460 MIXED MEDIA
- Watch a live television news broadcast carefully. Try to spot any small
slipups. (As with any live broadcast, there are certain to be a few.)
Watch for anchors who don’t look at the screen (they are looking
toward the wrong camera), tapes cued improperly or tape that isn’t
available at all. Notice how anchors or reporters cover their mistakes.
Most correct themselves immediately when they misspeak. You
may gain a new appreciation for how professional most live news
shows are. - Listen to a radio newscast to try to find any flaws. The newscaster
may stumble over the script, wait for a natural sound that isn’t avail-
able or have to cover when the wrong sound bite is played. How dif-
ficult is it to read through a five-minute newscast without making a
single mistake? - Obtain a copy of the diary that Arbitron (the company that compiles
radio ratings) asks people to keep for a week. (You can probably
get a copy from a local radio station.) Have everyone in your class
keep a similar diary for a week, and tabulate the class results.
What conclusions can you draw from the information? - Arrange for your class to tour a local radio station, or invite a sta-
tion manager, program director or deejay to visit your class as a
guest speaker. - Find out what goes on behind the scenes at a television station.
Many local cable television companies offer free instructional
courses on television production. Sign up for one. - Write a five-minute newscast based on events at your school.
Include short clips of interviews with key school personnel. - Take a story from Time, Newsweek or U.S. News & World Report.
Rewrite it as a radio news story. Using a tape or digital recorder,
practice reading the story as you would read it on the air. Listen
as you play it back at least twice. Make notes on the following:
(a) Is the meaning of what I said clear? (b) Did I go too fast or too
slowly? (c) Was my delivery smooth or choppy? (d) What vocal
characteristics do I need to work on?
Finding the Flaw
Media Watch
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