Hmmmm.... More VJ facts.

[News Is Broken]

In doing some digging around to see what Rosenblum was paid by Young (haven't found it yet, but I'm getting warmer) I found something I just had to share. I think it should spark some interesting discussion.

http://library.corporate-ir.net/library/76/760/76078/items/223555/investorpresentation.pdf

Check out slide 11. I'll sum up the highlights:

Fall 2005 – Launched video journalists (VJ) news gathering system:
• One person that shoots video and reports the story
• Increased number of stories with fewer people
• Inexpensive ($15-20,000) capital cost for each VJ
• Flexible delivery of fully edited stories via the internet
• Integrates into server based newsroom

Hmmm. 3 out of 5 bullet points about VJ talk about money (but... it's not about the money says Mike) and 2 of the 5 talk about doing more work with fewer people (but VJ isn't OMB and no one's losing their job).

graemlins/bs.gif

Just thought you folks might find that interesting.

Later.

[Marty McFly]

What's the point?

[News Is Broken]

Originally posted by Marty McFly:
What's the point?Well correct me if I'm wrong but I thought the whole idea behind VJ was to improve news and not to reduce costs.

That's what we grunts were told anyway. Numerous times.

Yet, when it comes time to impress the shareholders, cost reduction via VJ is right at the top of the list.

We've already seen proof that VJ didn't improve the product at KRON and WKRN, despite claims to the contrary. Now I've found proof that it was done to reduce expenses, depite claims to the contrary.

I guess the point is that someone's been lying to us. I'll leave it up to you to conclude who.

[Spike]

I found this BBC page more interesting:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/localtv/

Quote:

"The local TV pilot has now come to an end. We hope you enjoyed the programming and would welcome your feedback."

[Diplomat]

I liked the good old days when VJs were hosts on MTV.

[adam & doctor drew]

like most teenage boys, I had a crush on Martha Quinn.
http://liveaid.free.fr/rewind/mtv/images/029judaspriest/01.jpg

although there may've been some who had one on Halford too, I suppose.

[Spike]

Originally posted by adam & doctor drew:
like most teenage boys, I had a crush on Martha Quinn.Uh, I don't think so. Most teenage boys thought Martha Quinn was also a teenage boy.

It was Nina Blackwood that had their attention.

http://z.about.com/d/80music/1/0/7/6/nina-blackwood_01.gif

[Ralphie the buffalo]

No Spike.
You are way off base on this one.

Martha was smoking white hot in a "girl next door sort of way". That, and I have a real weakness for Taurus women.

Mmmmmmmmmm

[CKMD]

Yah, Ralphie... I'm with you. Martha and the hot bassist from The Go-Go's!!!!
MMMMMMMMM.

[ February 13, 2007, 08:12 PM: Message edited by: Can't Keep Me Down ]

[11-Evil]

From a Production "point of view" - why can't the news department consolidate as well.

I have seen us go from an 11 person production crew to a 3 person production crew. I had to accept that.

Local TV news is part of a bigger business, called a local TV station. A local TV station is a business put in place to make a profit. With increased competition from cable, the internet, and other advertising outlets WE MUST be more efficient or die NOW. News is just filler between commercials. No different than Entertainment Tonight or American Idol.

You should thank Rosenblum - he is trying to keep YOUR TRADE alive before it implodes. If you dont believe me, give it 5 years and give me a call.

[Spike]

Originally posted by 11-Evil:
With increased competition from cable, the internet, and other advertising outlets WE MUST be more efficient or die NOW. Except that VJs are not more efficient than specialists. Mike Sechrist, GM of WKRN, has admitted on his blog that his VJs get burned out turning a story a day. Conventional news crews regularly turn TWO stories a day without the burnout; many stations toss another VOSOT on that schedule just to bump up the story count a little more. Rosenblum himself says the system won't work unless you give the VJs two and a half days for each story.

One man bands have been around for years. Many of the reporters I have worked with started as one man bands. They know how to shoot and edit. So why haven't their stations gone to one man bands? Because they know those reporters are more efficient when they can concentrate on reporting.

[cameragod]

Funny you should bring up Idol.

I worked on a promo shoot for the first audition day New Zealand Idol.
To start with the Idol people were a bit touchy. They said if promos wanted footage they had to shoot it themselves in restricted locations and none of the Idol footage from their 15 field cameras would be made available. So promos hired me with a D35 SP camera and a sound man to get what they needed.
15 one man handycam cameras vs 1 two man crew. We kicked their ass’s. Every time something big was happening we were there in the best position to get it. The Idol producer noticed and after getting fed up with yelling “Where are our cameras! Get them on this.” out brief changed. We could have access to anything as long as we let Idol use our tapes.
I over shot, but I was having fun, 6x 30 min tapes, 3 hours, I heard Idol shot over 164 hours of tape . Promos told me when the show went to air about 70 percent of what happened outside the audition room was stuff I shot.
More does not mean better.
Michael is not about saving our craft or even a new way of doing news.
Michael is about selling his VJ product and making money.
Michael used fear of the future and some manager’s ignorance to help him sell.
That does not make him evil but it doesn’t make him right either.

[Bureau Chief]

Originally posted by 11-Evil:
From a Production "point of view" - why can't the news department consolidate as well.

I have seen us go from an 11 person production crew to a 3 person production crew. I had to accept that.

Local TV news is part of a bigger business, called a local TV station. A local TV station is a business put in place to make a profit. With increased competition from cable, the internet, and other advertising outlets WE MUST be more efficient or die NOW. News is just filler between commercials. No different than Entertainment Tonight or American Idol.

