Glossary of News Terms
- Anchor Person - The person who reads the news during the news
program. Often there are two persons who share the responsibilities
of presenting the news.
- Documentary - A specially produced program that explains and depicts
events in history, geography, science, animal life or politics.
Documentaries try to present all sides of an issue.
- Edit - To electronically cut out unwanted parts of a videotape recording,
or to put together pieces of different tapes to make a program.
- Editorial - A news story which gives the views of those who decide
policy, or a personal opinion about the news.
- Fiction - A pretend or made-up story.
- Hard News - Timely news items that are very important to people on more
than alocal level. They may affect all of us and are important to know for
our political, economic or environment security.
- Interview - A question and answer session or show, usually between
a celebrity or important person and a reporter, dealing with an issue.
- Media - All of the different sources of information including TV,
radio, the Internet, newspapers, and magazines.
- News Program - Usually a half-hour program of television coverage
of the latest news. Local news, sports and weather are usually
included in the news program.
- Nonfiction - A true story about something that has really happened.
- Soft News - News that features people or events in a lively,
entertaining manner.
- Special Events Coverage - A live broadcast of news in the making,
such as thelaunch of a space shuttle.
Creating Your Own News Show
Ask your students to view and become familiar with news shows on
television. Who are the key people that are seen? What are their specific
roles? What kind of information does each report? You will need to
select seven students for these positions:
Anchor Person, Local news reporter, State news reporter, National
news reporter, World news reporter, Weather reporter, Sports reporter
Before the broadcast, each student should read the newspaper, listen
to the news on the radio or watch it on TV, and become familiar with the
news of the day they will report on. Have students write a brief summary
of the news they will report and practice
the written copy before presenting to the class.
- Follow these steps to gather facts for a great news story: Choose a
newsworthy
topic.
- Decide who to interview or where to find facts for the topic.
- List five questions to ask about the topic.
- Write the answers to the five questions.
- Write an opening statement to introduce your listeners to the
topic, and a good closing statement to sum it all up.
News Production Team
More people work on a news program than the people you see on the
TV screen. Many peoplecan work hundreds of hours to produce a short
commercial, news program, or other televisionshow. Here are a few of the
most important jobs on a television production: Producer -
Manages the entire production, guides the newscast, controls the budget.
- Writer - Writes the script, or words, that are spoken by the actors,
or the news presenters.
- Director - Takes the final script from the producer and writer, and
tells the actors, camera operators and other members of the
production team what to do and when.
- Lighting Director - Lights the scene in the studio or on location.
- Camera Operator - Shoots the pieces of the program according
to the instructions fromthe director.
- Audio Engineer - Takes care of the microphones used in a
production, and all other aspects of sound recording.
- Editor - Puts together the final pieces of the production for programs
that are not broadcast live, adding graphics, music and other effects
to make an interesting finished piece.
There are many other jobs that go into a television production. Ask your class
for ideas of other work that has to be done for a television show. Watch the credits
at the end of a show to see a listing of many other jobs.
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