TV News should be that simple. 

NBC News Reporter Bob Dotson thinks so.

While preparing for a lecture to my broadcast class at the University of Denver tonight, I found this video from Dotson and Poynter's Al Tompkins.

In this short clip, I learned such a great deal.

I hope my students did, as well.

Here's a lesson for all TV Journalists, on the simple backbone of TV news story telling.

We have learned the Occupy Denver protests cost those of us who live in the City and County of Denver $365,000 of police overtime.  There goes the City Hall Christmas party.

Police arrested more than 50 people last weekend, in the two evenings after I produced the story you will see below.

In the story, I tried to meet a challenge from my News Director, Patti Dennis.

She wanted us to find if the Occupy Denver protestors stayed on message, or if they actually knew what they were fighting against.

We learned they had many different messages.  Some people wrote eloquent notes.  Some had no clue why they were there.

The most memorable point of the story for me came when I took their messages directly to Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper.  I'm sure his staff thought I was crazy, but the questions prompted candid response.  The protestors had yet to hear many public officials speak about their movement, so it was refreshing to hear what the Governor had to say.

Pardon the overmodulation on the audio, but you'll be able to hear it.

Every June, I return to Missouri for one of my favorite weeks of the year -- Missouri Boys State.

The week-long leadership development experience gives more than 900 high school juniors a great chance to learn about politics and government.

The Boys State citizens give speeches, campaign, and hold elections to eventually form a mock state government.

It sounds crazy.  It is. 

But at the end of the week, the young men develop their public speaking skills and confidence and return to their high schools with a deeper appreciation of public service.

The guys also take courses for college credit through the week, learning about law enforcement, campaigning, law, the legislature, and journalism.

I serve as the Dean of the Journalism School, teaching about libel, slander, and the first amendment to roughly 120 students throughout the week. 

We also produce a nightly radio and TV broadcast and morning newspaper.

I return because of some of my great friends on staff.  This was my 11th year to serve with some of them.

I also return because of young men like Abraham Shaw.  He will start his senior year at McKinley Classical Leadership Academy in St. Louis.

Abraham was chosen as an anchor for Tuesday's TV broadcast.  He seemed a bit quiet behind the scenes, but when he appeared on camera, he had a natural energy I don't see in many television journalists.  I told him.  And I encouraged him to think about a career in our field.

He sent me this note after the session:

"Thank you so much Mr. Flener.  I just want to say it was a pleasure learning from you. You have made me consider a career in journalism."

Abraham, it was a pleasure to teach you.  I hope you continue on that path.

I can't believe nearly one year has passed since the biggest story I've ever covered.  It was Feb. 19, 2010 when a man named Joseph Stack crashed his small plane into the Echelon Building in Austin, Tex.  We later learned it was a suicide mission into a building with IRS workers inside.  I have since moved on to Denver, Colo., and I know my profession will require me to cover more big stories, but this one, I will never forget.

Here's my blog post from one year ago.

"Thursday, KXAN assigned me to a Texas Department of Public Safety Commission meeting to cover the latest security updates to the Texas State Capitol building.  But phone calls started flooding the newsroom just after 10:00 a.m. that a plane crashed into the "Echelon Building" in North Austin.  It had the stereotypical response of a reporter jumping at the chance to cover the story.  I scrambled into a live truck to meet my photographer Mark Batchelder at the scene.  He left about 30 minutes earlier to cover what we know now as Joe Stack's house fire in North Austin."

You can read the rest of the day's events with the link below.  Unfortunately the Youtube videos have been pulled, but you can see my description of the day I will never forget.

http://mattflener.posterous.com/a-reporters-perspective-on-the-austin-irs-pla

I'm back to work tomorrow after a small little vacation to take care of my wife and to see some family.  For those of you that don't know, the doctor put my wife on bed-rest last month, so its been a fun roller-coaster.  We have had some amazing friends from work, our church, and our neighborhood, who have rallied around us and helped us a lot.  The baby's due (hopefully) within the next couple of weeks.

With a bit of time, I've had some time to remember some of my most interesting stories I've covered this year at 9News.  I've had a blast, so far. 

MLS Rapids Victory Homecoming
http://link.brightcove.com/services/player/bcpid49914031001?bctid=684679529001

Broncos Disaster
http://www.9news.com/video/default.aspx?bctid=647406834001#/Broncos/647406834001

Pints for Prostates
http://www.9news.com/video/default.aspx?bctid=622818159001

Benchwarmers Controversy
http://www.9news.com/news/article.aspx?storyid=146439&catid=339

The Anonymous Instrument
http://www.9news.com/rss/article.aspx?storyid=145253