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Taping microphones to light stands. Producing newscasts from home. Doing live shots on an iPad.
Local TV journalists across the country are improvising and McGyvering to get the news out to their communities as they cope with the effects of the coronavirus pandemic. We got some insight into what they’re doing on a conference call arranged by the Carole Kneeland Project, a nonprofit that trains news leaders.
Social distancing means no longer using lav mics for interviews but hand-held mics don’t work well from six feet away. Many newsrooms don’t have enough shotgun or boom mics with “fish pole” handled to do the job, if they have any at all. So they’ve taken to using what’s available to extend the reach of hand-held mics, attaching them to light stands, tripods, and even dowel rods from the hardware store.
Most newsrooms are deserted or staffed by a skeleton crew. Morning meetings look a lot different.
Remote morning editorial #meetings are SOOOOOO much better when we get “cute kid” appearances! This is BROOKS, the son of @dani_WKOW ! Hi, Brooks!!! #WKOW #Wisconsin pic.twitter.com/B607erOPhJ
— Ed Reams (@edreamsWKOW) March 25, 2020
With many newscasts fronted by a single anchor instead of a news team, anchors who aren’t on air are still busy. At WTSP in Tampa, Florida, director of content Kelly Frank has anchors doing multi-hour shifts on social media, engaging with the community. Some stations have given anchors green screens and have them doing their newscasts from home. Lyn Plantinga,