You should thank Rosenblum - he is trying to keep YOUR TRADE alive before it implodes. If you dont believe me, give it 5 years and give me a call.Ya thats about what I would expect from someone in "production", which in our shop is known as "obstruction". News HAS to keep alot of people on board in our shop because we have to constantly send our people over to the production side of the building to fill in for your deadass employees who call off or just dont bother to show up for work with no warning. Each newscast its the same....your director comes thru the newsroom door...."hey we are short on XXXX tonight, you have to give me someone to do it." In the end, Rosenblum will be seen as the catalyst of the end of tv news. You like that spot in history Mike? Now dont get me wrong, I think that this (VJs) is the way things are headed. I dont like it, but I see it coming like an on-coming train. We cant stop it, we just got to figure out how to make it work.

Think about how a live shot crew was about oh.....15 years ago...A shooter, a reporter, a producer and an engineer to take care of the truck. Now the engineer and the producer are gone, and soon the reporter will be history too.

[Rosenblum]

Two days ago, Arthur Sulzberger Jr, the publisher of the NY Times announced that in the next decade he may not publish a 'paper', and more signifcantly, he did not care.

For generation that set linotype, this was devastating news. This does not mean the Times is getting out of the newspaper business, but it may very well mean that the way they deliver the news is going to change. And it probably will.

The end of local news stations as we know them now? Undoubtedly. This seems fairly inevitable. And just as the linotype operaters cried and wailed when cold type came to pass, this technology too will have its death throes. But come it shall.

Will there be a local news business? Always. Will it be the way it is now? Those days, like linotype, and maybe paper newspapers, are pretty much over.

As Charles Darwin said, 'survival is not for the strongest or the most intelligent but for the species that adapts the best to change'.

[cameragod]

As the guy on dads army said "We’re all dooooomed."
(see I can quote people to.)
If only we had listened to Michael that one time he was right, oh wait, he’s never been right yet. Results talk and BullSh!t walks. Start walking Mike.
I’m not afraid you or the future. Go find an ignorant, incompetent manger you can frighten with some flip carts of dooooom, plenty of them around for you to pray on.

Maybe we are not quite so doooomed yet.

[Rosenblum]

Lemme see...
There's you....
and then there's Bill Gates and Arthur Sulzberger.

Hmmm...

You...

and the Chairmen of Microsoft and The NY Times.

I guess I'll go with... you?

not.

who will be walking?

I dunno. But I can guess.

[News Is Broken]

Originally posted by Rosenblum:
As Charles Darwin said, 'survival is not for the strongest or the most intelligent but for the species that adapts the best to change'.Yeah yeah, sure sure... that's fine for the animal kingdom. Doesn't really apply to news, Mike. News is a business. And the businesses that survive the best are the ones that give their customers what they want, better and faster than their competition does. VJ, with it's crappy little cameras, sloppy technique, slow internet based feeds and 2.5 day turns doesn't even come close. That's why most of us have damn little to worry about.

Now, why don't you run along and invent some new buzzwords or something. See if anyone is using hyperlocalvjlasticexpialidocious yet. That's a good one.

[cameragod]

Zildjian "Crash Of Doom" Cymbal

"We're Doomed captain Mannering, we're Doomed"

This is the "trashiest" crash you will ever hear!!!

It will sure doom your guitarist to the hearing aid centre, designed in conjunction with the Drum Lord Dennis Chambers.

Price: £175.00


Zildjian "Crash Of Doom" Cymbal (http://www.wonderweb-design.co.uk/poole/default.htm?contents=http%3A//www.wonderweb-design.co.uk/poole/acatalog/Drum_Shop_Zildjian_51.html)

[Ralphie the buffalo]

Originally posted by Rosenblum:
As Charles Darwin said, 'survival is not for the strongest or the most intelligent but for the species that adapts the best to change'.No truer words have been spoken. How long do you give these guys before they are extinct?

http://data.moneycentral.msn.com/scripts/chrtsrv.dll?symbol=YBTVA&E1=0&C1=1&C2=3&C3=10&C4=3&D5=0&D2=0&D4=1&width=612&height=258&CE=0

Sawtooth down - sawtooth down - flatline - out?

[ February 14, 2007, 12:08 PM: Message edited by: Ralphie the buffalo ]

[Rosenblum]

I would say their problems have more to do with their purchase of KRON and subsequent relationship with NBC, don't you? The VJs come in after the line has flattened out.

[Ralphie the buffalo]

That is why I posted that graph and let it speak for itself. It is a tool to encourage discussion.

[11-Evil]

quote:
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Originally posted by 11-Evil:
From a Production "point of view" - why can't the news department consolidate as well.

I have seen us go from an 11 person production crew to a 3 person production crew. I had to accept that.

Local TV news is part of a bigger business, called a local TV station. A local TV station is a business put in place to make a profit. With increased competition from cable, the internet, and other advertising outlets WE MUST be more efficient or die NOW. News is just filler between commercials. No different than Entertainment Tonight or American Idol.

