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15 Fresh Holiday Story Ideas for TV News
As we enter the holiday season, news organizations deal with a distracted audience, staff vacations and expectations of a slow news cycle. But the show must go on!
Eager to assist my broadcast brethren, I have compiled a list of innovative story ideas to help local and cable news networks get through the Thanksgiving-to-New Year’s gauntlet.
- I wonder if the airports are busier than usual the day before Thanksgiving. Perhaps a news outlet could send a junior reporter to stand outside the airport for hours on end. Extra points if she looks cute in a stylish wool cap and scarf.
- Not only is a deep-fried turkey fun to make, it’s also delicious. But should I set the fryer under my garage door or on my wooden patio deck? (Consult YouTube for B-roll.)
- I’ve heard tell that some people overeat on Thanksgiving. You might want to “dig in” to this trend.
- Are stores packed on “Black Friday?” And why did they open so early? Ask viewers to send in video from Walmarts in underprivileged neighborhoods so the anchors can tsk-tsk.
- I wonder if the airports are busier than usual the Sunday after Thanksgiving.
- Have you considered a PSA wishing a Happy Hanukkah to your viewers? One for every 15 Christmas PSAs should do it.
- Make up a cool name/graphic for a common winter weather event. Cover it for 10 days straight.
- Publicly fret about commercialism and wonder if we’re all forgetting The Reason for the Season.
- Last minute gift ideas!
- Why do people wait until the last minute and flood stores on Christmas Eve? Are airports busy too?
- Are dry Christmas trees really flammable or is that just a myth? If only a local fire chief could provide a demonstration.
- Best of 2014 lists. About EVERYTHING.
- Have you considered a PSA wishing a Happy Kwanzaa to your viewers? One should do it.
- One underreported trend is that people often make New Year’s Resolutions, especially about losing weight.
- Drinking and driving is not recommended.
I think I got all the holiday news story clichés in there. If I’m forgetting a few, add them in the comments below.
Published in General
16. Did you know Butterball has a hot line for people who bought a turkey but don’t know how to cook it?
17. Gosh, nobody dropped a gold coin into a Salvation Army collection bucket this year. Wonder why not?
18. Interview the guy responsible for plowing the city streets. Let him talk about how many tons of salt he has on hand, and how his crew is ready to plow the snow when it falls.
I noticed a few years ago that from Wednesday before Thanksgiving to January 2, the interns are running the world.
I am on Cape Cod where many of the world’s executives and politicians have their second homes, and the planes start coming in Wednesday morning.
I’ve been joking for years that the interns are running the world this month. And the weather service And the airports. . . . :)
19. Will shoppers head for big box stores to buy snow shovels and salt when the weather event approaches? Will the shelves be empty?
20. Why do people at grocery stores only horde the ingredients for French Toast on such occasions?
21. Which toys on the shelves are most likely to maim or kill your child?
22. Why Kwanzaa is such a big deal and you are a racist for not caring about it.
23. Send a reporter to the post office to discover that people send more packages at this time of year.
24. Friday isn’t the only day special to shoppers. Reporters go to Ma and Pa’s brick and mortar hobby shop to find out about Small Business Saturday and film the computers in the office for Cyber Monday.
25. Did you know that Muslims in the US feel at least vaguely hard done by at this time of year? You’re all racist and you’re all welcome for that important reminder.
Include interview footage of a local imam whose given name is Jihad and make extra sure not to ask him about that.
Also include file clips of Christian-cleansed Manger Square in Bethlehem, after which cut to a gaggle of hijab-festooned college girls, one of whom helpfully and animatedly reminds the reporter and us that Jesus was actually a Palestinian.
Be sure the reporter and her editor achieve balanced coverage of other non-Judeo-Christian groups’ feelings at this time of the year by interviewing exactly none of them.
I’m gonna sound cruel but the annual stories from charities with free Thanksgiving dinners is way old.
I don’t think these people have any intention of ever actually shopping for and cooking Thanksgiving dinner, ever. I beginning to think that is their ‘tradition’.
“How the Pilgrims would have All starved and froze to death if it weren’t for the benevolence of the ‘Native-Americans.’ And how the Pilgrims repaid Their debt to the ‘Native-Americans’ with rape, pillage, and pestilence.
“Yer news @9 coming up next.”
Send a reporter down to the Food Bank to talk with the director about the need for donations.
“20. Why do people at grocery stores only horde the ingredients for French Toast on such occasions?”
French Toast is made with toilet paper? I knew it!
26. Did any of you know that some families play touch football on Thanksgiving? Did you know the Kennedys played touch football? That would make a great feature story!
Always drink responsibly.
While they “publicly fret about commercialism and wonder if we’re all forgetting The Reason for the Season,” the news organizations should also continue to studiously avoid ever uttering the words “Merry Christmas.”
I’ve always thought it would be cool if a local station did the “airports are busy” story, and instead of doing a new one, simply re-ran, with a straight face, footage from the ’70s.