The News Must Be Relevant
When I watch the news in my own spare time I often wonder: what makes this information relevant to the general public? This is the approach that we must take in deciding a lead story. I wasn't present during my teams morning meeting this week, but had I been there, I would have attempted to pitch the idea of leading our newscast with a story on the big rain storm that has hit the Los Angeles area.
Rain is a huge story in a city like this, as it is not commonplace for this region to experience showers for three straight days. My logic behind leading with this story is that it holds the most relevance to our viewers. The majority of our viewers are students and locals within the USC area. Not every viewer is interested in foreign policy, or likes to hear news about sports, but weather is something that affects everyone. Fortunately, we led our newscast with a package that was relevant to the storm.
As a viewer of the news, I expect to receive information that is important. As producers we should seek to do the same. Being in the "20-something" age bracket sort of makes that task difficult. I often find myself pitching stories that may be too fluffy or cater to my individual interests.
It's very difficult separating my personal preferences from what is best for my audience. Because ATVN is a local newscast, I have make it a goal of mine to pitch stories that reflect current news happening at USC and in Los Angeles.
As we continue to develop as a producers, we must make it a goal to cater to the needs of my audience. This week we did an excellent job, and I'm looking forward to seeing where we go from here.