You should thank Rosenblum - he is trying to keep YOUR TRADE alive before it implodes. If you dont believe me, give it 5 years and give me a call.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Posted by Bureau Chief

Ya thats about what I would expect from someone in "production", which in our shop is known as "obstruction". News HAS to keep alot of people on board in our shop because we have to constantly send our people over to the production side of the building to fill in for your deadass employees who call off or just dont bother to show up for work with no warning. Each newscast its the same....your director comes thru the newsroom door...."hey we are short on XXXX tonight, you have to give me someone to do it." In the end, Rosenblum will be seen as the catalyst of the end of tv news. You like that spot in history Mike? Now dont get me wrong, I think that this (VJs) is the way things are headed. I dont like it, but I see it coming like an on-coming train. We cant stop it, we just got to figure out how to make it work.

Think about how a live shot crew was about oh.....15 years ago...A shooter, a reporter, a producer and an engineer to take care of the truck. Now the engineer and the producer are gone, and soon the reporter will be history too.
I feel really sorry for your station and situation. That is not the norm around here. With my 3 person crew, where all 3 positions are very technical, I doubt a newsie could do the job without many many hours of training. If someone doesn't make it in, I, as the Manager, do the job. That has only happened once since July. Maybe at your shop, you should adopt the same philosophy as we have - IT TAKES A TEAM. . . we are all part of the process.

In fact, about 3 weeks ago we really needed an interview for our 5, and there were NO REPORTERS available. I went out at 4:15 and had great sound back for the 5. Oh my god. . . .an (how did u put it?) OBSTRUCTION, doing the job of a newsie??? See, it's called teamwork.

But - we need to SEE the future - all of us. I stand by my original post.

[ February 14, 2007, 08:31 PM: Message edited by: 11-Evil ]

[CKMD]

Wow...our production staff would've asked how to use our cameras.

[Spike]

Originally posted by 11-Evil:
Maybe at your shop, you should adopt the same philosophy as we have - IT TAKES A TEAM. . . You're absolutely right. It takes a team. Teams of photographers and reporters, working together, instead of VJs trying to do the jobs of two people.

[Rosenblum]

No Spike
You STILL don't get it, (even after all this).
In the VJ shop EVERYONE is literate and trained in ALL aspects of work. It is a very flexible place where teamwork in fact is essential. Not the kind of assembly line, one job, piecemeal work you are used to (assuming you are still working).

[Chicago Dog]

Originally posted by Rosenblum:
In the VJ shop EVERYONE is literate and trained in ALL aspects of work.Mike, in a successful newsroom, everyone is literate and everyone is trained anyway. You're training the bottom-feeders, and you're claiming them on your local-news-lacking résumé. There's good reason for that: to fool the other idiots who might hire you into thinking you actually do know what you're doing.

(Of course, as someone pointed out, only one of them actually appears on your website. Wonder why that is?)

I understand you're not a dumb guy. You somehow found a way to cash in on telling stations what they should already know. Hell, one of them had the bright idea to hire a freaking numerologist, who told them their address was causing the problems. Given that fact, I don't blame you for taking advantage of the short-sighted. Hell, I'd love to call them up and tell them I've found a grove where ratings grow on trees. I think they'd buy it. I find it hilarious when a group of inept managers sincerely believe in pointing the finger at everyone but themselves.

However, I think you're an absolute idiot for trying to pass this off onto folks who know better.

We know you don't care about the business. If you did, you'd set the sights higher on the newsroom hierarchy. You'd say what everyone in the newsroom is thinking -- but what sense does it make to bite the hand that feeds, right?

We know this system is a failure. NY1, which started the system thirteen years ago, abandoned it. Why would they do that when technology is supposedly on the cusp of "do it yourself news?" If anything, NY1 should be the flagship station of the OMB/VJ "movement." But, it's not. When asked, you "diverted" questions to the guys running the place. "Why not ask them?"

We know this system is a failure at WKRN and KRON. When folks come around and show just how absolutely awful these stations are still doing, you shrug and give us some excuse like, "They didn't pay me past the training, so it's not my problem." It's so painfully obvious you don't care.

You can bet your ass: I believe we'd be seeing a 180-degree attitude turn if any of those stations were posting any gains.

How long has it been since you've worked in local news? Nearly thirty years. So, to take a page from your book:

Hmm...

Listen to everyone else on the board who has actual daily news experience...

Or listen to a guy with archaic newsroom know-how from 1979 who claims people don't like his system because they're "scared of change?"

Stick that in your Blackberry and smoke it, you jackass.

[ February 15, 2007, 07:43 AM: Message edited by: Chicago Dog ]

[Consider This]

Originally posted by News Is Broken:

http://library.corporate-ir.net/library/76/760/76078/items/223555/investorpresentati on.pdf (http://library.corporate-ir.net/library/76/760/76078/items/223555/investorpresentation.pdf)

Fall 2005 – Launched video journalists (VJ) news gathering system:
• One person that shoots video and reports the story
• Increased number of stories with fewer people
• Inexpensive ($15-20,000) capital cost for each VJ
• Flexible delivery of fully edited stories via the internet
• Integrates into server based newsroom
To whom is this a revelation? Regardless of the sales pitch, I don't know anyone who didn't honestly think that Young (or any station considering using OMB's) adoped the idea with anything other than the bottom line in mind. Is anyone surprised that Young would play up the cost savings to its shareholders?

Young went VJ at its two dead-last-place stations probably figuring that, with so small an audience already, there was little audience to lose if the quality suffered. "If we're going to be last in those markets," I can see Young saying, "we might as well pay less money for it."

I don't know if that's the right way to do it but as long as stations are losing ad revenue they're going to cut costs. Picking apart Michael Rosenblum's sales pitch isn't going to change that.

