Monthly Archives: June 2016

House Passes FOI Reforms

The changes are now on their way to the President’s desk for his signature. Read a brief account here.

The WBA Newsroom site has a special section devoted to Wisconsin’s Open Meetings and Open Records laws, which you can find here.

Posted by Tim Morrissey

Breaking News: Admitting It When You’re Wrong

Anyone who’s spent more than a few months as a reporter knows that often, the first things you hear about a breaking news event turn out not to be true. That’s how we learn the value of attributing statements, rather than just stating them as “facts”. The journalism ethics folks at Poynter have some thoughts on this, regarding coverage of the Orlando mass murder.

Posted by Tim Morrissey

Wavy Hands, Triangle Hands…What’s A TV Reporter To Do?

A decade or so ago, there was a big fad among TV reporters that while giving a stand-up report, you let your arms hang loose, and put your hands together just below your waistline – with your two thumbs and your two index fingers touching, forming a sort of “V” or triangle with your hands. Some consultants called it “triangle hands”. Some called it “V hands”.

My wife, a recovering TV reporter, and I, would laugh whenever we saw reporters doing the “triangle hands” on stand-ups. One time as we were watching a newscast, our son walked into the media room, looked at the TV, and laughed. He was studying ASL (American Sign Language) in high school. When we asked what made him laugh, he said “triangle hands” was ASL slang for “the V-word” – a woman’s private parts.

Thankfully, the “triangle hands” or “V hands” went away.

Fast forward to 2016 and now it seems there’s an epidemic of “wavy hands” among TV reporters and anchors, and a trend in which reporters thank or greet anchors who introduce their live shots.

Veteran news coach and contest judge Bob Priddy has some entertaining thoughts about this latest fad in this brief article for the RTDNA.

Posted by Tim Morrissey

 

UW-Madison Student Among Nation’s Top Collegiate Sportscasters

UW-Madison graduate Reid Magnum was named by Sportscasters Talent Agency of America (STAA) as one of the nation’s six most outstanding collegiate sportscasters. Magnum, who graduated in May from the UW-Madison School of Business, was honored for both radio and TV sportscasting. He was sports director of student station WSUM and has announced Badger Women’s Hockey for iHeart Radio for the past three seasons. Jon Chelesnik, CEO of STAA, says Magnum’s hockey play-by-play is among the best his organization has heard. The judges for the STAA awards include some of the top names in professional sports announcing.

Posted by Tim Morrissey