Coaching Young Talent at RTNDA

The RTNDA panel on "Coaching Young Talent" drew a crowd of students, professors, young pros, and even a few news directors! These folks are in j-school because they want to be on TV! They don't mind being a backpack journalist or one-person band, as long as they figure out how to shoot their own standups. Moderator Denise Dowling of the University of Montana found some brave students who were willing to show their demo tapes for a public critique.

If you missed the panel don't worry: just go to http://terryanzur.com/ to find out more about Terry Anzur Coaching Services for young talent. Two other major coaching companies were also represented on the panel.

Some of the best questions were asked by a young TV journalist from Macedonia, who indicated a possible need for coaching at her station.

Clearly, people all over the world can watch CNN, Sky News and Al Jazeera in English via satellite and admire the American/British model of the on-camera news presenter. They just need instruction in how to do it! Meanwhile, the American students face a bleak job market this year, as the industry seems to be doing everything possible to reduce the role of the on-camera journalist.

Hit or Miss at BEA

I attended the Broadcast Education Association convention for the first time and spoke on a panel called, "News Chopper Chases: Life or Death for Ratings?" The panel included an actual TV news helicopter pilot/reporter in Las Vegas, Penn State prof and former news director (and Trojan) Thor Wesbotten, and former TV producer Sue Green, now teaching at ASU, who worked with two of those killed in the Phoenix TV helicopter midair collision last year. My role was to present the history of the first TV news helicopter at KTLA and show through historical footage that the element of risk was there from the beginning in 1958. ASU's Bill Silcock moderated the panel.

Unfortunately, this excellent panel spoke to a room mostly full of empty chairs. Why? The broadcast educators were flocking to any panel with "online" in the title. If we had called it," How to put your chopper video online" it would have been packed.

Most distressing news: a panel on online storytelling advocated eliminating the role of the on-camera journalist! Instead, we are supposed to post raw video and soundbites for the viewer to pick and choose. This isn't a good omen for the future of good writing that provides context and adds value to the images. It also means journalism schools won't have to worry about classrooms overcrowded with anchor wannabes. No one is lining up for a j-school education in posting video tidbits on the internet. Everyone under 30 already knows how to get on youtube for free and doesn't exactly consider it a paying profession.

One advantage of BEA is the opportunity to shop for new gadgets that TVM can use. I found a teleprompter company that is willing to experiment with the Thanaa font so that the Maldivians won't have to push pieces of paper through the prompter any more!

To Boldly Go

Welcome to Ferenganar. For those of you who are not Star Trek Fans, that's the planet of the Ferengi rat people who only care about ultra capitalism and making money. It's also a pretty good description of Las Vegas. The best thing about coming here every year for RTNDA is Quark's Bar, the Trek theme restaurant at the Las Vegas Hilton. The food is great, reasonably priced, and you can't beat the blue beer (illegal Romulan ale).
This year, my 17-year-old son Andrew came with me to the RIAS reunion. He is NOT interested in journalism, but wants to live and work in Europe someday as an international banker or businessman. He's also the biggest Star Trek fan in the galaxy.
The worst thing about coming to Las Vegas for RTNDA is... Las Vegas. I don't gamble and the hotel rooms are outrageously priced during the convention, so I just fly in for the day when I am invited to speak or attend a function. This year I made the roundtrip three times... ugh. Although I realize the advantages of RTNDA combining with the huge NAB show next door, it would be nice to have the convention in a different city for a change.

The best kept secret of RTNDA...

...is the FREE trip to Europe offered by the RIAS/RTNDF German-American journalist exchange. This program grew out of the money set aside for American radio broadcasts in Berlin during the Cold War. When the wall came down, the welcome mat went out for American broadcasters to visit Germany for two weeks, all expenses paid. German broadcasters come to the US for a month and I hosted Germans at USC for several years. So, Rainer Hasters graciously invited me to join the exchange in 2001. I made some lifelong friends like RTNDA board member Bob Priddy of Missouri public radio. The tour deepened my understanding of US-European relations and every year I try to make it to the reunion, which always features an outstanding speaker or two. This year it was a double feature. Here's Rainer, introducing Miguel Marquez of ABC News and Debby Block of Voice of America. They talked about the realities of reporting from Iraq. I had breakfast with some fascinating Germans, LA-based freelance reporter Kerstin Zilm Dunn, Deputy Consul General Dietmar Bock and a RIAS board member who recalled the day American troops brought press freedom to his newly liberated town after World War II, encouraging him to start a high school paper.