News anchor job

TASK 28

Watch the presentation of the ABC affiliate news reporter Kim Stark to learn about the news anchor’s job. Before watching, consider some useful vocabulary: live shot – broadcasting done from a location away from a formal television studio; set up – preparation; teleprompter – a device used to project a speaker’s script out of sight of the audience.

Kim is a TV news anchor and a reporter. Look through the list of her tasks and say what she does on a daily basis as an anchor (A) and a reporter (R):

• does live shots ( )

• reads stories provided by reporters ( )

• talks to people ( )

• gathers stories ( )

• makes phone calls ( )

• edits stories ( )

• sets up interviews ( )

• writes and edits stories ( )

• reads stories from a teleprompter ( )

What other positions involved in producing TV news are mentioned in this video? What tasks do these people perform?

*Consider the Supplement for Unit 1 to find more information about journalism jobs on radio and in newspapers (Video 6 Journalism – Writing and Editing Jobs for Newspapers and Magazines (1940); Video 7 Radio Careers – Radio Jobs from Radio 1 Broadcasting School).

PORTFOLIO CAREER IN JOURNALISM

 READING AND DISCUSSING 6

TASK 29

Have you heard about a portfolio career in journalism? Consider this text to learn more about it and answer the questions that follow.

Text 6 portfolio career in journalism

A “portfolio career” is a career based on a series of varied shorter-term jobs either concurrently or consecutively as opposed to one based on a progression up the ranks of a particular profession.

The portfolio worker is frequently self-employed, offering his or her services on a freelance or consulting basis to one or more employers at the same time. However, a portfolio approach can also be taken to full-time employment with a single employer, if the employee chooses to expand his or her experience and responsibilities through taking different roles within the organization.

This is a new way of adapting to freelancing life in the 21st century, where journalists need to be more than sole traders pitching ideas to every editor in town. They should be their own business, with their own brand and a multitude of revenue streams.

The Portfolio Career, or as some call it in other fields the Renaissance Career, was much more difficult before the Internet. The web makes it easier and cheaper both to set up a business and to maintain more than one. The web has also made it easier to develop a passive income: the right business ideas can bring in money without a proportional amount of work.

A portfolio career is a great option for journalists because it enables to use different skills in different ways. There are journalists who teach, train, lecture and sell stuff online – all at the same time. To make this work one needs a good brand and a good portfolio presence on the web.

It’s something young people are already familiar with. A survey called Creative Graduates – Creative Futures published in January 2010 questioned 3,500 UK students on creative or media courses: percent of them had already developed a portfolio career, while studying!

Those who do it say it’s very fulfilling.

− What are the benefits of a portfolio career?

• Have you started your portfolio career already? How can it be helpful to you in the future?

• Say what you think about pursuing a professional career while studying.

• Discuss with your groupmates the ‘pro et contra’ of combining work and studies.

TASK 30

 Use the information of the texts and video extracts you’ve studied, as well as the ideas that resulted from your discussions with groupmates to write a short essay on What it takes to be a journalist.

ETHICS IN JOURNALISM

Ethics in journalism is a pervasive topic. The innovations in science and technology have brought a revolution in the way information is gathered and shared, and this has posed new challenges for journalists to ensure that the much valued beliefs of transparency and truthfulness are not compromised for other alternatives, including desires for attention or fame. Read to know more on this topic.

Ethics - n, plural –

1[treated as plural] moral principles that govern a person’s behavior or the conducting of an activity;

2[treated as singular] the branch of knowledge that deals with moral principles.

Ethic - n, sing., - a set of moral principles relating to a special group or form of conduct: ‘the puritan ethic’.

adj, - of or relating to moral principles or the branch of knowledge dealing with this.

 READING AND DISCUSSING 7

TASK 31

This text dwells on ethical and legal issues in journalism. Do you think ethical is equal to legal? Are you aware of the basic principles of ethics in journalism? Is it always easy to follow them?