"Dead" Brings Life to Second Screen

Second Screen Experience for The Walking Dead

The "Second Screen" is one of those buzzwords in media circles. People in news say they want to own the second screen, but most of their effort is targeted to standalone websites and phone and tablet apps. The non-fiction world could learn a lesson in second screen appeal from our fictional cousins who make The Walking Dead.

Quiz

The "sync experience" for The Walking Dead is a website-based experienced timed to coincide with live airings of television episodes. The content includes quizes, polls, video clips, and (tv) screen grabs presented at key moments. After a gruesome walker kill, the website will ask you to rank it on a bloodiness scale. When a symbolic gesture or item appears on the screen, the website will remind you of the significance (helpful for late entries into the series.)

Ad on Second Screen During a Commercial Break

The sync experience even includes ads, timed to offer themselves to viewers at a time when AMC is running promos rather than paid commercials, wisely making revenue and not conflicting with those who pay (more) for a broadcast slot. Each (new) episode of The Walking Dead starts with a reminder to start the "sync experience."

Talking Dead

And the final innovation for the "second screen" effort is bringing it back to the first screen. After new episodes we get Talking Dead, an hour-long show hosted by nerd royalty Chris Hardwick interviewing two celebrity "super fans" and one actor or producer from the show. This show incorporates digital interaction with the audience by displaying pictures from the "Dead Yourself" app, twitter questions, and more.

So how can news learn from this? While it would be next to impossible to automate a "news synch" to a live newscast, you could certainly do a "live tweet" or even host a Google+ Chat, possibly run by a (not the line) producer with the anchors and reporters joining in. Depending on crew availability (and break times, and union rules, etc.) there could also be a "News Extra" that runs after a newscast ends, or before it starts.)

Watch This Wednesday: Digital Integration in Newscasts

Check out this list of YouTube videos compiled by AR&D Consultant Bill Seitzler (my former boss at WHEC in Rochester, NY). It shows some examples of how stations have used internet content live on the air, or cross-promoted a station's digital products on the air.

Tech Tuesday: Google Maps and Google Earth on broadcast

In my job as Executive Producer at a TV station, part of my job was understanding "broadcast rights" and copyright/trademark issues. Sometimes, I felt like I was the only one who "got it." Many reporters and photographers wanted to put Google Maps/Google Earth images on the air. I had to explain that Google requires a broadcast license, and at the time, there was a hefty fee. (But Bing was free, so we used that.)

It now looks like Google is no longer charging a fee for broadcasters to use Google Maps/Earth images. However, there is an application process, and you can apply here.

Media Critic Monday: On-Air Fact Checkers

Last month, USA Today Media columnist Rem Reider wrote a piece on On-Air Fact Checkers. He wrote the piece after watching an episode of CNN's Reliable Sources with guest Tony Kornheiser of ESPN's Pardon the Interruption. I've never watched the show, but apparently PTI includes an on-air fact-checker. Kornheiser challenged his hard news cousins to add the feature to their programs.

The one place I've seen an on-air fact-checker is on FNC's Red Eye, where host Greg Gutfeld talks to Andy Levy for segments they call "The Half-time Report" and "The Post-game Wrap-Up." (I have not seen these in a while, as Levy is now seated at the table with the rest of the panel.) Levy will offer correct information when Gutfeld or a guest makes a mistaken assertion. Just as often, Levy will "correct" the opinion of someone on the show. The whole show plays a little fast and loose with the fact/opinion distinction, and makes heavy use of sarcasm and jokes, so this is not fact-checking in a pure form.

I don't see any of the "opinion shows" on CNN (Crossfire), MSNBC (every show airing after 3pm on weekdays), or FNC (5am-9am Fox and Friends, 2pm The Real Story with Gretchen Carlson, and everything from 4pm-11pm: Cavuto, The Five, Special Report, Greta, O'Reilly, The Kelly File, Hannity). All of these shows are based on the theory that the host is "correct," so the only person offering any corrections will be the host.

As for "straight news" programs, I don't really see them setting aside time for corrections on a daily basis. First, they put a lot of effort into making sure mistakes do not sneak in. When mistakes do occur, they are most often the result of a spelling error, or a mistaken button punch by a technician. As a television producer, I can tell you that for the sake of job harmony, anchors should not point out those sorts of errors. It happens, and sometimes should happen, that a person who appears on the air will point out and explain an error ("The person whose picture we just showed you is our congressman, not the suspected murder I was just talking about."), but even in those cases, you are still going to irritate some, if not all of your production crew, so there is a HUGE incentive to avoid it.

