Lenslinger

Some of y’all have never worked all day to make a person you don’t like very much look like an expert on a subject neither of you know much about and it shows.

Editing a TV News story can feel like gingerly piecing together a brilliant jigsaw puzzle. It can also feel like trying to reattach old toenail clippings while a frenemy flicks lit cigarette butts at you. Depends on the day, really.

Here's a clip from this week's episode of Behind The Lens - in which we discuss the past, present and somewhat frightening future of local TV News. Full episode at youtu.be/hbfN-BsVS70?si… Thanks for watching!

I've followed SWAT cops into crowded crack houses with my lens aloft and gotten less stink-eye than I've received while posted up outside this small town business currently embroiled in controversy. It's enough to make a photog put some pants on.

Coming up Friday on Behind the Lens, we're talking about the past, present and future of TV News. Tune in if you dare...

You know what they say in journalism… “If your mother says she loves you, check it out.” You know what they say in TV News? “If your mother says she loves you, tell her she shoulda thought about that when she encouraged your interest in video, anyhoo, got anything to eat?”

You can point to streaming and changing viewer habits for the decline of local TV News, but… Having just watched a weekend morning anchor team spend way too many minutes blandly riffing on their favorite ice cream flavors… I really think much of the blame lies with us.

Ya know… all those splashy graphics and daredevil drone shots don’t mean squat if the people in your piece fall flat. Focus on faces. Forage for feelings. If the viewer thinks about the camera, you doing it wrong. Go make promos. The money’s better, anyway.

This whole Coldplay fracas reminds me of the many times I’ve taken a TV camera into a restaurant only to watch a couple ask for the check and quickly scramble away. Probably shouldn’t have followed them out to their cars like that.

Thing about local TV News is that no matter how many Emmys you have bathed in spotlights at home, you can still end up standing in a parking lot trying to get man on the street interviews in the rain. “You there, with the malt beverage, if I could have a moment of your time…”

When your dream analyst used to be in TV News: “Well, I thought you started strong with the school cafeteria thing. Everyone there was rude, so when the floor turned to quicksand, I was really invested. But by the time the pizza started singing, I was lost. Nice lighting, tho.”

Sooo, I'm not the ONLY member of my family who toils in TV News. Benjamin "Bam-Bam" Canady is my Mother's Brother's Son and also a hotshot Director at CNN International. Members of our family who have to hear us talk shop ask for your understanding during those difficult times.

Sorry to interrupt, but did you know that every time you paw at that phone, a TV News photog has to downgrade his drive-thru order? Won't you please put the damn thing down and go watch a newscast? Someone who found community college too taxing will thank you. Wait, that's me.

I don’t really know Thom Moynahan, but with that level of preparation and that vibe… I’d follow him anywhere.

From idling backstage at a monster truck show to a somber sit down with a fresh widow, the TV News photog’s day can veer from the inspirational to the insipid, with no warning as to what’s coming next. Try not to weird everybody out.

When I first got the chance to put a professional TV camera on my shoulder, something. just. clicked. Turns out it was one of my vertebrae, but I took it as a good sign at the time.

Back in the day, we had this button on our pagers that would make it go “WEEEDEEEDLE DEEEEEE!”, allowing you to excuse yourself to go, um, cover breaking news. It was a righteous way to escape any situation. Anyway, the wife says our gutters ain’t gonna clean themselves, so…

I think perhaps the biggest thing that separates broadcast journalists from the population at large is our complete inability to resist posting “Twinsies!” photos, should either of us happen to show up to work wearing the same color. I’m looking at you, cameraman in tan!

Here's another clip from the latest episode of Behind The Lens, in which we talk about the stress of being a TV News photojournalist. Check out the FULL episode at youtu.be/nD0s7Co7fqo?si…

If I could give young TV News photogs any advice, it would be to find a community to uplift with that magical gadget sitting on your shoulder. Otherwise, you could be doomed to decades of pointing it at parked police cars and guessing to yourself what the trouble might be.

Here's a clip from the NEW episode of Behind The Lens. Full episode drops Friday. This week... when to CALL THE LAW!