Chapter 2 Working in the Television Production Industry
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news director: The
person responsible
for the structure of
the newsroom, for
personnel matters
(performance
evaluations and hiring
and fi ring employees),
managing the budget,
and the overall
effectiveness of the
newsroom. The news
director is also the
fi nal authority on which
stories will air during a
news broadcast.
News Director
The news director is responsible for the structure of the newsroom, for
personnel matters (performance evaluations and hiring and fi ring employ-
ees), managing the budget, and the overall effectiveness of the newsroom.
The news director ’s involvement in the actual newscast varies from station
to station. However, the news director is the fi nal authority on which sto-
ries will air during the newscast.
Production Note
In a broadcast journalism class, the role of news director is commonly
held by the instructor. This is because the instructor is
responsible for teaching journalistic principles and ethics, news
judgment, and adhering to the objectives of the broadcast
journalism course. The grade assigned to students’ work
is equivalent to a performance evaluation in the broadcast
journalism industry.
Director
The director is in charge of the creative aspects of the program and
interacts with the entire staff. While directors are responsible for casting
the program’s talent, sometimes they must concede to the EP or producer ’s
decisions. For example, casting Leonardo DiCaprio in a leading role and
insisting on elaborate sets may exhaust the entire production budget on
just those two items. The director must be willing to compromise for the
sake of a successful and complete production.
The director reviews the program’s script and visualizes the entire pro-
duction, Figure 2-3. Those ideas must then be communicated to the staff
Figure 2-3 The director
reads a script and
envisions the way the
program’s scenes should
appear.
director: The person
who is in charge of the
creative aspects of the
program and interacts
with the entire staff.