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Quick, get over to Busch Stadium, there's news in California
It's 5:30 Thursday morning. It's cold and dark outside Busch Stadium, where sunrise still is more than an hour away.
The Cardinals experience none of that chill or gloom, however, as they are more than a thousand miles away — at spring training on the balmy Atlantic coast of Florida.
But there are several people shivering outside Busch Stadium, members of crews from two local television stations who are reporting news that didn't even happen there — the Cards' decision the previous day to cut Scott Spiezio. That move was made in Florida and was triggered by an arrest warrant issued for Spiezio in California, a state even farther away from Busch Stadium than where the Cardinals are this day.
So why are KTVI (Channel 2) reporter April Simpson and KMOV (Channel 4) reporter Erica Van Ross rehashing the story from in front of a building that isn't even in the time zone of the two locations central to the story?
It's to fill TV's obsession with the "live shot,'' television executives' belief that something is amiss if the report is presented in a studio instead of from in the field, even if being there adds absolutely nothing to the story other than window dressing. It's the same reason a TV reporter stands in front of a courthouse 10 hours after a verdict has been returned, after all the jurors, lawyers, defendants and judge are long gone — to make it look as if the station is on top of things when in reality the only thing it's on top of is diluting the impact of such shots from legitimate LIVE events.
But KMOV news director Sean McLaughlin said the technique — which is common practice throughout the business — has its pluses.
"Its more of a scene-setter than anything,'' McLaughlin said. "If you're going to have a reporter front a story, it can add (depth). I think it's significant — people live in the community, not in the newsroom.''
KSDK didn't have a reporter outside the ballpark on Thursday morning but did the night before.
"Could we have done it in a studio with the Cardinals logo (shown in the background)? Sure,'' KSDK news director Mike Shipley said. "But people relate to Busch Stadium. If they see it in the background'' it could have a bigger impact in holding viewers' attention.
The Media Views take: It's one thing to have a report from outside during a storm, a fire, a manhunt or almost any scene where actual news is happening. But TV now insists on its "live shot" even if being there actually hinders the report because of chattering teeth, notes blowing in the wind or the noise of passing traffic muffling the spoken words.
The quality of the report often is worse from the field than in the studio. An unnecessary live shot isn't designed to cover the news, it's show biz.
By Dan Caesar
ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH
03/01/2008ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH
It's 5:30 Thursday morning. It's cold and dark outside Busch Stadium, where sunrise still is more than an hour away.
The Cardinals experience none of that chill or gloom, however, as they are more than a thousand miles away — at spring training on the balmy Atlantic coast of Florida.
But there are several people shivering outside Busch Stadium, members of crews from two local television stations who are reporting news that didn't even happen there — the Cards' decision the previous day to cut Scott Spiezio. That move was made in Florida and was triggered by an arrest warrant issued for Spiezio in California, a state even farther away from Busch Stadium than where the Cardinals are this day.
So why are KTVI (Channel 2) reporter April Simpson and KMOV (Channel 4) reporter Erica Van Ross rehashing the story from in front of a building that isn't even in the time zone of the two locations central to the story?
It's to fill TV's obsession with the "live shot,'' television executives' belief that something is amiss if the report is presented in a studio instead of from in the field, even if being there adds absolutely nothing to the story other than window dressing. It's the same reason a TV reporter stands in front of a courthouse 10 hours after a verdict has been returned, after all the jurors, lawyers, defendants and judge are long gone — to make it look as if the station is on top of things when in reality the only thing it's on top of is diluting the impact of such shots from legitimate LIVE events.
But KMOV news director Sean McLaughlin said the technique — which is common practice throughout the business — has its pluses.
"Its more of a scene-setter than anything,'' McLaughlin said. "If you're going to have a reporter front a story, it can add (depth). I think it's significant — people live in the community, not in the newsroom.''
KSDK didn't have a reporter outside the ballpark on Thursday morning but did the night before.
"Could we have done it in a studio with the Cardinals logo (shown in the background)? Sure,'' KSDK news director Mike Shipley said. "But people relate to Busch Stadium. If they see it in the background'' it could have a bigger impact in holding viewers' attention.
The Media Views take: It's one thing to have a report from outside during a storm, a fire, a manhunt or almost any scene where actual news is happening. But TV now insists on its "live shot" even if being there actually hinders the report because of chattering teeth, notes blowing in the wind or the noise of passing traffic muffling the spoken words.
The quality of the report often is worse from the field than in the studio. An unnecessary live shot isn't designed to cover the news, it's show biz.
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