Monday, December 31, 2007
Saturday, December 29, 2007
Thursday, December 27, 2007
No Room for News - an article by legandary communicator Darrel Buttice
During the recent adoption issue that captured media attention, I was interviewed by CNN. I thought about that interview when reading this article. The interview lasted more than an hour.
A clip of about ten seconds was used in the story.
More than 70 percent of Americans get their news from television, according to the latest statistics. Perhaps more appropriately, it should be reported that 70 percent of Americans get tidbits of news from television.For anyone who has been interviewed for a TV story, you've come to a frustrating realization about the brevity of the reporting. After undergoing a 10-to-15 minute interview, the interview is boiled down to a 6-to-8 second sound bite. The entire story may last one minute. The reason is quite simple. There is no room for news stories in the newscast.A recent analysis of TV news content confirms this assertion. Nick Hess, a writer and board member of Public Access of Indianapolis, took on the challenge of analyzing the content of local TV news. Although the findings aren't surprising, they are eye opening.After watching 4 1/2 hours of local TV news, Hess found 37 percent of the time was used for ads, teasers and banter. Another one third was assigned to sports and weather. With those numbers in mind, there is not much left to deal with crime, the economy, local and national news, features and politics.Remains of the newscastThe remaining nine or 10 minutes? The Project for Excellence in Journalism has the answer. Usually that time is filled with news about public safety - such as crime, natural disasters and traffic accidents. Most of the time public safety items lead off the newscast and continue to suck up a majority of the remaining time. That's because those stories are visual, compelling and may be covered quickly.Complex stories regarding the environment, government, public issues and business are handled in a more abbreviated manner.Frustrated by this information? Think how the people in the newsroom and how these trends limits them. We've certainly heard plenty of muttering by TV news staff in the Northwest.The consolidation of television station ownership and the competitive tactics used to make corporate business investments pay off have created this seemingly headline news-only situation. And, news consultants have added to the nearly-news-free environment by advising stations to offer more entertainment content in the newscast than hard news. The goal is increased viewership. News directors, assignment editors, producers and reporters have been pushed into a corner that is hard to escape from.Maximizing limited opportunitySo what does this mean for someone trying to get a story told?The story pitcher must be focused, prepared and disciplined in message management. If lucky enough to be interviewed, get to the key point quickly. Determine the most important message prior to the interview and work on how to say it effectively. Keep coming back to the key message in the hope it will fit in the few seconds allotted for a sound bite.Being efficient and clear in delivering the message also has a secondary purpose - helping the reporter clearly understand the elements of the issue. Help make the reporter present the story with a level of expertise. After all, helping a reporter succeed goes a long way in getting your story told the way you want it.
A clip of about ten seconds was used in the story.
More than 70 percent of Americans get their news from television, according to the latest statistics. Perhaps more appropriately, it should be reported that 70 percent of Americans get tidbits of news from television.For anyone who has been interviewed for a TV story, you've come to a frustrating realization about the brevity of the reporting. After undergoing a 10-to-15 minute interview, the interview is boiled down to a 6-to-8 second sound bite. The entire story may last one minute. The reason is quite simple. There is no room for news stories in the newscast.A recent analysis of TV news content confirms this assertion. Nick Hess, a writer and board member of Public Access of Indianapolis, took on the challenge of analyzing the content of local TV news. Although the findings aren't surprising, they are eye opening.After watching 4 1/2 hours of local TV news, Hess found 37 percent of the time was used for ads, teasers and banter. Another one third was assigned to sports and weather. With those numbers in mind, there is not much left to deal with crime, the economy, local and national news, features and politics.Remains of the newscastThe remaining nine or 10 minutes? The Project for Excellence in Journalism has the answer. Usually that time is filled with news about public safety - such as crime, natural disasters and traffic accidents. Most of the time public safety items lead off the newscast and continue to suck up a majority of the remaining time. That's because those stories are visual, compelling and may be covered quickly.Complex stories regarding the environment, government, public issues and business are handled in a more abbreviated manner.Frustrated by this information? Think how the people in the newsroom and how these trends limits them. We've certainly heard plenty of muttering by TV news staff in the Northwest.The consolidation of television station ownership and the competitive tactics used to make corporate business investments pay off have created this seemingly headline news-only situation. And, news consultants have added to the nearly-news-free environment by advising stations to offer more entertainment content in the newscast than hard news. The goal is increased viewership. News directors, assignment editors, producers and reporters have been pushed into a corner that is hard to escape from.Maximizing limited opportunitySo what does this mean for someone trying to get a story told?The story pitcher must be focused, prepared and disciplined in message management. If lucky enough to be interviewed, get to the key point quickly. Determine the most important message prior to the interview and work on how to say it effectively. Keep coming back to the key message in the hope it will fit in the few seconds allotted for a sound bite.Being efficient and clear in delivering the message also has a secondary purpose - helping the reporter clearly understand the elements of the issue. Help make the reporter present the story with a level of expertise. After all, helping a reporter succeed goes a long way in getting your story told the way you want it.
