For years we've heard about the future of TV news like what job skills you'll need to have in a decade. Well, I'd say the future is finally here.
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| Ned Hibberd |
Former Fox 26 KRIV reporter Ned Hibberd and executive producer Geoff Roth packed up last year and moved to newly acquired Fox owned Charlotte, NC station WJZY. Adopting the Chasing New Jersey concept, the two have launched My Fox Carolinas News @10.
TVNewsCheck's Diana Marszalek filed two reports on the new station's efforts.
My Fox Carolinas News @10 is informal with no highly stylized set or anchor desk. Instead, the "senior digital journalist" — elsewhere known as an anchor — orchestrates the newscast by walking around the newsroom, stopping by reporters who tell their stories or tease upcoming ones. Sometimes they stand together; sometimes, the reporter sits at his or her desk.
Weather reports emanate from the heart of the newsroom, with the weathercaster standing in front of a large, free-standing screen. The segments are so full of odd camera angles that viewers cannot always see the weather graphics. Mark Washburn, the Charlotte Observer’s media critic, calls My Fox Carolinas “cocktail party news,” primarily because of its casual, chatty nature. READ THE REST
That's just the beginning. Wait till you hear about the gear the crews use:
Each reporter has his or her own JVC 650 camcorder, which Roth calls “a live truck in a camera.” The camera is capable of streaming live shots via Wi-Fi.
For packaged reports, they have laptop computers, which they can use to edit stories and send them to the station at Wi-Fi hot spots.
The reporters are also outfittted with iPhones with a Vericorder app that allows them to shoot, edit and send stories using only the device, Roth says.
Using the unobtrusive smartphone allow one reporter to get video from inside an apartment complex that houses homeless teens, Roth says. “If a camera crew had shown up, they would never have let us do it." READ THE REST
The video embedded above, produced by NewsLab, is an interview with Roth about how journalists must now possess all kinds of digital knowledge.
