Advanced Broadcast Solutions has announced a curriculum to train broadcast news veterans and others to produce complete and compelling stories with little or no crew support.
According to ABS Content Creation Advisor and broadcast news veteran Tom Layson, larger market stations traditionally employed news crews in the field, sometimes with as many as three or four people. In contrast, smaller market crews were generally limited to one- or two-man teams. The worsening economy and improving technology are influencing the size of news crews.
“What’s happening today is that larger markets are going with smaller crews,” Layson explained. “The new gear is smaller and easier to use, so the technology is supporting the economic considerations that are driving decisions about who gathers news and how they do it.”
The one-man band approach requires an individual to handle all elements of a news package, from writing a script to editing the finished product. This expansion of production responsibilities is a challenging transition for many newsroom veterans.
“It’s going to be tough,” Layson admitted. “A lot of students from broadcast programs are going to be more prepared for one-man band environments than a lot of mid and late career professionals.”
“The one-man band paradigm doesn’t have to be about killing jobs, but it is about changing roles in the video production landscape,” said Mark Siegel, president of ABS. “These people don’t have the training to properly write, shoot, and edit a news package. If an organization needs training for its employees, we’re ready to do it. We can also work with existing consulting relationships and help news organizations pick the right tools for their workflows.”
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