Local news stations

Robert86

Robert86

Carbonite Member
Hey everyone

My former co-worker informed me a while back that she had a friend who would go around town and get footage of news-worthy subjects and sell them to news stations. What I want to know is, how many of you have done this and what is your experience with news stations. Also, what would you go around looking for and is it substantial pay. I figured maybe on my free-time I could go around town and get news-worthy footage. Any other info on this is appreciated as well.I have to pay for a DVX somehow :)
 
best simply call the local stations directly...
ask what they would buy
and how they would want it delivered.
go straight to the source. simple as that.
make sure you have a sample (so he knows you can use a camera and aren't a schmuck)

often what they want falls under "if it bleeds it leads"
but maybe you have a creative pitch
and can make it work for you.

call and ask for the news director usually 11am is a good time...
(morning assignement is over and story crunch hasn't happened yet)
bad time the 3 hours before deadline (3-6pm)
and morning assignment time 9-10;30 or so)

news is my job
 
Is money significant? depends on what market you live in.
Some people make a living out of doing exactly that but its tough, often involves having a police scanner near your bed, because that is when their staff cameras are not on.

It can be fun, but freelancing like that is no picnic, basically they'll pay for the shot nobody else has. Exclusivity is important. Or the shot that everybody else has but them, keeping up with Jones' is important.

have fun
 
newsworthy? are you talking about breaking news? to do that effectively, you must be fond of monitoring police scanners and fine with staying up at odd hours of the night, to get that unique video.

the other "news"--in general, if it was important enough for the station to want it in their cast, then they probably would send someone out. but you never know, maybe they could use the extra footage.

perhaps you could make a few hundred here and there, but unless you have the Rodney King footage, probably not much $$$ there to be made.

the food chain:

staff shooters
freelancers
interns practicing?
YOU

I gave that a try when I was in college? my best video, I think was a fatal pedestrian accident. lovely. I think I was probably more annoying than useful.
 
Thanks.

I am barely starting out in college right now. I just want enough money to fund my next upcoming short film which includes props, apparel, a DVX ect... How much would a decent police scanner cost? I could really get into doing this.
 
I have a pretty decent portable police scanner that I got quite a few years ago for less than $100.00 US. Check your local Radio Shack or similar electronics store (I got mine at Sears).
 
Sweet, so I suppose that I would just go to that location and shoot the vid? All I need now is a car :( A bike would be just as handy.
 
In all honesty, you will better off working a "job." My guess is that you would expend more resources and time than it would be worth, unless you were really trying to establish yourself as the "go to guy" for this line of work for years to come. Then, it would pay off. I would tell you the same thing about shooting weddings, even commericials or corporate video. getting started takes a lot of time and usually some investment $$$ in more specialized equipment and marketing.

for some kicks, a little adventure, and make a few lucky shots, why not? it could be fun..just don't wreck your car or bike doing it. but to fund your shorts, look for more consistent work. you could also consider doing "trades" for the things you need --apparel. trade your video skills for clothing or to borrow clothing.
 
Thanks Pooh

I don't really want to become a "spontaneous" videographer. My ultimate goal is to become an editor(professional) so I guess I could edit video for funds. But I have already tried that, no one's biting. I am supposed to be job-shadowing KCOY(local newstation) FCP editors, maybe I might get an assistant editors job or something, I just can't stand conventional jobs(fast food, retail ect...). But I do like odd jobs, I just applied at a bowling ally for a "pin chaser" position. Anyways, I want to diversify my skills, but I just thought there is money to be made doing things like this. My town is pretty small(action-wise). Any other similar money making ideas?
 
Robert, whatever you do, you have to commit to it. Do you have business cards? That is the first commitment. Second is to hand them out whenever you can. Work in video comes from everywhere.
 
dude, pm me, im a news videographer, full time, for the cbs affiliate up here in ohio.we have a guy who is a scanner freak who sucks ass and still somehow gets 75 bucks per tape.I'll give you some pointers on what not to do.
 
