Tuesday, April 17, 2007

Virginia Tech Massacre: A Shared Experience

We now know that a 23-year old senior in the English Department of Virginia Tech is the person responsible for the shooting massacre that left thirty three people dead and dozens more injuried.

The big question now…what was the motive? It is a question that we may never get answered.

Less than twenty four hours after the shooting, the Raleigh-Durham Hokie Club is calling today a “Day of Rememberance.” The website is asking for people to wear the Virginia Tech colors of maroon and orange as a way to remember the lives lost. You can show your support by wearing a ribbon or a shirt that depicts the VT colors.

Yesterday, I blogged about how all the Media General stations are working together, as one entity. They have set up a website dedicated to the Tragedy in Blackburg. I think you’ll find it very informative. I welcome your comments about the site.

These events, as tragic as they are, always seem be a grounding point in many peoples lives. It is a shared experience that we will always have with us.

Saturday, April 14, 2007

Got A Press Release?

On any given day, I will speak to several dozen PR people.

About a dozen times every day I say the words “Can you send me a press release?” In my world as an MCC, I have so many things going on at once; emails and press releases are very helpful. This is particularly true in the early mornings and late afternoons.

We are hustling to get all the last minute updates in for our producers. The producers are finalizing their shows for broadcast. It’s not uncommon during this time to have producers talking to us in one ear, managers in another ear, and a telephone on our shoulder waiting for us with usually 2 calls on hold behind the one already on the line. Meanwhile, the scanners are screaming with incidents. Press Releases allow all the MCC’s to read about your event. Having an email version of your press release allows us to easily add it to our future files.

The problem comes in when PR people want to spill a lot of information to us on the phone. As a result, conversations usually go something like this…

(Phone rings)
Jason:        NBC17 Assignment Desk, this is Jason.
Caller:        Hi my name is [insert name] and I am calling on behalf of [insert company name]. Do you have a second?
Jason:        Sure. Go Ahead!
Caller:        I’d love to tell you about an exciting story………….
Caller:        (telling me about exciting story)
Caller:        (still telling me about exciting story)
Caller:        is this something you might be interested in?
Jason:        Um…possibly. Can you email us a press release?
Caller:        Sure. What’s your email address?
Jason:     .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Caller:     Alright. It’s on its way.
Jason:     Thanks, I look forward to reading it.

Got a press release? Or a news tip? The email address is .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address).

-Jason
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Friday, April 13, 2007

MCC-You Know Me

Hello! Thanks for stopping by and checking out “Inside The Core”....A blog devoted to the inner workings of the Multimedia Content Coordination Center, and the Newsroom at NBC17.

I’m Jason Clough, and I am the Multimedia Content Manager.

Every TV News station has an Assignment Desk. We just call ours the Multimedia Content Coordination Center. It is the core of the newsgathering operation. On the desk are people called Multimedia Content Coordinators. For the purposes of saving my finger strength, I will refer to them as MCC’s. We look, dig and hunt for news.  We scour the internet, answer phones, listen to a bunch of police and fire scanners while three people ask us questions all at the same time. The purpose is to find possible stories and than work with the reporters to develop them for broadcast and for our website, NBC17.com.

The Multimedia Content Coordination Center is staffed 24 hours a day, including weekends (and yes, even holidays). We never shut down. We strive to answer every phone call by the second ring. The desk has several workstations. As an MCC, we have our own computer and multi-line telephone. The remainder of the desk is graced with police/fire scanners, a two-way radio to the reporters and photographers in the field, maps, 5 TV’s and usually several bottles of antibacterial wipes along with a single can of condensed air ( to clean out the keyboards). We have a fax machine, although most stuff know comes through email. We monitor news in over 20 counties and 75+ cities and towns.

We are the people who talk to viewers calling with the potential story ideas; PR companies pushing new products or innovations. We sort through dozens of meeting agendas, everyday. We talk to people who recently lost loved ones. We ask the tough questions and probe for the tough answers.

Our goal is simple: Find the stories that you, the viewers, want to see. Tell the stories that impact your lives. It’s our personal commitment to each of you. And now, through this blog, I hope to interact with each of you; hear from you and respond to you.

-Jason
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Thursday, April 12, 2007

Duke Lacrosse: What’s Next?

By now, you’ve probably heard all about the charges in the Duke Lacrosse case being dropped.

Yesterday, NC State Attorney General, Roy Cooper, announced he was dropping the Duke Lacrosse case. He cited conflicting information in the accuser’s recounting of the story, as just one of the reasons for the dismissal of the charges.

For thirteen months, these young men have had their names in the spotlight. The direction of questions appears to be shifting. Should the accuser be charged? Should she be provided mental assistance? Will she retain custody of her children? 

One of the discussions we had in our newsroom was if we should name the accuser, and under what conditions would we name her.The Winston-Salem Journal blogged about this very issue, too! (editors note: The Winston-Salem Journal and NBC17 are both owned by Media General). I invite your thoughts on this practice.

Check out our special Duke Lacrosse coverage page.

Got an opinion on this? Let me hear it.

-Jason
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Monday, April 09, 2007

Our First Blogger Meetup

In February, we hosted the very first NBC17 Blogger Meet Up. I definitely needed the help of area bloggers to get this meeting off the ground, so I asked them lots of questions.

In return, I got lots of answers.

I must say this blogging community is amazing. It is our hope to embrace the blogosphere. Barry, our General Manager, said it best when he posted on Ed Cone’s Blog:

“Are we sincere in our efforts to tap into the vibrant local blogging community? Yes. Do we have a lot to learn about the way people are using the web and new technology? Yes. Will we make mistakes along the way in navigating a new direction? Yes, yes and yes.”

I agree with Terry Heaton, Triangle bloggers are a bunch of fun. I shared a number of great conversations with a number of different bloggers. They each have an opinion and engage their readers with that opinion while inviting a two way conversation.

To Terry’s point, this was an eye-opening experience for me. I had no idea what to think about the blogosphere when I embarked on this meet up. I can now say I am on a learning curve… an adventure to learn as much as I can as soon as I can. While I didn’t think bloggers slept in and stayed in their pajamas all day, I did not realize how many bloggers do this as more than just a hobby, but as a voice and in some cases as a full-time job.

Our purpose remains the same now as it did prior to the meet up. We are looking to embrace bloggers, to learn what is important to each of them and to seek out ways that we can help the local blogosphere.

I met so many interesting people: Luther, Zoe, Chuck, Jason, Matt, Wayne Sutton, Rob, Andy Beal, Marcus Williford and Nathan Gilliatt. One of the attendees, Stephanie is launching a blog soon.

This truly was a great first step, of many, in getting to know each of you. Inside The Core will be a first hand look at our news operation, as I see it from the Assignment Desk/MCC, aka the core of the operation. Why did we make certain decisions? How did we come to decide things? This blog will have all that plus, hopefully, a lively dialogue with each of you on daily news items and topics that are going on in your neighborhood.

So stay tuned…

We took some cool pictures at the blogger meet up, you can view them by clicking here.

-Jason
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