Basic TV Reporting

Ivor Yorke

• Publisher: Routledge
• Year: 1997
• ISBN:
  9781136026010
• Edition: 2
• Topic: Sprachen & Linguistik
• Subtopic: Journalismus

Basic TV Reporting is a practical, easy to read guide to the skills needed to become a successful television reporter - arguably the most demanding and glamorous job in journalism. The book describes the role in detail, how reporters fit into the editorial team and where their duties begin and end.
Basic TV Reporting is a practical, easy to read guide to the skills needed to become a successful television reporter - arguably the most demanding and glamorous job in journalism. The book describes the role in detail, how reporters fit into the editorial team and where their duties begin and end.The late Ivor Yorke has enjoyed a wealth of experience to pass on to aspiring broadcast journalists, having spent more than 20 years as a writer, reporter, producer and editor, before becoming Head of Journalist Training, BBC News and Current Affairs. He was also a freelance training consultant. He is the author of Television News (now in its third edition) and co-author with the late Bernard Hesketh of An Introduction to ENG, also published by Focal Press.Reviews: `This is a short, well-constructed book which is of as much value to the interviewed as to the interviewer. It is practical and down-to-earth (`keep off the gin, and stick to the tonic') and delightfully easy to read.'
British Journal of Educational Technology.' Easy to read guide to the skills needed to become a successful TV
reporter.'
Voice of the Listener

The Journalist’s Survival Code

• You are more important than the story. No story is worth your life.

• If you are threatened, get out as fast as you can.

• If authorities can’t guarantee your safety, leave the country.

• Never carry a gun or other weapon.

• Never point your finger; it can be mistaken for a gun.

• Know the country, the region and the people involved.

• Know the language at least well enough to identify yourself and to talk to local residents.

• Always carry complete identification papers.

• If you are in an unfamiliar area, travel with other journalists who know it well.

• Know all your journalistic colleagues in dangerous situations. Strangers may not be what they seem.

• Outcries against abuse provide protection. Resist abuse by authorities and always protest (about) such abuse of yourself and other professionals. But don’t become abusive yourself.

• Avoid unknown risks. Vague promises of a story often come from persons who can’t guarantee your safety.

• Stories in remote locations far from authority and medical assistance present added risk.

• Do not masquerade as other than what you are. It raises suspicions and creates risks for other professionals.

• Under no circumstances accept compensation from or do work for a non-journalistic or government information-gathering intelligence agency.

• A professional must maintain a standard of truth despite risks and dangers. Some stories are worth more risk than others.

• Avoid bias for one side or another. Do not cross the line between journalist and active participant.

• Weigh what you know about the risks against the possible benefits of a story. Often, a story is just as good if covered from a distance.

• Distinguish between risk and present danger. Avoid obvious danger and don’t take undue risks. Often discussing this with friends and colleagues can help.

• Avoid reporting from both sides of a conflict if possible. Crossing from one side to the other is always dangerous.

• Always carry a white flag.

• Always use extreme care in selecting competent locals as drivers, guides, etc. Their presence of mind is a protection.

• Mark your car clearly as ‘Press’ in the local language.

• Use two cars where practical in case one breaks down.

• Never wash your car. Unwanted tampering can be detected easier on a dirty car.

• Talk to local residents as much as possible and listen to their advice.

• Dress appropriately. This will vary. Sometimes you will want to blend into a crowd; at other times you may want obviously not to be one of the group.

• Never wear olive green or anything that makes you look like a soldier.

• Let your desk or editors know where you are at all times, where you are going and when you expect to return.

• Let your colleagues at the hotel know the same thing.

• When confronted by hostile persons, identify yourself in their language and attempt to convey ideas about what you are doing.

• If guerrillas at roadblocks ask you for a ‘war tax’ give something. It shouldn’t be much, but it can avoid unpleasantness.

• Never run checkpoints; never display maps openly.

• Carry a short-wave radio to keep track of developments on the BBC or other reliable stations.

• Think through your mission, how best to get the story. For example, do you risk sniper fire or should you be more circumspect?

