The shot of the girl getting shot...yes thats too far. Save that for the story. Other than that, I think it's a very effective promo. Simple and gets your attention. Great sound bites.
This had my heart racing and left me a little breathless but in a very bad way. This is why people are turning off local TV news. Do we really need to use scare tactics to get people to watch? Might be better ways to promote this story which I think is a valid topic. I suspect no one involved in this production is a parent.
Intense video and an important topic, but irresponsible promotion. You don't have to terrorize people to compel them to watch. And you certainly won't be making friends with viewers if the promo gives their children nightmares.
All this hubbub over the spot made me curious about the story, so I watched it on WTSP's website. It's what I figured it would be; high on drama but with no credible information that would help put parents and kids at ease. The station staged this training based on a plan developed by a self-defense expert (don't let the Dr. title fool you, he's a chiropractor). The thing is, he doesn't offer evidence in the story that his plan actually works in real-life situations. And what do police think about it? Why weren't they interviewed? Is it a good idea to be throwing objects at a crazed person with a loaded gun, potentially inciting them to spray the room with bullets? So even the story is irresponsible.
The whole thing reeks of a ratings grab and it probably worked.
Sorry to bring the journalism talk into the discussion, but I think even as promo producers, we ought to have a good grasp on the stories we're selling and whether they live up to the promises we create.
Here's the thing...if there's any issues..it's the story thats ridiculas, not the promo. I could be wrong, but I'm guessing the promo producer took sound bites directly from the chessey story. Doesn't appear to be much acting going on just for the promo. The news dept is to blame, in my opinion.
People hate local news for these kinds of things. It's the salacious crap that might pop a number on one night.. but drive away an audience every other night. And the reason why is simple: everyone see through it. Everyone knows that this idiot reporter is trying to get ratings, not help kids.
On a side note, I can honestly say, that if that asshat Reginald Roundtree pulled this crap in one of my children's classrooms... he would need more than helpful tips to protect himself.
The topic is contrived, and the spot doesn't sell any real value, instead opting to show frightened kids and a "boot camp" instructor giving them "hard love" afterwards-- which will result in remotes clicking away. I've done 20 years of bait and switch promos, and I am completely guilty in scaring viewers to watch, learning many lessons along the way. From seeing stories like this and their results in metered markets, I think you have to be careful about how you present sensitive topics. The story reeks of cliche and of being manufactured drama. The question to ask: does the viewer get any real value from this story? Are we really telling kids it's okay to charge a gunman because "he's not going to kill everyone"? There are too many intangibles in a real school lockdown. The viewer, now more than ever, doesn't want you to waste their time. Does this topic affect the available audience? Keep in mind, many of your local news viewers may be well beyond the demographic for having kids in their homes, as TV viewership is skewing older than ever before. Many of those viewers will flat out reject this topic based purely on what they see in this promo: kids scared witless and then "lectured" by an overly dramatic "expert" and his hackneyed advice.
And the viewers spoke. This was a two night story. WTSP dropped from their lead in and dropped inside the newscast BOTH nights. Plus they set back the image of local TV news another 10 years.
I forgot to add, they followed this up in the next few nights with "The Dangers of Flying Fish" and "Your Kids Having Sex in the Bedroom Next Door." (I wish I was joking)
http://www.wtsp.com/news/local/story.aspx?storyid=218331 (they say this "will even kill you")
http://www.wtsp.com/news/local/story.aspx?storyid=218772 (they clain this is "horrifying")
I don't mean to pick on WTSP, but these along with the kids shooting story, they seem to be this worse offender THIS TIME around that I've seen. Any others out there?
10 comments:
The shot of the girl getting shot...yes thats too far. Save that for the story. Other than that, I think it's a very effective promo. Simple and gets your attention. Great sound bites.
This had my heart racing and left me a little breathless but in a very bad way. This is why people are turning off local TV news. Do we really need to use scare tactics to get people to watch? Might be better ways to promote this story which I think is a valid topic. I suspect no one involved in this production is a parent.
Intense video and an important topic, but irresponsible promotion. You don't have to terrorize people to compel them to watch. And you certainly won't be making friends with viewers if the promo gives their children nightmares.
All this hubbub over the spot made me curious about the story, so I watched it on WTSP's website. It's what I figured it would be; high on drama but with no credible information that would help put parents and kids at ease. The station staged this training based on a plan developed by a self-defense expert (don't let the Dr. title fool you, he's a chiropractor). The thing is, he doesn't offer evidence in the story that his plan actually works in real-life situations. And what do police think about it? Why weren't they interviewed? Is it a good idea to be throwing objects at a crazed person with a loaded gun, potentially inciting them to spray the room with bullets? So even the story is irresponsible.
The whole thing reeks of a ratings grab and it probably worked.
Sorry to bring the journalism talk into the discussion, but I think even as promo producers, we ought to have a good grasp on the stories we're selling and whether they live up to the promises we create.
Here's the thing...if there's any issues..it's the story thats ridiculas, not the promo. I could be wrong, but I'm guessing the promo producer took sound bites directly from the chessey story. Doesn't appear to be much acting going on just for the promo.
The news dept is to blame, in my opinion.
People hate local news for these kinds of things. It's the salacious crap that might pop a number on one night.. but drive away an audience every other night. And the reason why is simple: everyone see through it. Everyone knows that this idiot reporter is trying to get ratings, not help kids.
On a side note, I can honestly say, that if that asshat Reginald Roundtree pulled this crap in one of my children's classrooms... he would need more than helpful tips to protect himself.
The topic is contrived, and the spot doesn't sell any real value, instead opting to show frightened kids and a "boot camp" instructor giving them "hard love" afterwards-- which will result in remotes clicking away. I've done 20 years of bait and switch promos, and I am completely guilty in scaring viewers to watch, learning many lessons along the way. From seeing stories like this and their results in metered markets, I think you have to be careful about how you present sensitive topics. The story reeks of cliche and of being manufactured drama. The question to ask: does the viewer get any real value from this story? Are we really telling kids it's okay to charge a gunman because "he's not going to kill everyone"? There are too many intangibles in a real school lockdown. The viewer, now more than ever, doesn't want you to waste their time. Does this topic affect the available audience? Keep in mind, many of your local news viewers may be well beyond the demographic for having kids in their homes, as TV viewership is skewing older than ever before. Many of those viewers will flat out reject this topic based purely on what they see in this promo: kids scared witless and then "lectured" by an overly dramatic "expert" and his hackneyed advice.
And the viewers spoke. This was a two night story. WTSP dropped from their lead in and dropped inside the newscast BOTH nights. Plus they set back the image of local TV news another 10 years.
I forgot to add, they followed this up in the next few nights with "The Dangers of Flying Fish" and "Your Kids Having Sex in the Bedroom Next Door." (I wish I was joking)
When local news promotion goes too far:
http://www.wtsp.com/news/local/story.aspx?storyid=218331
(they say this "will even kill you")
http://www.wtsp.com/news/local/story.aspx?storyid=218772
(they clain this is "horrifying")
I don't mean to pick on WTSP, but these along with the kids shooting story, they seem to be this worse offender THIS TIME around that I've seen. Any others out there?
I couldn't get the first video to load.
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