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Dr Joseph Obe

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TV Programme Writing & Production

An

Introduction

Course OverviewThe aim of this

course is to prepare you as television writers

and producers. It also prepares you to work in the production offices

and on the sets of major TV shows throughout the

world.

What you will learn

•

•How to write, create, produce genres of TV programmes

• How to become a successful writer, and TV producer

Topic 1:History and development of broadcast news

TV News is traceable to the 1960s with the exodus of print journalists into the TV room. The

growth of TV news was accelerated by the assassination of John Kennedy. The death was

one of the events that shaped TV history

12 events that shaped TV news

history

Event 1: The 1963 Assassination of John F Kennedy

Event 2: The 1968 Walter Cronkite

Shifting of Public Opinion of the Vietnam War


history

Event 3: The

1974 Watergate Scandal

Event 4: In1979, the Iran Hostage Crisis

Creates New Type of TV News Programme


history

Event 5: The 1986 space shuttle

disaster watched by Children

Event 6: In 1987, Fairness Doctrine

Repeal Creates Modern Talk Radio


history

Event 7: The 1991 Persian Gulf War is

Broadcast on Live TV

Event 8: In 1994: O.J. Simpson Drama Rivets the World's Attention.

Ex footballer killing his ex-wife. Just like

Oscar Pistorius


history

Event 9: The 1998 Monica Lewinsky

Scandal Puts Sex in the Mainstream

Event 10: The 2000 American Presidential

Election Errors in Judgment


history

Event 11: The 2001: Coverage of 9/11

Event 12: 2007: Social Media Takes the Lead in

Breaking News

Class Quiz

10 marks

Briefly discuss six events that shaped TV news

History

Topic 3: TV news job descriptions

News Writers and Broadcast News Analysts

News writers write and edit their stories based on reports from correspondents or reporters. Broadcast news analysts select the most pertinent and interesting material to present and edit it for content and time.

Topic 3: TV news job descriptions Assignment Editors

Assignment editors are responsible for assigning stories to reporters. They send teams of reporters,

camera operators and other support staff on location to

film breaking news as necessary.


Film and Video EditorsFilm and video editors edit soundtracks, film and video. They construct a finished film clip from many different shots, often done on a computer. They may work for local television affiliates, cable and television networks or independent production companies. Film and video editors may edit their footage according to a script given to them by producers or others involved in production. They trim film segments to run in an allotted amount of time. They edit audio and visual effects. They check the finished product for continuity and smoothness. Electronic news-gathering operators (ENGs) gather news on location and edit the raw footage on the spot. They travel frequently, often stay on location for long periods of time, work long hours and may have to travel on short notice.


ACCOUNT EXECUTIVE - The person who sells

advertising time and works closely with businesses to

help them market themselves to the station's

listeners or viewers.


ANNOUNCER - Announcers are a radio station's "voice" and are often the people with whom the

public identifies. This person introduces programs and music,

reads commercial copy and public service announcements, and is

involved in the overall public presentation of the station.


CHIEF ENGINEER - The chief engineer is responsible for the

technology necessary to put the station's broadcast on the air. The

engineer works to maintain broadcasting capabilities and

provide quick solutions to problems that may arise with the

transmitter, tower, satellite receiver and other related

equipment.


COPY WRITER - This staff member writes commercial

and promotional copy in support of the station's sales, marketing and

promotion efforts.


MUSIC DIRECTOR - This person manages the station's music library and works with

the program director in selecting new recordings to

be played as they are submitted by record

companies.


NEWS DIRECTOR - The news director runs the news

department. The news director assigns stories to

reporters on staff, monitors the wire service and is

involved with identifying the important news issues within

the community.


PRODUCTION DIRECTOR - The production manager

assigns announcers, schedules studios, arranges

recording sessions, produces commercials, and

directs programmes.


PROMOTION DIRECTOR - This position promotes the station's image, programs and activities. The promotion director works

closely with the program director to create on-air promotions and

also with the sales department in securing new clients and

maintaining current advertisers.


NEWS DIRECTOR - The news director runs the news

department. The news director assigns stories to

reporters on staff, monitors the wire service and is

involved with identifying the important news issues within

the community.


PROGRAMME DIRECTOR - Responsible for the entire on-air

product, the PD governs the sound of the stations. With control

over production, talent, work schedules, and program

schedules, the PD's programming objectives support the goals of the general manager and the general

sales manager.


SPORTS DIRECTOR - This position is similar to the news director position.

Sports directors often handle the play-by-play coverage of

local sporting events. Stations that do a lot of sports sometimes hire a "colour" announcer to

complement the play-by-play talent.


TRAFFIC DIRECTOR - Collects data from other departments in order to

prepare a minute-by-minute schedule for the broadcast day.

The traffic person is the daily link between the sales

department and programming department, keeping up-to-date

commercial time availability.


