Lynn Walsh

A camera can capture great moments, making stories more interesting and realistic for viewers. But, video as a medium can also make a reporters job a little harder, especially if no one is talking to you.

As an investigative video journalist for Texas Watchdog, I run into this problem more often then I would like, but, along the way I have learned to prepare in advance for these situations. Whether it is a phone call that is never returned or an e-mail that goes without a reply, here are some tips on creating video elements even when people refuse to talk with you or are ignoring you.

1. Record all phone calls. I cannot stress this enough. While it may just be audio that is recording, it can quickly be turned into video using still images of the person you are calling or b-roll from a previous story. Just remember to begin recording as soon as you pick up the phone to dial. The sounds of the buttons dialing, the ringing on the other end of the call, the voicemail greeting of the person you are calling and the message or in most cases messages you leave are all important elements in the story. Whether it is used for nat sound at end or turns out to be the main SOT’s in your story, you will be better off with all of it than without it.

2. Put the camera on yourself. Instead of just telling your viewers you tried over and over again to get the answers. Show them. Set up a video camera and record yourself leaving the messages. Use these as Nat pops in the story or as major elements.

3. Use the e-mails. The same goes with e-mails. If you sent 50 different e-mails and never received a response, why not print them out and use them as b-roll or in a stand-up. You could also set up a camera and record yourself sending the e-mails from the beginning. Sometimes you know right away that you may not get a response other times you do not, but why not be prepared for it just in case?

4. Use the audio from the phone recordings. There are countless ways this can be done, but think of the impact it can have on a viewer or listener? You are not just telling them you called them, you can let them listen to the messages you left or the phone that just kept ringing and ringing. Sometimes you may leave a message with a secretary or assistant, include that, even if there was a conversation involved. In some cases, the conversation and the run-around that people in an office give you make the story even more interesting and can even become the story.

5. Bring the camera to them. Public officials attend a lot of public events and sometimes hold media time after certain meetings. Show up and ask the questions you want answered then. Just because it wasn’t on the agenda, doesn’t mean it cannot be asked while they are heading into or out of the meeting. If they do not answer or you have to follow them down a hallway with the camera because they will not stop, include that in the story. This shows viewers you tried to find out more and it provides more insight for the public into who the individual is.

In a newsroom the words “bad weather” often mean long hours, overtime and lots of live coverage. It is the sort of thing that as journalists we dread but can wind up loving.

For most of the country recently, “bad weather” has meant cold temperatures, snow and ice, which for many parts of the country is nothing new. But in other parts (like here in Houston, Texas, where I live) it’s an uncommon and unwelcome occurrence that shuts down cities and leave viewers and listeners glued to local weather coverage.

Being from the north and having previously worked for television stations in the State of Ohio winter weather and the stories it brings with it from icy roads to school closings are just part of the daily news rundown.

Anyone who has worked at a television station where snow and cold temperatures are the norm for parts of the year, would probably agree with me when I say it can get a little overdone. From the wall-to-wall coverage of “snowmageddon” to live newscasts that extend hours-beyond what is normally scheduled, weather stories eat up valuable story-telling time in newscasts.

How many stories can a viewer really consume and enjoy about the snowy road conditions, tips to prevent pipes from freezing and how to keep electric costs down? The coverage of winter weather becomes even less of a novelty when promised “10-12 inches” arrive in dustings of less than two.

So, you could imagine my reaction, when at 11 a.m. on a Friday morning, the local television news stations in Houston are still live on-air with wall-to-wall winter weather coverage — here we go again! (To set the stage: the promise of snow in Houston did not turn into much more than some icy roads for most of the city, except in the outlining areas where there was some accumulation, but nothing that came above your tennis shoes.)

The stations were doing the usual cold weather coverage: roads, ice, cold temperatures. After watching the live coverage continue in dismay, I noticed that not only did I need to reconsider my initial negative reaction but that the people around me, Houstonians, actually were getting into the coverage.

At the gym, people could not take their eyes off of the televisions — some were even stopping their cardio routine to get closer to the screen to listen. Not only were they listening, but they seemed genuinely entertained and interested in what the reporters and the anchors were talking about: ice, cold temperatures and some snow.

