Valley PR Blog

What’s going on in local TV?

By Charlotte Shaff on May 20th, 2009 In Media

Get the scoop on local TV buzz and personalities on the Phoenix Television Examiner website.  The author is Scott Davis, a former Phoenix TV news producer. I wanted to know a little more about what he was doing and how PR pros could use the site and/or help him with his articles on local TV topics. This is what he shared with me…

What is your background and what do you do now?
I spent 20 years working in television news. Just before I left I wrote a “PitchMe” column for you! That was near the end of 2007. I left Channel 3 shortly after that and began working as a freelance television producer. Since that time I have field-produced on several reality shows, worked some network and local news producing gigs, done a bit of PR and even co-produced a conference for fans of the paranormal! I am currently a producer/writer/correspondent for a show called “Paranormal Matrix”; it’s a cross between 20/20 and Ghost Hunters and we hope to have it sold to a network by the end of the year. You can watch the trailer and the 30-minute pilot episode here.

Why did you start writing for The Examiner? What kind of articles are you writing about these days?
The economy has hit the television business hard; companies are not hiring field producers like me as often as they have in the past. A friend of mine had begun writing a column for www.examiner.com about Arizona’s haunted places. I thought that if she could take her passion and get published, then why can’t I? I got in touch with the site’s managers in Colorado and proposed that I write about the TV news business here in Phoenix. They jumped on the idea and I reached out to dozens of friends at the valley’s television stations and all of their news directors. I got great responses with pledges to communicate and pass on story ideas to me. Some of those have already come to fruition while others are in the works. I’ve posted seven articles in the last two weeks. By far the most popular piece I’ve done was one about Beverly Kidd’s weight. She was great about it, by the way. Everyone has been great so far, although I expect it will get a little sticky at the next round of layoffs when I’m digging for names and details.

How is the Phoenix Examiner different from a blog?
This is a funny question, because blogs vary so much in their tone and purpose. Some people write a blog to vent frustrations about daily occurrences. Others write blogs to educate other people about business, products or politics. The goal of www.examiner.com is to become a news media site and distinguish ourselves outside the “anybody can post on the web” idea. I have a pretty informal style, which sometimes makes my writing feel more like a blog rather than a strict news report. Still, I try to write about current happenings rather than my own observations. The piece about Beverly Kidd’s weight, for example, did not originate with me or anyone I know commenting that she’s put on a few pounds lately. The idea began when I saw that SHE had posted her weight on her personal blog. That made it a news story. When President Obama spoke at ASU’s commencement, I compiled an article listing which stations would carry the speech live and which stations would go with the regular programming. And the next “big” article is about news people who Twitter.

Would you like ideas or suggestions from the PR folks in town?
I would LOVE suggestions from PR folks. Because news people don’t often like BEING the news, I am always searching for content. However the pieces I write have to be about the news coverage or the people that report and anchor. Anything is fair game, though, and I am always open to any pitch. Heck, I still get pitches from some of you in PR who are looking for news coverage on TV and I pass those ideas along to my producer friends. The way I approach my writing is this: if my reporter and producer friends are interested in it, then it’s a good possibility for my column. If my aunt RoseAnn, a TV news junkie, would want to know, then it’s a must-do!

If you have an idea or scoop for Scott, send him an email. He is also on Twitter @scott0131

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