More on ABC’s VJ Flip

Dutch Public TV in 2004 is now ABC News in 2010….eventually all things come

ABC News’ decision to embrace the VJ model is apparently going to go much deeper than we first thought.

What appeared to be a mere flirtation is in fact a full blown love affair.

Here’s a memo, posted on b-roll.net this morning, by someone who attended the meeting.

Here’s a colleague’s description of the meeting:

“I attended an ABC NEWS staff meeting today at 3p on the floor of TV-2. The meeting took one half hour and was run by Renu Thomas, V.P. News Operations. Todd Donovan, V.P., Technology, and Jeff Winn, Director, NIGHTLINE, were also present and added their own comments.
Renu Thomas began the meeting by stating that the changes News seeks represent a positive step forward for ABC News. The changes will ensure the collective ABC News body can go on and prosper in the future.
The following points were touched on:
John Banner is now the Executive Producer of World News, seven days a week.
Jim Murphy is now the Executive Producer of GMA, seven day a week.
Both shows will combine there weekday and weekend staffs.
Special Events will now be the responsibility of the Day Parts. For example, if a news event occurs when GMA is on the air, that event is covered by GMA.
A 24 hour a day News control room will continue to be maintained.
News Magazines will be run with a core staff and the number of free-lance employees will expand and contract with the amount of work available.
An effort will be made to reduce the number of News control rooms in any given Day Part to just one. For example, during GMA, TSS, TV-2 and Washington are all now hot. News wants to reduce this to one only. (This does not affect the HD distribution control rooms).
News will study the possibility of an automated control room for some parts of some Day Parts. At the moment they are not looking at the IGNITE system, (WABC-TV), but will explore what is currently on the market. Renu asked (with a straight face) that we all contribute our ideas to this effort
NIGHTLINE will be the model for news gathering. The expansion of digital technology will allow smaller units, including individuals to gather news in the field. News wants to put the “digital tools needed” into the hands of producers. A producer will produce, shoot and edit a story.
The need for ENG crews and News editors will continue.
Non-Union and non-contractual employees will soon be receiving a Voluntary Separation Agreement, (VSP).
Union members interested in a buy-out are encouraged to call their Union office. The company seems to be fishing for interest in buy-outs among NABET-CWA members.”

Here’s my favorite sentence:

News wants to put the “digital tools needed” into the hands of producers. A producer will produce, shoot and edit a story.

Well, this is hardly surprising to those of us who have been working this way for the past.. oh, 20 years.

But for ABC News it’s going to be a very big step forward.

And I am sure that, if experience is any guide, they will approach the training in entirely the wrong way – no doubt having their network cameramen train the producers in how to shoot and edit.

Big mistake.

The very first thing we do when we run training bootcamps for broadcasters is to tell the cameramen (and everyone else) to forget everything they know or they think they know.

The way that television is made today – the physical process, the work flow, even how the camera is held, are all a function of a technology that is now officially dead.  But people tend to cling to old habits. And old habits die hard.

The worst thing that ABC News can do now is to jam the digital VJ model into the architecture that grew up around beta crews.

It just does not work.

But as in so much with large corporations, whether it’s ABC or GM, they often have to learn the hard way.

I am firing off a memo to David Westin today.. but I doubt it will make much of a difference.

But.. y0u never know…