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Television Production & Broadcast Journalism
reporter: The individual
responsible for
gathering information
from many sources,
including research and
interviews, for writing
news stories, and often
editing their own stories.
the skills to be a photog. When applying for a job in the news industry, the
ability to successfully perform both reporter and photog roles provides an
advantage over those who are unable to wear more than one hat.
Reporter
Reporters are responsible for gathering information from many sources,
including research and interviews, for writing news stories, and often edit-
ing their own stories. The role of a reporter can vary from station to station,
or even story to story. Sometimes reporters are on-screen throughout their
story, but it is also common to see the reporter only during the introduc-
tion and closing of stories. Some stories include the reporter ’s voiceover
throughout the story, in addition to other audio, with the story footage, but
the reporter may never be seen on screen. A reporter may write a story and
be present for shooting and editing the story, but an anchor may end up
reading the script of a story written by the reporter. Reporters often fi nd
that the job entails erratic work hours—some days may require far more
than the typical eight hours. The job of a reporter is physically and emo-
tionally demanding.
Assignment Editor
During the morning meeting, decisions are made regarding which
stories reporters will undertake for the day’s newscast. When the stories
are chosen, the assignment editor schedules the equipment and personnel
to cover the stories. The assignment editor pairs reporters and photogs,
and schedules photojournalists if there are more stories to cover than avail-
able reporters and photogs. Typically, the assignment editor assigns each
reporter two stories per day. Exceptions are made, however, when major
news events occur.
Anchor
The anchor delivers the news from the news desk set in the studio.
Delivering the news involves reading the news content displayed on a tele-
prompter, providing the intro and closing of taped stories that are inserted
into a live telecast, and conducting conversations with reporters in the fi eld
reporting live. The greatest expectation of an anchor is to accurately read
and relay the news and related information.
Video Engineer
The video engineer is ultimately responsible for the technical quality
of the video signal, Figure 2-6. A video engineer has extensive schooling in
the electronics of video production and must keep current with the tech-
nology and changes in the video industry. This member of the production
team is greatly valued and highly compensated in any production facil-
ity. In a studio environment, one of the video engineer ’s responsibilities
is to ensure that the images captured by each of the studio cameras match
exactly. This consistency is important when, for example, the director cuts
from one camera to another. The video engineer ’s skills ensure that an
actor ’s skin color does not change from normal, to pinkish, to greenish
when cutting between cameras.
assignment editor:
The person who
schedules necessary
equipment and
personnel to cover the
stories for the day’s
newscast.
anchor: The person
who delivers the news
from the news desk set
in a studio.
video engineer: The
person who manages
the video equipment
and is ultimately
responsible for the
technical quality of the
video signal.