“A drone owned by Castanet.net in Kelowna and being operated by a news editor was grounded after a fire information officer said it flew too close to a Peachland, B.C. wildfire. The officer cited the dangers of a drone coming into contact with aviation related to the fire fight as well as distracting crews on the ground. The use of drones is controlled by Transport Canada, which issues Special Flight Operating Certificates for approved operations.”
— Broadcast Dialogue
Wakeup call to news people who "read stories" from "the radio newsroom:" a website - not a TV station or a newspaper - was flying drones over Kelowna, BC's wildfire area in their aggressive coverage of local news.
Today, listeners won’t accept news people not being involved with the stories they are reporting.
Doing so is easier for radio than almost any other medium making full use of all the theater of the mind tools available to audio media, especially now that smart phones have powerful video and editing tools built-in.
News value is measured by intelligent judgment rather than dollars and cents or weight in pounds and ounces. A lead/top story simply must be fresh, something the audience hasn’t heard before that also captures the imagination of the highest percentage of the audience as possible.
Interesting. Important. A sudden change of pace. That's "news to me."
Plus, something the newscaster has a personal connection/involvement/reporting direct from with if at all possible.
If you can't get out of your studio to deeply, even though briefly, cover what's important to local listeners, you need to find other ways by phone and social media to bring it to life immediately and authentically.
If that's not possible, reconsider whether you can do "news" today in a competitive way. Maybe it's better not to do it at all than to do it poorly.
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