Really, the blog's title perfectly sets up the blog's subject--just a personal record of creating a new, innovative, and interactive newscast. So to the common reader (or viewer) looking at this, think of this as a behind the scenes perspective of creating something that has never been done in the history of television.
Am I touting this up too much? I don't think so. When you see what we've done and what we've created on September 12th, you'll realize this isn't your mom and pop's newscast. Tradition? Throw it out the window. Two anchors just reading the day's news? Goodbye. A separation between the viewer and the news? So long, sayonara, adios, and see you later.
U_News will break the traditional mold, and, using new technology and tools of the trade at our disposal, will allow viewers to be a part of the news. Literally if they wantt, viewers can go on live television as part of Sarah's daily Google+ Hangout and talk. Or they can tweet, post Facebook comments, or just call into the newsroom and we'll put their comments, their ideas, and their content on live television.
You'll hear me say this word often, but interaction is key.
Viewers will drive content. They will now have a voice of what stories we put in the newscast and what stories we discuss on a daily basis. They can even give us story ideas on live television if they so choose. We will air their content and their videos.
Building the beast
Now that you have a brief intro to what the show is about, let me tell you about building U_News from my perspective. When I say beast, I mean it in a good way. It's literally going to be a show with a mind of it's own, something that can be tamed and controlled, but also independent in it's own right. That's where the viewers and interaction are vital. They will give the show its collective mind.
I returned to KOMU Monday for my first day. Sarah gave me a brief introduction to the show and the progress her, Stacey, and Jen made on the show while I was gone. They had a general rundown of the show filled in with some of the content and ideas they created. Sarah started going over some of the content and ideas with me, but to me, it was a whole new language. She started talking about UGC's, Never.No, delicious.com, touch screens, online bUzz, and extra-normal, etc. (Don't worry, I'll explain some of this later)
Now the TV business has its own set of lingo--VO/SOTs, packages, NATS, skycams, graphics, live, teases, etc.--but these new terms were completely new to me because, again, this isn't your traditional newscast. Sarah quickly caught me up with all the new content ideas and toys we could use.
My head was spinning from the information overload, but I couldn't be more excited. Unfortunately, I had to produce the 10 o'clock newscast that night so I had to refocus my attention back to the more immediate newscast. Occasionally, my mind and my mouse would drift back to the U-News @4 rundown, thinking about the hefty task ahead but the fun and excitement of creating something new that has never been done before.
I spent most of the day Tuesday and Wednesday getting caught up on local news and tweaking the rundown. Most of it consisted of reformatting the iNews rundown to producer and director code. I worked on reformatting and reorganizing the show to make it more visual and interesting.
While we have a rough template for the show, the exciting thing is that it will change daily. Typically if there's a templated format, the producer will fill in the blanks and tweak it as they see fit. U_News will have a general format, but it will change daily. One day we could lead with our social media buzz and the next day hard news. Largely, viewer input will help decide the news and the rundown of the day.
Later that week as I adjusted to the flood of new emails, Google+ contacts, and workflow, Sarah, Lindsey Tyler the director, and I worked on camera blocking. Finally, we got to visualize the show.
We set the cameras in place and played with the set. What would work best with our new touch screen? How could we make the show flow visually and not look stagnant? We made good progress and on Thursday ran through a rough outline of the show.
Overall, the first week went pretty smooth for adjusting to a totally new concept in a familiar place with familiar faces and a completely different workflow. We finished most of the rundown tweaking and worked on how to engage our viewers—arguably the most important task on hand.
Our new toys
It’s amazing what happens when you leave a newsroom for seven weeks. I leave and the producer computers are old, rundown, and hardly usable considering how much they shut down. I come back and we have working computers, massive flat screens attached to our walls, and a shiny new studio with sleek equipment for our new show.
The new studio is pretty neat. It’s small but the camera shows a cool view of the social media anchors, Sarah, and the newsroom action. The set-up will be a great hangout place.
The biggest and probably coolest new toy we have is the enormous touch screen. A large portion of the show will take place with Sarah in the main studio in front of the touch screen. The touch screen is like a giant iPad. With it, Sarah can pull up pictures, videos, and anything online.
We can best use it for Google+ Hangouts. During the show, Sarah will open a Hangout and talk with nine other people. These nine people will go on live TV with Sarah and serve as her co-hosts.
The idea may seem crazy at first, but once you see it in practice, you realize how unique it is. Ten people who hardly know each other will go on live television to talk about the latest and greatest online buzz, news, sports, and weather.
Remember tradition? How’s that for tradition. Don’t forget, that’s gone. Who needs it anyway?
So now I'll throw another word out the window, or a series of them.
They. Their. Viewers. Audience.
Viewers will no longer be a separate entity. Viewers are now part of what we do because this is our newscast.
This isn't my newscast or Sarah's newscast or even KOMU's newscast. It's everyone's newscast. The community's.
It's yours to talk about, to mold, and to change. You are now co-hosts.
Because readers? We're throwing tradition out the window.
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