FRIDAY, DECEMBER 14, 2007
Friday Edition: Covering Winter Storms
For those of you who are not digging out from under the snow, the story of
the day for you might still be the baseball steroid scandal. We have
pulled together
tons of resources
to help you. You'll learn how widespread steroid use is among child
athletes and how steroids work, find experts who know about steroid
abuse in sports and see how this problem has been brewing for decades.
And for those of you who are digging your way out of snow and ice, my thoughts are with you. To help you with your coverage, I turned to some friends who live and work in cities that experience some of the harshest winter weather in the country.
My friend Tom Lindner, news director at
KARE-11 TV in Minneapolis, offers these suggestions:
Some of your coverage is obvious. Of course you have to cover the fires and the disasters. But we have to remember that not everybody is suffering [from] a house fire or a heart attack. We have to take what we call the consumer angle of the story, too. Here are some examples:
Set up a time-lapse before the storm hits. Lots of weather equipment that TV stations use includes time-lapse technology. Use a tower camera or just set up a small camera outside the newsroom and record the storm as it arrives and develops. So often we think of this after the storm arrives. Do it BEFORE the storm.
Ride with emergency workers. Any time there is a measurable amount of snow, you will find that the work of emergency workers becomes anything but routine. Now instead of responding to a heart attack, workers also have to battle their way through snow. Sometimes they cannot find the house because house numbers are blocked. Doors won't open. They can't get into driveways or side streets. The battle to get to the patient can be a great obstacle.
Go to the impound lot. One way to do this story is to hang a wireless mic on the person working at the impound lot who has to suffer the abuse of people whose cars have been towed because they parked on snow routes. The people who show up to claim their cars have had to find a way to get to the lot. In Minneapolis, they have to pay nearly $175 in penalties and towing charges. On top of that, there could be impound fees. The people who pay these fees are not happy. Some people just do not hear about approaching storms, despite extensive media coverage, so they don't move their cars from snow plow routes.
The three hot places in cold weather. Grocery stores, liquor stores and video rental stores will all be busy before a storm, especially a weekend storm.
How to shovel snow safely. Recruit a doctor or ergonomic expert to show you how to properly shovel snow. Hospitals fill up with people who hurt their backs or who have a heart attack while shoveling snow. There are actually newly designed snow shovels these days that have an "L" in the handle to take the strain off the shoveler's back. For newspapers, this makes a great online video project. (
See an example of a newly engineered snow shovel.)
The Web. Blow out what is normally on the front and replace it with weather. It is the one thing that will attract people to your site this weekend. Super-size your coverage. Replace anything on the front page that does not come close to weather in interest or importance. This is a chance for you to recruit readers who might not refer to you normally.
Test your closings technology before the storm. Don't wait until you need it. Don't assume that because it used to work, it still does. Add school closings, church closings or public events cancellations to your Web, too. Remember there are lots of holiday gatherings this weekend.
Look for the beauty. Often journalists only report the emergency story and miss the Currier & Ives moments that are all around them. Lindner warns you not to run the beauty pieces next to the emergency stories in your newscasts, but don't ignore the fact that kids love snow, dogs love snow, ski runs open and lots of people have fun.
Showcase your meteorologist as a scientist. Some of the areas that will get hit this weekend are areas that are more used to freezing rain or ice than snow. Let your weather experts explain how snowfall occurs and how much rain a few inches of snow equals. Let the weather forecasters shine.
Use video phones. KARE 11 reporters often file short video clips online, taken even while the crew is driving to a story. They can shoot out the front window of the car and show the street conditions all over town. Just send the video as an e-mail; the station posts it directly to the Web with no editing. Those short videos encourage Web site users to contribute video as well.
Consider packaging a bunch of user-generated videos into one showcased story. This is especially useful when you are short on photojournalists because they are out on live shots or snow duty. Do your best to verify who sent the videos; verify that the videos are legitimate. Give the contributors credit. Tell the story of the people who bothered to send it to you.
Find the hottest job in town. Be there when the person either arrives or leaves at the end of the workday. You will see them go from parka to T-shirt as they sweat over the deep-fry vat or industrial laundry machine.
People won't give up their bikes. Lindner says even in Minneapolis, he is noticing how many people have "gone green" and now won't give up their bikes. They still bike to work or to school. They bike despite the fact that streets are more narrow because of the snow on the road. This is not just couriers or people doing commercial pickups. These are folks who are just trying to keep their carbon footprint small.
The rural mail carrier in winter. They are amazing. And, as Lindner says, mail carriers are like cabbies: They all have a story and love to tell it. Then, hold on to the winter video and find that same mail carrier on the hottest day of the summer. The flashback to the winter video makes a wonderful follow-up story full of contrast.
Snow shovel heart attacks.
Fifteen minutes of snow shoveling is equal to moderate physical
activity, according to the 1996 Surgeon General's report on physical activity and health. Researchers have reported an increase in the number of
fatal heart attacks among snow shovelers after heavy snowfalls. One study determined that after only
two minutes of shoveling, sedentary mens' heart rates rose to levels higher than those
normally recommended during aerobic exercise.
Shoveling can be made more difficult by the weather. Cold air makes it harder to work
and breathe, which adds some extra strain on the body.
The Heart & Stroke Foundation says the
number of acute heart problems increases when there's a significant dip
in the outdoor temperature or when there's a swing to extreme
atmospheric pressure. One study found that a 10-degree drop in
temperature translates into a 38 percent increased risk of a recurrent
heart attack.
Other Snow Coverage Ideas
Al's Morning Meeting reader Yoni Greenbaum has
some suggestions on about how to cover the snow story more creatively:
- How much does snow removal cost in your area? From the teen with
the shovel to the landscape company with the truck-mounted plow, what's
the going rate? And are there issues (for example, insurance) people
should consider before hiring either?
- What businesses benefit from snow? Tire stores? Accident attorneys? Babysitters?
- What to do when you're stuck at home with kids? Recipes, activities
and more. (This story you can trot (out) every time the weather is bad and
put it online.)
We are always looking for your great ideas. Send Al a few sentences and links.
Editor's
Note: Al's Morning Meeting is a compendium of ideas, edited story
excerpts and other materials from a variety of Web sites, as well as
original concepts and analysis. When the information comes directly
from another source, it will be attributed and a link will be provided
whenever possible. The column is fact-checked, but depends on the
accuracy and integrity of the original sources cited. Errors and
inaccuracies found will be corrected.
Posted at 6:01:08 AM
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