How to Produce Ankarlo Mornings
I was going through my PC this morning trying to dump some stuff to free up HD space. I wandered into my old Ankarlo Mornings folder and found my 3 page instruction sheet on how to produce the morning how that I made in Dallas. It is very detailed and does a great job of illustrating the many of the demands of the job and the anal organization I created to help me accomplish my job each day.
I'm also going to put the Sample Report below the instructions. The report is something I would put together each afternoon and email to the morning show team by 5pm. It contains a schedule for the next morning with resources and then a collection of news stories I found that we might want to cover the next morning.
How to Produce “Ankarlo Mornings”
• Make certain that you get newspapers as soon as they come to the building. Star-Telegram and USA Today may be in when you arrive at 3:45am. If the Dallas Morning News isn’t here when you arrive, take 50 cents and buy one from the vending machine in the parking deck.
• Then make certain that you have a ¾ full paper tray in the printer so it is prepared for the oncoming onslaught of print jobs.
• Darrell will send a “print” email that you will want to do first. Take all of these stories and place them in a stack near the edge of Darrell’s table. Print out the stories found the previous evening that you haven’t printed already (Yes, you will need to spend 1-2 hours looking for stuff the previous afternoon/evening).
• Print out the new stories from Dallas Morning News and Star-Telegram along with the major national stories.
• Put a copy of each of the newspapers and all of the printed stories in the studio. This is how I usually have everything organized: place one rolling chair under the window to outside and place all newspapers in that seat. One chair is set for Darrell to sit in and one is placed against the center of the wall for Darrell to set his briefcase on. Breaking news goes on the black phone bank. News and topic stories go in a row immediately next to the bank (put all of the stories from Darrell’s “print” email in a stack at the end of the row closest to the chair). Finally, odd/funny stories are the furthest to the left. Arrange all of these so you can read the headline of each story. Have all of this placed on the host table before Darrell arrives at 4:12am.
• Check the Metro/AP for audio on the big stories. Darrell LOVES audio. To look at the billboard for Newscall, make certain the server is set at “wire stories” and search for “newscall.” The newscall and the “What Else is News” will pop up (WeisN is the entertainment stuff). You will need to get movie clips from WeisN on Thursdays and Fridays for use during George’s 7:30 segment on Friday. The newscall audio is recorded on a minidisk that the overnight guy starts recording on in the newsroom. Newscall comes down at 4am and WeisN at 4:36. You can read the verbatims of the two feeds to determine if the audio is worth getting off of the minidisk and into the Enco. To check Metro audio, click on the “audio” button on the menu. Search for the news stories using keywords. Double-click on the stories of interest. Many Metro stories are sent in duplicate and many are sent in several parts. For instance, a speech might come down with 1 part having speech cuts, another part with reaction audio, and another with an expert. Audio from the actual people making the news is always preferred, but you need to check all of the stories to make certain that Metro isn’t slipping a good cut by you. If you click on the audio file in each story, the sound will play through the computer speakers. Donovan has this in the Control Room and any audio you find in Metro, can easily be loaded/played in the Control Room. If there’s no audio for a story in either of those places, AP can be found by searching w/ “ap-network” as the keyword. The overnight guy runs MDs as of midnight to catch it all.
• When Darrell comes in, he might have a minidisk with several cuts that he recorded the night before. He may give this audio directly to Donovan.
• You will need to make certain that all audio cuts available for Darrell to use are all numbered on a single sheet for easy reference. Donovan will probably do this, but you might need to make certain that he’s aware of all cuts (especially if you load up Metro cuts in the Cart-o-Matic while Donovan is cutting audio in the newsbooth or Prod 2). Darrell needs this sheet ASAP and definitely before 4:50am so he can be assured of what audio he has and can have the board op audition any that he isn’t certain of before the show starts. Donovan needs a Xerox of the sheet so they both have the exact same information and numbers for the cuts.
• When the show starts, grab a show sheet (located in the show’s drawer in the producer’s booth - along w/ the CDs). At the top of the sheet write the date and what the tape is (Wed #1 - for example…Donovan can tell you the tape if you haven’t seen it already). During the show, log all of the times for the subjects and calls on one of the show sheets. At the very least, write down the subject of each half hour -or hour depending on the longevity. Just put the name and what the caller’s point is on the sheet below each subject next to the time they go on the air. Keep your ears open for 30 second to minute long nuggets that Chris can use for promos. You will need to email the start and end times of each nugget, along w/ a summary of the quote, to Chris shortly after the end of the show.
