Local Producers, National Network programs

MODERATOR

Kim Metcalfe
Sr. Vice President, Weber Shandwick

PANELISTS

Heidi Barker
Producer, NBC News

Charlie Brooks
Producer, CBS News

Ron Schofield
Midwest News Manager, ABC News

PROGRAM SUMMARY

PCC April luncheon speakers (from left): Kim Metcalfe (moderator), Ron Schofield, Charlie Brooks, Heidi Barker. (Photo by Ted Lacey.)

PCC MEETING HELPS PR PROS GARNER NATIONAL NEWS BY WORKING WITH REGIONAL PRODUCERS

By Sue Masaracchia-Roberts

Yes, a lot of the national network and cable news outlets are in New York or Los Angeles, but that doesn’t mean a great national story can’t originate in Chicago. Moderator Kim Metcalfe, a senior vice president for Weber Shandwick, who spent 13 years producing newscasts for Emmy winning NBC and CBS affiliates in top markets, reminded those attending the April 12, PCC meeting that television is a visual medium. If there is little visual in your story, avoid pitching producers like these esteemed panelists.

Metcalfe’s extensive media relations expertise includes procuring media placement for a vast client base, including Microsoft, Abbott Laboratories, Kraft, a variety of food chains like KFC and Taco Bell, as well as NASA and the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library in Springfield. She introduced and moderated the panel of regional producers.

Heidi Barker

Heidi Barker, the local network producer for NBC Nightly News with Brian Williams, the Today Show and MSNBC, began her career at ABC, Fox and NBC affiliates, covering, among other stories, the September 11^th terrorist attacks, the Columbine and Paducah school shootings and various natural disasters.

With a staff of 12, who may be dispatched elsewhere, she primarily covers the Midwest and can pitch stories she thinks are appropriate. "With different shows having different themes," she said, "even I am learning which stories are appropriate to which shows."

She said that one of these, Countdown with Keith Olbermann, changes every day. As a result, it is best to study the website.

Barker prefers to be reached at heidi.barker@nbc.com, or by fax at 312-527-0913. Her bureau chief, Tom Lea, prefers e-mail; his e-mail address is tom.lea@nbc.com. The Senior Midwest Producer of the Today Show is Jennifer Hilton, who can be reached at Jennifer.hilton@nbc.com.

The local bureau has one permanent freelancer and one staff photographer. If the topic is local, fax or e-mail the information and, if it is a good story, they might just cover it. However, Barker urges PR pros to know what is going on in the news and to find a news peg to pitch. If the e-mail does not grab her immediately when she reads it, she deletes it. They never cover decorating or the holidays, for example, so avoid sending information to her about those topics.

"Keep in mind," she urged, "I am being judged by what I send to the bosses, too. I am just part of the screening process."

She suggested the best way to grab her attention is to "tell me, ‘if you cover this story about . . . you will see . . .’ We want to know in advance what we will see." She gave an example of students being taken via a hybrid bus to a park to pick up litter for an environmental story. In a short pitch, she is looking for a couple of paragraphs that lays out the story and includes people to contact. However, she cautioned the group that her staff may choose to screen the contact people to ensure that they can speak well before she commits to a story.

Frequently, if she needs sources, Barker will go to corporate PR and marketing people. Once she commits to a story, however, they need to understand she is not there to appease their bosses. She needs to know who will agree to talk to her and will determine who is appropriate.

Final decisions for the stories covered are made in New York on a case-by-case basis. However, if it is a local story, "I am the lead producer here so I get to make the decisions and decide which companies to use. Everyone wants a piece of the 22 minutes [chosen to air] and a lot of consideration goes into what gets covered during that time. A lot of producers are making the same kinds of decisions across the county. It’s a highly competitive market! The morning shows are really competitive. The Today Show will be really angry at you if you know GMA (Good Morning America) is doing the same story and you don’t tell us!"

