An episode in The Alabama Experience documentary series
This program will be of interest to media, journalism, and some English classes. It will be appropriate for student journalism or media organization meetings. It could also be used as part of a program about careers.
The program may also be shown in two shorter segments by stopping the tape at 12:27 when you hear "I wish it would calm down for a second."
This program was produced by Michael Letcher.
"Six O'clock High: Making Television News" shows the challenges faced each day in a television newsroom. Viewers see reporters on the streets, trying to make their stories as visually interesting as possible. Anchors write stories and promos amidst a jangle of ringing phones and rattling wire machines. In the newsroom producers and editors follow assignments during the day only to kill them at the last moment to cover an important breaking story. A late-breaking story is still being edited when the theme music for the newscast begins. Will it be done in time?
This program should help students become better consumers of television news. Students should understand the limitations and pressures reporters and producers face as they fight the clock, the competition, and the viewers who might change the channel if stories aren't interesting enough.
assignment editor: decides what stories will be covered and who will report them.
breaking news: unscheduled events such as crimes, fires, accidents, rescues, etc.
package: a videotape report made on the scene narrated by a reporter. It often contains a "stand-up," an on-camera appearance by the reporter at the event. Packages are introduced from the set by an anchor.
hard news: stories about politics, the economy, government, crime, national and international news.
producer: decides what stories will be included in the newscast, how much time will be devoted to them, and how they will be presented.
scanner: a special radio that monitors police, fire, and ambulance calls.
soft news: feature stories about celebrities, pets, lifestyles, fashion, etc.
voiceover: a story that is read by the anchor on the set while video of the event is shown.
1. Ask your students to name some television newscasters. Who are their favorites? Why? Who are anchors, and who are reporters? (Most people can identify anchors more easily than reporters. Since they're on the air more, anchors make a greater impression on viewers.)
2. The news director says in this program that reporters probably work harder than anchors, but they are paid less. (Some anchors make four or five times what a reporter earns.) Why? (Anchors are on the air more, they are the "personalities" that draw viewers to a newscast.)
3. Have your students keep a log of a half-hour newscast. Use the sample on the right as a guide. Have them chart how much time is devoted to news, sports, weather, and commercials. (Typically, 10-12 minutes of a local newscast is taken up by commercials.) Break down the news by these categories: hard news and soft news; local news and national/international news.
4. When your students log the newscast, have them identify items that promote the station--spots about the news team, awards that the station has won, etc. Why is promotion so important? (Stations sell commercials. These rates are based on the size of the viewing audience. The more people watching, the more money a station charges for its commercials. Promos are designed to attract viewers to the newscast.)
Extracurricular activities: For your study of television journalism you might take your class on a visit to a local television station. Or you could invite a television reporter to speak to your class.
Here's a role-playing exercise that illustrates the tensions caused by running a news department that's supposed to be a money-making proposition. One student can portray an investigative reporter who has discovered that a local car dealership--Acme Auto Sales--is rolling back the odometer on its used autos. This is a big story about consumer fraud. Another student is the television station's sales manager responsible for the Acme Auto Sales account. Acme buys a lot of commercials on the station and is one of its biggest advertisers. A third student is the news director who might lose some of the station's best reporters if they aren't given a raise. If the station loses the Acme account, there's little chance there will be enough money to give the reporters a raise. The decision about running the story rests with the news director. Shall the station air the story and risk losing this lucrative and important sponsor? Have each role-player argue the issue from their perspective.
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