[News Is Broken]

Originally posted by Consider This:
To whom is this a revelation? Regardless of the sales pitch, I don't know anyone who didn't honestly think that Young (or any station considering using OMB's) adoped the idea with anything other than the bottom line in mind. Is anyone surprised that Young would play up the cost savings to its shareholders?

Young went VJ at its two dead-last-place stations probably figuring that, with so small an audience already, there was little audience to lose if the quality suffered. "If we're going to be last in those markets," I can see Young saying, "we might as well pay less money for it."

I don't know if that's the right way to do it but as long as stations are losing ad revenue they're going to cut costs. Picking apart Michael Rosenblum's sales pitch isn't going to change that.It speaks to honesty and integrity. If Sechrist and Rosenblum had sat everyone down at WKRN and said "Guys, look I'm going to be honest with you - this station's news department is in real trouble. But rather than close it down and lay everyone off, we instead decided to give this VJ thing a try. It'll allow us to still do news while saving some serious money and who knows, we might even do better than we have in the past. It's certainly worth trying so I'm giving each of you the opportunity...." etc, then I'd have no complaints about this info. None! But instead, well I'll let you go into the threads over at b-roll and the news stories about VJ on the internet to see what the grunts were told, on Rosenblum's advice. I will tell you this much: They were outright LIED TO.

And now the same guy is in here, lying to YOU. If you think that's not really something to "consider", then you should "consider" changing your SN.

[Consider This]

Originally posted by News Is Broken:
I will tell you this much: They were outright LIED TO.

And now the same guy is in here, lying to YOU. I agree with that and I wonder why. My guess is that it's part of the spin to sell the idea to advertisers and audiences. "No, no! This isn't really just a cheapening to save money. It's a new paradigm of electronic newsgathering!" Yeah, that's the ticket.

Originally posted by News Is Broken:
If Sechrist and Rosenblum had sat everyone down at WKRN and said "Guys, look I'm going to be honest with you - this station's news department is in real trouble. But rather than close it down and lay everyone off, we instead decided to give this VJ thing a try. It'll allow us to still do news while saving some serious money and who knows, we might even do better than we have in the past. It's certainly worth trying so I'm giving each of you the opportunity...." etc, then I'd have no complaints about this info. None!
Maybe you wouldn't but others here would still be howling. But I wish that had been the pitch because then we wouldn't be bogged down discussing the ethics of one consultant or one company; we'd be addressing the larger issues.

But Rosenblum is a much easier target. So have at him.

[News Is Broken]

What "larger issues" are you talking about? It's as simple as this:

VJ. Doesn't. Work.

As evidenced by the failure of it everywhere it's been tried.

Trying it over and over and over and over will not change the fact that it's a bad idea.

As for going after Rosenblum, the answer is this: If I can save one newsroom the heartache of having Rosenblum's VJ bullsh!t shoved down their throats then it's all been worth while. You can't tell me GM's and ND's don't read these boards. Hopefully one or more of them that he's been leaving voicemails to will google the name "Michael Rosenblum" and thereby see these posts. What they do from there is their business. I, and others here, have done our part.

[Rosenblum]

Thanks for the self appointed crusade to 'save the world' from my ideas. Do you work at one of the stations I have worked with? I think not.

If my ideas are so terrible, this will all die a natural death. I am not so sure that is what is going to happen.. and neither are you.

Your postings smell of fear. And they have little if anything to do with the concept. Instead they are filled with witch hunts about how much I get paid.

Typical.

The reason this thread gets so much traffic, here and elsewhere is because you and everyone else in this business already knows this is going to happen. It may come with me, it may come without me, but trust me, it is coming. These things are springing up like mushrooms after a rain. And they will continue to grow.

The bottom line is that technology is about to obviate or radically change your job and your life. You don't like it. I can understand that. No one does. But smart people look at the reality of the world and prepare for change. Then there is you...

When I was at The New York Times they had just introduced electronic typesetting. Linotype, that mainstay of newspaper printing for generations was suddenly obsolete - driven out by a new technology. The crying, the threats, the 'investigations'. All the same. All lead nowhere. In the UK when Murdoch brought it in at Wapping, there were bombs and death threats. Your postings here are nothing.

[Consider This]

Originally posted by News Is Broken:
What "larger issues" are you talking about?How stations determined to cut costs affect the future of people who do this sort of work for a living. VJs or OMBs are only one part of it.


VJ. Doesn't. Work.

As evidenced by the failure of it everywhere it's been tried.
What evidence? And how do you measure failure? Are ratings for KRON and WKRN worse than they were pre-VJ? If so, has the corresponding revenue drop outpaced the savings, if any, of going VJ?

Those aren't rhetorical questions. I don't know the answers. That's the chart you need to dig up and post here. But it would not surprise me if Young judged success or failure solely on whether the same news holes were being filled with either fewer or less expensive people. Or both.

If it is such a clearly established failure, word is not getting around as quickly as you hoped, as evidenced by the increasing number of ads asking for reporters willing to shoot their own stories.

That's why wrapping yourself up in trying to save stations from Michael Rosenblum does not solve the problem.

[Chicago Dog]

Originally posted by Chicago Dog:
Or listen to a guy with archaic newsroom know-how from 1979 who claims people don't like his system because they're "scared of change?" Originally posted by Rosenblum:
Your postings smell of fear.Congratulations on your predictability.

Originally posted by Consider This:
</font><blockquote>quote:</font><hr />Originally posted by News Is Broken:
VJ. Doesn't. Work.

As evidenced by the failure of it everywhere it's been tried.
What evidence? And how do you measure failure? Are ratings for KRON and WKRN worse than they were pre-VJ?</font>[/QUOTE]The ratings can't get much lower. This system's a failure because we kept hearing: "Mark my words: a year from now, you'll all be wrong," from the supporters of the OMB/VJ system.

Well, here we are, a year later -- and nobody's rubbing our noses in any so-called "success." In fact, everytime someone asks Rosenblum about why his specially-trained stations are still in the tank, just short of belly-up, he either refers people to management at the station or dodges the question completely.

Like I said, he'd be the first to start waving his arms around if these stations could be considered anything close to successful. You bet your ass he's paid close attention.

No improvement?

"No comment."

On the flipside, how do you measure success? Is success based simply on the fact that these stations have yet to abandon the OMB/VJ system? If that's the case, I suggest a quick read through this entry (http://www.news2wkrn.com/mike/2007/01/dear_anonymous.html) of Mike Sechrist's blog.

Now, read between the lines. Does Sechrist ever actuall answer Anonymous' question?

"No."

[ February 15, 2007, 12:20 PM: Message edited by: Chicago Dog ]

[Another side]

Originally posted by News Is Broken:
As for going after Rosenblum, the answer is this: If I can save one newsroom the heartache of having Rosenblum's VJ bullsh!t shoved down their throats then it's all been worth while. You can't tell me GM's and ND's don't read these boards. Hopefully one or more of them that he's been leaving voicemails to will google the name "Michael Rosenblum" and thereby see these posts. What they do from there is their business. I, and others here, have done our part.Oh, brother.

[cameragod]

VJ success or failure, lets look at the evidence from Michaels own web site.
Here is a list of clients.

Our Clients Include
• The BBC
• ARD/Germany
• TV4 Sweden
• TVL Belgium
• Dutch Public TV
• KRON/San Francisco
• WKRN Nashville
• Oxygen Media
• The Voice Of America
• The Daily Show
• The Colbert Report
• NY1
• Channel1 London
• TeleZuri/Switzerland
• New York Times TV
• Eritean Television
• Sri Lanka Business Channel
• Pfizer Pharmaceuticals
• The Rockefeller Foundation
• And many more...Ok the BBC. This has been a big success for Michael. He got a contract and better still gets to use the BBC’s good reputation to sell his wears but was the VJ a success? Well not according to the people who work there. For everyone I have talked to Michaels VJ course was a week of partying in Newcastle and a bunch of other crap forgotten as soon as you got back to the news room. In the 5 years of crowing his BBC model not one BBC worker has rushed to Michaels defense and posted anywhere that the VJ system was working at the BBC. I’d call that a fail.

ARD/Germany, TV4 Sweden, Eritean Television, Sri Lanka Business Channel, Pfizer Pharmaceuticals, The Rockefeller Foundation, TeleZuri/Switzerland, TVL Belgium, Dutch Public TV. I honestly don’t know but I have seen Dutch TV and I don’t know if it is possible to make it worse than it is so I’ll call that a Who knows?

KRON/San Francisco, WKRN Nashville. On B-roll we were told by KRON that they would show a massive ratings increase by xmas 2006 proving the VJ system beyond all doubt. Well aside from the occasional bit of dead cat bounce in the ratings it’s a fail guys.

Oxygen Media… umm one for the ladies seems to be lots of soft porn after 10 but no news so let’s skip that one.

The Voice Of America, The Daily Show, The Colbert Report, Do they use VJ’s? I don’t know so you tell me.

NY1. Michael says they dumped the JV model when he wasn’t there so that shouldn’t count as a failed… sorry Mike if VJ was working they would have kept it. Failed.

Channel1 London. Michael describes this one as an idea “ahead of its time” so I guess it was a glorious failure but thats still a failure.

New York Times TV. Failure or just really bad?

Can someone show me one clear success of that list? Just one?

So instead of “Our Clients Include” maybe its should be “Our Victims Include” :D

Of course not of the history of failure would stop some people from buying into the VJ system because this time it will be ok… yeah right.

[Rosenblum]

Who asked you? Why don't you send me some links to your work so I can critique away. I need a good laugh. Frankly you are guys who have never taken a risk in your lives, never pursued an idea, never built a business, never done anything more than collect a paycheck. Your opinions don't carry a lot of weight.

[ February 15, 2007, 04:05 PM: Message edited by: Rosenblum ]

[cameragod]

Actually I think you asked us when you said cameramen were dead as dinosaurs.

Ahh shoot the messenger huh? Well I’ve been posting stories on b-roll for over 5 years now, not caught up with any? Oh well. I’ll put some more up when I get the chance.
I’m freelance so my time is my own if I want to waste it here instead prepping for a 28 week shoot or finishing writing my book (hopefully out in July) or chasing the rest of the funding for my 23 million dollar feature movie, well being here its light relief.

What do I know about VJ’s? Well I did train and mentor the ITN VJ program and you know what? After a year of it I came to the conclusion it was too flawed to ever be useful. So guess I failed. We do have that in common.

[ February 15, 2007, 06:38 PM: Message edited by: cameragod ]

[docoproducer]

Originally posted by Rosenblum:
Frankly you are guys who have never taken a risk in your lives, never pursued an idea, never built a business, never done anything more than collect a paycheck. More so than you will ever know. I've been down your road. Chose a different fork. The only thing I've bypassed is selling something less than mediocre disguised as something larger than life. Contrary to your belief there are others out there gainfully exercising their journalistic entrepreneurial skills. You don't have an exclusive lock on creating cable programming.

