Design Prospectus
Proposed Artifact
For this project, I plan to use my background as a reporter to create a visual story known in the television industry as a package. This will be a story told through video and images and will use interviews with experts to share different perspectives on this topic. The overall benefit of a video package is to provide an audience with information from different perspectives on a topic to allow them to formulate an opinion on the information at hand. Because of this, the goal is to bring in experts or sources on all different sides of the topic to give their arguments. This way it does not feel as though the story is one-sided or biased in any sense.
Process
My plan for this package is to first start by identifying experts in both the television news industry and the social media news industry. I will also look to find experts who work in a combination of both. These experts will be my sources who I will interview regarding their experience in the industry. I have already identified several experts who would be willing to do interviews with me as part of my project.
From there I will conduct the interviews with a list of questions so as to give each interviewee an equal opportunity to respond to the topic. The interviews will be conducted either in-person or over zoom due to some of the sources being in different locations. After I interview each person I will take time to write out their responses to my questions-- otherwise known as transcribing. With all of the information laid out in front of me, I will begin to pick responses that I believe paint a complete picture of the topic at hand.
While it might seem biased to personally pick and choose which sound bites to use from the interviews, it is a common practice used in journalism to keep the stories succinct while also painting a direct picture of the story. Once I have chosen the sound bites I will write a script to provide context to their statements. This provides the foundation for the story and from here I add related video and images to provide additional context. The package should be less than three minutes and provide a clear picture of my topic and perspectives from people who work in the industry.
Participants
In an effort to include participants with various perspectives on these topics, I will be looking to interview several different experts in the television news industry. Here is a breakdown of my interviewees:
Guy Tannenbaum: Breaking News Reporter, KHQ
Guy is a breaking news reporter in Spokane. His job is to go out to breaking news events, such as fires or shootings, and report from the scene with information provided by police and fire personnel. This provides a perspective from someone who works in breaking news situations while managing his social media presence for the station as well.
Kelly Hatmaker: Director of News/Streaming, KHQ
Kelly is a manager, with decades of experience in the journalism industry. He is also at the forefront of the transition to digital media and streaming services through broadcasting.
Nathan Tannenbaum: Weather Anchor, 8 News Now Las Vegas
Nate is a veteran TV personality who has been broadcasting news on both television and radio for nearly two decades. His vast experience in the industry gives him a unique perspective into the evolution of media and how social media has impacted the way news is reported and consumed.
Alex Peebles: Investigative Reporter, KHQ
Alex works on stories that take much longer to produce, gathering more information. He is not as constrained by daily deadlines like other reporters, but still is expected to push the information for his story out on social media.
Colette Buck: TV Show Producer, 6:30 Show with Sean Owsley
Colette produces a political/economic-focused news show which deals with topics of high importance. This means the need for high journalistic standards is very important and something she focuses heavily on through her work.
Context
While it would be ideal to conduct the interviews in-person, in an effort to spread out my sources beyond just one market I will likely be conducting my interviews through zoom. This will allow me to interview sources from different markets that are able to bring in unique perspectives. This package is not intended to focus on how the rise in social media is impacting news specifically in one place, but rather the industry as a whole.
Package Script
This script is written in broadcasting format and uses industry terms as guidance. This script uses the same format you would see from a package airing on television. Lower case words indicate an interview subject speaking. All caps indicates where I, the narrator, speak. Sots indicate when a soundbite is starting in the package.
{***PKG***}
{***SOTSTRING***}
(Kelly Hatmaker)
<we can’t survive unless we figure this out>
(Guy Tannenbaum)
<one of the first things I do when I wake up is check Twitter and see what’s trending>
(Nate Tannenbaum)
<consumers are not just sitting in front of the TV anymore>
(Alex Peebles)
<in the next 20 years, everything is going to be on social media, everything>
IN 1940… LOWELL THOMAS HOSTED THE FIRST EVER TELEVISION NEWS BROADCAST… WHICH WAS A SIMULCAST OF HIS RADIO SHOW AIRING ON NBC.
FOR ROUGHLY 60 YEARS… THE TELEVISION NEWS INDUSTRY WORKED AS A CONSTANT.
THE VOICE OF THE COMMUNITY… BROADCASTING ACROSS THE COUNTRY… IN DOZENS OF MARKETS… TO MILLIONS OF PEOPLE.
BUT IN JUST THE LAST 2O YEARS… EVERYTHING WE KNEW ABOUT THE TRADITIONAL NEWS INDUSTRY IS CHANGING.