If there is a fact error in a taped report (and it does happen, a lot) a producer will usually whisper into the ear of the anchor, and the anchor will offer a clarification right after the piece runs. Sometimes, you'll see an anchor make a correction after a commercial break. (When newscasters have to add a correction, they will have to take time away from something else, usually dropping a planned story or making the weather forecaster do their job in less time.) You most likely won't see a correction when someone makes a spelling mistake on a graphic (as long as the error does not change the meaning in a way that distorts the overall meaning of the story in a way that needs to be explained.) The one place television has already adopted the practice of the Internet is casual spelling.

Perhaps the most appropriate place for on-air fact checking for TV broadcasts is on the second screen. Imagine a twitter feed offering corrections and commentary on the broadcast. Another option would be a "web extra" video stream that continues online after the broadcast ends, offering both a chance to correct errors, expand on content, and offer other extra information.

Watch This Wednesday: Unicorn of the Sea

"Arctic Journey: Unicorn of the Sea" is a story prepared for Nightline that won the 2013 National Emmy Award for "Outstanding Feature Story on a Regularly Scheduled Newscast."

Breaking News

Tech Tuesday: the two-screen experience on one screen

Many in the digital media realm talk about the "second screen experience," or even the "mulit-screen experience," to talk about people who are using social media while watching a traditional broadcast or cable program. Some programs try to integrate social media into the first screen by placing hashtags on the screen as a second bug, running a crawl of tweets on the bottom of the screen, or by showing social media posts as part of the main program.

"SimulTV" has a single screen solution. SimulTV is a subscription fee website with multiple channels. Each channel offers traditional video content and social media on a single page. I saw some of the people behind SimulTV pitch their product at the SXSW V2V conference in Las Vegas in 2013, and I wasn't very impressed, for the simple reason that they don't seem to understand content generators and providers. Their system is based on users coming to a SimulTV channel. Content providers, like broadcast networks and cable channels, are used to, and expect, users to come to THEIR web page for content. Instead of trying to get end users to pay to subscribe to one of their channels, I think these entrepreneurs would be better off licensing their technology to content providers.

Media Critic Monday: CNN host criticizes CNN

Both CNN and FNC have "media criticism" shows on the weekend. CNN's used to be hosted by Howard Kurtz, until he was hired by FNC. Fox's old show, Fox Media Watch, was a joke. In its final year, the sole liberal critic was in a different location than the rest of the panel -- he was literally all alone. Now that Kurtz is at FNC, CNN's "Reliable Sources" is using guest hosts.

Back on September 29th, Brian Stelter took aim at CNN's moving target policy on "talent" revealing financial links to guests. In this case, Crossfire commentator Newt Gingrich's PAC gave money to Sen. Rand Paul -- the heavily promoted guest on the very first edition of Crossfire.

Who to Follow Friday: @journtoolbox

Welcome to "Who to Follow Friday," where I offer my thoughts on who to follow on Twitter for thought-leadership on jourmalism/media/tech/etc. This isn't who out there is tweeting the best breaking news, this is my list of people who are tweeting info or links to some of the most interesting thoughts about news, as well as the technology newsies use.

@journtoolbox is a creation of the Society of Professional Journalists, and according its Twitter profile, was created by Mike Reilley, an instructor at DePaul University. The feed often links to journaliststoolbox.org, a helpful place for reporters, editors, and academics.

Don't forget to follow me at @ReinvenTheMedia

Throwback Thursday: Week of September 30, 2013

Welcome to Throwback Thursday, a brief look back at the brief history of this blog.

Last week: "Careful with those comments" looked at the pratfalls of online comments, and how sites are trying to avoid them.

Last Month: "Kimmel exposes journalistic missteps" shows how one tv show's little joke reveals a big problem for journalism.

Watch This Wednesday: The Longest Wait

"The Longest Wait" by Steve Hartman, won the 2013 National Emmy Award for Best Story in a Regularly Scheduled Newscast. Hartman is a master, and we can all learn from him.

Tech Tuesday: Storyteller

Ever since John King from CNN spent election night in front of his "magic wall," local broadcasters have been jealous. AccuWeather has a new product that promises to bring the "magic wall" to local broadcasters called "Storyteller." According to the promotional materials, it will let you incorporate live HD video into presentations, which can include user-created maps (presumably from data and templates supplied by AccuWeather). The demos also show how you can put social media on the air (wonder if there is a system to filter out profanity?), and shows how easy it is to put a Google map on the air (with no mention of the fact that Google requires a licensing fee from broadcasters to put maps over-the-air.)