It’s hard to believe it’s been 20 years since I first started working in TV newsrooms. It got me to thinking about how things have changed and what they might look like 20 years from now.
Getting the facts 20 years ago: Official agencies sent news release via fax, and later switched to email. You had to go to the courthouse during business hours to get a paper printout of court documents. Reporters attended city council and school board meetings in person. Reporters called sources on the phone to set up interviews.
Getting the facts now: Some official agencies still email, but others simply post their news directly to social media platforms and expect media outlets to continuously monitor for updates. You may still have to go to the courthouse to get a paper printout of documents, though some are now available online. Reporters or other newsroom members may monitor a city council or school board meeting via a web feed. Phone calls are seen as rude. Reporters set up interviews through social media or text messages.
Getting the facts in the future: More newsrooms will have access to platforms that harness social media accounts to receive information, both from official sources and from the general public, in a timely fashion. Most court and government documents will be freely available online not only to the media, but to the public. Government meetings will continue to be streamed even though they’ve moved back to in-person meetings, and more will be available as archived videos with transcripts, making it easier for both reporters and the public to track developments. Reporters’ communication with sources will need to evolve to follow the platforms sources are using.
Liveshots 20 years ago: We had to roll out an expensive microwave truck or satellite truck, some of which had to be operated by engineers. Microwave liveshots were limited to line-of-sight and expensive satellite time had to be booked for liveshots out of town. You were limited to how far you could drive and locations where you could park an RV-sized vehicle.
Liveshots now: Stations use “backpack” units that combine multiple cellular data accounts. Some providers also allow the use of cell phones for liveshots, but that only works if you can get a good connection with the phone. News crews can go live anywhere in the country where they can get cellular service or an internet connection.
Liveshots in the future: As access to cellular data and wifi improves, stations may cut costs by going live directly from smartphones rather than using “backpack” units for every liveshot. Existing “backpack” providers will still be needed for situations where a quality signal is imperative, such as a live full-length show, and for low-latency needs such as prompter and return video.
Field video 20 years ago: Photographers shot video on Beta tape, having evolved from 3/4-inch tape and film. At my first TV job, photogs dubbed their video in for non-linear editing, but at my second job, they were still editing tape-to-tape. (I once lost a lead story because the tape was stuck in the machine.) Raw field tapes were kept for a week, and only video edited for air was archived.
Field video now: Photogs shoot HD video to a memory card and copy it into an edit station. Some stations have centralized servers to store unedited raw video, which can be stored longer than a week, but not permanently. Phones can be used in a pinch.
Field video in the future: There will still be a need for professional cameras, but phones may be used more often. Simpler stories may be shot, edited, and fed back to the station directly from phones. More efficient storage may allow stations to keep unedited raw video for longer periods. 4K video already exists but stations will have no use for it until there are better ways of getting it to viewers.
Online efforts 20 years ago: Most stations had a basic website, but it wasn’t a priority. The TV broadcast was always the most important thing. Websites were seen as an extra add-on.
Online efforts now: Stations have websites, mobile apps, over-the-top TV apps, Facebook pages, Twitter feeds, Instagram accounts, YouTube pages, and more. Most newsrooms have a person or team leading “digital” efforts and everyone in the newsroom is expected to contribute. Websites, mobile apps, and Facebook feeds are seen as being as important as the TV broadcast, and all must get done even if resources are limited.
Online efforts in the future: More staffing will be directed towards non-broadcast platforms to create a variety of content, some of which may look like traditional news and some of which will not. Such efforts are sometimes met with skepticism and mockery, but these experiments are necessary for the evolution of TV news.
People we interviewed 20 years ago: “When will the story be on? I’m going to record it and tell all my friends!”
People we interview now: “I’m too busy to watch the news. Can you send me a link I can share on Facebook?”
People we interview in the future: I can hope it’ll be something along the lines of, “Thanks for covering our story, I’ll look for it on my favorite platform!”
Ethics 20 years ago: Accuracy, honesty, and integrity were respected and expected traits. They were not questioned.
Ethics now: Accuracy, honesty, and integrity are still necessary traits, but social media puts pressure on journalists to perform in a way that will make the numbers move. Journalists must resist pressure to bend the rules. As the RTDNA says:
“Trending,” going viral” or “exploding on social media” may increase urgency, but these phenomena only heighten the need for strict standards of accuracy.
RTDNA Code of Ethics
Ethics in the future: The only way there will be a future for news is to maintain our moral compass. Accuracy, honesty, and integrity must remain at the center of what we do. If we don’t follow these basic rules, there will be no news, and there will be no democracy.
Jon Ellis has worked in small-market TV news for 20 years in assistant news director and producer positions.
LINK: More Newsroom Notes