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It Takes More than Good Looks to Succeed at TV News Reporting

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Here's a "text book" that reads with the thunder of a good page-turner. You'll laugh, you'll cry... and you'll learn. Wayne Freedman is a brilliant visual reporter who's managed to translate his craft -- and his love of a good story -- into print. Best of all, if local news reporters follow his instructions, a lot of us will start watching TV news again!

If you're an aspiring television news reporter, or working as one and hoping to move into a major market, read this book. The meat of it is inside the anecdotes.

Freedman describes the process of finding stories, large and small. He writes in detail about interviewing, story structure, and all the finer points of narrative writing. The bookk is packed with helpful hints for performance issues such as stand-ups, live shots, and vocal styles. "If you don't like the way you sound, look at the words you choose," he writes.

The book is idealistic, but competely truthful about succeeding and surviving in an imperfect business. For example, "It's fairly easy to please the boss who hires you. The test is to satisfy that new boss who replaces the old one."

Here's another. "Sometimes we forget our employers pay us, not for doing the perfect story, but for hiding flaws and doing the best story possible within a set of restraints."

That's the real stuff.

I have 15 years experience as a reporter and also teach broadcast journalism. This book is on my syllabus because it does NOT read like a textbook. Its cast of characters includes Bill Clinton, The Pope, Cal Ripken, Jr.---and dozens of regular, fascinating people. The first chapter, in which he outwits the United States Golf Association to expose their cover-up of a broken US Open trophy, is a timeless lesson about how to hustle under daily deadline pressure.

I bought this book as a Christmas gift for my daughter, who has been a local TV reporter for 1 1/2 years. Even with her wonderful preparation in college and her on the job experience, I'm sure she'll find many of the tips useful in her work.

I found the anecdotes particularly illuminating. I finished the book in a day and a half.

It is a perfect holiday or graduation gift for the beginning or aspiring journalist. Freedman is clearly at the top of his field, and it is a great opportunity for young journalists to learn from him.

I am not exaggerating when I say this book changed my life as a journalist.

I've been a TV news reporter for a little more than two years. Throughout those years I had one major struggle; How do I improve? Time and time again, I would ask this question to news directors and colleagues I admired. Time and time again they would respond, "You're doing fine."

I may be young but I'm not stupid. I knew full well that at this early stage in my career I had MOUNTAINS to climb to become a great journalist. And my work was far from "fine". Through mere happenstance, I found Wayne Freedman's book on my desk. A former co-worker left it to me once she left the business.

From the minute I picked up Freedman's book, I couldn't put it down. It only took several chapters to noticeably change the way I write my packages.

I found myself more in tune with my writing, looking at the bigger picture. From using emotion to speak to your audience, to developing a central character. Too often I overlooked elements in my stories that, had I made them more centralized, would have made my story so much better. His examples and transcribed packages blew me away. Reading his thought process and understanding how he came up with an intro or an andgle can really help you figure out your "voice" and style in journalism.

Since I've read the book, viewers have gone as far as to send me emails, congratulating me on "a story well told". Not only that, co-workers have taken notice. Those same co-workers who said I was "...doing fine" are now saying, "Wow, that was great!" So, clearly there was more for me to learn, there is always more to learn.

This book accomplished that. I will say this, I still have a long way to go. I still have experience to gain to be that great reporter I aspire to be. But at 25 years old I'm OK with that. At least I have specific skills to hone now, things to work on. Where as before I repeated my "incorrect" routine over and over again. Following a formula that Freedman helped me break.

I not only encourage people to read this book who are looking to pursue journalism as a career, but people who are already in the business. There is always room for improvement, whether you've been in this for two years or 20. And I undoubtedly believe this book can do that.

I am probably breaking Freedman's valuable advice already by dragging this review on and writing too much. But I have to give credit where credit is due, and a short blurb just wouldn't suffice.

I hope one day I get to shake the hand of Mr. Freedman and thank him in person for the wonderful impact this book had on my career. My only question of him now is...when's the second book coming?

Landing a TV reporting job is not tough. Make a tape, be persistent and someone somewhere will put you on the air.

Leaning the craft of television news reporting is a different ballgame. In, It Takes More than Good Looks to Succeed at TV News Reporting, Wayne Freedman shows what it takes to become one of the very best.

This book offers practical, easy to use tips to anyone in the business. The challenges and frustrations Wayne describes will happen to you, count on it. Just as important, he explains ways to overcome those obstacles. Regardless of your experience level, this book is crammed full of useful tips that can improve your work.

But this is not only a collection of "how to" tips.

It Takes More than Good Looks to Succeed at TV News Reporting, inspired me. Those of us lucky enough to make a career of TV news have the best, most interesting jobs around. Thanks to Wayne we now have a playbook to make ourselves, and our work, even better!

Don't read this book just once. Read it twice, and then maybe even once more. Make sure the principles and teachings of Mr. Freedman are so ingrained in your mind, you apply them in the field, and during the writing process, with ease, despite any pressures or deadlines. Why? Because it takes more than good looks to succeed at television news reporting.

Wayne Freedman is a rare gift in television news reporting, a polished gem of a reporter with an amazing eye and ear and professional aesthetic. He's a wonderul storyeller with what may be the largest collection of Emmy awards for television reporting on the planet...deservedly so, he's that good at what he does, they should just mail them to him every year.

I'm a former television producer and news director and I've always greatly admired Wayne's work, and his ability to sweep the Emmy awards every time. He's consistently brilliant and can turn the most mundane topic into a memorable visual story. His book is required reading for my television journalism students and should be read and re-read by every aspiring or novice television journalist, along with many veterans. This book makes teaching 'basic training' to up-and-coming video journalists MUCH easier. Not only is this book useful and a peek into a bright creative mind, it's just a good read...entertaining and hard to put down, with lots of great stories and insight! It's a keeper.

I bought this book for my sister. She completed her education in the journalism field. When she got the book as a gift, she immediately realized it is one of the best books she has ever come across related to her field. She could not put it down and now uses it as her main reference book.

Wayne Freedman's book "It Takes More Than Good Looks To Succeed at Television News Reporting" should be required reading for anyone who wants to be in the news field or become a shooter or editor. I must be getting old as I remember all the great stories that were covered in the book. In fact I learnerd Wayne and I are like Brothers, He is a great Golfer, I play Pee-wee golf, He drives a Porsche, I had one in the 70's he lives in Marin, I live in Benicia He writes, shoots, and edits outstanding stories on HD, I fumble my way through DV. I am serious though, Buy the book and read it cover to cover and learn from one of the Masters. You will never regret it.

Just finished the book this morning on the train ride in to work. I have to say that I enjoyed it from beginning to end! It was jam packed FULL of useful tips and great antecdotes that would help ANYONE to become a great news reporter or multimedia journalist PERIOD.

My favorite part? I could no sooner pick a favorite star in the sky. This book was sooo informative, interesting, and absolutely HILARIOUS. It's all you would ever want or need in a non-fiction book.It's like going on a ride through his MOST INTERESTING LIFE!!

While reading this book, I often paused and said to myself, "wow, it's like he read my mind and answered my most pressing questions without me having to ask".

What did I learn...?

...that I'm in the right field! I read the bulk of the book on the train with people looking at me weird every couple of minutes as I laughed aloud, mumbled "NICE!" at his scripts, and sighed "awww" at his experiences. This book is an absolute Godsend- a true journalist's handbook...and I cannot thank Mr. Freedman enough for sharing!