1 The Newsroom.docx - 1 The Newsroom Introduction Welcome...

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The Newsroom
Introduction
Welcome to the television newsroom. Around 3:30 p.m. crews are returning from the
field, producers are getting their afternoon shows straightened up, reporters are
writing scripts, and editors are hunting down video and getting it cut.
It’s hard to find a place with more buzz and energy, but we’re getting ahead of
ourselves. Let’s go back to the morning and a take a look at the jobs in a typical
newsroom. In a smaller market, one person might perform several of these jobs, while
bigger-market stations may divide one job among several people.
Director

The newscast director runs the booth. He or she calls the shots when the newscast airs
and is the one making commands like, “Ready camera one—take!” Hours before, and
during, the newscast the director works with the producer to make the producer’s plan
a technical reality. The director may also supervise, train and schedule the rest of the
crew.
Technical Director
This person sits in front of the video switcher and punches the buttons to bring up the
cameras, video, graphics, and other sources.
Audio Board Operator

This person turns on the microphone when an anchor talks (and hopefully off when
the anchor is done), lets the video and live sources be heard, and brings in the music.
Teleprompter
When the anchor looks right into the lens and speaks, they’re probably reading the
script reflected over top of the lens. The prompter operator scrolls the words like
movie credits (but much faster) keeping the lines in the right place to be read by the
anchor. When you see an anchor suddenly stumble over their words and look down at
their scripts a lot, something has gone wrong with the teleprompter.
Studio Camera

These are the people who move cameras around and set them up, mostly pointing at
the anchors. The exceptions are close shots for things like cooking segments. Because
the shots are consistent day after day, studio cameras are getting roboticized; this
means one person can control several cameras remotely and automation may
eliminate the controller position entirely.
Floor Director

This person is out in the studio with the anchors. He or she listens to the director’s
cues on their headsets and conveys the information to the anchors, often non-verbally.
For instance, if the newscast is showing video and the next thing on the rundown is
the anchor talking into Camera two, the floor director will put a ready sign above
Camera two. When the director calls “take” for Camera two, the floor director points
to the lens purposefully, which lets the anchor know when and where to talk.
All of the above jobs fall under news production. They put the newscast on the air live
from the studio. The following jobs originate from the newsroom, but may go far
beyond it.