From Classroom to Newsroom

My experience with one of the television news channels is acquainting me with a lot of new things about the industry. I enter the office after getting my approval as an unpaid intern there. A whole new affair awaits me.

This is what I encounter.

Youtube being browsed incessantly. Video downloads. A new script written and voice over done. A lot of effects applied on the editing machine. And, package ready.

No outdoor shoot. No reporter. No cameraperson required.
Hey! That’s plagiarism, I express articulately. A dozen eyebrows raised. Another half a dozen eyes turn towards me. I realise my ‘mistake’.

“That’s what all other channels are doing”, the assistant producer and my team leader tells me.
I now fathom how various amazing videos are being shown in channels across the country. And that too astounding videos from far off lands.

No attribution required. It would take away the surprise factor. The exclusivity factor too. And it would be like striking your own feet with the axe.

How a 20 second video clip can be stretched to a two minute story, I learnt here. My classroom had taught me to shorten a long sequence of shots into a compact and succinct package. The reverse was applicable here.

The simple knowledge of cutting clips on the editing machine was not enough. It required a professional editor who had this godly skill of “playing” with the clips.

HOW true was the video clip, WHO had posted it, WHERE did the incident take place, WHEN did it happen and WHY. WHAT actually happened?

These 5 Ws and H were an important factor in the classroom. Here, the building up of the surprise factor is the only important component.

The discipline of verification has lost its dignified place. It was of prime importance in my classroom. Not very important here.

2 comments:

Kapou malakar said...

you are true dipu but I think there involves some cliche in our understanding. We are taught to shorten our footage as per the time requirement for the programme. That is for news packages. No doubt, it is the thing what reflects the objectivity and exclusivity of the programme. But as in here, we are working in the production unit which is not particular to the news rather it is very subjective with the content of their programme. The prime factor in their mind is to manage a series of programme for the audience which is not necessarily based on the objectivity of news. I think they are much more into entertainment and their sole purpose is to keep their audience stay with all content.

ranjana said...

so true!!!!! neways no offence meant but i find most of the news channels so crappy...i don't know which one are you working for....but i hope it treats you well
i had a small stint with newspaper journalism...was an unpaid intern myself ..lol...i realiZed people( read seniors( want you to work on a story and give their names to it....also sometimes they were just interested to publish PTI press release directly without any editing.
neways i couldn't adjust and chickened out...that was a mistake but i really wish all the best to you.
P.S0- DON;T BE SO OPEN IN YOUR OPINION PEOPLE WILL TURN HOSTILE TOWARDS YOU EVEN THOUGH YOU ARE RIGHT