{***SOT***} (Nate T)
<at one particular station where I was working in the mid-2000’s– I believe this would have been 2006 or 2007– they put out an email to the staff saying ‘hey, if we catch you with your cellphone in the studio during a newscast you may be subject to disciplinary action because you’re supposed to focus on your job. But it wasn’t too much longer after that that a new email came out that said ‘hey, if you don’t have your cellphone in the studio while you’re on the air you may be subject to disciplinary action because you need to tweet tweet tweet tweet tweet.’>
NATHAN TANNENBAUM IS A VETERAN NEWS ANCHOR WORKING AT 8 NEWS NOW IN LAS VEGAS NEVADA.
HE’S ALSO WITNESSED FIRSTHAND THE CHANGES THAT SOCIAL MEDIA HAS BROUGHT TO THE NEWS INDUSTRY SINCE ITS BEGINNING DEVELOPMENTS.
{***SOT***} (Nate T)
<it was like a 180 turnaround when cell phones and texting were initially, in my experience where I was working, seen as an annoyance and a distraction and could get you in trouble. And then all of a sudden it became– woah, this is something we have to do and you better get your butt on it>
SO WHAT CAUSED THIS SEISMIC SHIFT IN HOW WE REPORT THE NEWS? WAS IT EVEN NECESSARY?
KELLY HATMAKER… ASSISTANT NEWS DIRECTOR FOR FOX 13 IN SEATTLE… HAS ALSO WITNESSED THE RISE IN SOCIAL MEDIA OVER THE PAST TWO DECADES… AND SAYS THAT SOCIAL MEDIA HAS THE ABILITY TO COMPLETELY CHANGE AN AUDIENCE… WHICH IS WHAT MAKES IT SO EFFECTIVE.
{***SOT***} (Kelly H)
<broadcast news is extraordinarily profitable, newspapers before that were extraordinarily profitable because there was no other way to get to an audience. And in some ways that’s still the case, however, almost as soon as the lights turned on, social media and web started to nibble away at what we were doing.>
SINCE THEN… IT HAS BECOME ADAPT OR DIE FOR NEARLY EVERY TRADITIONAL NEWS STATION.
SOCIAL MEDIA AS A PLATFORM… AS A MEDIUM… HAS ENABLED REPORTERS TO SHARE INFORMATION IN REAL TIME… WHICH USED TO BE IMPOSSIBLE WHEN REPORTERS WERE FORCED TO WAIT TO PUBLISH THEIR STORIES UNTIL THE 5 OR 6 O’CLOCK NEWSCASTS.
CANADIAN PHILOSOPHER MARSHALL MCLUHAN HELPED BUILD THE THEORY OF MEDIA ECOLOGY… STUDYING THIS VERY TOPIC.
MCLUHAN BELIEVED THAT THE MEDIUM OF MEDIA… OR IN THIS CASE THE PLATFORM… DETERMINED HOW THE AUDIENCE CONSUMED THE MESSAGE.
TODAY… SOCIAL MEDIA HAS CREATED A MEDIUM TO REACH NEW AUDIENCES WITH THE SAME MESSAGE THAT IS BEING SHARED ON THE TELEVISION SCREEN… BUT IN THIS CASE… THE SOCIAL MEDIA PLATFORM HAS CREATED A NEW SET OF EXPECTATIONS FOR THE AUDIENCE THAT TELEVISION CAN NO LONGER PROVIDE.
{***SOT***} (Kelly H)
<people can not wait any longer. The web has changed our attention span and our idea of what’s acceptable for delivery.>
AS THE AUDIENCE ON SOCIAL MEDIA EXPANDS… SO DOES THE NEED FOR REPORTERS TO BE ACTIVE ON THE PLATFORM
AFTER ALL… THE JOB IS TO KEEP THE COMMUNITY INFORMED… AND SOCIAL MEDIA PROVIDES A MEDIUM TO DO JUST THAT.
{***SOT***} (Guy T)
<if social media and updating the public on what you’re working on and what’s going on in their neck of the woods isn’t included in your workflow, you’re doing yourself and the public a disservice>
GUY TANNENBAUM IS A BREAKING NEWS REPORTER AT KHQ LOCAL NEWS IN SPOKANE WASHINGTON… AND A MAIN PART OF HIS JOB IS TO POST NEWS UPDATES ON SOCIAL MEDIA TO HELP KEEP THE COMMUNITY INFORMED.
