Exercise: Planning a breaking news TV package

Reporting breaking TV news is a high-pressure race against the clock. You must balance real-time events with limited time for fact-checking and sourcing interviews.

Welcome to this Media Helping Media (MHM) exercise which is based on the article constructing a news package for TV. You are invited to complete the exercise either on your own or with a colleague. Please ensure you read the article before completing the exercise.

MHM exercises are a chance for those who are new to journalism to learn skills and test what they know against fictional scenarios. The articles on which the exercises are based have been created from the experience of journalists who have shared their knowledge free of charge in order to help others learn the fundamental principles of robust public service journalism.

The first requirement of any piece of journalism is that it should be accuracy. Although this is an exercise involving fictitious material, not for publication, trainees must take everything they are told in the exercise to be factual and they must stick to those facts. If one thing they produce in the exercise is inconsistent with those facts, their whole work is discredited. Accuracy comes first.

The scenario: The great solar pump mystery

You are a reporter for a local news outlet in the fictional region of Marama. Your editor has just sent you a frantic message (you may take it that any of the facts he mentioned are correct) : “The ‘Sun-Thirst’ irrigation project in the village of Oku is failing. The government spent 500,000 credits from the National Rural Development Fund (public money gathered through local taxes) to install 20 solar-powered water pumps. It was supposed to be a miracle for the farmers, but the taps are dry. Go there, find out why, and give me a 90-second TV package for the evening news.”

The scene

You arrive at the Oku communal fields. It is a baking hot day.

• The field: Cracked, dry earth with wilted green shoots trying to survive.
• The pumps: Rows of shiny solar panels mounted on poles. Most look brand new, but one has a bird’s nest built over the sensor, and another is being used by a goat as a scratching post.
• The village square: A group of angry farmers are gathered around a dry communal tap.
• The ‘Grand Opening’ plaque: A gold-painted sign that says: “Opened by Minister Zola – A gift to the people.” It is slightly crooked.
• Superficial detail 1: An ice-cream vendor is doing a roaring trade because of the heat, despite the water crisis.
• Superficial detail 2:  a group of men in white coats are examining the ground and prodding it with spades.

Characters

1. Amara, the head farmer: She is furious. She claims the pumps only worked for two days and now the village crops are dying. She suspects the equipment was second-hand.
2. Kofi, the local technician: He looks nervous. He’s wearing a t-shirt with the logo of ‘Zola Construction’ (the Minister’s brother’s company). He says “maintenance is scheduled,” but won’t say when.
3. The Minister (via telephone): He insists the project is a success and blames the farmers for “incorrect usage.”
4. Professor Lockhart:  He is the leader of an environmental research group (the people in white coats) who are investigating whether the Sneaky Green Lizard, which lives in these parts, is endangered by the project.  He won’t speculate about the results of the research.

Ethical considerations

In this story, you must be scrupulously accurate.  You must maintain integrity (the quality of being honest and having strong moral principles). You must ensure fairness by giving the Minister a chance to respond to the allegations of corruption regarding his brother’s company. You must also avoid bias (a prejudice in favour of or against one thing, person, or group) by not simply assuming the government is at fault without evidence.

Your task

You must plan a 90-second TV news package. You have one hour to complete the following steps:

1. The shot list: List six specific shots you need to tell this story (e.g., a wide shot of the dry fields, a close-up of the crooked plaque).
2. The interviews: Identify which two characters you will interview and one specific question for each that targets the accuracy (the quality of being correct or precise) of their claims.
3. The script outline: Write a three-sentence “lead” (the opening of your report) and a “piece to camera” (where you speak directly to the lens) to be delivered in front of the dry pumps.
4. The structure: Ensure your plan follows the “diamond” structure mentioned in the MHM guide: start with a specific person/problem, move to the wider issue (funding/government), and return to the person’s situation.

Format: A written plan or a series of bullet points on a single sheet of paper.

Learning outcomes

By the end of this exercise, you will understand how to:

• Visualise a story through a shot list.
• Apply a logical structure to a TV news package.
• Identify potential corruption and ethics (moral principles that govern a person’s behaviour) in public spending stories.

Self-assessment quiz

1. What is the ‘golden rule’ for the length of a TV news package mentioned in the MHM guide?
   1. Exactly 60 seconds.
   2. Usually between 60 and 90 seconds.
   3. As long as it takes to tell the story.
   4. Never more than 30 seconds.
2. Why should you avoid using too many ‘talking heads’ (interviews) in a row?
   1. It makes the report boring and less visual.
   2. It costs too much money.
   3. Journalists are not allowed to talk to more than one person.
   4. It makes the file size too large.
3. What is a ‘piece to camera’ (PTC)?
   1. When the cameraman talks to the reporter.
   2. When the reporter speaks directly into the camera lens at the scene.
   3. A photograph of the camera itself.
   4. An interview with a government official.
4. In the ‘diamond’ structure of storytelling, how does the story typically end?
   1. With a long list of statistics.
   2. By introducing a completely new topic.
   3. By returning to the individual or case study used at the start.
   4. With a joke from the news anchor.
5. If you are reporting on a person’s private distress or grief at the scene, which ethical guideline is most important to prevent offence (annoyance or resentment brought about by a perceived insult)?
   1. Impartiality,
   2. Privacy,
   3. Speed of delivery,
   4. The quality of the lighting.

Answers:

1: b, 2: a, 3: b, 4: c, 5: b

Related material

Constructing a TV news package

Workshop: TV news packaging

Lesson: Constructing a TV news package

Module: TV journalism skills