This post was originally published on this site
I was really stressed out. My news director had just broken the news: All dayside reporters now had to turn a VOSOT (voice over, sound on tape) for the next day’s morning news. With a fresh sound bite! From a timing standpoint, how would I do this? It was 1995 or so. I was in a world of luxury and didn’t know it. I had a whole day to turn one story for the 6 p.m. news. Those were the good old days
But here’s what else I did most days. I was the state capital reporter in Springfield, Ill. I would stop by the statehouse on my way into work. I would touch base with my sources to see if anything was going on that would be reportable or make a good story. I would frequently stop by the police department and sniff around there. Frequently, I would have coffee or lunch with contacts to make sure I was on top of everything going on. This was how I got most of my stories. I always had a couple of things for the morning editorial meeting and generally controlled my own destiny. I loved that. God knows, I didn’t want to get assigned a feature story.
One of the biggest problems with local news today is the simple fact that the stories aren’t very good. They are often cookie cutter, one source, file video and they’re boring, lacking originality,