The most overused term in television news

You can probably guess this one. And if it shows up in your station's newscast every day, that's a problem.

The term is "exclusive," and it has become so overused that you might as well cry wolf. It's right up there with weathercasters who do "the sky is falling" routine every time there's a cloud in the sky, complete with squeezebacks and crawls that make TV unwatchable.

When I broke into the business, true exclusives were rare. The term was only used for truly big stories, and the term was used sparingly and after a discussion with the News Director. If a reporter had a handful of exclusives every year, that was a good year.

Of course now it seems every newscast has an "exclusive" on an almost daily basis. And half of those seem to come right off the scanner. Just because you have a story first doesn't make it an exclusive.

An exclusive should be reserved for those stories that have required a good deal of actual reporting. Stories with credible sources, facts that are double checked. Stories that really make the viewer sit up and take notice. Important stories that you know for a fact are yours and yours alone.

Calling the news of a murder or a car wreck an exclusive is an absolute joke. So, because the sheriff called you first, you think you have an exclusive? Uh, no. Because your newscast goes on an hour before anyone else's, do you think you have an exclusive because you've broadcast something first? No, again.

It's an electronic cry of "wolf" and nothing more. If its something you do on a regular basis, and the payoff isn't there for the viewer, the viewer doesn't think anything of it. If, however, you reserve the term for those times when your station really has something special, and have a solid journalistic reputation, viewers will take notice.

Remember, every story is "broken" by someone. That doesn't make it an exclusive.

Now if we can get the weather departments around the country to dial it down a notch.