MASTER CONTROL/VIDEOTAPE

ENGINEER - Responsible for operating the videotape recording and playback

equipment for live programmes and during

commercial breaks in network and taped shows.


NEWS ANCHOR - The most visible members of the news

staff. These are the people that appear as the "up front"

personalities on local newscasts. Ideally, the news

anchor is a complete journalist, familiar with reporting, on-

scene live coverage and skilled at writing, and in some cases,

producing news packages.


NEWS DIRECTOR - The news director supervises the news department. Must understand budgeting, personnel management and the technical aspects of television. In addition to having a firm understanding of the community service role of broadcast journalism, he or she must also have solid news judgment - the ability to determine which stories are most informative and of the greatest value to the local viewer.

NEWS REPORTERS

•

The key "front-line" people in the news department. They are on-the-scene at every kind of event. Local news reporters must be excellent writers, capable of working quickly and accurately to sum up the key elements of a news story and make it understandable and relevant to the audience.


STAGE MANAGER - The director's

representative on the studio floor and at the

site of any live broadcast.


STATION MANAGER - The chief operating officer of the station. The station

manager must have effective personnel

management skills and a thorough knowledge of all

aspects of broadcast operation.


STUDIO ENGINEERS - Responsible for operating all of

the equipment necessary for the production of a programme.

This includes the studio cameras, the audio console,

studio lighting, the video switcher, and in some stations, the character generator and the electronic still-storage graphics

display equipment.


Class ExerciseEach student to write out what role they will play in news production and why they think they have got the flair.


Portfolio Assignment 2

Each student to watch at least two live TV news broadcast and capture the names and titles of the production crew. N.B: Clash of TV station is discouraged

5 marks

Topic 4: Best Practices in TV news

Chicago TV station admits mistakes in airing misleading interview with 4-year-old

boyA Chicago TV station now says it made two ethical mistakes when it aired an interview with a 4-year-old boy last month.The first mistake was interviewing a child at a crime scene. But things grew even worse when the station edited the boy’s interview in a way that made it seem as though the African American child idolized guns and criminals.In fact, the child told the photographer that he wanted to be a police officer. The station edited out that part of the interview.

The video, which Kiernan says was supplied by a stringer, included this exchange:

4-year-old boy: “I’m not scared of nothing.”Photographer: “When you get older are you going to stay away from all these guns?”Boy: “No.”Photographer: “No? What are you going to do when you get older?”Boy: “I’m going to have me a gun!”

Here’s the complete exchange, with the deleted portion in bold:

Photographer: “Boy, you ain’t scared of nothing! Damn! When you get older are you going to stay away from all these guns?”Boy: “No.”Photographer: “No? What are you going to do when you get older?”Boy: “I’m going to have me a gun!”Photographer: “You are! Why do you want to do that?”Boy: “I’m going to be the police!”Photographer: “OK, then you can have one.”

Guidelines for interviewing juveniles

When interviewing juveniles, journalists should consider:

Journalistic Purpose and Quality of InformationWhat is my journalistic purpose in interviewing this juvenile?In what light will this person be shown? What is their understanding or ability to understand how viewers or listeners might perceive the interview? How mature is this juvenile? How aware is he/she of the ramifications of his/her comments?What motivations does the juvenile have in cooperating with this interview?How do you know what this young person says is true? How much of what this young person says does he/she know first-hand? How able are they to put what they know into context? Do others, adults, know the same information? How can you corroborate the juvenile’s information?How clearly have you identified yourself to the juvenile? Do they know they are talking to a reporter?

Minimize HarmWhat harm can you cause by asking questions or taking pictures of the juvenile even if the journalist never includes the interview or pictures in a story?How would you react if you were the parent of this child? What would your concerns be and how would you want to be included in the decision about whether the child is included in a news story?How can you include a parent or guardian in the decision to interview a juvenile? What effort has the journalist made to secure parental permission for the child to be included in a news story? Is it possible to have the parent/guardian present during the course of the interview? What are the parents’ motivations for allowing the child to be interviewed? Are there legal issues you should consider, such as the legal age of consent in your state?If you conclude that parental consent is not required, at least give the child your business card so the parents can contact you if they have an objection to the interview being used.

Explore Alternatives

What alternatives can you use instead of interviewing a child on camera?What are the potential short-term and long-term and consequences of this person’s comments?What rules or guidelines does my news organization have about interviewing juveniles? Do those guidelines change if the juvenile is a suspect in a crime and not a victim? What protocols should your newsroom consider for live coverage that could involve juveniles?How would you justify your decision to include this juvenile in your story to your newsroom and to viewers or listeners, to the juvenile’s parents?The Golden Rule for Interviewing Children: Do unto other people’s kids as you would have them do unto your kids.

TV Programme Writing & Production

An

Introduction

dr joseph obe dr joe email:

Documents

tv news historyevent

tv news historytopic

growth of tv news

electronic news

tv news job descriptions

tv producertopic

tv room

tv history12 events