(TALENT) The Highs & Lows Of Breaking News

3-6-2014

"Trust but verify," Ronald Regan once said.

Those words never rang more true than in covering breaking news. The chaos and confusion surrounding a breaking news story is inherent; it's the very DNA of any such event. Misinformation is flying, facts are sometimes forfeited, and being first becomes first and foremost. It's not only a producer (and host's) job to ensure what they are reporting is factual, it's their responsibility. It is their responsibility to their brand, to the station they serve and, most importantly, to their listeners.

As most of you know, Southern California recently had the nation's eyes and ears focused on the region with the Christopher Dorner "cop killer" story. It's a tragic story no doubt. But in the news/talk business it was also a great story that had legs. Every day we would hope for and wonder if the story would break wide-open during our show. And when it did, the chase was on... for all involved. Every media outlet was on a mission to find out all they could and "bring it to you live with the very latest." 

Now, I'm no novice at covering breaking news. I?ve covered everything from the BP oil spill to the Japanese earthquake and tsunami to the Seal Beach massacre, to name only a few. And without fail or fumble I always managed to do a good day's work.

But in this most recent case I made a cringe-worthy and rather rookie move that should remind us all to never get too comfortable or too caught up in being the first -- not before being the best.

From the very beginning when the story broke, our listeners in Big Bear were on it! They were eyewitnesses to what was happening and they were able to report to us what was going on before anyone else. Most of the media had packed up a couple of days before as it was now thought (and being reported on) that Dorner may have fled to Mexico.

So when Dormer was spotted and the police chase was on, we knew before almost anyone else. Their reports time and again were proven to be true and accurate. We came to rely on the eyewitness first-hand accounts for much of the early reporting while our reporter was en route. It was great radio in the making! 

One of the more gripping pieces to this story was audio of the shootout caught by a CBS news reporter. It was being picked up everywhere and played repeatedly. So when a listener sent in some "fresh" and what was labeled as "never-before heard" police scanner audio that was even more gripping, I thought we were on to something. I listened to the audio no less than thee times and I was riveted.

This was good stuff. Compelling, and, even better, it had news value -- or so I thought, because it revealed clues not yet being reported. I told my host I had some unbelievable tape we needed to play -- now! And so we did... We no sooner finish the shocking 1:30 of audio and begin to offer analysis on the new clues revealed when my news department broke in and told us that what we had just played was scanner tape from the infamous 1994 Northridge Bank of America shootout. "Are you !!*?? kidding me!?"  Say it isn't so.

Now some of you might think ?what's the big deal.? Accidents happen. After all, didn't you hear about what happened over at Channel 9 with the Howard Stern prank? But that would be missing the point.

It's incumbent upon us as broadcasters to first get the story right. For, in the end, no one remembers who got it first but they always remember who got it wrong.

As for my rookie move, it could have been avoided by adhering to rule #1 in our business: verify the source. I had never heard the now infamous Northridge scanner tape. But everyone else sure had, as noted by the endless calls flying in and social media ripping me a new one. If I had played it for just one or two others or reached out to my law enforcement partners, it would have never happened.

And in the end, it shouldn't have happened. Period. It made all of us look less than on top of our game. Fortunately, I have a forgiving PD and host and I also know how to forgive myself.

The highs of producing breaking news are indeed fulfilling. But the lows can be painful.

No doubt a damn good producer gets it right and gets it first. And when you do there is no greater feeling. You are reminded why you love this business! But in the end it's only worth it when you get it right. Not hard to do when you follow a simple rule: trust but verify.

Brian Holt is an RLC Talent Coach and Executive Producer for KFI/Los Angeles.
Photo credit: kfiam640.com

Add a Comment Send This Story To A Friend

View the original article here

Breaking Down Radio's Top Revenue Generators

4-13-2012

The big money in yesterday's BIA report was dominated by Hubbard, CBS and Clear Channel. In all, the highest billing stations for 2011 generated $477 million, which was an increase over 2010 of $32 million. CBS owns half the signals in the top ten, Clear Channel had four and Hubbard had one, the top biller, all-news WTOP. Of the $477 million, CBS had nearly half that revenue with $220 million with WBBM-AM in Chicago ($48.1) and WCBS-AM in New York ($47.5) neck and neck. Clear Channel's KIIS-FM increased revenue by $14 million according to BIA going from $43 to $57 million. The biggest drop goes to KROQ, a CBS owned alternative station in LA, which was down $3 million.

