"Our goal is to keep it on the air as long as we have information that is worthy to put
on the air," said Director of News and Marketing, Paul Dughi.
"This is the overriding story, and it will be for a long time. We believe the station
which captures these kind of events can capture viewers because this is a time when
people who don't normally watch news will come flocking to the set," he added.
Info-Minutes
WFSB developed "info-minutes" that could be dropped into their cut-ins instead of
using promos.
"We are going to take all that tremendous promotional savvy this staff has and put it to
use," said Effron. Rather than promoting entertainment shows, they promoted where
people could go for help.
The spot typically didn't look like a PSA. It did have WFSB talent, a format, and slick
graphics.
Situation Room
In Miami, WPLG-TV put a reporter in a room with a map which could be shot
overhead.
"We're trying to help people understand the geography, the politics and the
personalities which are involved in this," said News Director Bob Reichblum.
Gulf Situation Report
In Phoenix, KPNX-TV News Director Mike Beardsley said one thing which worked
well for them leading up to the war was putting an anchor in front of a map for a
regular "Gulf Situation Report."
"It allowed us to explain in detail where the forces were, where ships were located,
where planes were. It took it out of the context coming from a desk. We received
many calls from viewers thanking us for this who said it was the first time they could
actually understand the geography and where all the forces were," said Beardsley.
He added that because of the massive amount of information coming out it was very
important to keep it in context, and to make sure it was as clear as possible to the
viewer.
Satellite Information Center
In Little Rock, KARK-TV made the point of the immediacy of satellite transmissions
by establishing a Satellite Information Center.
"We set it up the day before the war started," said News Director Bob Steel.
He assigned a staffer who spent 13 years in the Navy and was in the public affairs
division of the Arkansas National Guard to be the reporter in the information center.
"He is our resident military expert," Steel explained. He was in the B Control Room,
which they called the Satellite Information Center.
They introed each report with ... "Our Jack Martin has been monitoring the satellite
feeds from around the world and has this report ..."
