Mailbag: I made the feed, now what?

Grape,

Your website has been an amazing resource for me. This is my first reporting job, in what used to feel like market 4,000. Your input has unquestionably helped me add great depth to all of my stories. Even my news director has told others I am doing a good job. I say "used to feel like market 4,000" because lately, myself and other reporters here at the station have had our packages aired on CNN quite often. In the last 10 days, 5 of my own stories, either video or the full package, were aired nationally. Should I be as excited as I am, or is that just CNN trying to get voices heard from small markets? Also, are those stories an automatic for the resume tape? They are a mix of some enterprising, tragic and shocking stories.

-Pessimistically Optimistic

Dear Pessimistic,

Well, perhaps it's time for a little history of the feed. And this is going to make a lot of you young people mad.

When I broke in as a reporter in 1982, every network had a feed as they do today. But back then if you didn't have a satellite uplink and wanted to get your story on the feed, you needed to dub it, drive it to the airport, and put it on a plane. But before you did that, you had to "pitch it" to whoever was in charge of the feed content. A phone call would go like this:

Me: I've got a really unusual story about a water skiing squirrel.

Feed guy: We'll take it on spec.

That meant they'd look at it, and if they bought it (here's where you're gonna start getting mad) you would get $210 to split with the photog. Pretty nice chunk of change back in those days. If your piece made the network morning show or evening newscast, you'd get up to $600.

But wait, there's more. You could also sell it to outlets like CNN and ESPN, who paid $125. CNN didn't take pieces with music, as they didn't want to deal with music rights. So if you had a really good piece you could sell it in several venues.

Then around 1990 some bean counter decided, "Hey, let's not pay these people. We'll just put everything on the feed. Reporters will line up to get on the feed because their egos are so big."

Uh, no.

So let me get this straight... the networks wanted to stop paying us for something they'd been paying us for, and expect us to make dubs, drive to the airport, etc.

And that's when the quality of the feed went into the dumper. Vets like me would get calls all the time from the feed people (who now sounded like a bunch of interns), but it was no longer worth the time, trouble and gasoline. Then they started calling assignment editors, who knew that reporters and photogs wouldn't be bothered.

That's why you now see so many average pieces on the feed. Memo to the networks: you get what you pay for.

That is not to diminish the work you've done. Your piece still has to be fairly decent to get on the feed, but it no longer has to go through the weeding out process of the 1980s. But CNN isn't going to put garbage on the feed, so your work obviously met their standards.

As for a feed piece being a resume tape piece, the "Grape Rules" still apply. Just because a story is a lead story or an important one doesn't make it a resume piece. Stories must be unique, show enterprising and reporting skills, and be memorable. Katrina stories were important but everyone has done one. A triple murder in your market may be a huge story, but it's just another scanner piece to a ND looking to hire someone.

Remember, show a News Director you can dig up something interesting, write well, do a clever standup, and use natural sound.

One good thing about getting on the feed... your piece will end up on someone's newscast and a News Director might look you up. So basically it is another hook in the water when you're looking for a job. Sometimes reporters can actually get a "reputation" for doing good feed pieces. I've heard producers say, "Hey, there's a John Smith package on the feed," since they know John Smith has done good work before.

So keep working hard and if your work makes the feed, fine. You never know who's watching.

I just feel bad that you guys aren't getting paid for it.