In broadcast news getting it right at the planning stage mean the difference between getting the item on air and missing the deadline. How the story is illustrated is vital in radio and television. You have to get to the scene to record the relevant sounds, known as actuality, or the pictures. Conducting an interview over the phone or in the studio will rarely produce the best coverage. So the more accessible a story, the more likely it is to make it onto air. This is especially true in television where the logistics are more cumber-some, more time consuming and more expensive.
The need for pictures in television may mean the reporter and crew shooting in several different locations for a single story, and when you have a fixed deadline to meet, time is of the essence. Wasted journeys due to inadequate or poor planning can jeopardise the reporter's ability to deliver the finished item on time. Clearly sonic stories can't be planned — a breaking story such as a bomb blast or a major flood — but these kinds of stories tell themselves; experience shows there will be no shortage of pictures. In most other cases it is not enough to simply turn up at the location and hope for the best. The not to say you shouldn't always expect the unexpected; news happens and the news angle will not always be obvious at the planning stage. Never box off a story before you have been out to cover it.
News coverage does not allow for the kind of full-scale planning expected for a documentary, but nevertheless it is necessary o h some idea of who and what the reporter will see when they arrive at a shoot. There's no point in arranging to film a trainee fire-fighter session for an item about the recruitment of women to the service, if on arrival it turns out to be an all-male training session. You will have wasted a day's filming, cost the newsroom a considerable amount in crewing fees, and incurred the wrath of the producer, who now has a hole in the programme yet to be filled. Few, if any, broadcast newsrooms can offer unlimited resources. News coverage in general is expensive, particularly television news, so on any given day there will never be more than a certain number of camera operators. The camera operator will be expected to shoot several different stories during the course of their shift and the news reporter rarely has the luxury of a crew to themselves for the day.
Planning is also important in ensuring the reporter will have sufficient time to return to base and script and edit the item in time for transmission. Knowing where they will be at a given time, what elements of the story will be picked up there, and which other locations they may need to visit, can help in estimating the length of time the shoot or recording will take overall. Some camera operators now also double as picture editors. They not only shoot the footage, but edit it as well. They know they must operate a cut-off point on the give them time to get back to the edit suite and get the shoot that will materia! ready for transmission. Of course, technology means it is possible to feed material directly from the location, in radio this allows the reporter to send back short news clips, soundbites, wraps, Jive interviews, or sceripted voice pieces, voicers, for inclusion in bulletins. However, for longer or more detailed items, the reporter will need to have access to more sophisticated equipment and studio facilities. In TV, outside feed facilities can be costly and not all of them include editing facilities.
Radio reporting usually consists of a single person with a tape machine and that one person may see the story through from planning to transmission.
Currently in most television newsrooms the reporter continues to rely on the skills of a number of people to get the story on air. Without the input of the camera operator and the picture editor the television reporter cannot produce the finished story. The television crew may arrive at a story fresh from a previ-ous assignment and may have only sketchy details. The reporter then is also expected to fulfil the roles of director and producer on the shoot. The reporter is the person responsible for pulling the story together and therefore must be the one to dictate the direction and treatment of the story. A good camera operator will have developed their own news sense and can, of course, be invaluable in offering advice and suggesting ideas — television is a team effort and the best teams work together.
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