Computers in Broadcast and Cable Newsrooms: Using Technology in Television News Production takes readers through the use of computers and software in the broadcast/cable newsroom environment. Author Phillip O. Keirstead began writing about television news technology decades ago in an effort to help television news managers cope with technological change. In this text, he demonstrates the myriad ways in which today's journalism is tied to technology, and he shows how television news journalists rely on varied and complex technologies to produce timely, interesting, and informative broadcasts. Using a hands-on, practical approach to cover the role computers play in various parts of the newsroom, the volume will be of great practical value to undergraduate and graduate students in advanced broadcast/news television courses.
Because reporting is changing, this volume offers readers a thorough introduction to the rapidly evolving world of gathering information for local news organizations. This easy-to-read text is filled with contemporary examples and solid advice for the beginning reporting student. Designed for students with a foundation in news writing, it provides chapters on such basics as news research, interviewing, and observation skills. It further offers a chapter on the use of personal computers as research and reporting tools. Readers will find useful tips and examples written by award-winning professional journalists that reflect the numerous changes in the art and science of information gathering in the past decade.
Computers have changed the landscape of both gathering and disseminating information throughout the world. As journalists quickly move toward the 21st century and perhaps, a new era of electronic journalism, resources are needed to understand the newest and most successful computer-based news reporting strategies. Written to serve that purpose, this book is designed to show both professional journalists and students which of the newest personal computing tools are being used by the nation's leading news organizations and top individual journalists. It further describes how these resources are being used on a daily basis and for special projects. In recent years, computers have taken on new and dominating roles in the process of news analysis, newsgathering, and news processing. Today's forward-thinking journalists often seek guidance over what they can do to strengthen their ability to be society's information processors and managers. This volume focuses upon how successful journalists are using computers through a major national computer-assisted reporting (CAR) study of daily newspapers. The study included two national surveys and a series of personal interviews with many of the nation's leading CAR specialists. Several current examples of stories used for successful database- and online-oriented news assignments are provided as part of a series of case studies incorporated throughout the book. The additional depth of description and the presentation of portions of stories themselves should help readers to understand the complete process involving CAR-oriented journalism. Substantial analytical detail is used to discuss the extent of computer use in newsrooms, computer training, CAR projects, CAR in daily reporting, hardware and software most commonly used, levels and types of online services used in news research, and portable hardware and software. The book concludes with the author's assessment of the effects and impact of personal computing in the newsroom and the future of personal computer applications in newsgathering. Explaining and defining advanced applications or terminology for readers, the approach to the book assumes a minimal familiarity with computers, but no advanced knowledge of computer operation.