{***SOT***} (Guy T)
<people see police activity or they see traffic backed up or they see fire or they see smoke. They instantly reach out to us to want to know what’s going on. So I feel like it’s personally my duty to try and keep people as up-to-date as I possibly can and now you can post videos you can post Tweets, you can post up to the minute information on social media which is a tool that we didn’t have not even 10 years ago>
IN ADDITION… THE VALUE OF SOCIAL MEDIA GOES BEYOND JUST TIMELY INFORMATION.
IT ALLOWS REPORTERS AND JOURNALISTS TO HAVE ACCESS TO COMMUNITIES THAT HAVE BEEN HISTORICALLY OVERLOOKED AND UNDERVALUED IN TRADITIONAL BROADCASTING.
{***SOT***} (Colette B)
<there’s something called movement journalism, and it really centers around reporting issues in communities that are usually overlooked in their own voice. You know you’re talking about immigration, you are talking about the things people experiencing homelessness go through. That’s kind of an offshoot that was able to come about because of social media and because of connecting and activism.>
AND AS PEOPLE'S ACCESS TO INTERNET AND SOCIAL MEDIA GROWS… SO TOO GROWS THE NEED TO EXPAND OUR HORIZONS AS JOURNALISTS… AND COVER ISSUES IN VARIOUS DIFFERENT CONTEXTS.
{***SOT***} (Colette B)
<the race and the ethnicity in the communities in our country are shifting rapidly so if we are not focused on reporting for every group, and fairly reporting for every group, we’re going to be abandoning our duty>
BUT LIKE NEARLY EVERY TOOL THAT MAKES OUR LIFE EASIER… IT COMES AT A COST.
AND IN MANY CASES… SOCIAL MEDIA GIVES PEOPLE THE UNFILTERED POWER TO DO JUST THAT.
{***SOT***} (Kelly H)
<my ability to tell news is that I’m deliberate– I’m fast still– but I’m very deliberate. I try to vet my sources, I double check my facts, I question the facts as I get them, I have the time and the training to really go out in the story. Social media now as I’ve seen it evolve, that’s not been the case>
THE PROBLEM NOW IS THAT ANYONE WITH AN INTERNET SIGNAL AND A PHONE IN THEIR POCKET HAS THE ABILITY TO *REPORT THE NEWS
AND IN MANY WAYS THAT CAN BE HELPFUL WHEN BUILDING DIALOGUE AROUND CERTAIN ISSUES OR EVENTS… BUT IT ALSO BUILDS AN ENVIRONMENT FOR MISINFORMATION THAT CAN SPREAD LIKE WILDFIRE ACROSS THE MEDIA LANDSCAPE.
{***SOTSTRING***}
(Alex P)
<you have to have that curiosity to say ‘okay, this is what they’re saying, that’s crazy. Let me see what other sources are saying’>
(Guy T)
<we’re taught how to do this, we’re taught how to vet sources, taught how to vet information, and there’s a reason why we don’t just report every single thing that we hear from John Q Public walking by a breaking news scene.>
SO WHAT DOES ALL OF THIS MEAN FOR THE INDUSTRY? WHERE WILL WE GET OUR NEWS IN THE FUTURE AND WHAT WILL THAT NEWS LOOK LIKE?
THE UNFORTUNATE ANSWER IS… WELL, WE DON’T KNOW. AT LEAST NOT EXACTLY.
BUT WHAT WE DO KNOW IS THAT PEOPLE WILL ALWAYS HAVE THE INHERENT DESIRE TO BE INFORMED.
NEWS ISN’T GOING ANYWHERE. IT’S JUST GOING TO LOOK A LOT DIFFERENT.
{***SOT***} (Kelly H)
<I think it comes down to stories. Content is king. It doesn’t make a difference how we see it, how we download it, how it’s plugged into our brains, we want to know more. And I think that no matter what we do, we have to remember that broadcast journalism, no matter if its broadcasted over the air, online, on social– it’s all broadcast– broadcast journalism is two things. It’s broadcasts and journalism. You don’t get to journalism without the broadcast. Whatever the change is going to be, we have to remember it has to be consumable. Either readable, clickable, or watchable.>
REPORTING FOR THE COMMUNICATION AND LEADERSHIP CAPSTONE PROJECT… CHRISTIAN SAEZ… GONZAGA UNIVERSITY.