This is a mega-huge honor for me, as being a news anchor has been something I've wanted to do my whole life.
But, let's face it, I'm no Tom Brokaw.
I'm no Brian Williams.
Turns out I'm going to do this my way.
So, the 7pm show is where I'm going to start.
It needs the biggest boost, ratings are tough at that time because let's face it... We're up against Pat Sajak and Vanna "North Myrtle Beach" White on NBC (also First Coast News).
Gonna start getting aggressive with social media and web interaction. If you haven't been to the 7pm chatroom on www.firstcoastnews.com yet, come in during the show. That's going to shape parts of the newscast... just straight stop the news and read chat/talk to folks mid stream.
Why not? Is that something that would make you curious enough to watch every so often? Every night?
Maybe DVR it at least and watch while you crochet?
I'm also starting to do a daily twitter/facebook challenge. Something that will air during the 7pm show, something that will come from viewers.
To prove my dedication to this, here's a look at how the twitter challenge went down on Wednesday:
It all started with that challenge from a twitter follower... work in the word "scuttlebutt" during the newscast.
Sure I'd do it... if that's what people wanted to see... and the qualifier was retweets. Needed 50 of them, and we got 'em.
That got 52 retweets in an hour... so I upheld my end of the deal. Here's proof:
Yes, that's ridiculous... A gimmick? Maybe. But it's evidence that I'm listening intently and not just blindly posting my stories from the day and ignoring everything else. Sure I post my stories, I love my stories and I want to share, but that's just a small part of it.
There will be more twitter and facebook challenges... BIGGER challenges.
Just some ideas to throw out there:
1. Tweet where you'd like me to anchor the news live from. Your house? The Main Street Bridge? A bowling alley? If it resonates on twitter or facebook, I'll do it. And we'll find a way for it to make sense in the newscast.
2. What stories should we begin our newscast with and invest most of our time in?
3. A twitter follower of the day: gonna have your handle all over the news cast... reading posts... could help with your number of followers. But, you'll have to earn that... no idea how yet, we'll see.
Anyway, participate... get angry... laugh... learn...
Here are my twitter/facebook pages. Follow/Like. And let's make some awesome TV/internet.
https://twitter.com/LewTurner
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Lewis-Turner/231381973541725
Oh... and here's one last video, just for fun:
Oh... and here's one last video, just for fun:
