by Rand E Oertle

Created on: April 22, 2009   Last Updated: April 23, 2009

As a news anchor at a small-market television station in Northern California years ago, I was occasionally confronted with some "interesting" copy that sneaked into my script and destroyed our carefully manicured professional decorum we newscasters so highly prize. After all, we were the "anchors" that proclaimed "that's the way it is!", whether it was or not. We had to look good at all costs and appear like we had the aplomb to assure the audience we had everything under control.

Above the desk was a carefully manicured, impeccably dressed, perfectly coiffured, calm demeanored presenter of the daily news. Behind the deck and definitely out of camera range, was a pair of ragged Levi cut offs during hot summer days. In short, not everything you saw was as it appeared.

In television newsrooms of smaller markets, as the daily deadlines get closer to on-air broadcasts, the activities begin to resemble a collision between the Keystone Cops and the Three Stooges. Deadlines are the bane of a reporters existence but they are the life blood of a producer and ultimately the news anchor. In smaller markets everyone is pretty much required to be able to do every job in the newsroom as one's experience increases. Because of limited staff sizes literally everybody has to do everything. Newscasters had to shoot, report, write, edit copy, edit tape, pull slides, cut teases,(record short video clips to promote the news and a given story), read the newswire feeds from the wires services and the station's national affiliate and select any stories appropriate, produce the script(which means to put the stories, local and national with picture slides and video into logical order) write technical directions on the script and then read the newscast. The newsroom can become a wild place as air time approaches and everybody is trying to use all the same equipment at the same time.

The script is basically a compilation of the stories of the day. Selections are usually made by the anchor/producer as to which story gets headline status and which are put into general segments. At our small station, believe it or not, we had a whole hour main newscast from five to six pm.

Our newscast featured a male and female anchor. I was the male anchor. The two of us shared the news producing job every other day...putting together the newscasts and coordinating with the technical directing staff. It essentially meant we had to come up with approximately forty-four minutes of news every night and in a small

• 1
• 2
• 3
• Next Page >>