But if broadcast meteorologist don’t step up to the plate to tackle meaningful and interesting climate change news stories, no one will.
The problems with these News stories are the same issues plaguing many TV meteorologists: they don’t have time to dive headlong into the issue. Whether that’s meeting with management, juggling school talks, or working doubles, we often fight for more time just to forecast.
Add to that, many meteorologists I’ve met in the last decade don’t believe it’s their “job” to touch a sensitive topic like climate change, or they feel like they lack the expertise to handle a story. Many Mets have zero journalism or writing training.
But with a simple toolkit, climate change journalism stories are fun, meaningful, and easy to tackle. You may even get a few awards too!
It starts by asking what your local viewers actually care about. Trying to localize a NOAA study about Great Lakes fishing while working in Kansas just doesn’t work. And yet we have all seen meteorologists do this time and again.
The second item is find a “hook,” someone or some thing to make an emotional connection with the viewer. Think of all those boring severe weather or winter weather specials you have seen in your career . They don’t have a personal angle; it’s just stats. Same thing here. I’ll talk about how to make the uncomfortable ask to people who have suffered from climate change. It’s not easy!
Then you need the experts. Some news bosses think we are the general station scientist and can be the expert on anything with a glancing weather impact. That’s not the case in a politically charged issue.
Finally, how can a met on a deadline make the story move fast and catch the viewers eye? Find out with my editing tricks of Nat Sound and bite splicing.
- Indicates paper has been withdrawn from meeting
- Indicates an Award Winner