Paul D. Shinkman, wtop.com
WASHINGTON – Some broadcasters have it, others don’t.
The pipes of Tom Brokaw, the smarts of Edward R. Murrow and the gumption of Christiane Amanpour won’t save even the best live anchor if he isn’t prepared for the worst.
“We are having…what we, in the business…call ‘technical…time,'” fumbles news anchor Will Ferrell in an infamous comedy sketch. His panic quickly devolves into a murderous rage in this rendering of a production crew without solutions.
While it might not end up that badly in real life, an on-air flub can still lead to devastating consequences. Two important lessons rise above all others: Be prepared, be honest.
“Don’t ever try to hide from the audience when something goes wrong,” says WTOP anchor Dimitri Sotis.
“You don’t necessarily have to reveal all the bad points of your day, but if something is obviously wrong, it humanizes things. It brings you closer to your audience to reveal what just happened.”
Sotis recounts one incident about a decade ago, when protesters flocked to the World Bank and International Monetary Fund buildings (pre-Occupy). He and the WTOP production crew lined up a series of three reporters placed strategically around town to create a back-to-back “beautiful package” of information to listeners.
When it came time to cut to the field, reporter one wasn’t there. Reporter two wasn’t there. Reporter three wasn’t there. Fortunately, Sotis turned to a live television feed, and notes he had prepared earlier in the day, to inform listeners about the situation.
“It’s unrealistic in any kind of high-wire act situation without a net — which is exactly what live broadcasting is — to expect everything is going to go smoothly every time,” he says. “Give a little thought, if you have time, to what you’re going to do if something goes wrong.”
This kind of steely preparation was demonstrated beautifully earlier this week when Brian Williams, one of Sotis’ role models and host of NBC’s new magazine news show “Rock Center,” breezed right through a fire alarm in the middle of a segment.
Check out the anchor at work:
An on-air slip also might provide a gentle reminder that this isn’t for you.
Mike Gartell, wtop.com digital news director, was once a young journalism student (really?) at the University of Maryland and served as an anchor on Terp TV.
While filling in for a sports anchor, Gartell noticed the teleprompter beginning to fail, and realized he hadn’t prepared handwritten notes or a backup plan.
“Papers were flying everywhere. I had no idea where I was,” he recounts. “I just said ‘Terps!’ and passed it back to the lead anchor.”
“I sort of saved it with some funniness at the end, but it was a complete catastrophe.”
Gartell cautions about relying on technology — a good lesson for all mediums.
“You can get burned,” he says.
With that in mind, despite the “digital age,” he sees a distant future where live broadcasters still have paper scripts as a backup.
“I wish I’d learned earlier that broadcast was not my forte. Perhaps if I killed that sportscast…my whole life would be different,” he says.
“Look at where I am now (gestures to WTOP Web desk). You can’t do any better than this.”
Agreed.
For complete tips on what not to do, consult this video:
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(Copyright 2011 by WTOP. All Rights Reserved.)