Geoffrey 779 Posted October 14, 2009 Share Posted October 14, 2009 http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/10/13/AR2009101302995_pf.html The day's news may soon rest in the hands -- and quite possibly on the feet -- of newscasters at WTTG, Channel 5, in Washington. In a bid to save money, the station is planning to reassign the technicians who operate the electronic prompters that feed scripted news copy to the anchors while they're on the air. Instead, the station wants its anchors to do the job themselves. WTTG, known as Fox5, 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. Some at the station worry that such a roll-your-own system could increase the potential for on-camera blunders, as anchors fumble for the right spot in their scripts. They also say that viewers may notice some awkward cranking and pumping beneath the anchor desk. It's apparently part of a "corporate directive" from News Corp. Uh oh... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
newscenter 0 Posted October 14, 2009 Share Posted October 14, 2009 Idea is FUCKIN' AWESOME!!!! We already have (one-man band) reporters shooting their own video, writing their own scripts, and piecing the stories together via computer (video editing software) with AVID and Final Cut Pro. That is in practice at FOX Affiliate KXRM Channel 21 in my hometown of Colorado Springs, CO - even though KXRM is not owned by FOX. How about anchors Joe Cole and Stephanie Pytlinski doing that same thing WTTG is doing? They write the scripts for their newscasts, so why not feed the scripts themselves through the teleprompter, and control the thingy during the newscasts? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ProButtonPusher 230 Posted October 14, 2009 Share Posted October 14, 2009 It's not that big of a deal - the foot pedal isn't noticable to the viewer at home, and if the prompter software works correctly, a producer should be able to move things around and the prompter will update. It doesn't sound like they're firing the prompter ops, either. Not the end of the world. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alaskanews 108 Posted October 14, 2009 Share Posted October 14, 2009 Although say goodbye to the days of anchors moving around the set and doing standing shots, they are going to be strapped to the desk now. It is going to make it awkward, especially in the beginning. If it is a one anchor show, then it won't be too bad. I like prompting for myself. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ProButtonPusher 230 Posted October 14, 2009 Share Posted October 14, 2009 They can rotate who's at the desk. While one anchor is standing, the other can run prompter. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bucc 4 Posted October 15, 2009 Share Posted October 15, 2009 I think WRGB does this also, I toured their studio a few weeks ago. And the person explained to me thats what the device on the desk was, and sometimes u can sort of see it Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
newsguy22 59 Posted October 15, 2009 Share Posted October 15, 2009 Idea is FUCKIN' AWESOME!!!! We already have (one-man band) reporters shooting their own video, writing their own scripts, and piecing the stories together via computer (video editing software) with AVID and Final Cut Pro. That is in practice at FOX Affiliate KXRM Channel 21 in my hometown of Colorado Springs, CO - even though KXRM is not owned by FOX. How about anchors Joe Cole and Stephanie Pytlinski doing that same thing WTTG is doing? They write the scripts for their newscasts, so why not feed the scripts themselves through the teleprompter, and control the thingy during the newscasts? Lovely language. As other posters have noted, this will severely limit anchors moving around on the set, which many stations do quite frequently. I'm cool with multi-tasking in many forms, but I'm not a fan of this idea. I've prompted my own shows in the past, with varying degrees of success. On a "normal" day, it's not a big deal, provided you're bolted to the chair and not doing segments at the chroma or plasma set. But, how many normal days are there? Prompter software is not perfect (I'm sure many of us have horror stories of the prompter computer flipping out), stories are inserted at the last minute, prompter doesn't refresh, etc. That alone is a recipe for disaster. Recovering from something like that is difficult enough, now add the fact that you're on the air, trying to be smooth and under control, while fumbling for your scripts and trying to get prompter back on track. Not exactly what I'd want. My station recently combined the prompter duties with that of our studio camera operator. Our cams are robotic, and most of the shots are pre-set (studio cameras are locked down, even anchor chairs don't move). That person punches the presets with one hand while rolling prompter with the other. Even that set-up has frequent issues. I would imagine there are better ways to save money then laying off prompter operators/production staff, who are generally nowhere near the top of the salary table. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alaskanews 108 Posted October 15, 2009 Share Posted October 15, 2009 I'm sure many of us have horror stories of the prompter computer flipping out Oh yes, the rule at KTVA is the prompter is a luxury, it crashes often... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SFTV 486 Posted October 16, 2009 Share Posted October 16, 2009 it is possible, when we had a class trip to KUSI, some anchors actually run the prompter themselves during their newsbreaks and what they use is a mouse and use the scroller to run the prompter. When KSWB used to simulcast the KTLA Morning Show and do local cut ins, Perette Godwin (the only anchor at that time) would run the show. She would make her own weather and traffic graphics and use a sewing machine pedal to run the prompter while there was a switcher in the control room and a photog for an outdoor shot. so basically it was a 2 man and 1 woman 3 total staff. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kjohnson 15 Posted October 16, 2009 Share Posted October 16, 2009 So not a big deal. We do this every week, using Word 2007, and spare monitor. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
newsguy22 59 Posted October 16, 2009 Share Posted October 16, 2009 News cut-ins and student television (not knocking it at all, I think it's awesome) are way different beasts than a two hour, live newscast. I'm not saying it can't be done. I'm just saying it's a recipe for trouble. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EricNewsHD 0 Posted October 17, 2009 Share Posted October 17, 2009 That was the way things were, not sure if they still are, at the cable station I worked in 2002. During a certain segment of the 10pm show... both anchors would be at different sides of the set and an associate producer would come down and run the prompter. That operation had a foot pedal under the desk that worked like a sewing machine. The prompter would move faster the harder you pressed the pedal. You could move it backward if you needed to by pressing a button above the pedal. The anchors were in favor of that because they were always in control. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
b.thumb.png.b658c90e4e56cb08f2e8ba3195bb9da9.png)
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.