Add a Comment Send This Story To A Friend

View the original article here

SALES - Breaking Old Habits

12-12-11

With 2011 drawing to a close, I like to do an inventory and take out the old and bring in the new which translates to setting goals for the upcoming year. I have had an affinity for sports since childhood. I often use the correlation between sports and sales in my training. I have observed that there is not much difference in the way the best athletes prepare to win, and the way the super achievers in sales become successful. The little things are the primary difference between a good and a great athlete. The same holds true for sales professionals.

I recently ran across the following article on Aaron Rogers who is the quarterback for the world champion Green Bay Packers. The article emphasizes what I feel are some of the correlations between sports and sales. After reading the article, I know why Rogers is the best at his profession. He was interviewed by David Fleming of ESPN?s The Magazine. I will highlight Mr. Rogers? responses to Fleming?s questions and make the translation to sales and career success. I think Rogers is a sales person, also!
Fleming: Jim Zorn once told me that each year a quarterback's motion should become simpler, shorter and smoother. Is that happening with you?

Rogers: When I first got into the league, I held the ball really high. That was the standard in college, and it messed up my timing a little bit -- the draw, bringing it back, then the release. Even in my seventh year, I'm still trying to break old habits I learned as a kid.

Translation: A majority of media reps find the path of least resistance and become commercial visitors or package peddlers. Such bad habits like pitching only features of a product are difficult to change. Try instead to take the time to research the business before the call. In addition, qualify and do a thorough Customer Marketing Profile (CMP) to find out the needs of the customer. These steps will make the delivery smooth, precise and garner great results for the client.

Fleming: Once that happens, is that when you're free to start perfecting all the other little things about the position?

Rogers: That's 100 percent accurate. First, the fundamentals, then you have to become an expert in your own offense. Then you can get to a point where you're attacking instead of reacting.

Translation: Most reps do not retain the basics of training if they are trained at all. A sales rep needs detailed product knowledge as well a clear picture of the competition. They need to understand how to prospect versus just dropping in on the client. A trained sales rep knows how to perfect the ?needs analysis? and initiate great creative ideas with proper scheduling. These fundamentals are lacking in many of the media reps of today.

Fleming: You do all this stuff and some of it takes years to develop, just to get a defender to take one wrong step?

Rogers: Not even a step. Just to shift his weight the wrong way, to lean one way or the other. It's all about windows. Creating windows. Moving guys to create windows to throw into. The windows are so much smaller in the pros than in college.

Translation: Mastering sales takes experience and practice. Sales is about creating windows or the emotional connection between a rep and the client. Sales is not about showing up and expecting the client to buy something. The rep must create ?the want? which is the window of desire.

Fleming: Another little thing you've improved is your body language on play-action fakes.

Rogers: That was one thing I really worked on in the off-season a couple of years ago. I had the pleasure of playing golf with Tom Brady and got to pick his brain a little bit. One of the things I took away from that was that he is very critical of himself from the previous year, and he uses that to find one, two or three things that he wants to improve on each off-season. For me, that was my ballhandling.

Translation: The best reps are sponges for knowledge. They have mentors, books that they read and DVD?s for training. They practice their presentations in the mirror.
Fleming: You're talking about visualization?

Rogers: I don't know whether other quarterbacks use it, but visualization has been very important to me. When I have a lot of confidence in a play, as soon as the huddle breaks it's immediately flashing in my head -- a picture in my mind for just a millisecond. "Oh, hey, three Wednesdays ago we ran this play in practice against the scout team, and I hit Greg on this route." I can see it.

Translation: The best reps constantly visualize success. They see the successful outcome of the sales call before they ever make it. Visualization is an acquired skill. Sales meetings are vital for role playing and acquiring these skills. Don?t ever stop visualizing!

Fleming: What does it look like?

Rogers: It's a picture of a play, a successful play, flashing through my mind each time I walk to the line of scrimmage.

Translation: A sale.

The old adage holds true. Inch by inch is a cinch. Yard by yard is hard. Aaron Rogers would probably agree that an inch one way or the other could have caused a different outcome of the 2011 Super Bowl. Rogers? attention to detail helped his team win the NFL Championship.  As of this writing, the Packers are still undefeated. Perfect practice makes perfect play. Make 2012 your Super Bowl!

Sean Luce is the Head National Instructor for the Luce Performance Group and can be reached at Sean@luceperformancegroup.com.

Add a Comment Send This Story To A Friend

View the original article here