Going Natural

Multimedia is changing audience expectations for on-camera talent. News presenters and program hosts are in contact with the viewers/users 24/7, on the mobile phone, on the computer, or on the TV. People no longer seek out big voices announcing the news from the mountaintop. On the internet, that "old school" delivery is often presented as a parody of credible speech. Today's news consumers prefer to spend time with an intelligent friend, someone they'd like to meet for a cup of coffee at Starbucks.  As a talent coach, I teach techniques for making delivery more "real." While I'm not a hair and makeup teacher, appearance issues are part of the package. The audience wants us to look "real."

An African-American reporter for WPTV in West Palm Beach has decided to let her chemically straightened hair "go natural" during sweeps. As reported on the Maynard Institute's web site, Journal-isms http://mije.org/node/1349, she also produced a sweeps series on her transformation. Positive reaction so far has included this comment from former CBS morning anchor Rene Syler: "...our world is shaped by the images we see; young black girls need to see more women in high profile jobs sporting their natural hair." I suspect the new 'do makes Rochelle Ritchie more "real" to her viewers/users who can't afford the $9600 she claims to have spent on straightening procedures, not to mention the risk of exposure to the harsh chemicals involved in the procedure.

Here are the before and after pix; you decide.

The natural look has always been controversial. Back in the 70s, black women had a better chance of being hired if they didn't have a look that news directors (almost always white men) considered to be too "ethnic." In this case, the management of Rochelle's station actually encouraged her to be herself and share the experience with her audience. That's progress.

What we can all learn from this: in the multimedia world, the only look that is wrong is one that is fake or phony. The hair should be nothing more than a flattering and non-distracting frame for the face. I encourage on-air talent to work with their local resources to achieve this professional but approachable look. Now that we're all doing more with less, who has time to fuss with a fancy hairdo?

Shoptalk: A History Lesson

The parent company of the website TVNewser has announced it is buying TVSpy.com, which brings an end to a colorful sidebar in TV News history. Perhaps you could say it died with Don Fitzpatrick, the legendary consultant who founded the industry newsletter as Shoptalk, back when dinosaurs roamed the earth and people still communicated mostly by phone and fax machine. News directors in the 1980s  received their daily dose of industry gossip by fax, and copies were furtively passed around to those "in the know." Shoptalk reflected the freewheeling atmosphere of TV newsrooms in those days and included juicy speculation about affairs in and out of the newsroom. Such antics led to threats of legal action, so the site tamed down as it became a daily email "must-read" for the  masses toiling in news cubicles with all the charm and color of an insurance office. Nowadays it offers little more than a roundup of stories about TV News, as it is covered by other media. A much better site is http://www.the247newsroom.com/, edited by Tom Petner who almost managed to revive TVSpy before it slipped into irrelevance,  its "watercooler" chat board dominated by a few nobodies hurling lame insults mostly at each other. RIP Shoptalk. It was fun while it lasted.

Hollywood's Take on Morning TV news

One of my most important jobs as a TV news talent coach is working with morning news teams for local stations across the US. It's a giant money pot for the stations. While the late news audience is shrinking, the morning TV news audience is growing. People who still have jobs get up earlier because they may face longer commutes and are doing more with less, while trying to get the kids off to school and make it to work on time. The TV set is on in the background of all this activity, and it's often the working parent's only connection to the weather, traffic and news in the world outside until they get to the office and can log in on the computer. They want to know what happened in the world while they were asleep, what to expect from local weather and traffic, and be smart about the topics their friends and co-workers will be discussing at the water cooler. This creates a huge challenge for the people who deliver the morning news, beginning as early as 4:30 am in some markets. No matter how sleep-deprived they are, the anchors have to bring their best game to the screen from the first minute of the program; weather and traffic have to be packed with credible information, but also fun to watch. The whole cast must function as the family that the viewers want to wake up with.  

Which brings me to "Morning Glory," the latest Hollywood take on what goes on behind the scenes of a morning TV news program. After watching the trailer, the performances of Diane Keaton and Harrison Ford seem entertaining, if not terribly realistic. In the real world, there aren't many people in front of the camera who are over 50, but it's worth the price of admission to hear Harrison growl, "I won't say the word fluffy."

Their new producer, played by Rachel McAdams, seems way too perky in the trailer to be typical of the "understaffed, overworked" people who toil on the overnights. And she has the time and energy to have a boyfriend! While I respect the work of J.J. Abrams on suspenseful action flicks, the teaser for this movie comes across as a fluffier version of the classic "Broadcast News."

 I recently completed an assignment to coach an actor for a starring role a reporter and I have played a reporter or anchor in several feature films and network TV series. Anyone interested in this topic of how journalists are portrayed on the big screen should visit Joe Saltzman's excellent database on The Image of the Journalist in Popular Culture at http://www.ijpc.org/.

For more information on coaching packages for your morning news talent or for an actor playing a reporter role, visit my website at http://www.terryanzur.com/.