Tuesday, December 25, 2007
Saturday, December 22, 2007
Thursday, December 20, 2007
Winter Solstice
Tomorrow is the winter solstice. Perhaps as early as the Stone Age, we have held this time of year as special. Tomorrow will see the least amount of light and experience the longest night of the year.
From the beginning of civilization, midwinter festivals and celebrations often called for bright illumination, large fires, feasting, communion with close ones, and evening physical exertion by dancing and singing.
Our modern culture includes parties and gatherings that are still valued, giving us something to look forward to at the darkest time of the year.
The solstice is a lesson in the laws and balance of nature that too often we miss in our modern lives.
Folk singer Pete Seeger pulled this lesson from the prose of Ecclesiastes when he added music to the lines “to everything there is a season.And a time for every purpose, under heavenA time to build up, a time to break downA time to dance, a time to mournA time to cast away stones, a time to gather stones together.”
I think of this when our professional lives reach a solstice – where the darkness seems to overwhelm the light. I don’t feast, dance and sing at such times – though it probably would be helpful.
Instead I look to the lesson of Ecclesiastes and the solstice. Life is a cycle. Light will follow darkness. Faith will triumph over fear.
While none of us know the details of what will happen next week, we can be certain that our days will grow longer in light.
From the beginning of civilization, midwinter festivals and celebrations often called for bright illumination, large fires, feasting, communion with close ones, and evening physical exertion by dancing and singing.
Our modern culture includes parties and gatherings that are still valued, giving us something to look forward to at the darkest time of the year.
The solstice is a lesson in the laws and balance of nature that too often we miss in our modern lives.
Folk singer Pete Seeger pulled this lesson from the prose of Ecclesiastes when he added music to the lines “to everything there is a season.And a time for every purpose, under heavenA time to build up, a time to break downA time to dance, a time to mournA time to cast away stones, a time to gather stones together.”
I think of this when our professional lives reach a solstice – where the darkness seems to overwhelm the light. I don’t feast, dance and sing at such times – though it probably would be helpful.
Instead I look to the lesson of Ecclesiastes and the solstice. Life is a cycle. Light will follow darkness. Faith will triumph over fear.
While none of us know the details of what will happen next week, we can be certain that our days will grow longer in light.
Monday, December 17, 2007
Reflections on Gabriel
It's been a busy two weeks. I like busy -- but I don't like mean people. Saw both in past two weeks. Worked with a Salem Statesman Journal editorial writer on the following.
It says what I feel.
Statesman Journal editorial
Thousands of foster children still need homes
Case of Gabriel Allred seems to end auspiciously
December 16, 2007
How fortunate for Gabriel Allred to have two families that wanted to bring him up and love him.
Now if only some of that luck will rub off on the thousands of Oregon foster kids like Gabriel -- many of whom would be thrilled to have even one family who wants them.
Things seem to have worked out for Gabriel, the 2-year-old who has lived with foster parents Steve and Angela Brandt since he was 4 months old.
His Mexican grandmother, Cecilia Martinez, withdrew her adoption request, leaving the Brandts free to adopt Gabriel. He will learn Spanish and Martinez can write and visit him.
We hope this arrangement, the result of a difficult mediation, will prove to be in Gabriel's best interests. From now on, that should be the business of Gabriel and his adoptive parents-to-be.
