The third category of stories is the enterprised report. These are the stories that a reporter generates independently of preplanned meetings or sudden house fires. Instead, the news reporter begins an investigation of documents, asks questions in a neighborhood, and constructs a story from the ground up.
Reporters who deliver enterprised stories are highly valued by both the news team and the viewer, simply because they find news that other stations miss.
The best mark of an enterprised story is when a competing station follows it with a similar story a day later.
Juggling the planned, spontaneous, and enterprised stories is a team of report- ers, anchors, producers, and assignment editors. The planned events are needed for several reasons: to ensure that the competition does not nab an easy scoop, to keep viewers attuned with the day’s events, and to maintain a profile in the community. If a news team misses a simple city council meeting, there are immediate ramifications. The competition beats the station to the story, the viewer is not informed of an important event, and the newscast’s advertisers see their newscast as either uncaring or incompetent. Further, the absence of a reporting crew is noticeable to those in attendance, including the mayor, the city councilmen, the city’s public information officer, and everyone else at the meeting. And if one were to survey those in the audience what station they would watch that evening, the likely consensus would be for the news outfit that bothered to show up.
Clearly, covering planned events is crucial. But if news were comprised solely of such planned events, then developing newscasts would be a simple affair.
However, spontaneous news events burst forth at irregular intervals with alarming speed. In these situations, the newsroom must be able to dispatch a camera crew immediately. This invariably means pulling a news crew from another story at the last minute.
Still, if all stations in a city covered the same planned and spontaneous events, there would be little difference among the newscasts. Enterprised stories, such as investigative reports, personality profiles, and spotlight series on certain topics (such as health or education), set newscasts apart from one another.
Blending all stories into a cohesive newscast is a challenge to confront later in this text. For now, let’s concentrate on the mechanics of finding the stories that build the newscast. The entryway for most stories into a newscast is through the assignment desk.
AssIgNmENT dEsK
Assignment editors run the assignment desk, which is the central hub of the newsroom. While reporters track individual stories and producers focus on newscasts, the assignment editors are responsible for collecting and organizing most of the source material that comes into a newsroom.
Sometimes the assignment desk is small. There may be one person in charge of assignments, and then only during the daytime. At some small TV stations, the news director or perhaps an assistant news director functions as an assignment editor but does not have that title. Large-market TV stations normally have at least two assignment editors—one for the morning and one for the evening.
In the largest newsrooms, the assignment desk operates around the clock.
FIGURE 2.3 Assignment desk at WBZ-CBS 4, Boston.
Almost everything starts at the assignment desk because that is where all the information enters the system. Assignment editors are the “keepers” of the news wires. They monitor the wires and scanners constantly, looking for stories that will be of interest to the producers who put the newscasts on the air. Some stories are assigned to reporters, others are given to writers to put into the newscast, and still others need follow-up by the assignment editor.
In a breaking story, that follow-up is immediate.
In addition to the written assignment outlooks, the assignment desk maintains an assignment board that lists all of the stories that have been assigned for that day. The board shows the names of the reporter and crew, the location of the story, the time it is scheduled, and, usually, the time the crew is expected back.
There also should be room for additional notes on the progress of the story.
A chalkboard or a white plastic board with dry erase markers is used so that changes can be made throughout the day. Because the board is located behind or next to the assignment desk, it should be big enough so that producers, reporters, and others do not have to crowd around it to read the information.
Keeping the board up-to-date is the responsibility of the assignment editor or desk assistants.
Follow-Ups on Previous Newscasts 25
FIGURE 2.4
www.assignmenteditor.com is a resource for news stories.
FoLLoW-uPs oN PREvIous NEWsCAsTs
The first source for stories is the most recent newscasts on the station. During a typical news day, most of the news crew arrives for work between 8 and 10 a.m. Some arrive earlier to prepare for the noon newscast, some arrive later to cover evening news. News anchors who cover the 6 and 11 p.m. newscast do not arrive until the afternoon.
As the morning evolves, the assignment editor is often the first one in, followed closely by the pro- ducers and reporters. An immediate task is to scan the news rundowns from the 11 p.m. and early morning newscasts.
The following news rundown is from an 11 p.m.
newscast. Think of it as a map of the newscast, showing what stories are presented, what anchor reads them, and how much time is given to each story. The column headings across the top are as follows:
■ Number—Where a story appears in the newscast
FIGURE 2.5
(Foreground) Photographer Rick Portier and (background) photography editor Patrick Perry checking video at WBRZ, Baton Rouge, Louisiana.
■ Slug—A two- or three-word description or title of the story
■ Type—Whether a story is simply read by the anchor, has video, or is a field package from a reporter
■ Cam Source—Tells the director what studio camera or tape machine must be used
■ Talent—Which anchor reads the story
■ Total Running Time (TRT)—In minutes and seconds
■ Time Code—If a story has video, these numbers find it quickly on the videotape
■ Gphx—Tells the director what graphics are needed, if any
For now, find the A40 story on “Governor’s Luncheon.” The slug does not detail if it was a luncheon the governor sponsored, attended, or shunned. For the whole story, read the script. If it shows that the governor proposed a new highway at the luncheon, then you have an easy lead to advance a new story.
If the governor simply ate and left, you can move on.
Number Slug Type Cam Source Talent TRT Time Code Gphx
A10 Hello On Camera Onset 2 Jayne, Ed :15
A20 Holly Tease Tease VTR 2 Tape :09 52;30;00
A30 Open Open NTW 1 Tape :30
A40 Governor’s Luncheon RDR 1 Ed :30 Ed Lower
A50 Local School Construction Lead 3 Jayne :15 OTS
A60 Local School Construction PKG VTR 2 Tape 1:51 52;41;12 4 Lowers
A70 District 1 Debate RDR 1 Ed :30
A80 Folic Acid VO 3, VTR 2 Jayne :30 57;20;00 Jayne Low
A90 Disability Awareness Day VO 1 Ed :30 54;38;00 OTS
A100 Health News Wrap VO 3, VTR 2 Jayne :30 1;30;10 OTS
A110 Bump to Break Onset 2 Ed, Jayne :15
First Commercial Break Tape NTW 1 2:00
B10 Sunday Alcohol Ordinance Lead 3 Jayne :15
B20 Sunday Alcohol Ordinance PKG VTR 2 Tape 2:23 58;55;00 2 Lowers
B30 Drug/Alcohol Safety RDR 1 Ed :30 Ed Lower
B40 Alcohol Awareness Fair RDR 3 Jayne :30
B50 Library Archives Week Lead 1 Ed :15 OTS
B60 Library Archives Week PKG VTR 2 Tape 2:01 1;01;23;00 2 Lowers
B70 State News Wrap RDR 3 Jayne :30 Jayne Low
B80 Bump to Break Onset 2 Jayne, Ed :15
Second Commercial Break Tape NTW 1 2:00
Continued