Several years ago I stopped and got some shots of flooding that was going on in the Atl area. I sold it to a station for 25bucks. They made a dupe from my orig betacam footage.
They ran it during there weather segment that night. I think it was edited down to about 8 sec.
 
I have been working in TV News as a photographer for over 10 years now. If you are going to shoot footage and then sell to the station. You might want to get yourself a police scanner so you can listen to where there is a fire or bad car accident, etc. It does you NO good if all the local stations are there shooting the same stuff. However, if you get to the scene 1st and get all kinds of great video that the TV crews don't get then by all means sell that stuff to the station! You could get up to $300 or more if the event was big enough. If it was just a house fire with huge flames and stuff you might only get up to $100 or so.

The name of the game is getting to a scene and getting GREAT video before all the stations get there. If your video is shaky and your panning and zooming all crazy they are not going to bother buying your stuff. If your gonna be running around like looking for stuff to shoot then keep your sticks in the car too (tripod).

You could call your local tv stations and send them some sort of demo reel and they may be use you as a stringer. It would be like your an employee but you wouldnt have the full benefits of being an employee. You wouldnt make as much as an full time employee either.

To be a stringer you must have a working camera, a light, tripod, extra batteries, tapes, wireless or wired microphones and of course transportation.
 
Thanks a lot DVX100Shooter

That helped a lot as well as everyone else who helped. I have a question though, would I be getting paid "under" the table if I was to become a stringer? I don't have a car, but I could probably use a bike :)
 
Here's a fictional answer to your question: The Night Crew

Another is The Park Is Mine, but it's out of print, so you'd have to find it somewhere used.

Both easy reading, very good, and will probably give you an idea what it would be like...more from the personal aspect than the technical.

:thumbsup:
 
DVX100Shooter said:
I have been working in TV News as a photographer for over 10 years now. If you are going to shoot footage and then sell to the station. You might want to get yourself a police scanner so you can listen to where there is a fire or bad car accident, etc. It does you NO good if all the local stations are there shooting the same stuff. However, if you get to the scene 1st and get all kinds of great video that the TV crews don't get then by all means sell that stuff to the station! You could get up to $300 or more if the event was big enough. If it was just a house fire with huge flames and stuff you might only get up to $100 or so.

The name of the game is getting to a scene and getting GREAT video before all the stations get there. If your video is shaky and your panning and zooming all crazy they are not going to bother buying your stuff. If your gonna be running around like looking for stuff to shoot then keep your sticks in the car too (tripod).

You could call your local tv stations and send them some sort of demo reel and they may be use you as a stringer. It would be like your an employee but you wouldnt have the full benefits of being an employee. You wouldnt make as much as an full time employee either.

To be a stringer you must have a working camera, a light, tripod, extra batteries, tapes, wireless or wired microphones and of course transportation.
Click to expand...


This is good to know. I always feared selling something good for too cheap so knowing that those rates you provided is kind of a standard will be really helpful in the future.
 
I've been shooting ENG news for about 6 years here in the bay area of California, and I'll echo DVX shooter's comments:

Get a scanner, and get there FIRST. If you get a money shot that we all show up late for, then you're good to go. Just two days ago, I was filling in for the early morning shift and a baby goat got trapped in a storm drain.

(before I go on, I'll acknowledge the fact that this in itself is not earth-shattering news, but hey, I don't call the shots.)

Anyway, a "stringer" got there first, got the shots of the guys being lowered head first into a big hole, the crisp clear sounds of the kid bleating, then the rescue and money shot of this wet scraped up goat being wrapped in a blanket and taken away by the goat herder. Good stuff, and we couldn't have done the story without it. Now there was my station present, plus two others who bought the tape on the spot. This market pays approx. 120.00-150.00 per tape, so you multiply that by three news stations. If the other two main ones showed up, then tack that on. Best case scenario: All major stations show up (5), want your tape, and you've just made, what? about 700-750.00 for 15 minutes worth of shooting. Not bad at all.

Downside: Living with a scanner in your ear. Stringers can be a odd bunch, but they live on the adrenaline of the chase, and beating us news crews because that's their payday.

Other downside: They euthanized the goat. It seems that raccoons beat us all to the scene.
 
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