I was shocked! Until I remembered, I am not in Ohio anymore. I am in Texas where winter weather is not common, where people may not have experience scraping ice from their cars or driving through snow.

This is when it hit me, unusual weather, like temperatures in the 20′s in February in Houston, is something people are interested in. Having to walk on icy sidewalks and even bundling up to wait for the bus stops are not tasks that come as second nature to them.

The non-stop local news coverage of weather that can be overdone and exaggerated in many markets, was in this case warranted and it seems well received.

Writing for the web. It’s not TV, it’s not newspaper, it’s not magazine and it’s not radio – it’s all four!

Online journalism combines video, audio and writing into one medium providing endless storytelling possibilities for journalists and a more enjoyable experience for the audience. However, with more media platforms comes more information and more sources, making it harder for your story to get clicked on.

And just copying your newspaper story or the script from your television package and pasting it on a web page is not going to cut it. Audiences read news online differently.

Scanning not reading. As interesting as you think your article is, if it online people are probably not reading it word for word. They are scanning and trying to absorb as much information as possible before moving on to the next thing.

Searching for something. The internet is not the Sunday paper. Readers tend not to scroll through every word or story until something catches their eye. Most of the time they already know what they are looking for and if it’s not what they are looking for they will not stay long!

More impatient. With so much information online people aren’t spending valuable time searching a page for what they are looking for. If they do not see it right away they will most likely go to the next search result.

Most likely multi-tasking. When is the last time you only had one internet browser open? Well, you are not alone. People enjoy the internet because it is fast and provides opportunities for doing many things at once — reading news is not an exception.

From writing the story to sharing it on social media sites, here are some tips to make sure your story doesn’t get lost in the online universe or worse yet buried on page four of a Google search result page.

1. Keep it short and sweet. Keep sentences short. Omit unnecessary words. Only include one idea per paragraph. Keep paragraphs short: tell the reader to “read me.”

2. Subheads are key. Remember readers are scanning — make it easy for them! Use subheads to show them where to go in the story. Use keywords that make sense in the subhead titles.

3. Lists and bullets are your friend. Use whenever possible! It makes keywords stick out.

– It breaks up content
– It looks more readable
– It seems more manageable

That reads better than: “It breaks up the content, it looks more readable and it seems more manageable.”

4. Be conversational. Use active words. Actually talk to the reader. This is a lot more like broadcast writing style then print. Use words like “you” and “we.” Use words that people know — even if spellcheck says they don’t exist!

5. Remember the inverted pyramid. Keep the most important information up top, but do it because it is important not because of space issues. On the internet you have as much space as you need — use lists and subheads to highlight that information up top, then go into more detail.

6. Links are crucial. They provide readers with more information. They can help move your article up in searches (if the links work). They also make certain words stand out to readers.

7. Bold, italicize, uppercase. In lists, in paragraphs and in subheads. Be careful to not do it to much though — it can look messy. (Also, always be sure to check with your news organizations policy on this!)

8. Be direct. Web readers are there for information — GIVE IT TO THEM! Do not dance around the subject.

Once the story is written it is time to share the link. From Facebook to Twitter and every site in between, how you share a story can really make a difference.

Always include a link. If a story can be told without a link in less than 140 characters, then why write a story at all. If you don’t have a link people don’t know where to go!

Don’t just re-type the headline. People have most likely already seen the headline from your news organizations account. Re-write it. Don’t be redundant.

Try asking questions. Instead of boring statements, why not raise questions? Social media is supposed to be social — start the conversation!

Engage and grab their attention. Be personal. Tell them why this is worth reading. Make it interesting. Even if it is one or two small facts you are pulling from the article, highlight what is interesting and different because most likely there will be several other news articles on the same story for them to read.

Type how you search. What would you type into Google to find the story? Use those keywords in social media posts.

Everyone has been there and if you haven’t yet, don’t worry, I am sure it will happen sometime.

Covering public meetings, whether it is the school board or city council can sometimes mean long hours and lots of discussion. From comments from the public to back-and-forth-discussion from board members, controversial issues may keep you tied up in a meeting for hours.

Before you get discouraged or begin dreading it, here are some tips to make the experience more enjoyable for yourself and more importantly the coverage better for your community.

