The weekend planner

If you're a reporter in search of a story on Saturday or Sunday, you know the feeling. The file is either empty or filled with craft shows and yam festivals. Any thoughts of hard news are pretty much out the window since a lot of the people you need to interview aren't available. And hoping for a story to fall in your lap is pretty lame.

Waiting until you roll into the station on Saturday morning will only get you an endless parade of standups eating funnel cakes. The key to turning good weekend stories is to plan ahead. Sometimes putting even a small part of a story in the can can turn a simple vo/sot into something more newsworthy.

Here's an example. Let's say there's going to be a Saturday festival on the beach which has just been reclaimed due to efforts of environmentalists and funding by some local government officials. You already have a pretty good idea what you'll find on Saturday; kids on rides, people eating junk food and playing carnival games. But with a little forethought, you can turn this into a hard news package. Before your friendly legislator heads to the golf course on Friday afternoon, grab a sound bite. Talk to a realtor about the fact that beachfront property is now more valuable. Pull some file tape of those tree huggers cleaning up the beach a few months ago. All of a sudden you walk into the newsroom on Saturday morning and you just need a little b-roll from the festival to set up your story. While the other reporters are asking chocolate covered kids why they love festivals, you've actually got a first block story.

Few reporters realize that Sunday's late newscast is one of the most watched of the week. It's a great opportunity to show that the news department hasn't taken the weekend off like everyone else. So, in the case of Sundays, look in Monday's file and find out what's coming up. Is someone going to file a protest about the new sewage plant in the morning? Talk to the people before they do it, and show the reasons why they're all fired up. Get the other side of the story from the city official in the can before the weekend. And call up the environmental expert during business hours and get a few facts... you might have a nice graphic for your piece.

Weekend reporting really should be a breeze, but if you don't look ahead you're making things difficult on yourself.. and much less interesting for your viewers.