[ February 15, 2007, 06:35 PM: Message edited by: docoproducer ]

[Spike]

Two things to add to cameragod's post...

Originally posted by cameragod:
KRON/San Francisco, WKRN Nashville. On B-roll we were told by KRON that they would show a massive ratings increase by xmas 2006 proving the VJ system beyond all doubt. Well aside from the occasional bit of dead cat bounce in the ratings it’s a fail guys. Rosenblum also told us in late summer 2005 that WKRN would see an increase in ratings by January, 2006. Didn't happen.

Originally posted by cameragod:
The Voice Of America, The Daily Show, The Colbert Report, Do they use VJ’s? I don’t know so you tell me.Here's my understanding of Voice of America, from talking to their people in the field. They didn't go completely VJ. Instead, they created a VJ department, while their regular crews kept them on the air. Michael and his people went in and trained these VJs, then they were set loose.

After several months they had a number of problems. Some of the VJs weren't turning any stories. Some of them were taking months to turn stories. Despite their training on the laptops, some of them didn't know how to edit. Oh, they knew how to work the buttons in Final Cut Pro, but they didn't understand editing and couldn't put together a story.

Finally they ended up having to take photogs and editors off their regular assignments to help the VJ unit get some of their packages on the air. So much for self-sufficient VJs.

I would call that a failure. That's what the folks I talked to at VOA considered it.

[Roy Hobbs]

Originally posted by Rosenblum:
Thanks for the self appointed crusade to 'save the world' from my ideas. Do you work at one of the stations I have worked with? I think not.

If my ideas are so terrible, this will all die a natural death. I am not so sure that is what is going to happen.. and neither are you.

Your postings smell of fear. Michael, we don't know what Fearmonger smells like but we'll get back to you....

http://www.putnamlive.com/PaulHuebl.jpg

[Michigan J. Frog]

Originally posted by Rosenblum:
Frankly you are guys who have never taken a risk in your lives, never pursued an idea, never built a business, never done anything more than collect a paycheck. Your opinions don't carry a lot of weight.See, you don't have any idea whether this is true or not. You want it to be true, so you can dismiss our opinions.

But it isn't. And, unlike you, not everyone who has an idea and builds a business goes from town to town, making promises that can't be fulfilled and then blaming the customer for it when the pie-in-the-sky concept fails. Some of us actually deliver on our promises.

So I guess our opinions DO count.

Sorry.

[ February 17, 2007, 03:53 PM: Message edited by: Michigan J. Frog ]

[2:30]

Rosie reminds me of the guys who draft US policy in Iraq. They don't have a clue how to do it, but they're great at issuing decrees telling everyone how it should be done.

[Bureau Chief]

Originally posted by 11-Evil:
</font><blockquote>quote:</font><hr />quote:
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Originally posted by 11-Evil:
From a Production "point of view" - why can't the news department consolidate as well.

I have seen us go from an 11 person production crew to a 3 person production crew. I had to accept that.

Local TV news is part of a bigger business, called a local TV station. A local TV station is a business put in place to make a profit. With increased competition from cable, the internet, and other advertising outlets WE MUST be more efficient or die NOW. News is just filler between commercials. No different than Entertainment Tonight or American Idol.

You should thank Rosenblum - he is trying to keep YOUR TRADE alive before it implodes. If you dont believe me, give it 5 years and give me a call.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Posted by Bureau Chief

Ya thats about what I would expect from someone in "production", which in our shop is known as "obstruction". News HAS to keep alot of people on board in our shop because we have to constantly send our people over to the production side of the building to fill in for your deadass employees who call off or just dont bother to show up for work with no warning. Each newscast its the same....your director comes thru the newsroom door...."hey we are short on XXXX tonight, you have to give me someone to do it." In the end, Rosenblum will be seen as the catalyst of the end of tv news. You like that spot in history Mike? Now dont get me wrong, I think that this (VJs) is the way things are headed. I dont like it, but I see it coming like an on-coming train. We cant stop it, we just got to figure out how to make it work.

Think about how a live shot crew was about oh.....15 years ago...A shooter, a reporter, a producer and an engineer to take care of the truck. Now the engineer and the producer are gone, and soon the reporter will be history too.
I feel really sorry for your station and situation. That is not the norm around here. With my 3 person crew, where all 3 positions are very technical, I doubt a newsie could do the job without many many hours of training. If someone doesn't make it in, I, as the Manager, do the job. That has only happened once since July. Maybe at your shop, you should adopt the same philosophy as we have - IT TAKES A TEAM. . . we are all part of the process.

In fact, about 3 weeks ago we really needed an interview for our 5, and there were NO REPORTERS available. I went out at 4:15 and had great sound back for the 5. Oh my god. . . .an (how did u put it?) OBSTRUCTION, doing the job of a newsie??? See, it's called teamwork.

But - we need to SEE the future - all of us. I stand by my original post.</font>[/QUOTE]Evil 11, I appoligise to you for the tone of my post. I had a terrible day that came directly from the production department...again....certainly not your fault. A team....hmmm that WOULD be different!

[Bureau Chief]

I am getting ready to spend 3 weeks on a vacation with a upper level manager type at the BBC. I will ask for some details about the situation there and its success (or lack of it).