1. Consider LIVE coverage. If you are tasked with needing to constantly update a blog, social media account, etc. you will be less likely to zone-out. Recommend that your station add some kind of live reporting component to your coverage of the meeting. Whether it is live Tweeting, live blogging or live streaming on the internet, they can add to your overall coverage of the event, be informative to those following you and keep you sane. Be sure to advertise that you will be doing this so people can join in on the conversation.

2. Build sources. Every meeting has its down time. Whether it is the repetitive comments from board members or presentations that last longer than they should, there are plenty of times that you can step out for a few minutes and not miss out from what is happening. Use this to your advantage by talking to people in the crowd, introducing yourself to the influential members of the community there, local lawmakers, etc. It is a great opportunity to take a quick break from the meeting while networking for future stories.

3. Be prepared mentally. Be sure you have an understanding of the agenda and how the meeting will take place. Ask questions about agenda items or proposals beforehand so you know what people are talking about and are not confused. Make sure you are clear to your editors and producers that the meeting may last a long time, the more you tell them the better. Also, make sure to do that with personal obligations as well. Don’t try to squeeze in a dinner meeting with an old friend the same night, it will just add stress and make you more impatient!

4. Bring needed resources. Electronics are great but without charged batteries they are not very useful. Make sure you have your phone, computer, camera, recorder, etc charged beforehand and be sure to bring extra batteries and even power chords to charge them in case the meeting lasts longer than your battery. Print-out agendas and/or proposals as well if that will make it easier for you to follow along.

5. Work other leads/stories. Your news director may have sent you for one piece of the meeting (and of course it will be the last thing discussed) but do not ignore the rest of the conversation. While public meetings may not be the most entertaining they can provide a lot of insight for future stories. Listen to what board members are talking about and pay attention to what is not being said. Sometimes details like dates, dollar amounts, companies may be left out — those can be great follow-up stories for you and sometimes take just a few phone calls to get the information.

6. Be prepared physically. Be sure to eat. This may sound silly, but believe me trying to cover a meeting hungry is no fun! If you think the meeting is going to last late into the evening, eat a late lunch, snack on something right before the meeting, etc. If the building allows you to bring in food, bring some snacks to eat. The same goes for sleep. Make sure you are prepared and ready to stay up late for the meeting and even later to publish the story.

By Lynn Walsh, Texas Watchdog & RTDNA Blogger

Whether it is online, on the radio or on TV every story we report happens somewhere. For many the “where” part of that is very important.

As reporters we are traveling in and out of neighborhoods in our communities every day. We become familiar with places and neighborhoods more than most do just living in them. Sometimes, I think, that the familiarity we gain as reporters, editors or photographers can be taken for granted as we write, produce and tell our stories.

We tell the stories and may forget to include our location or just include it with a lower-third or caption in a picture. While the location is there, it is not always the most helpful. Here are some ways we as reporters can better include location in our stories.

1. Create and publish maps. Whether you are talking about a school that may be closed or a big event take the time to create a map, especially if there are multiple points involved. Google Maps, makes it very easy to create maps that can be linked to and embedded in stories. You can add all sort of information to the map including pictures and links to other stories about the points.

2. Improve stand-up locations. Don’t just stand in front of City Hall to talk about something city council members are voting on. Go to the location of the what is being affected. Think of where people being affected live or hang out and go there. This goes for lots of stories we cover, think outside the box and head to areas where people are instead of buildings.

3. Show distance. Showing someone a map of the locations is helpful, but why not take it one step further? See how far the points are from one another or from popular destinations in your community. Look at driving distance, walking distance and even public transportation distances. You could even look at radius of distances and more. You can also use your stand-ups or video stories to demonstrate distance.

4. Include neighborhood names. This may sound basic, but it can be helpful to people who live in your community. Include the names that they are using and add descriptions that tell which part of the city it is too.

The Houston school system will spend more than $10 million this year providing extra support and resources for schools with low enrollment — funding that has come under recent scrutiny by administrators and trustees, leading to discussions of possible closures and consolidations.

No final decisions have been made about the future of these schools, and HISD trustees will have the final say, according to HISD Superintendent Terry Grier.

It “very well could mean closing schools, but that’s a board decision,” Grier said in December. “We want to talk to the board about options and see what they have to say.”

