/news-anchor-mistakes-57a5d73a5f9b58974aee9cf1.jpg)
ON THE SURFACE it would seem so easy and casual but it's not, at least here anyway. I'm talking about the ad-lib. It's become the category in art form; a momentary pause away from the script and the ability to think on one's own. On camera. Perhaps even looking away from the teleprompter.Most anchors here do not, can not, will not (unless they have to) ad-lib. Oh, they try. Because it comes with the territory but they look frantic at best and amateur at worst.
Ken Bastida is a seasoned anchor here over at PIX; solid reader, consistent if not spectacularly ordinary. In other words, the company is happy and for the most part, viewers too. Only Bastida, as good as he is, can't ad-lib. He's actually lost in space. It's not his fault, some people have it some people don't. It's not just the observation from here ask around the newsroom and beyond. He's not horrible. He's just not that great having to think on his feet and adjust to the present moment. During a recent fire in the Oakland hills that looked troublesome at the start, PIX (and a few other stations) broke from regular programming and had a reporter on the scene. Bastida tried his best to ask questions but he looked and sounded disjointed --like he way performing ballet with a pair of work boots on. It wasn't the worst performance I've seen but it looked sloppy. Unease at best. I'm not picking on Ken I'm just stating fact; it was not his finest day on the job.
Some are better than others. You could be a fantastic news anchor and horrible ad-libber. Then there's those who are terrific at working off copy; asking good, concise questions; remaining professional and cogent on the air but can't anchor worth a damn.
I used to think Frank Somerville (KTVU) was a lousy ad-libber until he did a helluva job on the Asiana airlines crash (pre-ToryGate); it was solid, riveting hours of interviews of reporters and officials on the scene. Somerville got it down and he worked 99% off script. Same thing with the Ghost Ship fire tragedy; eight hours of stressful, work as you go and asking questions on a most fluid situation and Somerville shined.
Dan Ashley (KGO-TV) is not only the BEST anchor locally; he's one damn good ad-libber. It helps too when you work in the field as a reporter (as Ashley did years back); first off, he's calm, doesn't look nor sound disjointed and can ask the basic and even non-basic questions without looking like he's stuck in an elevator. Calm, cool, collected, it's one of many reasons why I like to watch his newscasts on Circle7.
Dennis Richmond; one of the most heralded TV anchors here ever; great presence on screen; tremendously steady and viewers loved him. Only one thing: Dennis was a TERRIBLE ad-libber. Sorry, but everyone knew it only they were afraid to say it because they didn't want to piss him off. He simply was adequate at best when breaking news dictated asking questions to reporters off copy.
Pete Wilson could do both and did many a times both on TV and radio especially. He was at his finest during the Loma Prieta earthquake. Van Amburg was superb. A throwback who could pretty much perform under any and all circumstances. Go on You Tube and take a look.
**
READERS:
415 MEDIA is 100% reader-supported and relies on donations and paid subscriptions to be wholly independent and sustainable. Please make a donation by clicking on the Pay Pal icon located on the right side of the blog under "donate." Your contribution is 100% secure and confidential and you do not have to have a Pay Pal account to contribute.
As always, thank you.
As always, thank you.
The great anchors and reporters anticipate what the audience is thinking and feeling when they receive certain news. Another great asset for ad-libbers, not asking questions that the reporter doesn't know the answer to, and instead setting them up to provide other useful info.
ReplyDelete"Amber, if people at home want to get involved and help that displaced family, what should they do?
99 per-cent of the time the questions are scripted so as to eliminate any confusion.
DeleteFrank really is good at the ad lib. As a former writer I remember once sending him top line message about new numbers in the story and he just glanced down at the screen while asking a phone interview a question and then seamlessly rolled the numbers into his anchoring. Dennis really was miserable at the ad lib. Once he was told to fill ten minutes on a breaking story by the news director. Guests were waiting on the phone and a reporter was in the field, Dennis just read what limited scripting was written and then signed off! He knew the ND couldn't touch him, even for ignoring very clear instructions. Dennis didn't want to stumble on the air and hurt his reputation.. so he just thru the station's coverage under the bus.
ReplyDeleteYou left out the two best ad-libbers on local news, because you don't like them for some weird reason: Brian Hackney and Catherine Heenan.
ReplyDeleteDoes anyone remember the ad-lib banter between Catherine Heenan and Gary Radnich???
DeleteOne reason I liked Dennis Richmond was because he didn't take part in ad-libbing. He just professionally read the news.
