# Ask the TV News Guy **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [July 2, 2003, 12:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-tv-news-guy/185760 "2003-07-02T12:58:28Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Evil\_One](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/45deac/32.png) [@Evil\_One](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Evil_One)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2003, 4:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-tv-news-guy/185760/21 "2003-07-03T16:58:59Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by malaka \* > \*\*Examples of minor and major mistakes? > \*\* A minor mistake is something that a regular viewer won’t notice but that a TV professional will. An anchor hesitates and looks down at the script. Teleprompter problem. Someones name is shown over screen when they are talking and the name comes in before you see them or stays after they’ve gone. Early or late “super” Named for the superimposition of the data on the screen. Anchors looking briefly at the wrong camera. Major mistakes? Going to someone live and they are not ready or their mic isn’t working. Rolling the wrong video for a story. A misspelling on a full screen of information. These are all technical mistakes. Editorial mistakes (incorrect facts) are also found. > [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by malaka \* > \*\* > > Also, our family used to be quite good friends with a local anchor in Columbus. She did the early, early news around 5:30am. She hated it because she had to go to bed and wake up so early. She kept with it because she had to “take her knocks” and work her way up. However, after a while it became evident that the competition was fierce. Too fierce. And on top of it, she was repeatedly lied to about her career path (ie: when she would move to a different broadcast/timeslot). My question: is the anchor world really that brutal? \*\* Yes, it is. With a few exceptions, at the Columbus level, they are all trying to get to Cleveland or Philadelphia. And behind them are the people in Dayton who want to move up. Some of them stay a long time and get paid well because viewers like them. Dave Kaylor comes to mind. All in all, anchors who can’t depend on good ratings to get them what they want are viewed as replaceable and disposable. Reporters are viewed the same way. People behind the scenes…producers, assignment desk, photographers…have much more job security than people on the air do. ---
**Author:** ![Evil\_One](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/45deac/32.png) [@Evil\_One](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Evil_One)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2003, 5:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-tv-news-guy/185760/22 "2003-07-03T17:10:13Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by dwc1970 \* > \*\* > So what are some of these mistakes? I can’t say as I’ve ever noticed a mistake other than when a reporter flubs a word and has to correct himself/herself. Was it reporting wrong information? Bad directing/editing? Forgetting to bleep out a swear word? > \*\* Please see another post above for examples. > [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by dwc1970 \* > \*\* > When doing a taped report, how many “takes” does it usually take? I’ve seen the blooper shows where the reporter screws up (sometimes several times, to the point of wanting to give up and call it a day) and his swearing is bleeped out. > \*\* It depends on how competent the reporter is. It usually doesn’t take more than three or four trys. The only thing recorded on the scene is called a “standup”. “I’m standing here in front of an empty house, where earlier today, something awful happened.” The rest of the audio is recorded back at the station and edited together with the pictures. The finished product is called a “package”. > [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by dwc1970 \* > \*\* > If a story misses a deadline, do you air it as is, or do you wait to air it once it is complete? > \*\* You can’t air a package as is, because it would be lacking video or audio and wouldn’t make sense. If it’s just minutes from completion, you can “float” the story further down into the newscast. If it’s hopeless, you drop it from the show and chew ass later. > [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by dwc1970 \* > \*\* > Have you ever wanted to turn down a report because the subject matter conflicted with your personal feelings about it (hypothetical example, covering an abortion rally/protest?) If so, were you able to “pass the buck” onto another reporter? > \*\* As a producer, I chose stories that I thought would interest the most people. The goal is to balance controversey with an opposing view, so things don’t look one sided. I had to sigh a little when putting something in, but objectivity is the foundation of credibility. No credibility, no viewers. > [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by dwc1970 \* > \*\* > Finally, what is the most dangerous or unusual story you have ever reported? \*\* Personal danger? As a photographer, I’ve chased tornadoes, gone to chemical spills, natural gas leaks, etc. I once followed a sheriff with a camera as he arrested someone that we knew had a gun. Unusual? An ostrich escape from a farm, a beehive wreck on the highway…that sort of stuff. ---
**Author:** ![Evil\_One](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/45deac/32.png) [@Evil\_One](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Evil_One)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2003, 5:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-tv-news-guy/185760/23 "2003-07-03T17:13:00Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by twickster \* > \*\*Please, **Evil One** , another request for examples of “major” and “minor” mistakes. For instance, they were having problems with the graphics on the weather report (the person operating them wasn’t keeping up with the weather guy) the other night – would you call that major or minor? \*\* The weather people control their own graphics with a remote that activates the computer. Watch their hands next time. If the graphics were really glitching, I would call that a major mistake. This is assuming you aren’t watching an extremely small station with less sophisticated equipment. ---
**Author:** ![Evil\_One](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/45deac/32.png) [@Evil\_One](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Evil_One)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2003, 5:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-tv-news-guy/185760/24 "2003-07-03T17:14:39Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Trigonal Planar \* > \*\*Not sure if you could answer this, as its not TV news specific, but how does one get a job working in the control room? I’ve always thought that would be a cool job. \*\* Go to a local station and apply for a camera operator job. Those are usually the first rung on the ladder. Once inside, observe, learn and show interest. Wait for someone to leave and strike. ---
**Author:** ![Evil\_One](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/45deac/32.png) [@Evil\_One](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Evil_One)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2003, 5:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-tv-news-guy/185760/25 "2003-07-03T17:18:24Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by AndrewT \* > \*\*Maybe you can answer this: why do TV stations broadcast pictures of traffic jams in the afternoon peak, when all the people who need to know this are in their cars with only radios? \*\* Because viewers have been trained to expect video with almost everything. They are trying to hold your interest until the next commercial break. ---
**Author:** ![Evil\_One](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/45deac/32.png) [@Evil\_One](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Evil_One)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2003, 5:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-tv-news-guy/185760/26 "2003-07-03T17:24:50Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Cervaise \* > \*\* > My question: When young, ambitious journalism-trained people come to work for TV news, how disappointed are they by the emphasis on ratings, “bleed-and-lead” organization, major-issue-summarized-in-twenty-seconds, and everything else that makes TV news the separate animal it is? \*\* Most of them have grown up in the modern media environment and fit right in. Some of them have trouble with “But professor so and so says to do it this way” at first, but most of them work through that. It all depends on where you live. If you are in a small town in Texas, you are seeing 23 year olds who will not be in the TV business five years from now. If you are in a city big enough to have a professional sports team, you are looking at veterans. ---
**Author:** ![ace22](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f05b48/32.png) [@ace22](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ace22)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2003, 8:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-tv-news-guy/185760/27 "2003-07-03T20:36:08Z")
First, thanks for answering my previous question. I think I came off a little strong in my post, but it just irks me sometimes that the general public is forced to get their news from people who are seemingly so dumb… :\ I hadn’t even thought about the difference in age of the anchors and such. Of course, channel 3 has anchors who’ve been around a while, but are still annoying. Not so much dumb, but annoying. > [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Evil One \* > \*\*The weather people control their own graphics with a remote that activates the computer. Watch their hands next time. If the graphics were really glitching, I would call that a major mistake. This is assuming you aren’t watching an extremely small station with less sophisticated equipment. \*\* I knew that this was how they do it, but is it completely universal that the weather guy controls the image? I seem to recall that one of our guys here always seems to be behind the image on the screen. Or rather, he never has enough time with one image to finish what he wants to say about it. It _seems_ like he’s not controlling it, or he’d finish up his thoughts while the image is on the screen. But then, he could just be flinchy with his remote, or be a little too worried about his time constraints… ---
**Author:** ![Evil\_One](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/45deac/32.png) [@Evil\_One](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Evil_One)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2003, 9:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-tv-news-guy/185760/28 "2003-07-03T21:00:09Z")
He could be being rushed by the producer or his graphics could be on a continuous loop instead of loaded individually. The smaller the market, the more likely something like that is to happen. I thank all of you for your questions. If the thread is still here, I will answer more of them when I return on Monday. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-tv-news-guy/185760.md?page=1)