Nearly 90 schools in the in the Houston Independent School District receive a “small school subsidy,” a chunk of money HISD gives to schools with few students so those campuses can provide the same resources as larger schools.

In December, HISD released a list of 66 “small schools” that it considers under-enrolled. The list of 66 included nine high schools that serve less than 1,250 students (including Houston’s two oldest high schools for African-Americans, Yates and Wheatley), 15 middle schools with less than 750 students, 15 elementaries with less than 500 students and seven multilevel schools (including K-7 and K-8 facilities) serving less than 750 students.

View Houston’s ‘small schools’ in a larger map

The schools on the list of 66 serve less students than what HISD and some district trustees say is needed to run a school economically.

A majority of the 66 schools also receive the small school subsidy, which is one of four pots of individual school funding the district is looking at closely as HISD braces itself for cuts of up to $348 million from the state.

Texas Watchdog has created an interactive map that shows which schools are on the list of 66 and which schools receive the “small school subsidy” but are not on the list of 66.

The schools with red icons on the map are on HISD’s list of 66. The schools with yellow icons are expected to receive a small school subsidy from the district this year, according to HISD documents, but are not included in the list of 66.

The map also includes enrollment figures, state performance ratings, demographic breakdowns and “small school subsidy” funding amounts.

As Texas Watchdog previously reported, the discussion of whether to keep the small schools open isn’t just about money. It’s also about Houston’s complex racial politics and changing demographics.

Close to half of the schools receiving additional funding because of low enrollment numbers have student bodies in which three kids out of four are black, or three kids out of four are Hispanic, HISD records show. A dozen of the schools are at least 90% black or at least 90% Hispanic. At one school, Sherman Elementary in the city’s Fifth Ward, 99% of the student body is Hispanic.

A school must fall below certain enrollment numbers to qualify for the “small school subsidy.” For an elementary school in HISD it is 500 or fewer, for a middle school it is 750 and for a high school it is 1,000 or fewer.

The map includes “small school subsidy” amounts for schools in October and December based on enrollment figures at those times. The final school enrollment numbers used to determine each campus’ funding were not complete for the 2010-11 school year until mid-November, HISD Chief Financial Officer Melinda Garrett said.

Due to enrollment changes, some campuses, like Kelso Elementary near Sunnyside in Houston, received small school funding in October but not in December, and others, like Briscoe Elementary in the Lawndale/Wayside area of Houston, which are now receiving small school funding but were not in October.

The Houston school district says it won’t use a proposed centralized lottery admission process for magnet programs as a way to force kids into schools with too few students — but some parents say they’re still worried that will happen.

As the review of the Houston Independent School District’s 113 magnet programs continues, parent leaders from across the district gathered Tuesday to hear how one North Carolina school district uses a lottery system.

Houston school officials say a centralized lottery would provide an equal opportunity for all students. They say a lottery would be much more fair than the system the district uses now, in which students apply to individual schools — some of which, data show, accept all their applicants, while some others are more selective.

But the potential revamp of HISD’s magnet program is coming at a time when the school system is also considering the future of dozens of schools it says have too few students to be run economically. The debate over “right-sizing” could lead to some of the “small schools” — some of which also have magnet programs — being closed or consolidated.

To show the overlap between the two issues — magnet programs and small schools — Texas Watchdog has created a map that shows all the HISD schools in the two discussions. Red balloons show the magnet programs that outside consultants have recommended for closure, while green balloons show which magnets are recommended to be left open. The map also uses red squares to show the 66 small schools that could be closed or consolidated, and green squares show which schools receive extra funding for being “small” but which are not on HISD’s list of 66. (Story continues below map)

View full map

Less than 15 small schools have magnet programs that have been recommended for closure. More than 40 magnet programs at non-small schools have been recommended to be done away with.

The magnet programs in the Wake County, N.C., schools have always used a centralized lottery process, consultant Ramey Beavers told the parent group Tuesday, and re-populating under-enrolled schools is one of the main reasons the North Carolina district started magnet programs.

Rhonda Jones and some other HISD parents at the meeting Tuesday are afraid HISD is trying to do the same thing.

