Two familiar KARE faces leading the fresh – Violating the News – Twin Cities
Two familiar KARE faces leading the fresh ‘Violating the News’
Most Popular
Embarking Monday, KARE-TV’s getting a different look at 6:30 p.m. Gone is the familiar celebrity dish of “Entertainment Tonight,” which will air in an earlier time slot. In its place will be “Violating the News,” a fresh half-hour showcase hosted by Rena Sarigianopoulos and Jana Shortal, two familiar KARE faces, who describe their fresh endeavor as a “conversation not a newscast.”
Sitting in a cozy conference room at KARE last month, the two talked about how sultry and excited they were about the work they’ve put into “Violating the News” and how it won’t be like a traditional weeknight newscast. Instead of headlines, weather and sports, the reporters will dive deeper into the stories that people are talking about.
“No house fires, no car crashes on our display,” Sarigianopoulos said. “A regular news display is thirty minutes long with twenty five to thirty stories, sports and weather. Our demonstrate is thirty minutes long and most likely has six stories, no sports or weather. The only time sports or weather would make the display is if they were creating conversation in the community. Not everything on the demonstrate is stuff that is already creating or will create conversation – a lot of it’s just thoughtful TV, thoughtful journalism that we don’t have time for in a newscast where we’re given a minute to tell a news story. We have the capability with this showcase to go beyond and dig deeper.”
Stories will be delivered in a multiplicity of forms including through social media interaction, going behind the scenes of a big story with a reporter on the hammer, opinion and editorial lumps from both hosts and community members, and man-on-the-street interviews.
SNEAK PEEK
During a sneak peek of the display on Dec. Three (it aired after “The Wiz Live!” and before the ten p.m. news), Shortal kicked things off talking about a social media post by KARE that received thousands of responses. The station posted the single word “enough” after the shooting rampage in San Bernardino that killed fourteen people on Dec. Two. Shortal expanded on the social media conversation by explaining what the word meant to her and her colleagues through a thoughtful op-ed lump. It was followed by reporter Chris Hrapsky asking people on the street their interpretation of the word.
“I put it (‘enough’) on my Facebook page and explained why I did that,” Shortal said. “When KARE did it, they just put the word out (on Facebook). It was interesting to see the comments on my pages versus KARE’s. I didn’t say, ‘Hey, don’t get mad at us.’ I explained it. Obviously, that wouldn’t go in a newscast.”
WORKING AND WORKING TOGETHER
Shortal says working on the demonstrate has been one of the hardest things she’s ever done in her career and called the practice leading up to Monday’s launch “emotionally and physically tiring.”
“I don’t know if viewers are going to observe this and say, ‘It’s so different from traditional news,’ but it certainly feels that way to us,” Shortal said.
When talking about working with each other, Shortal says Sarigianopoulos is a hard worker who keeps her in check, while Sarigianopoulos describes Shortal as the creative one.
“She’s so talented and doesn’t give herself enough credit,” says Sarigianopoulos, who gets emotional talking about their relationship. “Every day I feel blessed that I learn from how good she is. She has strong contacts in this community and excellent ideas. She’s the ideal person for this demonstrate.”
AUDIENCE REACTION
The two are also anticipating slew of feedback from the audience – including Internet trolls.
“We did talk about when people begin telling mean things about us (and) having our moms come on and reading the mean tweets,” Sarigianopoulos said. “Or having a segment called ‘Say it to My Face.’ Come on our demonstrate – let’s have a conversation about it and you can say it to my face.”
KARE news director Jane Helmke calls the duo of Shortal and Sarigianopoulos “wise, joy and engaging.” She said the display is one that will keep evolving and growing with its audience.
“Obviously television news proceeds to evolve just like everything does,” Helmke said. “We have all these amazing devices and ways to connect with an audience that we’ve never had before and those keep switching every day, too. Where fifty years ago, when television news got commenced, it was all presenting the news, presenting the news, presenting the news. Now we have the capability to connect with the community in different kinds of ways.”