[cameragod]

Originally posted by Bureau Chief:
I am getting ready to spend 3 weeks on a vacation with a upper level manager type at the BBC. I will ask for some details about the situation there and its success (or lack of it).If they know what’s actually happening. One of the things that drove me nuts at C5 in the UK was that 3 years after we had dropped the "cutting edge" model the station had been founded on because it didn’t work upper management types would still run little tours through the newsroom for other upper management types explaining a crap system we didn’t use anymore. Honestly talk about tenuous grip on reality graemlins/face_banghead.gif

[News Is Broken]

So I think we're getting a clearer picture of how Rosie landed the BBC gig in the first place:

1. Wife worked there for 17 years.
2. Upper management doesn't have a clue what's really going on.

Hmmmmmmmmm.

[Rosenblum]

No... actually met wife while at BBC (since you ask). New wife. smile.gif

BBC Management very very smart.
Overall BBC is a completely unique institition, unlike anything in the US.

[ February 19, 2007, 02:24 PM: Message edited by: Rosenblum ]

[News Is Broken]

Originally posted by Rosenblum:
Overall BBC is a completely unique institition, unlike anything in the US.So why the f--k do you think what "works there" will "work here" - nevermind the fact that it doesn't work either here or there... graemlins/face_banghead.gif

No..forget it. Nevermind. I don't want to know. I've reached my BS limit for the day. You can tell me tomorrow.

http://static.fotolia.com/photos_mini/2006-21/110_F_728554_cuQEWTGi0Wy8natYq9o6G4EXp8I5FC.jpg

[ February 19, 2007, 04:50 PM: Message edited by: News Is Broken ]

[Focker]

OK, I've had it.

Who is this Rosenblum dude and why do we care what he does?

[Ralphie the buffalo]

Further proof of the theory that says:

1% of the people make things happen
4% of the people watch things happen
95% of the people ask, "What happened?"

[Focker]

Originally posted by Ralphie the buffalo:
Further proof of the theory that says:

1% of the people make things happen
4% of the people watch things happen
95% of the people ask, "What happened?"Is this towards me? Hey, I did a search on this site and every thread refers to Rosenblum but doesn't say who he is or what he does. Sorry if I'm not "in the know" about every single person Medialiners hate. There's a Rosenblum poster but I don't know if he's the actual Rosenblum cuz a search by his registered member number only brings up about a dozen posts.

If not towards me, then disregard anger. Still wondering who "Rosenblum" is and why we care.

EDIT*** OK, so I didn't see the "User Profile" button and then his website. So he's a consultant. So my question is...why are we picking on him more than, say, TD or Magid. I know they're mentioned here, but it just seems like some people have it out for Rosenblum and I'm just trying to find out why...so I can understand these posts better. I mean, I can understand if we were talking about Fearmonger...cuz he's a self-absorbed, website-promoting jacka-- whom Mockingbird does great Photoshops of. But what's the deal with Rosenblum?

[ February 21, 2007, 09:39 AM: Message edited by: Focker ]

[John M.]

He's the consultant who helped KRON in San Francisco and WKRN in Nashville, both owned by Young Broadcasting, to abandon traditional two person (photog/reporter) crews in favor of so-called VJs, who would do both jobs using smaller prosumer cameras and laptop computer editors.

The vitriol stems from a consultant convincing a station not to change the presentation of the news but the gathering of it in ways that critics say will cost jobs and cut quality.

[ February 21, 2007, 10:18 AM: Message edited by: John M. ]

[Ralphie the buffalo]

Originally posted by Focker:
Is this towards me? Perhaps it could mean that Rosie is part of the one percent and most of the people posting here are part of the four percent. Did you consider that possibility?

[cameragod]

Focker

Back in 2000 on www.b-roll.net (http://www.b-roll.net) a guy called Ivan invited Michael Rosenblum (http://www.rosenblumtv.com/) to the forum to explain his VJ Dojo (now failed) which Michael claimed could teach anyone to be a VJ in three weeks. Since then he has randomly popped in to tell us we are all “dinosaurs” “irrelevant” “outdated” and generally dooooomed as a profession. “VJ’s are the wave of the future.” “Adapt or die!!!” Over the years all we have seen is the failure of the VJ model and the wreckage it has caused to the lives of those who have been victims of Michaels experiment.
With every failure we see Michael inventing new imaginary problems that VJ system can be the solution to but nowhere can he show us one instance of a VJ system that works.

Why do I argue with him? I have got better things to do with my time.
First, it is kind of entertaining. I enjoy the cut and thrust. Michael is game and you have to respect that.
Second, although I have never met Michael I have met victims of his earlier VJ attempts and it burns me to see how much their careers were screwed because he had and idea and found some idiots in management to sell it to.

Stupidity isn’t a crime and Michael has the right to flog his product where he likes but how can I in good conscience let some of the BS he posts go unchallenged? Just because Michael keeps repeating his key messages endlessly doesn’t make them true. I feel like if we stop responding he wins… and I hate to loose.

[ February 22, 2007, 01:09 AM: Message edited by: cameragod ]

[Rosenblum]

Focker

I am in Boston today because I am giving the keynote address to the annual Public Broadcasting Conference (PBS and NPR). For a guy with a failed concept, I think I am doing pretty good!

In any event, with a few exceptions (!!!) of course, I have a great deal of respect fo the professinals here and on b-roll, though we hardly agree.

In a moment of shameless self promotion (something I would never subscribe to normally), I would invite you to my visit my blog: www.rosenblumtv.wordpress.com (http://www.rosenblumtv.wordpress.com)
It will explain all... or at least some.

PS - who WAS Ivan?