ReplyDeleteI generally like Frank Sommerville, but his constant ad-libs and editorial comments after stories drives me up the wall.
I will admit that Ashley does a pretty good job with ad-libs.
I know this is not ad-libbing however when (KTVU) Mike Mibach is sitting and waiting for Gasia Mikaelian to finish up a story or share a story he looks like a deer in the headlights. He looks so uncomfortable and makes me uncomfortable watching him.
ReplyDelete- Hard to believe, but Bastida is 5 years from McElhatton's PIX longest longevity - 23 years v 18 now.
ReplyDelete- Many of my Eastbay-based Facebook friends concur with Rich about Somerville's abilities.
- Ashley one-of-a-kind. So why doesn't the station respect him enough to give him respectful middle managers?
- Most of the time, Richmond never had to ad-lib. On rare occasions during major headline stories did he ask questions when the story struck a raw nerve.
- Wilson's talents proved he left us too soon.
- Amburg still the gold standard all-time. Unbelievable the timing of his passing at Circle7, only 10 days after the Warriors snapped Oakland's 43-year home-based sports championship drought with their 5-game rout of Cleveland. One week, everybody at KGO was celebrating at Lake Merritt; the next week, David Louie's Nixon-in-China reporting partner is gone and leaves a void at ABC7.
I would also add to the "best" list Cheryl Jennings. Just watch the initial hours of coverage of the Loma Prieta Earthquake from Cheryl on the newsroom camera.
ReplyDeleteFrank Mallicoat. Is the WORST!!! His seemingly trying to fit in and have a comment on the weekend morning show is just ARGHHHHHH!! Claudine Wong has this look on her face like, "... really dude?!??" Wong is a straight shooter. Mallicoat is like that guy trying to be overly pleasing. I like 2. But I turn to Pix and Matier at 8.
ReplyDeleteFrank has a bad habit of leaving his mouth open when he finishes a story.
DeleteAnn Cuurry was the best news reader and ad-libber. Always smooth. Never ever stumbled or tripped over her words in an awkward uncomfortable fashion.
ReplyDeleteJust one of the reasons, Matt Lauer stabbed her in the back and got her fired from NBC News.
DeletePerhaps the best job of ad-libbing I ever saw was when Walter Cronkite reported the death of Lyndon Johnson live on Jan. 22, 1973. CBS does two feeds of its evening news, one at 6:30 ET that's live and one at 7 that is usually a tape of the earlier feed unless there's a story that needs to be updated.
ReplyDeleteThat night they were several minutes into the 6:30 feed when they went to a filmed report. When the report ended, you could see Cronkite with a phone to his ear, taking notes. You couldn't hear the other side of the conversation, so it was dead air. He held up his finger to the viewer, as if he was saying, stay with me a moment. Then he says something like thank you very much Tom, I'm on the air live right now, can you hold the line. Then Cronkite says he's on the phone with Tom Johnson, the press secretary for Lyndon Johnson, who reported that the 36th president of the United States died this afternoon in an ambulance plane after he was stricken by a heart attack at his ranch in Texas. He began to describe the situation with the death, pausing while he had the phone to his ear as Tom Johnson gave him additional details. Then Cronkite said hung up the phone and went on to ad-lib about President Johnson's health in recent days. It was a powerful, riveting TV moment. Sadly, for the 7 p.m. feed, they didn't replay it. They led with the death, of course, and ran an obit of LBJ that had been prepared in the event of his death.
I think most affiliates in those days took the 7 p.m. feed, so most viewers never saw this.
Tom Johnson (no relation to LBJ) was a close aide to the president and after LBJ left the White House was his press secretary. He also ran LBJ and Lady Bird's TV properties in Texas and went on to head the Los Angeles Times and CNN in the 90s.
Cronkite, of course, had a lot of moments of great ad-libbing -- the Kennedy assassination, the moon shots, election nights. But this forgotten moment stands out in my mind.
I shouldn't say it's forgotten. If you go to YouTube and search for "Death of LBJ as it happened" you can find the video in black and white with a timedate stamp on the top of the screen.
Wow, that was a nice response!
DeleteRich, In case you missed the J.R. Stone performance Saturday evening on KRON, hang on. He was doing the LeBron James/Laura Ingraham story. Not once, but twice he pronounced her name Laura Ing-ruh-ham. Guess he doesn't get out much or know anything about radio & TV people on the national scene.
ReplyDelete