The Lead Story
When comparing newscasts, many look to the lead story to determine which station did it better. That being said, the lead story can make or break a newscast. Viewers have a very limited attention span and at 6PM, if they don’t connect with the first story in the rundown, they will flip to a station where they do.
A lead story needs to be not only visually stimulating to the viewer, but also relevant. For ATVN, being the same age as our target audience definitely helps when determining which story to lead with. I ask myself “what would I find interesting” or “what would I want to know in the news?” Targeting such a young audience changes our show’s perception of “relevant.” For example, there has been a lot of international news and conflict, and most would assume that these headlines are lead story worthy, however, the average “20-something” might not find that relevant to their lives.
When picking a lead story, it isn’t enough to have a strong headline. As a producer, you need to be creative in your delivery and absolutely sure that you are delivering something new to the audience. This was hard when covering the first few days after Whitney Houston’s death. It wasn’t enough to announce that she had died; we had to deliver something new and updated in the story.
When picking a lead story, it isn’t enough to have a strong headline. As a producer, you need to be creative in your delivery and absolutely sure that you are delivering something new to the audience. This was hard when covering the first few days after Whitney Houston’s death. It wasn’t enough to announce that she had died; we had to deliver something new and updated in the story.
While it isn’t always easy to find the new angle, I am up for the challenge.
