Author: Deborah Potter

5 tips to improve your delivery

Sounding natural is hard work. “You’re never just reading words, you’re communicating a message,” says George Bodarky of WFUV public radio in New York City. The key is to sound like yourself, not a robotic announcer-person like the fictional Ted…

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Lessons learned in local TV news

What do you remember (or will you remember) from your first day in a newsroom? Bob Morford, who’s retiring as news director at WAFF-TV in Huntsville, Alabama, after 40 years in the news business, has a vivid memory that he…

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Where to find inspiring journalism

If you think local television news is all flash and trash, and radio news is just headlines, you’re missing part of the picture. Sure, lots of stations still follow the “if it bleeds it leads” philosophy, spending far too much…

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Bring back the missing T

Where did it go? I keep hearing people on the air saying “impor’ant” and “Brih’an” and I can’t help but wonder what happened to the T. Was it not considered important enough to say Britain? I thought I might be…

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Before the interview begins

Lots of advice about interviewing is a variation on the same theme. Do your homework. Plan ahead. Ask open-ended questions. All good suggestions. But a few tips that are rarely shared may be just as useful. Dean Nelson is an expert…

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Looking for a news job? Check these tips

You’ve already been told to make the most of your internships, right? News directors says it’s astounding how many interns don’t take the initiative to get to know people in the newsroom. They don’t go out with reporters, don’t learn…

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How to search and share better on social

You’re on Facebook and Twitter, of course, but are you making the most of each platform? What about Instagram and LinkedIn? Tracy Davidson, morning anchor at WCAU-TV in Philadelphia, is on all of the above, early and often. “I start…

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Trust, media and democracy

By Deborah Potter. After more than a year of work, a commission supported by the Knight Foundation has offered recommendations for dealing with what it calls “a crisis of trust.” The suggestions are aimed at online services, educators, individuals and,…

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Yearbooks in the news

A sitting governor is pressured to resign because a photo on his medical school yearbook page shows a person in blackface and another in a KKK hood. A nominee for the Supreme Court is grilled about drinking and sex, in part…

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