• If/when you have some time during the show, print out the “Daily Show Prep” from www.radioonline.com (user name: alex stone, password: auburn). Give this to Darrell.
• Right after the show, find out what interview from the morning Darrell wants cut for recycling during the 5am hour the following morning. Let Donovan know what that interview is so he can get that done before his shift is over. Also ask Darrell if there are any segments that he wants archived for safe keeping. Mark the archive segment(s) on the show sheet so I can archive it later before it becomes time to recycle the show DAT.
• Darrell records three versions of the hourly id promo. In Prod 2 Nuendo, in the Ankarlo file, is the “Daily ID” file, which has the bed for the end of the hour promo/ID. Darrell records a “tomorrow” version and a “this morning” version for this promo. You may notice the audio level for tracks 1 and 2 being set up a bit strange. The “s” at the end of “Ankarlo Mornings” tends to get lost in the bed and it needs to get pumped up to be heard, so adjust the point the level is pumped up according to when the “s” is. The “tomorrow” version goes into 95302 and the “this morning” version goes into 95203 (don’t forget to alter the start/kill dates…especially make note of the tomorrow that runs over the weekend). He does a dry promo to be aired during Dr. Laura, Savage, etc that should be 7.5 seconds or less. It is under 80106 in the Enco. Finally, there are two 30 second donuts that need 21 seconds of filler. Darrell will need for you to count down the last 10 seconds of the 21 second promo he needs to give you. Make certain that he doesn’t refer to “tomorrow, this morning” or anything like that as the beds have that information. You will notice at the bottom of the Nuendo layout, there are 3 beds. The top is “tomorrow,” then “today,” then “Monday.” You will dub the tomorrow/Monday in to 80328 and the today into 80329. Adjust the start/kill dates accordingly.
• Evening report…Sometime during the afternoon (usually I do it at 5pm) you will need to send an email (or call if you can’t email) to Darrell to let him know what was accomplished during the day for the following show and what stories you’ve found for consideration as topics. Put a rundown of what is scheduled for the next day at the top of the report. Include topics, guests, and corresponding websites and links to the articles. Send a copy of the report to Donovan and the Ankarlo webmaster (donnie3v@yahoo.com and webmaster@ankarlo.net). Donovan needs it to see what he needs to be prepared for (if you have additional audio that you’ll be bringing in or if there’s something he’ll need to get straight to in the morning.) If you can email Darrell a list of 3-5 stories (just a summary and a link to the story) a day, that’ll do fine. You will need to print out a copy of the report for Darrell to have handy during the show to remind himself of what’s scheduled during the show. That is also why you want to put the show’s schedule at the top of the report…preferably in an easy to read format. I recommend looking at the “Sample Report” on the “Show Floppy.”
• To check my voicemail, it’s box 2748# with password of 27482748#.
• The Rolodex is to the left of the computer in the office. It is alphabetized by name/subject. There might be some cards in the plastic holder where the phone is that I haven’t been able to file away. You can also check the Word Doc labeled “Rolodex” on the “Show Floppy” when you aren’t in the office. Don’t lose the “Show Floppy!!!”
• I keep track of future guests on the white board that looks like a calendar. Phone numbers for guests are posted on the bulletin board on that same wall. Phone numbers for confirmed guests can be found in the upper left hand corner or the top file bin directly under the bulletin board. The two whiteboards on the wall next to the door are the list of guests that I’m working on with the last time I called, faxed, and emailed them. Don’t worry about the guests on the bottom whiteboard - these are guests we’ve had on the air and want to stay in touch with because of their developing stories. There are also some notes as when would be a good time to follow up or other items of interest. Most (if not all) of these phone numbers are in the Rolodex.
• The completed show sheets are filed in the right filing cabinet in the bottom drawer. They are filed in chronological order. If there are no segments to be archived, put the show sheet there at the end of each day. Shows (or segments of shows) that are to be archived, need to have the sheet placed in the left hand middle file on top of the desk under the bulletin board. If you have archived a show onto a MD, put the sheet in there after you have archived it. Make certain to write on the show sheet what MD archive # it can be found on.
• Here are the regular elements during the week… Friday at 7:30-George Pennacchio does movie reviews. You will need to be looking on What Else is News on Thursday and Friday for movie clips for this segment. His phone number is in the Rolodex under his name…Friday at 8:45 is “Yesterday’s News.” What you will need to do over the weekend is find an odd story that can be converted to sfx or the like. Darrell will decide what odd story is best for the particular week. He must read this story before the end of the show on Thursday! Donovan will need the week’s “Yesterday’s News” by Friday morning to put into the Enco.
