On Wed, Oct 14, 2009 at 10:41 PM, Bob in Jersey <[email protected]> wrote: > > WTTG, per Paul Farhi at the WaPo, "intends to train its newscasters to > operate prompters using a series of hand levers and foot pedals, all > while they're reading the news as it scrolls by"...
I love this bit from the article: "Instead of orchestrating coverage, fact-checking, handling breaking news, paying attention to the [newscast], engaging reporters, questioning authorities, covering bad writing and technical mistakes, anchors will now spend most of their time" running the prompter, said one newsroom employee, who asked not to be identified because he's not authorized to discuss the change. "It's kind of like a literal one-man band -- singing, banging a drum, crashing cymbals, playing a trumpet and strumming a guitar . . . except we're not playing show tunes here." Let's see... Oh, is *that* what anchors do during a show? 'Cause I thought that "orchestrating coverage" is the producer's responsibility in the booth, fact-checking is for the newsroom before air, handling breaking news also is for the producer, paying attention to the newscast isn't that big a deal, questioning authorities isn't done from the set, covering bad writing is for the newsroom before air, and covering technical mistakes is the job of the technical crew. Here's how it works: there's a pedal under the desk. You press it with your foot and the prompter scrolls. If you can drive a car and talk at the same time, you have the necessary skills. And the "literal one-man band" bit? I would give a year's salary to see any anchor roll his own tape, set his own shots, open his own mic, switch his own show, and so on. -- -- Ben Scripps [email protected] --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ TV or Not TV .... The Smartest (TV) People! You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "TV or Not TV" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected] To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected] For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/tvornottv?hl=en -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
