Broadcast News in the Digital Age: A Guide to Reporting, Producing and Anchoring Online and on TV

by Faith Sidlow

the stories you write as a reporter or producer will be read live during the newscast by an anchor.

than six seconds so the CG can come up cleanly and preferably

usually less of a power trip and more about creativity. A newscast producer is an artist, counselor, partner, commander and, yes, writer. The producer looks at the big picture while creating the newscast and does so with the stories that are pitched in the planning meeting. The producer pulls from other content sources, looks at a vast array of stories, and decides where they will go in the newscast and in what format.

Part of that artistic creation can also come from another lesson in humanities—history and perspective. You must be a student of history to know if a story is coming back around in a different iteration or if it relates to something else the community is familiar with.

file of past stories can help immensely.

You may also need to inspire or motivate a reporter who is having difficulty connecting to the story.

see the big picture of the newscast as well as dig into each minor detail of the rundown that will create that theme.

leadership skills to know how to ‘read’ people is important,” Olivas says. “Knowing which people on your news staff need that leader who can tactfully but assertively tell them what they need to do and which people on your news staff do better if you just give them an assignment and then back off.”

producer is a partner to the newscast anchor in making sure that anchor has plenty of information to accurately and energetically cover a story with proper facts and pronunciation.

Your job is to make the anchor look and feel in control. You should always work to make sure the anchor knows how to pronounce tricky words in scripts. A good producer should also look for ways to help the anchor appear well researched on a subject for ad-lib opportunities. Producers hope the anchors will do this on their own, but in any event, your job is to make the anchors shine.

you are working with every player to ensure the whole product looks good, sounds good and is helpful and powerful for the viewer so that nothing distracts the viewer from getting important information.

partner with the newscast director in turning creative, artistic ideas into reality with the technical tools at hand.

regularly communicate with everyone to make sure they’re all aware of the plan and any changes that may come during the shift.

planning meeting, the producers, assignment editors and reporters discuss the content that is available to them, will be covered or needs to be covered. Before this planning meeting, the producer goes through all of the content sources available to that newsroom. Those sources include the feeds the news station subscribes to: Associated Press, CNN, the network affiliate feeds and station ownership feeds.

The other content sources include the stories local reporters are covering, those already posted on the station’s website and social platforms, and those trending on social media. This helps the producer know what the big story of the day is and how it will be covered in that specific newscast. Maybe something big is happening in a different part of the state, country or world. How can that story be localized to inform, connect or help the people in your community?

Once those questions are answered and local content is decided upon, you sit down at the computer and create the newscast. This...

Morning News Viewers are just waking up and getting ready for the day. In fact, these viewers are usually listening more than watching because they’re getting ready for work or school. They want to know what will help them start their day. What is the weather and what will it be throughout the day? What’s happening on the roads that may affect a viewer’s commute? What is happening around the community and world? What will be happening today? Is there anything trending or popular that will give the viewer something fun to talk about with friends at work or school? What do parents need to know to help children prepare for the day?

A1, “A” is the first block of the newscast and “1” is the first page, which matches the page number on the script.

The second column is the story slug (the brief title of the story). The next column is the talent, the name of the anchor who will read the story. You’ll hear that referred to as the “anchor read.” Next comes the shot column. The producer uses this column to indicate whether the anchor is telling the story on a one-shot or on-cam, on a two-shot with a co-anchor, on a three-shot with a guest, or in a box with a reporter in the field. The newscast director uses this column to note which camera will get those shots. The director is also looking at whether another set in the studio might be used for this camera shot.

The next column is for the format of the story. This is where the producer indicates whether the story is a reader, a reader with graphics, a VO, a VOSOT, a PKG, a live shot or an interview.

Define these

next column shows the writer of the story, usually the producer or reporter who originated the story.

next column is used for the source of the story—a live shot or if the video is co...