• Don’t leave the red chili lights or the lava lamp plugged in overnight.
• Darrell is nice, but demanding. He’ll ask for a lot…do your best to find ways (think creatively) to give it to him.
Sample Report
Nolan, the webmaster will typically only copy/post to the website what is in bold. He won’t post the phone numbers, but you might want to put all notes to just Darrell separate from the schedule.
*******************************************************************************************
7:05 - What You Need to Know About a Bioterror Attack
guest: Sen. Bill Frist (R-TN)
calling us; will call 15 minutes before interview to confirm that he's set to go
book:
http://www.wheneverymomentcounts.com/
article:
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,55110,00.html
*******************************************************************************************
7:35 - Bishops at the Confessional in Dallas
guest: Charles Curran - Catholic theologian at SMU
(214) 352-XXXX
bio:
http://www.smu.edu/newsinfo/research/2001/voicedissent.html
articles:
http://www.dallasnews.com/latestnews/stories/061202dnrelbishopsupdate.2e75e76c.html
http://www.nytimes.com/2002/06/12/national/12CATH.html
*******************************************************************************************
8:05 - Survivor of Abuse by a Priest
guest: David Clohessy - national director of the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests (SNAP)
in person; cellphones - (314) 566-XXXX or (312) 399-XXXX
bio:
http://www.peak.org/~snapper/Links_from_Home_Page/Clohessy_bio.htm
website:
http://www.survivorsnetwork.org/
*******************************************************************************************
Overheard in the confessional...
A:
Yearbooks are out! Now they are starting to include sections highlighting the pregnant students!
http://www.stpetersburgtimes.com/2002/06/08/news_pf/TampaBay/Yearbook_adds_babies_.shtml
I've put in a call to the school district about getting a copy of the article and/or an interview for tomorrow morning.
B:
World anthem played at high school graduation...and not the national anthem:
http://insidedenver.com/drmn/home/article/0,1299,DRMN_1_1195581,00.html
B2:
To hear some of the world anthem:
http://www.mindshareinstitute.com/mp3/world_anthem.mp3
C:
Proof that force hardens resolve long before it will break the spirit:
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/nm/20020611/wl_nm/mideast_palestinian_poll_dc_1&printer=1
D:
Possibly racist dog might be put to sleep:
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,55010,00.html
E:
K-9s get their own form of car alarm:
http://www.accessatlanta.com/ajc/news/ap/ap_story.html/National/AP.V1804.AP-Sweltering-K-9s.html
I'm also going to put the Sample Report below the instructions. The report is something I would put together each afternoon and email to the morning show team by 5pm. It contains a schedule for the next morning with resources and then a collection of news stories I found that we might want to cover the next morning.
How to Produce “Ankarlo Mornings”
• Make certain that you get newspapers as soon as they come to the building. Star-Telegram and USA Today may be in when you arrive at 3:45am. If the Dallas Morning News isn’t here when you arrive, take 50 cents and buy one from the vending machine in the parking deck.
• Then make certain that you have a ¾ full paper tray in the printer so it is prepared for the oncoming onslaught of print jobs.
• Darrell will send a “print” email that you will want to do first. Take all of these stories and place them in a stack near the edge of Darrell’s table. Print out the stories found the previous evening that you haven’t printed already (Yes, you will need to spend 1-2 hours looking for stuff the previous afternoon/evening).
• Print out the new stories from Dallas Morning News and Star-Telegram along with the major national stories.
• Put a copy of each of the newspapers and all of the printed stories in the studio. This is how I usually have everything organized: place one rolling chair under the window to outside and place all newspapers in that seat. One chair is set for Darrell to sit in and one is placed against the center of the wall for Darrell to set his briefcase on. Breaking news goes on the black phone bank. News and topic stories go in a row immediately next to the bank (put all of the stories from Darrell’s “print” email in a stack at the end of the row closest to the chair). Finally, odd/funny stories are the furthest to the left. Arrange all of these so you can read the headline of each story. Have all of this placed on the host table before Darrell arrives at 4:12am.
