TELEVISION JOURNALISM-THE PROCESS OF TELEVISION JOURNALISM

Television is a miracle in development of human civilization. It is deeply ingrained with Arts, Science and Commerce.. Television is a system for converting visual images into electrical signals, transmitting them and displaying them electronically on a screen. Television has become an essential part of our life and established an important place in our lives. Today, Television is one of the most popular medium of education and mass entertainment. It is a combination of both visual and audio medium. TV plays an important role in mass communication.

ADVANTAGES OF TELEVISION JOURNALISM

 The television journalism  is audio-visual journalism.

 The main advantages of television journalism are as follows. 

 Television journalism provides visual evidence of events. Evidence is extremely important in establishing the credibility of a news story. 

 Television is like a window to the world. The word ‘television’ etymologically means ‘tele’ + ‘vision’, which means ‘seeing from a distance’.  

 Television journalism reaches out a larger number of people nationwide than either radio or print. 

 Since television uses moving images and sound, it has a greater subconscious emotional appeal  therefore it can potentially  influence people. 

  Television is an extremely efficient medium in terms of the speed with which events are reported.

 DISADVANTAGES OF TELEVISION JOURNALISM 

Every medium has its own limitations and television is no exception. The disadvantages of television journalism are as follows.

 Television does not have the intellectual depth of print journalism. it simplifies the news and therefore neglects the deeper connections between events.

 Television journalism  tend to exaggerate trivial events, and present non-news as news. This is done to feed the twenty-four hour news cycle.

  Television  cannot provide enough contexts for the conclusive interpretation of that evidence.  

THE PROCESS OF TELEVISION JOURNALISM 

Television journalism consists of well-defined process to be followed.

The television provide  ‘packaged’  product. That means it has been carefully scripted, shot, edited, and thus given a final shape, which contains all the elements of a finished product.

 

The steps involved in the making of a news package are as follows.

 

1. The reporter gets information about a potential news story from a source. This source may be an individual or an organization.  

2.The reporter researches the story. For this, reporter  may conduct interviews, consult books, magazines, newspapers, the internet and go through relevant documents and archive material. 

3. After this, the reporter, along with a cameraperson, travels to the various locations, which are relevant to the story.

 

• There, the cameraperson shoots visuals and cutaways related to the story, while the reporter speaks to people on the location and explores the story.

• The cameraperson then shoots interviews of the relevant people by the reporter and also record their sound bites and cutaways.

• The reporter must ensure that the coverage of the story is balanced and impartial .

• The cameraperson then records one or more PTCs.( PTC = Piece to Camera) given by the reporter on the location).

     

• The PTC is any such recorded clip in which the reporter who is present at the location speaks directly to the camera.

• Many news stories end with a Closing PTC in which the reporter gives a byline to the story.

 

4. identify the shots

 Return to the office of their organization, the reporter previews (watches them carefully)the recorded tapes, interviews and sound bites which are usable. The OK shots, interviews and sound-bites are logged.

1.   (The usable clips are called OK takes, while the unusable ones are called NG takes. OK stands for ‘All Correct’, while NG stands for ‘No Good’. 
2. (logged, which means that the reporter prepares a list which mentions each of them along with the time-codes of their in and out points. The ‘log sheet’ is the list of clips along with the time codes of their in and out points that is prepared through the process of logging)
3. The time code, also called TC, is a numerical code which appears near the bottom of the screen during playback, and which indicates exactly how much of the tape has been played in terms of hours, minutes, seconds and frames. The ‘in point’ of a clip is the point where it starts, and the ‘out point’ is where it ends. .

 

5. The reporter then submits the tape or tapes along with the log-sheets to Ingest. Ingest is a technical facility in the news organization It consists of a server to which various computer terminals in the news channel are connected. The staff in the Ingest facility captures the OK takes mentioned in the log sheets. 

 6. While the capturing process takes place the reporter writes a script, which includes voice-overs VO and which states exactly which sound bites and PTCs are to be used. Usually, and especially in hard news stories, the content of the script must be presented according to the formula 5 Ws + 1 H What , Where, When, Who, Why and How.

 7. Next, the reporter records the voice-overs written in the script. 
 8. The reporter then edits the story, with or without the help of a video editor. An experienced reporter is expected to know enough video editing to be able to edit the story himself or herself. Editing involves organizing the shots, interviews sound bites and voice-overs in a coordinated and correctly ordered manner. At this point various graphic elements, such as Astons, bugs and slugs may be added.
 9. The story has now been given the final shape and is now called a news package. A senior member of the editorial team who decides whether or not it should be included in a news bulletin for telecast now screens it. If approved, the package is included in a list called the Rundown.The above steps describe the process of making a news package

•     The Rundown is a list, which states exactly what is telecast in each news bulletin in which order. 

 2.A live news story is one which captures and broadcasts the action of an event as it happens. 

  Live News Reports: The word ‘live’ refers to the broadcast of an event which takes place as the event happens. Thus, for example, if a political rally is taking place and a reporter is present at the location of the rally, then he or she can report the event and its developments as they take place. The audience gets to witness images and hear the sounds of the location almost as if they were present there themselves.