Chris's Broadcast Writing Blog

I wasn’t going to do it.

I wasn’t going to write a goodbye post. Thanks to Bridget Parker, here it goes.

Well, it’s been a good semester. To think of where we all started, throwing a stuffed frog around the Mac lab to learn everyone’s name. Now, we know not only everyone’s names, but their flaws and personalities.

I’ll admit, I was scared of just about all of you at the beginning. I’m like that with new people. I’ve since discovered that you are all not scary at all, but people I feel comfortable with… Friends.

That’s not to say there weren’t bumps in the road. Firstly, there was our election coverage. Whether it was your interview getting a phone call when you went live, technical difficulties, or not getting your interview at all, there was one thing that almost all of us could be thankful for: we weren’t Brent or Meghan. The show was good for a laugh after that long day, especially since we didn’t end up getting pizza.

From then we went on toToronto, a couple times actually. Touring CBC and covering the Occupiers in the park. That was… interesting. Hey, at least we finally got that pizza.

It’s been really great experience to work for a news show with thousands of viewers in multiple different countries, but strangely enough, my first story was probably my best one, that investigative shark fin soup piece with Alyssa Fetta.

You guys are all going to be great journalists or whatever you want to do. In any case, you’re going to be telling stories. That’s the common thread. Keep that sense of wonder. Like what Mark Kelley said: curiosity, courage, and compassion. (I’m not sure if that last “c” is right or not)

I’m looking forward to watching on my Linkedin as you all move on to bigger and better things.

Never forget me. 

It was my favourite interview yet.

For our news producer class, we needed to produce two 7-minute documentaries or news stories on the topics of our choice to be packaged into shows and then sent to Rogers TV to have our own show: Inside Angle.

For my first story, I took a look at the word ‘retarded’ and how it has been changed to mean ‘stupid’ as opposed to ‘mentally challenged’.

Having a brother with Down Syndrome, it is an issue I’m very passionate about, and one that bothers me to the core.

For this story, I interviewed Andreas Prinz, who is an actor for Sol Express, a theatre company made up of people with special needs. He told me about a blind actor, and others with various needs as well.

Andreas was very passionate about this issue. Andreas also has Down Syndrome, but he doesn’t want that to define him. He wants to be seen as an equal. Why shouldn’t he be? He lives on his own with his girlfriend. He gets to Sol Express on time every day, and he is a responsible man. Why should he be put down? Why shouldn’t he have the same rights as anyone else?

I will admit, I wasn’t sure what to expect, because Down Syndrome can be very different for different people, but Andreas was very talkative. His answers were well-thought out, long, and of course, very passionate.

When we asked him what he liked to do with his spare time, he said he liked singing, so he sang us a song. His willingness to help, passion, and fire that he displayed, radiated even, made this my favourite interview that I’ve done so far.

Mark Scheifele may have the World Junior Championship medal, the NHL hockey games played, and the star OHL career, but Andreas had the heart. 

In this industry, you have to rely on people.

This can be problematic. When you rely on people, there’s the potential that they are going to let you down. I’m not one of those people who thinks humanity is hopeless and will always let you down, but I’m realistic. Sometimes it’s going to happen.

And happen it did. To me. At a bad time.

It was tagged by many with less than desirable names. “The week that shall not be named.” “The week from hell.” It was also the week when no one could afford anything to go wrong. We had about 7 assignments due, and everyone was stressed.

What great timing.

My seven minute mini documentary was due on Wednesday, and I was basically done. All I needed was some footage of my interview subject doing a production. He’s an actor. The company said they would give me footage, but the lady in charge was off the upcoming week so they’d have to send me it after she got back.

It wasn’t ideal, but I’d still have a couple days to edit it, and it wouldn’t take long to just throw the B-roll on top of the interview. As they say, ‘beggars can’t be choosers’ so I’d wait until she got back.

But the B-roll never came.

I got the dreaded email on the Tuesday morning the day before the deadline, after numerous emails and phone calls.

They didn’t end up having any footage.

I was forced to drive back toTorontoagain to shoot B-Roll.

I’m not blaming them. I believe that they tried their best to get me footage, but it just didn’t work out and, while it would have been nice to know earlier, that’s just what happens sometimes.

It’s what can happen when you have to rely on people.

Next, the success.

In my last post, I left with two attempts at internships. One was at Sports Xpress and one was at Memory Tree Productions. Both of them emailed me back, and they both wanted an interview. It sounded promising. All I needed to do was bat .500 and I’d have an internship.

