Five Questions with WLS-TV’s Ravi Baichwal
posted by Dan SkinnerMonday, November 2nd, 2009
Since his arrival in Chicago three years ago, WLS-TV (ABC) anchor/reporter Ravi Baichwal has become one of the rising stars of Chicago’s broadcast news scene. During the week, Baichwal reports for the city’s top-rated news team and on weekends he co-anchors the 5 and 10 p.m. broadcasts. In 2008 he won the Emmy award for best anchor in the Chicago/Midwest region.
Last year I met Baichwal when WLS covered the arrival of Porter Airlines first flight from Toronto to Chicago Midway. Having previously worked in Toronto for Canada’s top national news outlet, CTV, Baichwal was perfectly suited to cover the new connection between the two Great Lakes cities. Ravi was kind enough to share some thoughts on the relationship between broadcast journalists and public relations practitioners in this edition of “Five Questions.”
Q: What goes into the daily decision making process at WLS in choosing which stories the team will cover?
A: The key questions we ask of ourselves focus on what’s of greatest importance to the most people. That’s why weather and crime are often in the lineup. Our job is to tell the stories of interesting people doing interesting things in the world we all share. Where we can find those stories, and where the impact or implications from those narratives hit home with wide swaths of people, that’s where we tend to direct resources. And we try to focus on events that are somehow out of the ordinary – where the video is exceptionally good, and the story in the visual medium is easy to tell. That’s why television news is especially suited to emotional, people-based stories rather than process stories. Our medium just conveys the message in the pictures that much more effectively than anything else.
Q: When PR people have a segment idea, what’s the best way to pitch that story to your news team?
A: Find individual reporters and build a relationship with them. Do this by offering stories that are arresting visually. Any pitch from a PR agency is going to engender suspicion in a newsroom. It has to; that’s just in the nature of our journalistic duty to be skeptical. That said, knowing that the PR person you are dealing with is an honest broker who understands how a TV story gets put together helps. We want to know that you know what deadlines are, how important it is to offer local experts and b-roll opportunities, and that if we can’t do it, you don’t take rejection personally.
Q:What separates “good pitches” from “bad pitches?” What types of things are you looking for in a pitch that will make it a story you’d cover?
A: A good pitch has to have good video that is at the core of the story’s appeal to broad spectrum of people. It is amazing how many interview “opportunities” I am offered for satellite interviews with people pitching products that I just don’t care about. The principal in the story has to be in Chicago otherwise I can tell you it is highly unlikely the story will be covered.
Q: When you’re on location shooting a segment, how can PR people best assist you and your team?
A: If you are working with a big company on a breaking story, making spokespeople available is number one. Having background statistics that are relevant and help us develop context is good, too. This is especially helpful on big public policy stories involving such subjects as health care and community development.
Q: What’s your most memorable story or experience as a broadcaster?
A: There are so many. The time when my son was born and I was anchoring Canada’s number one national broadcast for the first time and I went on air with no sleep for nearly 48 hours comes to mind. That was a special broadcast for a lot of reasons. Our lead story that night was word that a cult in Quebec had succeeded in cloning a human being. The story was subsequently debunked, but I am sure my son will get a laugh out of it in the years to come!