• Check the Metro/AP for audio on the big stories. Darrell LOVES audio. To look at the billboard for Newscall, make certain the server is set at “wire stories” and search for “newscall.” The newscall and the “What Else is News” will pop up (WeisN is the entertainment stuff). You will need to get movie clips from WeisN on Thursdays and Fridays for use during George’s 7:30 segment on Friday. The newscall audio is recorded on a minidisk that the overnight guy starts recording on in the newsroom. Newscall comes down at 4am and WeisN at 4:36. You can read the verbatims of the two feeds to determine if the audio is worth getting off of the minidisk and into the Enco. To check Metro audio, click on the “audio” button on the menu. Search for the news stories using keywords. Double-click on the stories of interest. Many Metro stories are sent in duplicate and many are sent in several parts. For instance, a speech might come down with 1 part having speech cuts, another part with reaction audio, and another with an expert. Audio from the actual people making the news is always preferred, but you need to check all of the stories to make certain that Metro isn’t slipping a good cut by you. If you click on the audio file in each story, the sound will play through the computer speakers. Donovan has this in the Control Room and any audio you find in Metro, can easily be loaded/played in the Control Room. If there’s no audio for a story in either of those places, AP can be found by searching w/ “ap-network” as the keyword. The overnight guy runs MDs as of midnight to catch it all.
• When Darrell comes in, he might have a minidisk with several cuts that he recorded the night before. He may give this audio directly to Donovan.
• You will need to make certain that all audio cuts available for Darrell to use are all numbered on a single sheet for easy reference. Donovan will probably do this, but you might need to make certain that he’s aware of all cuts (especially if you load up Metro cuts in the Cart-o-Matic while Donovan is cutting audio in the newsbooth or Prod 2). Darrell needs this sheet ASAP and definitely before 4:50am so he can be assured of what audio he has and can have the board op audition any that he isn’t certain of before the show starts. Donovan needs a Xerox of the sheet so they both have the exact same information and numbers for the cuts.
• When the show starts, grab a show sheet (located in the show’s drawer in the producer’s booth - along w/ the CDs). At the top of the sheet write the date and what the tape is (Wed #1 - for example…Donovan can tell you the tape if you haven’t seen it already). During the show, log all of the times for the subjects and calls on one of the show sheets. At the very least, write down the subject of each half hour -or hour depending on the longevity. Just put the name and what the caller’s point is on the sheet below each subject next to the time they go on the air. Keep your ears open for 30 second to minute long nuggets that Chris can use for promos. You will need to email the start and end times of each nugget, along w/ a summary of the quote, to Chris shortly after the end of the show.
• If/when you have some time during the show, print out the “Daily Show Prep” from www.radioonline.com (user name: alex stone, password: auburn). Give this to Darrell.
• Right after the show, find out what interview from the morning Darrell wants cut for recycling during the 5am hour the following morning. Let Donovan know what that interview is so he can get that done before his shift is over. Also ask Darrell if there are any segments that he wants archived for safe keeping. Mark the archive segment(s) on the show sheet so I can archive it later before it becomes time to recycle the show DAT.
• Darrell records three versions of the hourly id promo. In Prod 2 Nuendo, in the Ankarlo file, is the “Daily ID” file, which has the bed for the end of the hour promo/ID. Darrell records a “tomorrow” version and a “this morning” version for this promo. You may notice the audio level for tracks 1 and 2 being set up a bit strange. The “s” at the end of “Ankarlo Mornings” tends to get lost in the bed and it needs to get pumped up to be heard, so adjust the point the level is pumped up according to when the “s” is. The “tomorrow” version goes into 95302 and the “this morning” version goes into 95203 (don’t forget to alter the start/kill dates…especially make note of the tomorrow that runs over the weekend). He does a dry promo to be aired during Dr. Laura, Savage, etc that should be 7.5 seconds or less. It is under 80106 in the Enco. Finally, there are two 30 second donuts that need 21 seconds of filler. Darrell will need for you to count down the last 10 seconds of the 21 second promo he needs to give you. Make certain that he doesn’t refer to “tomorrow, this morning” or anything like that as the beds have that information. You will notice at the bottom of the Nuendo layout, there are 3 beds. The top is “tomorrow,” then “today,” then “Monday.” You will dub the tomorrow/Monday in to 80328 and the today into 80329. Adjust the start/kill dates accordingly.
• Evening report…Sometime during the afternoon (usually I do it at 5pm) you will need to send an email (or call if you can’t email) to Darrell to let him know what was accomplished during the day for the following show and what stories you’ve found for consideration as topics. Put a rundown of what is scheduled for the next day at the top of the report. Include topics, guests, and corresponding websites and links to the articles. Send a copy of the report to Donovan and the Ankarlo webmaster (donnie3v@yahoo.com and webmaster@ankarlo.net). Donovan needs it to see what he needs to be prepared for (if you have additional audio that you’ll be bringing in or if there’s something he’ll need to get straight to in the morning.) If you can email Darrell a list of 3-5 stories (just a summary and a link to the story) a day, that’ll do fine. You will need to print out a copy of the report for Darrell to have handy during the show to remind himself of what’s scheduled during the show. That is also why you want to put the show’s schedule at the top of the report…preferably in an easy to read format. I recommend looking at the “Sample Report” on the “Show Floppy.”