My first interview was for Sports Xpress. My classmate Viktoriya had connected me with the boss man there because she was doing her internship there. He was looking for someone passionate about sports (which luckily I am) and someone who could take a concept and make it into something better than what he imagined it could be. The idea is for a portable press box to move to different local sporting events and do commentary and coverage of the event. These events could be minor sports or closer to professional, but not sports that is covered by mainstream media.

It is definitely an interesting idea, and the people there focus heavily on user generated content, trying to get people to tell their stories and then repackage or re-edit those stories.

Near the end of the interview, he essentially told me I could have the position if I wanted it, with the possibility of it moving into a summer position as well. This was good news! I was guaranteed at least one internship and it could even make me some money in the summer if all went well. Good news indeed.

The next day I had an interview with Memory Tree Productions. There was no pressure on this one, because I had the fall-back option of the other company no matter how this interview went.

I was greeted by a woman. This was strange. Not strange because women can’t be videographers. No, strange because the person I was supposed to meet was Peter. She quickly told me he was out on a shoot so she’d need to do the interview.

I didn’t think she looked like a Peter.

She liked that I had a journalism background, showed me around and told me she’d give the thumbs up to Peter. It helped that I like sports. Peter is a big Jays fan.

Either way, whatever I choose, I think we’ll get along just fine. 

First, the failure.

It’s something a journalist has to get used to: rejection. Sometimes people aren’t going to want to talk to you. People will turn you down. The important part is to take it like a champ and try again the next time.

To finish our program, we had to find internships of 80 hours. For mine, I wanted to shoot for the stars. So, I tried TSN. Nope. I tried Sportsnet. Nope. Then, I found out CBC took interns. Naturally, I tried CBC. Nope.

It made sense. I’m sure these places got hundreds of applications to try to intern there. I wasn’t the only one to be rejected I’m sure. Since CBC takes what seems like forever to tell you whether they want you or not, I didn’t have much time.

My mom was panicking.

My grandma was panicking.

And I was calm. There’d be someone who’d want me, right?

I talked to my teacher and she seemed concerned but not worried. Plus, my dad had a contact atRogersthat I could use. Even a baby could get an internship.

I emailed the contact atRogers. I haven’t heard from them to this day. So, nope.

My teacher still had contacts. Surely one of them would want me.

I contacted her CTV representative. Nope. They are full.

I tried the Global TV representative. No answer.

I could’ve called, but I decided to try a couple other options first. At this point, I’d take just about anything. I just needed my hours to get my diploma to transfer my credits back to Laurier. I tried a couple of companies that weren’t mainstream media outlets: Sports Xpress, a magazine that was trying to move into video as well, and Memory Tree Productions, an independent production company. 

Kyle,

I feel like I’m talking to myself in a mirror here. We had different problems, but we had problems nonetheless and they were pretty frustrating. I keep telling myself, like you said, that now is the time to make mistakes. It’s true, because now that I’ve done it, I’ll never forget about the ND filter again, but it still bugs me every time I look at that grainy garbage of a shot. 

Beating myself up over it won’t help anything, but it’s important to be a little upset so you actually learn from it, and then you can move on. 

degenerationnation:

Well if I could summarize my entire process of making my feature story in one word…it would be “nightmare”. I’ve always known my relationship with electronics to be a little on the rocky side…but thanks to final cut pro I have a new found hatred for computers.

Just one week before our…

The problem is my face. 

No, a twelve year old child didn’t tease me with a lame remark about being ugly. The problem is probably my face. 

I used to be manly. I had a beard. 

I was so popular in class, and I was ready to build decks, eat wings, shoot animals, and do other manly things. 

Then I shaved. 

And, this week, I did a story about butterflies.

It’s definitely the face.

In all fairness, Courtney picked the story. It wasn’t my idea. I didn’t come up with it, but I did (gulp) kind of enjoy it. A little bit. Sort of. 

It wasn’t as easy as it may seem. Filming moving objects while getting them into a steady shot, in focus is difficult, especially when you zoom in far enough to actually be able to tell what it is. I missed a lot of opportunities because I needed to focus or zoom in. The other problem was that when zooming in on a small object like a butterfly, it can be difficult to track it, especially when it’s moving, so you end up with a lot of shots of 

My strategy was to wait for a butterfly to land, film it and then wait for it to fly away. At first, this was a frustrating exercise. The little guys (and girls) wouldn’t land; however, I was patient, and eventually I got some good shots. 

