by Beth Johnson | Oct 14, 2018 | App Articles, Know Your Newsroom, Reporting, The Latest
It is time to talk about live shots: Why do them and how do they benefit the viewer? This is not the first time Survive has talked about live shots, (You know our logo shot!) including how to make a boring location more compelling, especially at night. But this issue...
by Beth Johnson | Aug 27, 2015 | App Articles, Know Your Newsroom, Reporting
No doubt, the killings of Alison Parker and Adam Ward have really shaken up fellow TV journalists from all over. And whenever a tragedy like this happens there are calls to action. Including two stations in Milwaukee that are not doing discretionary live shots the day...
by Beth Johnson | May 7, 2015 | App Articles, Know Your Newsroom, Reporting
A savvy viewer recently asked me a very telling question. Are most of the live shots done on TV just for the sake of being live? I think most TV journalists would have to admit, yes. First, in defense of sending the trucks out, you cannot get to that breaker at the...
by Beth Johnson | Jun 12, 2014 | Honing Skills, Reporting, Survival Kit
Recently a reporter emailed “Survive” for advice on how to learn to ad lib while in the field. The main concern, how to get around technical problems. So I asked a veteran reporter for advice. Here goes… History is filled with quotes about the...
by Beth Johnson | May 15, 2014 | App Articles, Survival Kit, Tease Writing
More and more reporters are being asked to do live teases. The producer isn’t trying to get out of work necessarily, this is a great marketing tool to show you have live crews everywhere in the DMA or at least in a key place. But these teases need to be more than a...
