Making scanner stories real

Personally, I've never liked scanner stories. Crime, house fires, and various tales of human misery just never appealed to me, either as a reporter or a viewer. But depending on what your News Director wants, sometimes you've gotta cover that stuff.

My first News Director always told me to look for the human side of scanner stories. On one occasion we rolled on a house fire and arrived just in time to see the place engulfed in flames. It was obvious the house was a total loss. When we were done shooting b-roll we noticed a woman and her children across the street, sitting on the curb, crying. I went over to talk with her and asked if she'd gotten everyone out safe. She had. Then I asked the question that took the story in another direction.

"You've got insurance, right?"

The floodgate of tears opened. The woman, a single mom, had no insurance and eleven dollars to her name. Social services would put her up for awhile, but after that...

We turned the story into an appeal for help, as I told viewers to give the station a call if they'd like to lend a hand.

The next day I arrived in the newsroom and immediately got a call from the receptionist. "You wanna come up here and get all this stuff out of the lobby?"

Viewers had cleaned out their closets and brought all sorts of items to the station, and it was really nice stuff. But I had to figure out where to take it.

One phone call answered that question. A kind landlord had given the woman and her children a house to live in.

We loaded up our biggest news car and headed to her new home. We found a happy woman, unpacking a really nice set of china someone had donated. Her kids were checking out the new clothes viewers had sent. She told me the things that were donated were nicer than the things they'd lost.

Naturally the follow-up story was a happy ending, one in which our viewers played the major part.

Local newscasts are filled with so much tragedy these days. But if you look for the human side, you can turn the story into something positive... involve the viewers... and help out someone in need.

Think about it the next time you chase the scanner.