As for the rest of us, the best thing that could happen in the wake of this case would be for more Oregonians to ask after children like Gabriel. On any given day, the state is seeking homes for about 5,000 to 7,000 of them.
These kids have compelling stories, too, if only we knew them. Most would tug at a grownup's heartstrings just as strongly as those photos of wide-eyed Gabriel Allred.
Most, like Gabriel, land in protective custody because their parents have abused drugs and broken the law. Many come from multicultural backgrounds and some, like Gabriel, can claim citizenship in two countries.
While Gabriel's fate was being played out in public, the Oregon Department of Human Services was placing about three kids a day in permanent adoptions -- about 1,000 kids a year.
But at the same time, every 10 minutes, DHS phones have been ringing with reports of possible child abuse. Those numbers are hard to get ahead of.
Some of those kids wind up being taken from homes, sometimes in crisis in the middle of the night. Despite all the efforts of local churches and civic organizations to recruit foster families, there never seem to be enough homes -- especially permanent ones -- for children who need them.
Catholic Community Services has come forward with an innovative approach called Forever Homes, where foster children stay put, but adult staff come and go. This gives some sense of neighborhood and school ties to kids who have bounced around the foster-care system.
But nothing substitutes for adults who are willing to commit to kids for the long term.
Foster parents Steve and Angela Brandt decided to make the leap to adoption. Cecilia Martinez would have done so, across thousands of miles, for love of a grandchild she had never seen.
There must be more people out there like them.
It says what I feel.
Statesman Journal editorial
Thousands of foster children still need homes
Case of Gabriel Allred seems to end auspiciously
December 16, 2007
How fortunate for Gabriel Allred to have two families that wanted to bring him up and love him.
Now if only some of that luck will rub off on the thousands of Oregon foster kids like Gabriel -- many of whom would be thrilled to have even one family who wants them.
Things seem to have worked out for Gabriel, the 2-year-old who has lived with foster parents Steve and Angela Brandt since he was 4 months old.
His Mexican grandmother, Cecilia Martinez, withdrew her adoption request, leaving the Brandts free to adopt Gabriel. He will learn Spanish and Martinez can write and visit him.
We hope this arrangement, the result of a difficult mediation, will prove to be in Gabriel's best interests. From now on, that should be the business of Gabriel and his adoptive parents-to-be.
As for the rest of us, the best thing that could happen in the wake of this case would be for more Oregonians to ask after children like Gabriel. On any given day, the state is seeking homes for about 5,000 to 7,000 of them.
These kids have compelling stories, too, if only we knew them. Most would tug at a grownup's heartstrings just as strongly as those photos of wide-eyed Gabriel Allred.
Most, like Gabriel, land in protective custody because their parents have abused drugs and broken the law. Many come from multicultural backgrounds and some, like Gabriel, can claim citizenship in two countries.
While Gabriel's fate was being played out in public, the Oregon Department of Human Services was placing about three kids a day in permanent adoptions -- about 1,000 kids a year.
But at the same time, every 10 minutes, DHS phones have been ringing with reports of possible child abuse. Those numbers are hard to get ahead of.
Some of those kids wind up being taken from homes, sometimes in crisis in the middle of the night. Despite all the efforts of local churches and civic organizations to recruit foster families, there never seem to be enough homes -- especially permanent ones -- for children who need them.
Catholic Community Services has come forward with an innovative approach called Forever Homes, where foster children stay put, but adult staff come and go. This gives some sense of neighborhood and school ties to kids who have bounced around the foster-care system.
But nothing substitutes for adults who are willing to commit to kids for the long term.
Foster parents Steve and Angela Brandt decided to make the leap to adoption. Cecilia Martinez would have done so, across thousands of miles, for love of a grandchild she had never seen.
There must be more people out there like them.
Sunday, December 16, 2007
Thursday, December 13, 2007
Wednesday, December 12, 2007
Dinner at Cabin
Tuesday, December 11, 2007
Friday, December 07, 2007
Thursday, December 06, 2007
Gov chats with a foster kid
Wednesday, December 05, 2007
Saturday, December 01, 2007
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