By: Mike Brannen

Storytelling may be a lost art in local TV. While there is a sporadic collection of stations determined to keep that art of reporting alive, most seem content to present simply the meat and potatoes of a story, rather than treat it as a full course dinner. The stations branding themselves as storytellers typically allow their on-air talent to take credit for humanizing subjects and making each report memorable. KARE’s Boyd Huppert, KGO’s Wayne Freedman, and KOMU’s Sarah Hill are masters of this craft, perfectly weaving words, pictures, and sounds seamlessly. Most of their work tells the stories of people in our communities. They remove themselves objectively from the dramatic, emotional, and comedic tales that make life interesting. But a photographer in New York last week took storytelling in a new direction.

WKTV’s Tim Fisher has been gaining attention virally this month. Fisher was sent out to cover a deadly house fire in Utica, NY. A family cried out, saying firefighters weren’t doing enough to save three people inside. One member outside of the house came at Fisher in a display of anger and fear. Firefighters fell to the ground, choking on the thick smoke. Fisher packaged the basic details for the 5 and 6 p.m. broadcasts as he would any other deadly fire.

Then, he took it even further, producing a 7-minute story narrative of what happened that day for the station’s web site. He provided more context for the man who aggressively pushed him. He took more time to show how beaten and embattled were the firefighters. He used words, pictures, sounds, AND PERSPECTIVE to tell the story. The viewer had a new angle to what in most cases would appear a routine house fire.

Most importantly, the story’s details dictated how long the piece should run. It’s refreshing, it’s different, and it’s unique.

Adding “perspective” to a story may sound like adding subjectivity to a story. I think in some cases it is okay, because in all storytelling accounts, subjectivity exists. As humans, we add flavor to a story based on how we tell it. We highlight details we find more important or interesting. Journalism requires objectivity when necessary information needs to be distilled. Objectivity exists as a means of remaining ethical when addressing tenuous topics.

I’m curious how it would look if stations explored adding more perspective like Fisher’s. I envision it wouldn’t go over well with some. Not everyone wants a “full course dinner.” Sometimes they prefer just the meat and potatoes of a story. I’ll take the former every once in a while, just to try something a little different.

There’s one more thing to take away from Fisher’s work. After garnering a huge response online in the early evening, WKTV chose to air the 7-minute piece in its entirety in its 11 p.m. newscast. It’s a brilliant move that seems like an obvious decision…on the surface. In reality, stations often forget they have fascinating web content that people might want to see on TV. Rarely does a project of this length originating on the web appear uncut for air. The fact that this piece was an exception to the rule speaks volumes about the excellent quality of Fisher’s anecdote.

Mike Brannen is a morning newscast producer for KIRO7, the CBS affiliate in Seattle. He recently received a Master’s Degree from the University of Missouri-Columbia and completed his thesis, Motivational Use of Twitter. He previously worked multiple positions at KOMU-TV in Columbia, Missouri during the past four years.

By: Mike Brannen

TV news has become disillusioned in the past six months because of the explosive power of viral videos By now, it’s been hard to miss the multiple Internet videos featuring Antoine Dodson, a man clamoring to find his sister’s accused attacker.

Now I won’t be a hypocrite, so I’ll make this clear:

Off the clock, I must admit the “Bed Intruder Song” is clever and incredibly catchy. But as a journalist, I’m not proud that the interview was used so liberally in the story by WAFF, the station that originally aired it.

There’s also the rapid rise and seemingly faster fall of Ted Williams, the homeless man with the “golden voice. It merely took days before this man was a superstar and already into rehab. He had a lifetime’s worth of tabloid news crammed into a week.

But what to take away from all of this is the surge of TV stations abandoning news, and preferring to go after stories that could dig up the next Dodson or Williams.

This surge might have hit rock bottom in Indianapolis.

I wish a word existed in the English language to succinctly describe the specific motion of hitting oneself in the head in disbelief and embarrassment. Such was my repeated reaction over the course of a story reported by WXIN, the FOX affiliate in Indianapolis.

WXIN took to their streets in search of the next Ted Williams-type viral vagabond. The report they aired is a painful sign of how local TV affiliates are abandoning news, and simply seeking a hot video that could blow up online.

I can’t find the full report on WXIN’s web site, but The Daily Show did get a hold of it and provided a spot-on criticism of the purely base, short-sighted, exploitative report.

(Skip to the 1:10 mark of the video to watch Jon Stewart’s play-by-play of the story.)

Remember that word I was looking for earlier? Well, about four times in this story it would have been appropriate. The Daily Show again takes an incredulous stance, and wonders how something like this ever gets on air…myself included.

What concerns me is the process that went into this story. I assume the story pitch went through an assignment editor, a reporter, a photographer, a producer, and an executive producer. FIVE people (six if you count a news director) believed this was a story worth reporting and sharing with viewers. If only one of those people could step back and examine how this report took advantage of a homeless woman’s plight for the sake of amusement.

This point is illustrated by the audience’s reaction to the homeless woman’s dumbfounded answers. She sincerely had not heard of the “golden voice” man, and yet her lack of knowing was a point of humor in this story. News should not subject people to be humiliated on air. That’s not our mission.

I am keenly aware reality TV shows have exploited the rich, the spoiled, the dumb, the classless, and the attention-seekers. Other channels and other shows can lay claim over them and objectify them in any way they want. But TV news can’t.

If local affiliates chose to poke fun or take advantage of the people they talk to, sources won’t speak because they know the ramifications. What good is news if you can’t get people to give you their honest perspective without being embarrassed? It’s a fine line in some stories (like Dodson’s); you either protect a source’s image and maintain your integrity, or exploit the source for viewer entertainment.

I believe we must keep our focus on important news and respect the audience that seeks it from us.

Mike Brannen recently completed his thesis, Motivational Use of Twitter, and received a Master’s Degree from the University of Missouri-Columbia. He has worked various positions at KOMU-TV during the past four years. He is currently a newscast producer and producer supervisor.