[ February 21, 2007, 12:46 PM: Message edited by: Rosenblum ]

[Ralphie the buffalo]

Originally posted by cameragod:
a guy called Ivan invited Ivan is responsible for this?

[Focker]

Thanks for the replies, folks. Now I can understand the thread better. And Ralphie: Thanks for the clarification. No, I didn't think of that and I apologize if I sounded angry or sarcastic.

That said, and going through Rosenblum's website, and being a (former) reporter myself who is now a photog with lots of photog friends...I can honestly say I don't like Michael's idea...for reasons stated quite nicely by cameragod a few threads ago as well as the numerous ones in the 500+posts in other VJ threads. And yes, Michael has the right to say/promote whatever.

As long as it doesn't get my friends laid off.

To quote Forrest Gump: "That's all I have to say about that."

for the time being... graemlins/eusa_shifty.gif

[ February 21, 2007, 02:13 PM: Message edited by: Focker ]

[cameragod]

Just to prove how little Michael understands about what jobs we actually do here is a part of his blog. The man has no idea.

A reporter might arrive on a location to do an interview. The subject would sit there, waiting anxiously. “Can we start?” the subject says.
“Not yet” says the reporter. There is a pause. “I have to wait for the pencil to arrive”.
Finally, after a seemingly interminable wait, a blue van pulls up. The name of the newspaper is emblazoned on the exterior of the van, and from inside emerge two men carrying a large metal case. Inside the case, is the pencil.
They come into the office and very professionally start to set up their gear. Tom has been a pencilman for the past 20 years. He’s very good at what he does. Joe is the paperman. He feeds Tom sheets of paper. Its a tough job, (and dangerous. Papercuts can kill if you don’t know what you are doing). There used to be a third person on the crew - the eraserlady, but a round of cutbacks have now only served to dimish the quality.
As soon as Tom and Joe get set up, they indicate to the reporter they are ready.
“We have lead” they say, and the reporting can begin.
The advantage of working with a crew is so that the journalist can concentrate on the story and not have to worry about all those technical things like spelling, or punctuation, or broken pencil points. Tom and Joe take care of all that stuff. And, as the journalist does not have to balance the pad in his lap… and take notes - he can keep good eye contact with the subject and not be distracted from his work.
There are some, (so I am told), newspapers and magazines that are asking (forcing!) their print reporters to carry their own pad and pencil and take their own notes and even write their own stories! By themselves! The trend is called PJ, or Printjournalism. But we all know this is just a way to save money and cut staffing. We also know that the quality of the reporting really suffers when just one print reporter has to go out and cover a story on their own (not to mention the safety issue… or who will gurantee the integrity of the reporting without a crew present)?
No, we better stick to what we know. How else can we deliver quality? Well if he can make stuff up about us then lets look at a typical Consultants day.

“Hi I’m a consultant and I’m going to tell you how to win the national Lottery without buying a ticket.

Imagine the lottery ticket is a pencil. Pencils are cheap right, not like consultants, so if you gave everyone a pencil and got them to write out their own numbers then eventually one of them is going to get the winning numbers. See it’s simple. Any questions?
But we haven’t bought a ticket? Look that is outmoded thinking you @#$% dinosaur.
The Web is coming!!! Don’t you get it?
Bill Gates. He’s a smart guy.
Has it worked anywhere? is a good question and that’s what is so exciting you could be the first to win the lottery without having to buy a ticket. Cool.
Albert Einstein, he was a smart guy, he would have got it.
Actually there are some guys on the moon who did win it and spacemen are real smart but if you call them to ask they will lie and say it doesn’t work because they want to keep all the moon rock cheese they won with my system to themselves.
Trust me I’m a consultant.
Look you better sign up before everyone in the world has won the lottery but you…
Sigh, pencils, lottery, fish, headstands and Bill Gates… connect the dots guys, the sky is blue and some pencils are blue that proves it the sky’s the limit!!!
You can now thank me for my time and I’d like my cash please.”

Pencilgod tongue.gif

[ February 21, 2007, 06:54 PM: Message edited by: cameragod ]

[Chicago Dog]

Hey Mike, have you ever actually shadowed a local TV news crew? If so, when?

And why do I have the feeling that I'm going to have to ask you those same questions five times before you'll actually answer them?

Breakout from Keynote session with Mike Sechrist, VP Young BroadcastingWow, I bet that was a hit -- hearing how great the OMB/VJ system is from a guy whose station is starting to phase out the OMB/VJ concept in favor of two-person crews.

[ February 22, 2007, 08:55 AM: Message edited by: Chicago Dog ]

[Original Cynic]

kgtv had plans to have Rosie teach another vj class in march. Word on the street is that class has been cancelled. What happened Rosie? Was your paradigm shift too intense for them?

[Spike]

Originally posted by Original Cynic:
kgtv had plans to have Rosie teach another vj class in march. Word on the street is that class has been cancelled. What happened Rosie? Was your paradigm shift too intense for them?It was ahead of its time.

[Chicago Dog]

Originally posted by Chicago Dog:
Hey Mike, have you ever actually shadowed a local TV news crew? If so, when? Originally posted by Original Cynic:
kgtv had plans to have Rosie teach another vj class in march. Word on the street is that class has been cancelled. What happened Rosie? Was your paradigm shift too intense for them?He's constantly listed in Recent Visitors (http://www.medialine.com/medialineUBB/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=pntf;f=6) -- thanks to that wonderful Blackberry -- yet he can't be bothered to muster up a couple answers?

Surprise, surprise!