• To check my voicemail, it’s box 2748# with password of 27482748#.
• The Rolodex is to the left of the computer in the office. It is alphabetized by name/subject. There might be some cards in the plastic holder where the phone is that I haven’t been able to file away. You can also check the Word Doc labeled “Rolodex” on the “Show Floppy” when you aren’t in the office. Don’t lose the “Show Floppy!!!”
• I keep track of future guests on the white board that looks like a calendar. Phone numbers for guests are posted on the bulletin board on that same wall. Phone numbers for confirmed guests can be found in the upper left hand corner or the top file bin directly under the bulletin board. The two whiteboards on the wall next to the door are the list of guests that I’m working on with the last time I called, faxed, and emailed them. Don’t worry about the guests on the bottom whiteboard - these are guests we’ve had on the air and want to stay in touch with because of their developing stories. There are also some notes as when would be a good time to follow up or other items of interest. Most (if not all) of these phone numbers are in the Rolodex.
• The completed show sheets are filed in the right filing cabinet in the bottom drawer. They are filed in chronological order. If there are no segments to be archived, put the show sheet there at the end of each day. Shows (or segments of shows) that are to be archived, need to have the sheet placed in the left hand middle file on top of the desk under the bulletin board. If you have archived a show onto a MD, put the sheet in there after you have archived it. Make certain to write on the show sheet what MD archive # it can be found on.
• Here are the regular elements during the week… Friday at 7:30-George Pennacchio does movie reviews. You will need to be looking on What Else is News on Thursday and Friday for movie clips for this segment. His phone number is in the Rolodex under his name…Friday at 8:45 is “Yesterday’s News.” What you will need to do over the weekend is find an odd story that can be converted to sfx or the like. Darrell will decide what odd story is best for the particular week. He must read this story before the end of the show on Thursday! Donovan will need the week’s “Yesterday’s News” by Friday morning to put into the Enco.
• Don’t leave the red chili lights or the lava lamp plugged in overnight.
• Darrell is nice, but demanding. He’ll ask for a lot…do your best to find ways (think creatively) to give it to him.
Sample Report
Nolan, the webmaster will typically only copy/post to the website what is in bold. He won’t post the phone numbers, but you might want to put all notes to just Darrell separate from the schedule.
*******************************************************************************************
7:05 - What You Need to Know About a Bioterror Attack
guest: Sen. Bill Frist (R-TN)
calling us; will call 15 minutes before interview to confirm that he's set to go
book:
http://www.wheneverymomentcounts.com/
article:
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,55110,00.html
*******************************************************************************************
7:35 - Bishops at the Confessional in Dallas
guest: Charles Curran - Catholic theologian at SMU
(214) 352-XXXX
bio:
http://www.smu.edu/newsinfo/research/2001/voicedissent.html
articles:
http://www.dallasnews.com/latestnews/stories/061202dnrelbishopsupdate.2e75e76c.html
http://www.nytimes.com/2002/06/12/national/12CATH.html
*******************************************************************************************
8:05 - Survivor of Abuse by a Priest
guest: David Clohessy - national director of the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests (SNAP)
in person; cellphones - (314) 566-XXXX or (312) 399-XXXX
bio:
http://www.peak.org/~snapper/Links_from_Home_Page/Clohessy_bio.htm
website:
http://www.survivorsnetwork.org/
*******************************************************************************************
Overheard in the confessional...
A:
Yearbooks are out! Now they are starting to include sections highlighting the pregnant students!
http://www.stpetersburgtimes.com/2002/06/08/news_pf/TampaBay/Yearbook_adds_babies_.shtml
I've put in a call to the school district about getting a copy of the article and/or an interview for tomorrow morning.
B:
World anthem played at high school graduation...and not the national anthem:
http://insidedenver.com/drmn/home/article/0,1299,DRMN_1_1195581,00.html
B2:
To hear some of the world anthem:
http://www.mindshareinstitute.com/mp3/world_anthem.mp3
C:
Proof that force hardens resolve long before it will break the spirit:
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/nm/20020611/wl_nm/mideast_palestinian_poll_dc_1&printer=1
D:
Possibly racist dog might be put to sleep:
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,55010,00.html
E:
K-9s get their own form of car alarm:
http://www.accessatlanta.com/ajc/news/ap/ap_story.html/National/AP.V1804.AP-Sweltering-K-9s.html