Crafting Cohesive Newscasts

As I look back on my semesters as a producer for the television shows we produce in the Reed School of Media, I’m realizing just how much the newsroom has shaped me. 

For those unfamiliar with producing, the job relies heavily on strong writing skills. I have previously worked on Mountaineer Playbook, a sports magazine show, where I learned about writing conversationally for television and about the various ways to cover sports. 

I also produced for WVU News last spring where I gained experience in reporting on all kinds of stories and relating them to our audience. I enjoyed how research-heavy producing can be because it gives you opportunities to teach people why our reporting matters to them. 

With West Virginia Today, I grew in my writing because of the show formatting. 

West Virginia Today used themes for each of our shows, so it was my job to connect every story to each other, and sometimes, it was difficult to find a link. This makes stacking the show so important. Stacking a show refers to the act of ordering the show in terms of the segments, like interviews, packages and VOSOTs/VOs, to create a cohesive story within the newscast. I knew stacking was important to convey the importance of the stories in the show, but it can also really help to draw connections between stories.

For example, during our final show of the semester, we stacked Samantha’s story about broadband accessibility before Claudia’s story about healthcare accessibility because even though the stories are different, they share a common theme about the lack of critical resources for rural areas in West Virginia. 

Stacking is important, but once again, it is the writing that really makes the show. With these themed shows, I learned keeping a consistent theme throughout the newscast can be tricky. Our third show's theme was about the future of West Virginia’s landscape, but some of our reporters didn’t drive that theme in their stories so it became my responsibility to do that in the anchor ledes. For some, I found facts that related to future goals and for others I found that talking about new changes to industries could connect to the economy of the state. It wasn’t always a clear connection, but with enough research I was able to get there. 

It also helped to write cold opens because it gave me an opportunity to introduce the theme without having to connect it to one specific story. The cold open takes place before our A block teases, so it also gives viewers an explanation before they see teases that preview the show. 

Looking back at all my work, this episode had the least amount of feedback which made me really proud. I can see that I’ve grown a lot since I’ve started, and I can now confidently say I know how to write for sports magazine shows, daily newscasts and specialty shows. 

As I wrap up my final capstone course as an undergraduate student, I would like to think I have made the most of my opportunities at WVU, and I am excited to learn more about producing with my spring internship at a news station. The challenges I’ve faced have taught me that as a producer, I must always remain calm and roll with the punches. I have produced through IFB blackouts, audio failures, and various technological glitches, but we’ve always been able to make a great final product. These challenges didn’t just make me a better producer, they made me someone who can lead, adapt and tell stories that matter.