Meanwhile, Courtney, my reporter was walking around, talking to the butterflies, trying to convince them to land on her. When I’m reporter I try not to step on the camera person’s toes (so to speak), but this was a strategy of staying out of the way I have never seen before. 

They never did land on her. Maybe next time, Courtney. 

It was a nightmare. 

It was the second nightmare of my young reporting career. The first was when my interview, James Gordon of the NDP, took a phone call when I was interviewing him live, LIVE on our web broadcast for the election. The story is in this blog. 

The second was doing my feature story. 

I was doing an interview with Mike Farwell, the colour commentator for the Kitchener Rangers. He was really nice, but I’m sure he’s really busy, so I wanted to make it as quick as possible, while still getting the answers I need. 

He asked if I wanted to film the interview inside the arena, and I obviously agreed, because the rink would make a great background. I made some small talk while I was setting up. I checked the buttons and glanced at the ND filter. It said 1/64, but I assured myself that it didn’t really matter. I wasn’t sure what it did anyways or where it was supposed to be. I figured the last person probably had it on the right setting. 

Forgetting about that, I made sure the audio was set up properly, did a white balance, and looked through the viewfinder. 

It was dark.

Really dark. 

Well, no big deal, because I didn’t have my light on yet. I turned on the light, looked through the viewfinder and…

It was dark.

Really dark.

Okay, that was no problem. I played with the iris, and turned it open all the way. I looked through the viewfinder.

It was dark. 

Really dark.

Still.

So, my mind raced. I had a busy man waiting here, and I needed to get it together.

We moved to the press box which was decently lit, and I looked through the viewfinder.

It was still dark. 

Really dark.

So, I did the unthinkable.

I did what Steve Parr told me never to do.

I turned the gain from low to medium.

And, I looked through the viewfinder. You guessed it, it was dark, really dark, but it was going to have to be good enough. Moving locations and the delay for my set-up (which felt hours longer than it was to me) had to end. I’d have to try to fix it in post-production unfortunately. I did the interview and got great audio, but the video was pretty ugly. 

I learned a valuable lesson that day: check the ND Filter, or your shots might be dark. 

Really dark. 

It’s been great to hear how excited you guys are after coming back from that event. I still don’t understand why everyone is so thrilled with meeting Lloyd Robertson though. The real catch was James Duthie, who I see multiple times on TSN while I’m watching hockey. (Note: No disrespect to Mr. Robertson, he’s a broadcasting legend.)

As for the last part of your post, who knows? Maybe someday, budding journalists will come into their class after meeting Christine Stonos on the weekend, gushing about how friendly she was, and how they doubt they’ll ever be as famous as her. 

I’m sure if you asked Mr. Robertson, Ms. LaFlamme, and Mr. Duthie, they’d tell you they never dreamed they’d be where they are either.

“Keep on keepin’ on” and you never know what can happen. 

christinestonos:

On Friday night I was fortunate enough to cover a United Way event honoring Lisa LaFlamme; anchor for CTV news. I knew that there was going to be some very famous journalists there, but I honestly didn’t know what to expect. I wasn’t sure if we would be able to grab them for an interview,…

Bring it on, Iggy. 

Jarome Iginla is my favourite hockey player. He has been for a long time. I watch his Calgary Flames play whenever they are on TV in Ontario (including tonight conveniently enough), I have an Iginla jersey, I have his autograph, and I follow his stats pretty closely. So, I think I know him pretty well. You could say we’re pretty close friends. 

And, as such, I can tell when he’s lying. I can tell, not only because of the close relationship we have, but because I took TV Interviewing and Ethics, and we learned about how to tell when someone is lying. 

Jarome has been in the sports news for weeks now, with trade rumours swirling around his name. In this piece, he tells reporters that he has never wanted to be traded, and that the rumours in the media are false.

I think he’s telling the truth. He doesn’t fidget, look to the side, or appear nervous. His words are well-thought and controlled, but that’s just the way he is. 

Maybe it’s because I want to believe him. Maybe the Movember moustache is throwing me off. Or maybe, just maybe, Mr. Iginla is indeed happy right where he is in Calgary. 

All in all, this piece is well done, and they have perspectives from Iginla, his coach, and the general manager, as well as B-roll that really fits the writing well. 

Is he stringing us along for a ride? Lying through his teeth? I guess we will find out if Mr. Iginla is still wearing that familiar Flames uniform by the end of the season. 

http://watch.tsn.ca/featured/#clip576737