More Than Meets the Eye: Murrow News 8 Newscast
Photos and Writing by Derrick Baker
Murrow News 8 is a weekly newscast that is put on by student in the Murrow College of Communication. Each day a set of students from the Comjour 465 and 455 classes come together to put on 15 and 30 minute newscast. A lot goes into putting together this newscast, usually the day starting at 3 and ending around 5 or 7 at night. Creating this newscast consist of multiple stages that will be presented throughout the images. This newscast is unique because students learn how to do all of the jobs in the newscast, so everyone in the class will learn how to do every job. These classes are set up to give students the opportunity to go into the news world with the skills to succeed. There is definitely more than meet the eye when it comes to the entire process of creating this newscast.
The producer and the director go over the flow of the show and stack it accordingly.
Students of the newscast find the latest news and write 20-40 second scripts for the anchors as well as create graphics and video while trying to meet all the strict deadlines.
The sound guy ensures that the anchors' volume is appropriate for the audience and that all video sound is crystal clear.
The production team makes sure all graphics are in the right place, when to start and stop video and packages, changing to the appropriate camera and communicate with the producer of the show.
This is where the producer watches the show to make sure the timing is right by following the shows pace and communicating with the director. The teleprompter is in charge of keeping a good pace so the anchors know what to say.
Once the show starts the anchors start to read off the teleprompter delivering the news the group chose. All the work leading up to this is now on display to the viewers of the show.
The floor director is connected to the director's mic and can make adjustments during the show if needed. Informing the anchors which camera the show will be coming back on.
This is what doing the weather looks like from the news standpoint. The anchors who are in charge of delivering the weather must perform it on a green screen. They must rely on memorization to show the weather.
The TV is showing what the audience will see. The weather person can glance at the screen as a reference but to stay profesional should stay looking at the camera/audience.
If all goes well the entire production team will be on the same page and produce a great show. The information gathered from these classes will help these students succeed when they enter the news field.