Published by Emil Abraham, February 18th, 2020

1. The reporter gets information about a potential news story from a source. This source may be an individual or an organization. Experienced reporters build up a network of reliable sources over time, and depend on them for the first vital leads to a story.
2. The reporter then researches the story. For this, he or she may conduct interviews, consult books, magazines, newspapers, the internet and go through relevant documents and archive material. From this process, the full background to the story emerges.
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 and that all sides to the story are represented. 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. After this, the reporter and cameraperson return to the office of their organization. The reporter previews the recorded tapes, which means that he or she watches them carefully to identify the shots, interviews and sound bites which are usable. 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’. The OK shots, interviews and sound-bites are 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 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. 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.
5. The reporter then submits the tape or tapes along with the log-sheets to a facility in the news organization called ‘Ingest’. Ingest is a technical facility with its own staff. 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. Capturing is the process whereby the OK shots, interviews and sound bites are copied into the memory of the server. Alternatively, the reporter may seek to capture the OK takes in the memory of an individual computer. The first process is the standard one in most news channels, since it is a more time saving process. This is because after the tapes have been captured in the memory of a common server, the reporter can use any computer terminal in the office to access and edit them, depending on whichever terminal is free at that time.
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. The most common pattern for a news script is VO-BiteVO-Bite-VO-Bite-VO-PTC. This is not a hard and fast rule however. The average duration of a news story is between two to three minutes, and the script must be written accordingly. Unlike in other forms of broadcast media, such as in documentary filmmaking, news-scriptwriting usually happens after, and not before the shooting. 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. Usually, a lip-microphone is connected to each computer terminal and the reporter can record the VOs directly at that terminal. If a lip-mic is not connected to the terminal then the reporter needs to get the VOs recorded according to the prevailing system in the organization.
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 Rundown is a list, which states exactly what is telecast in each news bulletin in which order.

• The reporter is present at the location, and is accompanied by a vehicle called an OB Van, which is short for Outdoor Broadcast Van. The OB Van is crucial to linking the reporter to his news organization. It consists of a technically equipped van to which a camera and microphone are connected. The reporter observes and explains the events to the camera as they happen and the OB Van relays these images by means of wireless transmission to a satellite, which then relays them to the news organization.
• Sometimes, there may be several reporters present at different locations simultaneously, and each of them may be sending back images and sounds of their locations to the news organization at the same time. Thus, there are inputs coming to the news organization from several sources simultaneously. All of these signals reach a technical facility in the news organization called the PCR, which means Production Control Room.

• Also, a camera in the studio is also covering the news anchor, and the signal from that camera also reaches the PCR.
• The PCR is that central place in the news organization which decides which of these various signals must be put on air at which precise point in time. Within the PCR, there are several monitors television screens pres ent, each of which shows the signal coming from any one camera or OB Van. There is also another monitor which shows exactly which of these signals is being telecast at that moment. The technical staff in the PCR keep switching between various signals, alternatively putting one, then another, and then a third, and so on, on air. This process is called live editing, online editing, or switching.