There may be one kind of reporter “package” that we find the most disappointing whenever we see it in a local newscast. It is the story that features soundbites from just one individual. So let’s just call it out right here: if you have a story that only contains sound from one person, then you should consider whether you have a story that is worthy of being a package.

We get it, sometimes only one person is willing to speak on camera at an event, or a group only wants to have one person speak on their behalf. It happens. But that should never mean that you, as a journalist, should accept that as enough for your story. Putting in multiple sound bites from the same person doesn’t magically make your story balanced or compelling. If you find yourself in this situation, you must find another interview to make your story work in the minute and a half you have been given in the rundown. Talk with your producer as soon as possible and discuss whether your story should be cut down to a shorter form, such as a VO-SOT. Or as a last resort, if the story can hold until the next day, when another interview will be possible, hold off on airing the story until you have a complete and balanced story.

Our point is that if you, as a reporter, turn in a story for air that only contains sound from a single subject, you are signalling many things to the audience, and none of them are good. The immediate impression is that you (or your newsroom) were just too lazy (or worse) to get anyone else to be on camera. Always try to find another voice, be it an expert, someone with an opposing point of view, or any person who can add some context and balance to the story.

And if absolutely no one else would speak with you, then by all means, tell the audience what happened. If you have put in multiple interview requests with officials or others, and have not gotten a response to your inquiries, specifically tell the audience that you “have yet to get a response to our request for comment” or whatever the current status of the situation is, as of the time you are on the air.

Of course, a story about a single individual could be a profile-type story that would possibly feature only sound from that person. But even then, try to get the additional sound from other people talking about that person. And no profile should really be complete without sound from other people who know/work with/live with, or in some other way interact with the subject of the profile.

Last Sunday night, CBS’s “60 Minutes” aired a profile story about George Clooney preparing to play the famed Edward R. Murrow in the new theatrical version of “Good Night and Good Luck,” set to open on Broadway. If you didn’t see the story, it is available to watch now on YouTube.

Could they have done a story with nothing but interviews with Clooney? Probably. However, the additional interviews in the story with his producing partner, fellow actors, and the director of the play–all talking about Clooney–make the story far more compelling to watch. Even as the piece clocked in with a running time of over thirteen minutes.

We can hear you saying, but that’s “60 Minutes,” which probably worked on their story for weeks, if not months. And look at all the time it got when the story ran. Fair enough, but the principle of having more than one person speaking in the story is still valid—even if it’s George Clooney.

Don’t think for a moment that this problem only happens in small markets. We have seen reporter stories in larger market newscasts with three or four different sound bites, all from one person, and no other person was heard from in the story. Like, somehow, just having more sound from the one person made it a complete story!

Let’s keep those reporter packages as the complete presentations of any given story that they always should be. Multiple voices need to be heard from on every story, every time. If you can’t get them, rethink what form your story should ultimately take before it goes on the air.