Producing Power Flashcards
Who is the most important person involved with the newscast?
The producer
The producer is the point person . . .
Responsible for getting the broadcast on the air
It’s up to the producers to . . .
- Decide which stories are important to the viewer
- Present these stories in a newscast in such a way to showcase context, meaning, perspective, and above all, relevance
Producing requires . . .
- News judgment
- A sense of mission
- Technical expertise (since they don’t get much training in the latter)
The producer’s alter ego and partner in crime is . . .
The director
The difference between the producer and the director
- Producer is in charge of the content and timing of the newscast
- Director leads a production crew that’s responsible for executing most of the technical and some of the aesthetic aspects of the plan
Competition for producer jobs
Not as intense as for anchors
How many resumes might the typical producer opening attract?
10 to 15
Compare how much an experienced producer of a major newscast makes and how much a reporter makes?
They make just as much as, if not more than, most reporters
How many producers does WUFT-TV News try to recruit each term?
At least 5 - one per show
Line producers or show producers may have what sort of producer to help them?
AP’s (associate/assistant producers)
What can AP’s do?
Possibly fill in for the producer when they are sick
Line producers or show producers may have what sort of producer to supervise them?
Executive producer
WUFT-TV News producers have two main video feeds to work with (for content of interest that is not locally gathered by our reporters and videographers), what are they?
- A CNN feed which is not exclusive in the market (both us and TV20 buy this feed) called CNN NewSource
- An NBC feed which is exclusive for us being adopted as a fake NBC affiliate and they call theirs NBC NewsChannel
Are the video feed items exclusive to one station in the market?
CNN is not exclusive, NBC is exclusive
Do we have any other way to get facts about news that we’re not directly covering?
- Yes, we trust anything that NBC affiliates have put on their website as long as they put it together themselves
- Associated Press stories
- News Service of Florida emails (legislative news, Tallahassee)
- Fresh Take Florida
Do we have any other sources of video for news that we’re not directly covering?
- Associated Press might have photos
- C-Span videos
- Connections with NBC
- MGM Online to buy graphics
When is the morning editorial meeting for WUFT News and who participates?
- Producer gets in early around 9:00-9:15am
- Meeting starts at 9:30am
- All news managers attend (TV managers, radio, photojournalists, etc.)
- TV2 reporters talk about what they’re working on
- Pitch stories
- Go through analytics
When is the afternoon show production meeting for WUFT News and who participates?
- Starts at 2:30pm
- Everyone on the show attends so they know what to expect (anchors, sports, weather, producer, graphics, designer)
- Producer presents what they want the show to look like
- Gets producer and director on the same page
- Work on flow of shifting gears
What pro tool does UF use to produce student television newscasts?
- ENPS (similar to iNEWS)
- Divides stories into all its components
It’s good if producers also have what skills?
Directing skills because the industry loves it if they have good editorial judgment
Some people do the same story . . .
All day for different affiliates
Weather people’s graphics
Are made by them
A crutch in our news station
We have no actual breaks/commercials, just promos for Channel 5