If Jones’ son doesn’t get picked in the lottery, “we are forcing this gifted child to re-populate this under-populated building,” Jones said. “This is what the lottery and magnets were used for in Wake County, and if that is what we are doing here, then we need to say that. If we are not, then we do not need to use a centralized lottery. I do not live by a reputable school, and this would directly affect me and my gifted child.”

HISD says that is not the case.

“We want to provide every child with equal access to great schools,” said Lupita Hinojosa, the head of the district’s magnet programs. “We can do that through a centralized lottery that is shaped by what we want and value in HISD.”

One of the major concerns the school district heard in a recent outside review of its magnet programs “was that not all students have equal access to the best schools in this district,” Hinojosa said, and a lottery would provide equal access.

But some parents said it would be unfair for the decision of whether their child gets into a magnet program to be left up to a drawing done by a computer and not by a person.

“The issue of cheating and gaming the system is a management problem that isn’t solved through a lottery system,” said HISD parent Mary Nesbit, parent of a Kolter Elementary student. “It seems to me that cheating and gaming the system is the issue, and I think (Superintendent Terry) Grier can address that.”

A centralized lottery “will reduce my gifted child’s choice to a computer,” Jones said. Her son attends Oak Forest Elementary in northwest Houston. “That is not acceptable for my child.”

HISD brought in Ramey and another consultant with experience with Wake County’s magnet programs, Caroline Masengill, for the Tuesday discussion.

Masengill is also a former president of and consultant for the nonprofit Magnet Schools of America, the same group that conducted HISD’s magnet review. The school system has paid her more than $13,000 since February 2010, according to the district’s online check register.

HISD Chief of Staff Michele Pola said Masengill’s consulting work was related to the federal magnet grant the district won this school year. Pola said she was not aware that Masengill was a consultant for MSA, and said her work for the group has nothing to do with being hired as a consultant for the meeting.

“Caroline has been across the country working with magnets,” Pola said. “They were available, and she has extensive experience.”

HISD trustees are expected to see a more detailed proposal of the magnet recommendations during a Thursday night board meeting. Trustees will also hear updates on the 2011-12 district budget and the school closure policy.

***

Texas Watchdog is covering the InterWebs today — through video and audio — to bring you information about government transparency.

Earlier today we aired our latest episode of TrentTV, our free monthly webinar on using open government laws. Our topic today was getting information from the military.

TrentTV Webinar on getting information from the U.S. military from Texas Watchdog on Vimeo.

TrentTV on military records from Texas Watchdog on Vimeo.

We’ve embedded the video on this page, and it’s also available on both Livestream.com and Vimeo.com. (Special thanks to Mark Greenblatt of KHOU-Channel 11 for passing along his advice on the topic.)

Among the points we made in our hour-long broadcast, we talked about how to use the federal Freedom of Information Act to seek records from the federal Defense Department and the challenges that can present. We talked about how to confirm someone’s military service or record as a war hero. We discussed military procurement and contracting; military courts and the access challenges they pose; trying to find out about wrecks, crashes and accidents; and records involving the National Guard, among other topics.

Tune in to TrentTV the fourth Tuesday of every month. We discuss open government in a format aimed at journalists, bloggers, citizen-journalists, non-journalists and just about everyone who wants to keep up with what government is doing.

And this afternoon, we aired our latest episode of Transparency Talk Radio, our weekly podcast/live Internet radio show on government transparency.

We had a great interview today with Edwin Bender, executive director of the National Institute on Money in State Politics, the people who put on the FollowTheMoney.org site that we reference quite a bit here at Texas Watchdog. He talked about campaign finance, transparency, data and all the cool features on their site.

Listen to internet radio with JenniferLPeebles on Blog Talk Radio
Check out our show blog at BlogTalkRadio.com for hyperlinks to all the sites referenced on today’s podcast episode.

You can listen to the podcast on your PC, either directly through your browser at BlogTalkRadio.com or via iTunes, or you can use iTunes to download the audio to your iPod.

While you’re at BlogTalkRadio.com, you can also listen to some of our previous episodes. We’ve done interviews with Laura Frank of Colorado’s INewsNetwork.org about open government and e-waste, Keith Elkins of the Freedom of Information Foundation of Texas, and Kristin McMurray, senior editor of the FOIA-focused wiki Sunshine Review.