Colorado Media Newsroom
June 13th, 2013, 04:50 PM
From The Denver Post:
http://blogs.denverpost.com/ostrow/files/2013/06/fire-495x343.jpgThe Black Forest Fire. Photo: Helen H. Richardson/The Denver Post
El Paso County Sheriff Terry Maketa told the morning press conference that law enforcement and safety experts learned many lessons from last year’s Waldo Canyon Fire. On the media side, there were lessons learned and applied as well.
One is, disregard the inevitable minority of vocal viewers who would rather have golf or ice hockey or “Ellen” on the screen during a local crisis. Denver TV stations dutifully cleared hours of network news and entertainment programming in order to bring dramatic coverage of the wildfires to area viewers. Another is, tiptoe as close to the action as possible without directly disobeying officials. Marshall Zelinger of 7News proved effective at documenting, live, where he was standing in dicey instances so there was no mistake.
Also, while TV news often paints with a broad brush, the little details matter. “Evacuation area boundaries, “mandatory” versus “standby” evacuation, wind direction and wind speed, humidity levels* these details are literally a matter of life and death for our viewers,” CBS4 New Director Tim Wieland said.
Another lesson was the key role of the internet: significant resources were devoted to the stations’ websites and Twitter feeds to keep data on the dynamic situation up to date. “These maps continue to change as we speak,” 7News anchor Anne Trujillo noted, looking at a green, purple, blue montage. Among those building Twitter followers locally: Cody Crouch, helicopter pilot and photographer for the Denver TV stations, was “trending” Wednesday.
Local TV’s best live standup ad libber, Kyle Clark of 9News, made it look easy. But a number of on-air personnel showed the stress of working in difficult conditions, trying to coordinate with a camera operator while pointing at dangerous sites in the far distance and keeping track of facts in complete sentences.
More than ever, it was all about the maps. Maps defined pre-evacuation areas, mandatory evacuation areas, actively burning areas, evacuation routes and highway closures. More maps charted weather, wind direction, humidity, predicted lightening strikes. Some of the most striking maps were overlaid on NASA satellite images from space.
Closer to earth, the value of hyper-local reporting was evident as news outlets plotted on maps block-by-block which homes were lost, and Tweeted/posted the findings. Stunning footage from a camera mounted on a fire hose, seen on 7News, brought viewers the fire crews’-eye view.
On day three of the fire coverage, a day that also strained newsrooms to cover a home explosion in Westminster, CBS4′s Wieland tweeted the exchange he had in requesting the Channel 4 program director clear time for a special 4 p.m. broadcast. “Her response: What? No locusts?”
More... (http://blogs.denverpost.com/ostrow/2013/06/13/tv-news-crews-scour-the-co-wildfires/14942/)
http://blogs.denverpost.com/ostrow/files/2013/06/fire-495x343.jpgThe Black Forest Fire. Photo: Helen H. Richardson/The Denver Post
El Paso County Sheriff Terry Maketa told the morning press conference that law enforcement and safety experts learned many lessons from last year’s Waldo Canyon Fire. On the media side, there were lessons learned and applied as well.
One is, disregard the inevitable minority of vocal viewers who would rather have golf or ice hockey or “Ellen” on the screen during a local crisis. Denver TV stations dutifully cleared hours of network news and entertainment programming in order to bring dramatic coverage of the wildfires to area viewers. Another is, tiptoe as close to the action as possible without directly disobeying officials. Marshall Zelinger of 7News proved effective at documenting, live, where he was standing in dicey instances so there was no mistake.
Also, while TV news often paints with a broad brush, the little details matter. “Evacuation area boundaries, “mandatory” versus “standby” evacuation, wind direction and wind speed, humidity levels* these details are literally a matter of life and death for our viewers,” CBS4 New Director Tim Wieland said.
Another lesson was the key role of the internet: significant resources were devoted to the stations’ websites and Twitter feeds to keep data on the dynamic situation up to date. “These maps continue to change as we speak,” 7News anchor Anne Trujillo noted, looking at a green, purple, blue montage. Among those building Twitter followers locally: Cody Crouch, helicopter pilot and photographer for the Denver TV stations, was “trending” Wednesday.
Local TV’s best live standup ad libber, Kyle Clark of 9News, made it look easy. But a number of on-air personnel showed the stress of working in difficult conditions, trying to coordinate with a camera operator while pointing at dangerous sites in the far distance and keeping track of facts in complete sentences.
More than ever, it was all about the maps. Maps defined pre-evacuation areas, mandatory evacuation areas, actively burning areas, evacuation routes and highway closures. More maps charted weather, wind direction, humidity, predicted lightening strikes. Some of the most striking maps were overlaid on NASA satellite images from space.
Closer to earth, the value of hyper-local reporting was evident as news outlets plotted on maps block-by-block which homes were lost, and Tweeted/posted the findings. Stunning footage from a camera mounted on a fire hose, seen on 7News, brought viewers the fire crews’-eye view.
On day three of the fire coverage, a day that also strained newsrooms to cover a home explosion in Westminster, CBS4′s Wieland tweeted the exchange he had in requesting the Channel 4 program director clear time for a special 4 p.m. broadcast. “Her response: What? No locusts?”
More... (http://blogs.denverpost.com/ostrow/2013/06/13/tv-news-crews-scour-the-co-wildfires/14942/)