Broadcast News

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Broadcast News

• From the inside

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News Sources
The world's largest newsgathering association,
the Associated Press (AP), operates bureaus in
120 U.S. cities and in more than 130 foreign
countries, reaching one-third of the world's
population. In addition to the AP, there are also
smaller wire services, including those operated
by large newspapers. Today, stations have
computerized newsrooms, and the steady stream of
news from these services is electronically
written onto a computer hard disk. Using a
computer terminal, a news editor can quickly
scroll through an index of stories that have been
electronically stored.
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News Personnel
The number and type of positions involved in
producing a daily newscast will vary from two or
three people in a very small station, to more
than 100 in Toronto, New York, Los Angeles, or
Tokyo. Although responsibilities vary among
stations, generally the news producer is the
person who is directly in charge of the newscast.
He or she makes the major minute-by-minute
decisions on both the technical and content
aspects of the newscast. Larger stations have
segment producers in charge of specific stories
or newscast segments. Some stations will have an
executive producer who is over the producer(s).
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Hazards in News
Although most local assignments are rather
routine, during major accidents, emergencies and
disasters, news and documentary personnel can
face definite hazards. Once reporters leave the
arena of local news, risks can become even
greater. Last year more than 75 news people were
killed (or "disappeared") around the world. Many
were killed or imprisoned in countries where
there is fear that a free flow of accurate
information would threaten the political power of
those in control.
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For example, a moving documentary was recently
aired showing the atrocities being committed on
the people of Afghanistan by the Taliban. In a
country where women were forced to beg for
themselves and their children because they were
prevented from working and even from going to
school, the reporter clearly risk her life to get
the footage. As a result, she influenced world
thinking about the Taliban. If you are interested
in being a foreign correspondent, you should rent
the film, Welcome to Sarajevo, starring Stephen
Dillane and Woody Harrelson. The highly rated
film, which is based on a true story, makes use
of actual news footage to very dramatically
(Note and very graphically) show what war
correspondents face.
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Careers in Radio TV
It seems as if the majority of students who
become interesting in broadcasting as a career
want to be "on the air." But the majority of jobs
are "behind the scenes." This means that on-air
jobs are extremely competitive and far more
difficult to land than behind-the-scenes
jobs. Most on-camera TV jobs are in news. It's
not unusual for a news director or personnel
manager in a major market (geographic area) to
get 100 resumes a day for an advertised on-camera
news position. Even when there is no opening,
applications may come in on a daily basis. Most
of these people have a college degree and are
experienced in news.
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But, whatever your goal, it's best to have a
"Plan B." In other words, adequately prepare
yourself for a job in a second area. You may have
to rely on this to pay the bills while you are
waiting for an opening in broadcasting. This
"Plan B" may be a non-broadcast television job at
a corporation or cable production facility, or it
may be in a completely different field. This
secondary field should be considered when you
decide your college minor. In the TV news area a
survey was recently done by Vernon Stone of the
Radio-Television News Directors Foundation to
determine the college major of a large sample of
new hires in the field of TV news.
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The vast majority of people who were hired (91)
majored in either broadcast news or
journalism/mass communication.
For a minor you might consider Political Science
or Sociology if you are interested in TV News. If
you eventually want to end up as a
producer-director or manager, consider a minor in
Business or Management.
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What advice is there for you?
A professor in broadcast journalism has noted 8
things to help you along in your search for a
career in broadcasting. He noted the following
things that youd have to consider as you look
into this field
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Motivation
Motivation In any competitive field you must
really want to make it. This type of motivation
does not waver from week-to-week or
month-to-month, but is consistent and
single-minded.
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Personality
Included in this category is attitude. In this
context we're definitely not talking about
someone who "has an attitude!" We're talking
about the general demeanor of individuals, how
they accept assignments, whether they are
pleasant to work with, and how they take
suggestions or criticism. There is often
considerable pressure in broadcasting, and
thin-skinned individuals who can't detach
themselves from their work and take constructive
criticism are in for a bumpy ride.
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Knowledge and Skills
Employers look for individuals who know how to
solve problems on their own, how to use the
technology to its best advantage, and individuals
who can be relied upon to "make it work."
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Creativity
Although we've been trying to define this for
centuries, it involves looking at things in new
ways and getting your audience to see and
experience things from fresh perspectives. The
more thoroughly you understand the broadcasting
medium the better chance you will have of using
the media in interesting, creative ways.
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Sacrifice
In highly competitive fields--the so-called
glamour professions--the supply of job applicants
exceeds the number of job openings. For starting
positions this means that employers may offer low
starting salaries. Those who stick it out and
"pay their dues" can end up working in a field
that is exciting and satisfying. But, if your
main goal is to have a predictable, 9-to-5 job
with optimum stability, broadcasting will not be
a good choice--especially for the first few
years. There is much uncertainty in the field,
and the hours you may have to put in can take a
toll on your marriage and social life. In news,
you may be called out on a story at any hour of
the day or night.
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Working with Words Pictures
Successful television writers, directors, and
artists have an aptitude for images and an
ability to visualize their ideas. Both radio and
television are word-based. We have to clearly
communicate ideas in the form of proposals,
scripts, and our on-air presentations. An ability
to write and communicate well is directly related
to success.
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Reliability
If you can't be relied upon to get the job done
within the assigned time, your chances of getting
future assignments will rapidly diminish--and
eventually be nonexistent.
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Lifelong Learning
Although you might assume when you get out of
school you will know all you need to for lifelong
success, that's not the way it works. Although
formal education is useful and it may enable you
 to "get in the door," most students say that
it's only when they come face-to-face with
on-the-job experiences that they really start
learning about their profession.