to higher profile shows (and like in any business, sometimes the job you’re doing has little to do with which show you’re assigned).
And unlike in many businesses, every one of your customers thinks he/she knows better than you how to do your job, and isn’t afraid to tell you, either to your face, over the phone, by email, and/or in a public forum. It’s pretty easy for me to prove I can’t necessarily scan and bag groceries as well as someone who does it every day. It’s not so easy to know whether Ash or any of the posters here could do any better when the lead story falls apart or the news director decides late in the day that the show should be put together in a different order or the live shot that was good when you checked it in the commercial break suddenly has no audio or any of the other things that can go wrong when human beings work with electronic equipment and with each other.
Sorry for the long post, Ash.
My reply
As always, we appreciate the inside view. What we’re asking is for local TV news to think better of itself and its viewers. To think beyond the soundbyte and the great video. To think that people value context and understanding as much as the sensational and the one-minute news story.
We also understand that it is easy to criticize. We at Ashvegas feel it is our right to do so, for a couple of reasons. First, because of the sheer power and influence the TV medium wields. It’s mighty, it should be respected and it should be used responsibly.
Also, we feel empowered to criticize in part because of the history of TV in this nation. The Big Three networks started broadcasting over government-owned (read that as, taxpayer-owned) airwaves. With that right, again, comes a tradition of meeting certain obligations, such as “equal-time” rules and rules about children’s programming and a bunch of other rules most people don’t even know.
Misson Accomplished Vegas…You have managed to ruffle some feathers. Good work.
Maybe we should listen to Former Producer and get a more Fox-like newscast going. Get a fancy ass star trek set, and dress the news crew like they just got off the plane from Miami. That way our news casts can be completly unlocal/unreal and just like the big markets.
Put the vegas in the ville…
Lets face it, if WLOS did not have HYMAN it would be bareable!
Now don’t get me wrong, I agree with much of what everyone is saying. There are plenty of advantages of working in a variety of very different markets. Trust me, I know. But Asheville is a special place. Its a place that focuses on the community, that focuses on the people here in the mountains, that tries to outreach their arms to everyone. And while WLOS does indeed often fall short of matching that same standard, they are trying. Former Producer, you say, “You guys have a formula that just doesn’t stand the test of time. Be willing to change.” I’ve lived here for several years now, and in that time, I have seen a huge change in not only the quality of coverage, but in what is being covered. Thats why WLOS is #2 in the market, yes, #2. And actually not far from knocking off all holy amazing WYFF othff their top spot. Yes, we say they dropped the ball with the FEMA story, becuase we, being educated persons, care about what happens in our government, and the rest of the country. But remember, 99% of this market is made up of mountain people who are more worried about making ends meet than about that giant fiery car crash in California. When they get home from the few factory jobs left in WNC, and turn on the 6:00 newscast, they care about the festival going on near their town, or the fact some little no name company is laying off workers, or how their donations to the red cross when they have nothing else is getting put to good use. Covering those stories is what I feel WLOS is trying their best to do. If you want FEMA, by all means, go to Channel 7 or Channel 4 and get your FEMA stories mixed in with other national crap you can just as easily read on a credible news website. And watch their little coverage of SC news.
Sorry, when I go on a rant, things might not make sense. I am willing to discuss this further.
Nice rant, but the point is simple. Exposure to other news work enviroments is important.
For example, a person who becomes city manager in a medium size city may be more effective after working in a small town. No one can deny depth, exposure, understanding an audience, and a little worldiness can go a long way. Also, sorry, but no matter how many different shows you may have produced it still means you’re still there in the same place. All the shows have looked the same for years. Just different faces. I now work as a producer in a larger market, I fell on my face when I got here. I had no idea how other newsrooms were run. Guess what, I learned from the people around me, and became a far better producer. Our shows are exciting and energetic and our product is solid. News-13’s is not. Period. You guys have a formula that just doesn’t stand the test of time. Be willing to change.