• Keep an active mind regarding risks and ask yourself questions.

• All you have in dangerous situations are your wits and knowledge of the area. Your editor and the Geneva Convention normally can’t help you.

• Make certain you know the local meaning of symbols like white flags, red flags, whistles, gestures, etc.

• Evaluate your physical characteristics. Don’t attempt something you lack stamina to complete.

• Make certain you employer carries insurance that will adequately provide if you are injured or killed.

• Editors should always be aware of the risks reporters or photographers are running. They also bear responsibility and should not push unreasonably.

Reproduced from Journalists on Dangerous Assignments, edited by Louis Falls Montgomery, International Press Institute, 1986.

The Anchor

No matter how distinguished or respected reporters may appear to their peers and to the public, there is no doubt that the glamour and fame associated with television journalism attaches more to those who regularly present news or news-related programmes. The curiosity is that the newscaster, newsreader, presenter, anchor–whatever the title–has not always been a journalist. Readers are known to have been hired for their looks or voices and have not necessarily even been invited to make any contribution towards the editorial process, their liberty to change scripts–only after due consultation–being confined to words or phrases they find difficult to say.

The journalist/presenter

The arrival of the journalist as presenter has coincided with new demands created by technological change and the introduction of modern programme formats. Journalistic and presentational skills have become inseparable. Now, when executives look for people able to meet this dual requirement they turn first to their more experienced reporters, some of whom are weary after years of being on the road and are prepared to exchange their globe-trotting for the safety of the studio and elevation to star status. So journalist/presenters are hired not for their looks or voices alone, but also for their experience, and as a consequence are able to command salaries far in excess of the programme editors to whom in theory they may be junior.

Presenter power

Where proper chains of command are not established, collisions of ego are not unknown, usually to the detriment of the programme. Some managements believe that this ‘creative tension’ makes a positive contribution towards lively journalism. Other organisations do not allow reporters to become presenters for more than short periods, while others try to avoid the problem altogether by making the reporter/presenter the editor, adding executive responsibility for budgets, and the assigning, hiring and firing of staff to the day-to-day editorial decision making. This may be effective policy at one level, but as soon as transmission time approaches and the manager/presenter has to become only the presenter, the difficulties become apparent, leading to the creation of enormous strains on a single person, whatever their talents.

This problem is not likely to surface for the new reporter, but if you have a secret yearning for the presenter’s chair, volunteer for a few programmes as a reader at weekends and see if you can establish a reputation as a reliable stand-in. Who knows where that might lead?

In the Studio

The prospect of anchoring a news programme under the bright lights of a television studio in front of millions of critical viewers is enough to make anyone apprehensive.

Although they may never admit it, even the most experienced news presenters suffer an occasional attack of ‘butterflies’ before a programme. On location there is the possibility of a face-saving second take: in the studio there is no reprieve. The wrong inflection, the slight hesitation or stumble over a word, the sidelong glance or twitch of a facial muscle is a matter for comment and discussion.

Thriving under pressure

Being at the centre of a hectic, live programme may be exactly the right role if you are one of those who thrives on pressure and responsibility.

Accept also that it can be a lonely occupation. You may be expected to operate entirely on your own from a tiny, out-of-town studio equipped with only a remote-controlled camera and lights you switch on yourself to broadcast to the unseen audience.

Glitzy presentation in bigger studios may not offer much more company. You may be asked to read from a computer-driven script-prompting device mounted on robotic cameras, introduce a succession of recorded images played from another part of the building and listen to the disembodied voice of the studio director shouting in your ear. The nearest human contact may be the floor manager s...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Half Title
• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• Table of Contents
• Acknowledgements
• Introduction
• SO YOU WANT TO BE ON TELEVISION
• THE NEWS MACHINE
• GETTING STARTED
• WRITING TECHNIQUE
• COVERING A NEWS ITEM
• BASIC REPORTING SKILLS
• THE REPORTER AS PRODUCER
• GETTING IT BACK
• THE REPORTER AS PRESENTER
• ETHICS
• CONCLUSIONS
• GLOSSARY
• FURTHER READING