Ron Schofield

ABC News Midwest Bureau Chief, Ron Schofield, is responsible for a staff of approximately 20. They coordinate coverage for ABC News shows in the 13-state Midwest region, pitching and producing stories for Good Morning America, Nightline, 20/20 and World News Tonight. His stories have ranged from the Elian Gonzalez Miami saga in 2000, to the Gorbachev-Reagan summit to the McGuire/Sosa home run race in 1998 and the Jackie Onassis funeral.

Schofield said his interest is not topic- or geographic-specific, but better results may be gained if he pitches the stories, especially for Good Morning America. The producers are not always the right people to contact.

"New York talks to us because they have to," he said, adding that he currently counts on a handful of agencies to provide him with relevant material. He added that he frequently refers to resource guides put out by universities and hospitals for his experts. However, he needs to know the experts he wants are in or out of town and willing to talk, as well as available when he needs them. To that end, he encourages PR pros to provide alternate methods of contact than merely daytime numbers. Include cell phone and home numbers in addition to pagers and e-mail addresses.

ABC tends not to use VNRs (video news releases). He also cautioned professionals that he needs only to be told key elements of a story rather than the entire story, especially if the person pitching knows what is in the news and can relate it. "We only have about a minute to tell the story, so, for example, we need to talk to an industry expert to be told why business is hurting."

In addition, he encourages those sending pitches to make sure the crew can get access to what is going on. In the case of one story they tried to cover, a group in Minnesota making ethanol to replace gasoline, "We spent a lot of time getting to cover this story and couldn’t get in to see what they were doing. Make sure we can get access!"

Even though New York decides what stories they want, "they give me a budget and how long it should be. I do the elements here." When the network does a story, he keeps a contact list.

"We need experts and characters to relate to who are affected by the story, but don’t," he warned, "give the same character to me that you give to Heidi or Charlie."

He suggested that for larger stories, "wait for downtime. Watch the news cycle. Some days we have no idea what we are going to do." However, be certain to discern between what news is local and what is of national interest.

Schofield can be reached at abctvchicago@abc.com or by phone at 312-899-4015. He deletes a lot of junk and generic mail and is more difficult to reach by phone, so make sure pitches are concise and appropriate before contacting him.

Charlie Brooks

CBS News producer Charlie Brooks covers Midwest news, as well as contributing news to other CBS outlets. Prior to joining CBS he worked in newsrooms in various Florida television stations.

Brooks prefers pitches with broad audience appeal. "A lot of what we are sent is interesting," he said. "but we have 22 minutes to tell all the stories we have. We only have a staff of seven or eight in the bureau and need to convince the bosses to do the stories we have. We are getting more requests from CBS.com, which is becoming a huge commitment, but then, 24-hour outlets are always looking for good stories."

He typically covers stories pegged to an event that is news directed. "John Challenger (the self-proclaimed HR guru from Challenger Gray and Christmas) is a genius," said Brooks. "He keeps track of business trends and, as a result, gets on television a lot! Anything on fire is good."

However, Brooks cautions PR people to never oversell their stories. "Whenever I get a call from someone who tells me they have the ‘best ever . . .,’ I tune out. Be careful to accurately reflect to us the value of the story. Avoid hyperbole or we’ll reject it."

He also suggests, "the easier you can make it for us, the better. We pre-interview all those we put into stories to make sure editorially and personally they are good for the story before we spend a lot of money on production. We need to know the person won’t freak out in front of cameras."

Brooks suggests finding appropriate staff to call at the specific shows and to become familiar with the shows’ audiences/demographics. For example, the Early Show attracts younger, female audiences. Stories for this venue should be sent to New York.

About half the stories assigned come from New York, however Brooks said, "We may see a story in Dubuque, Iowa, and make New York aware of it. If I see a story I like, I’ll try to do it. The best way to attract me is to do a pitch that is like bullets in a revolver. However, the final decision as to what goes on comes from New York. We decide the elements. What a client wants to say may not be what we want to hear or show."

Brooks can be reached at csb@cbsnews.com or by phone at 312-202-3313.

[Return to top.]

(Index to articles about monthly luncheons)