When people talk about local television, we toss around a lot of terminology and titles that might not be familiar.
This post will cover the PEOPLE in the newsroom.
Some of these folks you already know. They're the ones you see on the air: the reporters, the anchors, and sports and weather gurus. But what the heck is an assignment editor? And who are you, Director Carey?
Hopefully this post will clear some of the mud from the newsroom title water for you! Keep in mind, these are broad generalizations, but will give you a decent idea of who's who.
While we all work together as one big team, newsroom folks often specialize in editorial, production, and digital news.
Editorial Team
Executive News Director: Not to be confused with a newscast director, which is what I do. This is the person in charge of the newsroom. This person is the boss. They are also often the liaison between the local station and corporate.
Assistant News Director: The second in charge of the newsroom. This person often deals with a lot of the day-to-day goings-on in the newsroom.
Executive Producer: These people are often in charge of a certain aspect of the news operation: nightside news, morning news, special projects, investigative units, sometimes digital news production. They keep a close eye on whichever news shows they head: checking over scripts for reporters, answering questions, deciding the direction of the shows, and how the shows should look.
Producer: The person who stacks, writes, and booths the newscasts. Sometimes these are different people, but in most local newsrooms, they are often the same. "Stacks" means to put the stories in the order they will appear on the show. This also includes the stories we promote throughout the show. You know what "writes" means! "Booths" means sits in the booth to time the show, talk with the reporters out in the field and the anchors in the studio.
Reporter: Researches, interviews, writes, often shoots and edits the video, and reports on various news stories throughout the day. They now also post to social media and provide stories for the web. If they work by themselves in the field, they are known as an MMJ (Multi Media Journalist) or MSJ (Multi Skilled Journalist).
Photographer or Videographer: Works alone or with a reporter to gather and edit video stories.
Editors: A lot of places have combined this job with other job descriptions, but this person edits video together to match news scripts. The best ones can do amazing things with video and graphics.
Writer or Associate Producer (AP): Helps write the newscasts. APs are often training to become producers.
Assignment editor: Works in the nerve center of the newsroom. Makes beat calls, answers phone calls (often from irritated individuals), listens to scanners, keeps in touch with live crews, updates producers and reporters, often posts to social media and the internet, and just generally make sure everyone knows what's going on.
Anchors: These are the folks you see at the desk or in the news studio (or sometimes out in the field) during the newscast. They do a lot more than just read. They also help write and update the stories they read, and often produce original reports themselves. They are usually on social media, talking with the audience. They are also the face of the station and can often be found at community events on a regular basis.
Production Personnel
Production Manager (also sometimes called a Tech or Operations Manager): This is the person in charge of the production personnel. They are also often a technical troubleshooter, and in some places direct some of the shows.
Director: This person is in charge of the newscast as it hits the air. I like to call us live editors. Depending on the station, this person might have other production folks to guide during the newscast, or they might work on their own. Almost all directors are also their own technical directors these days. In some places, they run all of the positions listed below.
Technical director (TD): This person pushes the buttons to put the proper video source and effects on the air. Usually also the director.
Audio operator: In charge of the sound of the newscast. This includes microphones, music, videos, and any other sound sources.
Video operator: In charge of rolling the correct piece of video at the correct time. This is often done by the director/td now.
Graphics operator: In charge of putting the proper graphics on the air, from the ones over the anchors' shoulders to the words at the bottom of the screen. They often also build the graphics you see on the air.
Camera operator: In charge of moving the cameras into position in the studio and keeping everyone in focus. This is often done by remote control outside of the studio, but sometimes is done behind the camera in the studio.
Floor director or floor manager: Makes sure the anchors are looking at the right camera, that any changes in the newscast have been relayed to everyone who needs them, gets guests a mic and puts them into position at the right time, runs new batteries for a mic, etc. Camera operators often floor direct their own cameras if they are in the studio.
Prompter operator: Makes sure the scripts are in the proper place and moving at the proper speed for anchors and reporters in the studio. This is often done by the anchors themselves now.
Digital team
Digital director: This is the person in charge of the digital team. Depending on the station, they may be the equivalent of the news director or may report to the news director.
Web team: Gets stories onto the station's website as quickly as possible. This includes breaking news, reporter pieces, Associated Press stories, and occasionally even their own stories. They are also often in charge of social media postings.
Social media manager: Some stations have a person who specializes in social media. They make sure stories are pushed to the proper outlet and are attracting the proper audience.
Digital reporter or MMJ: A growing number of stations are hiring reporters specifically for the digital space. This can include webcasts, standalone stories, social media threads, and sometimes OTT (over the top - think Roku, Alexa, and smart TVs).
OTT specialists: With the growing streaming market, stations sometimes hire someone specifically to handle their output to OTT, which is also still growing and changing.
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