I had thought the time was right to write.
I had just produced a powerful story about a high school student’s graduation that resonated on-air and took off online. I had recognized how that story emerged thanks to a series of “Yes, and …” responses when chances arose. So I wrote a blog entry that detailed the five degrees of separation that led to one poignant piece.
Then a sixth degree showed up.
I was there to teach. For a week in early April, I flew to San Marcos, Texas to serve on the faculty at the NPPA Advanced Storytelling Workshop. I crafted five presentations for the students at the event and, in one case, the students in a journalism class at Texas State University.
But on Day 1 of the workshop, I quickly realized how much I would learn.
In the second hour of sessions, one of my fellow faculty members presented a philosophy that I quickly embraced – and, this past week, paid huge dividends.
Kristin Dickerson is a National Edward R. Murrow and Gracie Award winner who shines as an anchor and reporter for NBC5 in Dallas. We teamed up (along with the tremendous NBC News correspondent Joe Fryer) for a session on how to enterprise story ideas. I led off, but Kristin seized the hour with a ten-minute video illustrating the importance of cultivating your contacts … and not turning your back after you use them for a story.
I immediately realized my own flaw. I seek sources with enthusiasm, but I rarely keep in touch well enough after I work with them on a story. After Kristin’s inspiration, I pledged to myself to be better.
I didn’t realize how quickly it would pay off.
This article can be found in the March/April 2019 issue of News Photographer, published through the NPPA.
I’m big on new.
In the last few years I’ve worked with drones, gimbals, and a mirrorless camera. I’ve created Instagram-first food segments and half-hour documentaries. I’ve done all of this from a newsroom – WXIA-TV in Atlanta – and under a company – TEGNA – that preaches innovation.
But when I wanted to attempt a new approach and story structure for a segment involving person-on-the-street interviews – a format that seems to funnel towards boring and uninformative – I reached back to a far earlier creation.
First, my producer and I bought a wooden fold-out table and two fold-out chairs at IKEA. Then, we asked our promotions team if we could commandeer an easel. Finally, we begged our in-house graphical guru to create a poster we could place on said easel, with a recurring question: “What’s your untold story about __________?” For each story we would do, we felt, we would fill in the blank with a relevant subject.
It worked.
On Thanksgiving week and requested stories about gratitude. On Mother’s Day and Father’s Day we found stories about parents. And this past Valentine’s Day, we learned stories about kind gestures. Each time, we shot in multiple locations that represented different communities in our region. We set up multiple cameras, from a traditional TV news kit to a GoPro and iPhone. We didn’t leave until we had interviewed at least three people.
Most importantly, when we did those interviews, we took our time. I didn’t ask for the quick sound bite and leave. I sat for around ten minutes, conversing and learning more about the person across the table. Often I discovered a more compelling story hidden beneath the initial back-and-forth.
Podcast: Play in new window | Download
Subscribe: RSS
If only Sam Raimi were on social media.
Then perhaps the acclaimed director of The Evil Dead, A Simple Plan, and the Tobey Maguire Spider-Man series would learn of how one of his earliest movies influenced one of today’s most talented journalists.
Forrest Sanders watched The Evil Dead as a student and became enamored with Raimi’s shot composition and pacing. He developed a passion for shooting and editing that evolved into a career as a solo video journalist. Today Sanders has his own honors: numerous Emmys, two new regional Edward R. Murrow awards won last week, and a variety of accolades from the NPPA. This past year he was named its National Solo Video Journalist of the Year.
Sanders is my guest on Episode #71 of the Telling the Story podcast.
I loved this conversation. Sanders has quickly become a leader in the storytelling community, and he speaks with both introspection and clarity of purpose. We chatted about the power of early influences, the need to fuel your passions, and the way to carve your own path in a newsroom where that might seem difficult. And yes, we discussed Mr. Raimi (and Brian DePalma too!) for several enlightening minutes.
Here’s an example of one of his finest stories, “The Funeral Man.” In the episode, Sanders talks about the journey to make it happen.