15
From the Author
Television Production & Broadcast Journalism grew out of a need to
provide my students with an up-to-date high school textbook on the subject
of television production. After trying to fi nd such a textbook for several years,
I fi nally decided to write one myself. This text is fundamentally a written
version of my lecture notes, combined with information from trade magazines,
over 34 years of my experiences as a videographer and instructor, and interac-
tion with other broadcasting, communications, and television production
instructors as a consultant, workshop leader, and convention speaker.
This book could not have been written without considerable help from
many people. I must thank all of my students for their ideas, suggestions,
and consideration, as they were the guinea pigs with my draft of the fi rst
edition of this text.
I must thank my good friends Dick Blocher and Brian Franco for their
patient willingness to answer any technical question I put to them. Chapter 25,
Getting Technical has been extensively revamped thanks to their technical
knowledge. They have helped me explain digital video in clear and correct
terms.
Carol Knopes, of the Radio Television Digital News Foundation,
strongly urged me to include broadcast journalism in the second edition
and has been encouraging and supportive throughout the entire project.
Janet Kerby is an educational consultant/trainer for high school
broadcast journalism. Her extensive teaching experience includes high
school and graduate-level courses for broadcast journalism teachers. She
is my good friend and partner in www.video-educator-training.com. She
has had a profound impact on this book and I can’t thank her enough.
When I fi rst presented her with the idea of adding broadcast journalism to
a television production textbook, she was a bit uncertain it could be done.
I knew it was possible because she is the living, successful example of the
two disciplines being combined, as they often are in high school classes.
And, that is exactly how she teaches. She provided me with invaluable
insight into and advice on the world of broadcast journalism. The chapters
specifi cally devoted to broadcast journalism would not exist without her
input and editing.
Eric Drucker, a lighting expert from Lowel-Light, helped me revamp
Chapter 15, Lighting to include the new generation of fl uorescent lighting
instruments and the technique of lighting with these instruments.
Randy Jacobson (digital photography instructor at Fairfax Academy
for Communications and the Arts) and his students provided an enormous
amount of the photography work.
Adam Goldstein, Broadcast Attorney Advocate for the Student Press
Law Center, graciously donated an entire morning to my queries on every-
thing in Chapter 12, Legalities: Releases, Copyrights, and Forums. I compiled
dozens of questions and scenarios concerning releases, copyrights, music, and
forums posted by teachers on the Radio Television Digital News Foundation