TV News Behind The Scenes (1973)

what do we want when do we want it now what do we want when do we want it now do we want do we want it [Applause] television is our eye on the world distant historic events actually witnessed by few are broadcast on television news to 40 million Americans nightly of the hundreds of news stories reported each day only about 30 can be aired on the local evening shows in New York a million viewers tune in Channel 7 Eyewitness News good evening I'm Roger grimby here now the news before the camera The Familiar anchor man but behind the camera and in the control room lies a world most of us never see ready to dissolve the sil strange jargon fills the air in this electronic world of screens buttons arked orders and millions of dollars worth of equipment r but the day begins slowly quietly in The Newsroom all the day's activity is generated from the assignment desk Joe I want you to go to Gold's office You Know da Gold's office yeah it is not the Anchorman but the assignment editor who decides which local stories to cover he's in first at 6:00 a.m. aided by his assistant and surrounded by Communications equipment he controls the Ever Changing locations of Crews and reporters miles away hello there this is unit 11 okay Bob I just wonder if you were on the way yes we're about to get on the West Side Highway let me know we can actually get pictures of the G the assignment editor checks the newspapers eight news tickers press releases and a daybook listing 40 scheduled news events he monitors the police radio then he decides which reporter will go with which crew to which story Mel 54 Mela tuliver has been a news reporter since 1967 when she stood in for a striking newswoman what's happening anyway now in at 9:00 a.m. to wait for the assignment editor's decision she has no idea where she'll be going today B REM they're shooting uh they're shooting Sheamus R Canon and then Lindsay is going to show up around 10:30 at par 45 go and shoot it and then do a stand at what time is this at 10:30 I'll give you the landing crew one of seven Crews the Landy crew leaves the plain inconspicuous ABC building for their unmarked car in this tough City identification is an open invitation to Danger once a clearly marked ABC car was actually firebombed with Melba they speed off to the day's first story okay inside a team of desk assistants Keeps The Newsroom running smoothly keeping track of graphics for rear screen projection behind the anchormen rushing film to the lab Mak a special report grabbing wire stories and taking phone tips Jean demonstration at the Russian council at 5:30 tonight to get stories first and fast the assignment editor has his own special sources we have police tipsters down at Police Headquarters we often will hear about a story Faster by hearing it on the radio mainly I will try to get spot news if I can at all there a fire disaster Riot or anything like that mayor Lindsay actively promotes film making in New York City Melba's coverage of the stage story will be free publicity for the actors the movie and the city's film industry there are few Scoops in television news because most organizations depend upon the same sources I didn't expect to enjoy this story but I did try to make it interesting and turned out liking it myself I enjoyed talking to Diane canon in New York on several other occasions and each one of them has been a joy and of course I'm in New York at the prettiest time of the year I love it here now Central Park is alive and the blossoms are out and spring is in the air it's really beautiful and to Bert Rems you know ordinarily I being a reporter I don't like to believe these handouts PR notes on uh on famous people but I understand you're a very sharp guy very quick wit uh yes I am one of the most difficult aspects of this job is having to report a story directly from the scene it means getting there getting the story and presenting it on film very often it means the reporter must go over and over story until he gets a good take I picked up a few bits of Miss I picked up a few bits of miscellaneous information about this movie that might interest you number one no let me start again and there are a few bits of miscellaneous information about this movie you might be interested in first of all the title Sheamus according to director yes Jan Tony we need a crew to go on this watermain break um on East 8th Street sometimes regular programming is interrupted for news bulletins from a specially equipped flash news desk a major water main break is reported in New York City's Yorkville District the break in a 48in main has flooded streets in the vicinity of East 8th between 2 and third Avenues and cause traffic in the area to be re-rooted I'm Bob Lake we'll have complete details on tonight's Eyewitness News at 6 a film crew usually covers four or five stories a day in their careers this could add up to some 15,000 the reporter is the director on the scene I'd like to make a not yet not yet there's a water line Mark over there and then let's go get kretchmer let me make some of the people in the home looking out the window how's that give me the whole home right oh yeah medium shot L shot closeup there's always an eyewitness to tell the story when it happened what did you hear see and do I couldn't see anything from my window since there's a Terrace and I went to my living room looked out and saw a river on 80th Street teamwork on a TV crew doesn't always mean working side by side but trusting that each is doing his pot maybe he got sucked up into the sewer quite sure he is getting good shot I just wish I knew exactly where he was look at the fish look at the's no fish l spots a city official on the scene uh I see kmer Yonder there we walk up there and go across without drowning some reporters let a story like this build itself a good reporter builds the story and this make firefighting problems right now I understand there was a fire in the neighborhood this morning no problem at all away um no we got enough water pictures that we can cover any uh let's wrap it up the film rolls off to the lab and Bob blap is off to another story meanwhile throughout drier parts of the city ABC Crews zero in on other news without their work there's no sound or action just words like a newspaper or radio [Music] Story the cameraman soundman and lighting man know how to work together efficiently even in the midst of noisy demonstrations each crew sends in about an hour and a half of film every day a good television news director is coach talent scout manager and disciplinarian wrapped into one Al Primo selects the news team that works best together on the air policy decisions are hammered out with the executive producer and the assistant news director seven key Congressional races my job is basically to provide the direction in the philosophy of the coverage the whole concept of eyewitness news has been designed to put the trust in the emphasis on the correspondent who was at on the scene the emphasis here is on communication what you see on Eyewitness News or any other news program for that matter is a team of people what you don't see is the real news team which is hundreds of people filming editing preparing and planning and putting together this vehicle that represents the news this man never goes on location never appears on the screen yet the producer's decisions affect everything you see on the air he arranges some 30 stories and 20 commercials to fit exactly into 58 minutes and 57 seconds and he must bear the burden of killing a finished story listen um the Sheamus thing you did I've got a I got a problem tonight I got about uh four different stories involved with this uh with movies and show business oh and the Vietnam things so I'm not going to be able to use it well then you can just use it tomorrow you think you think it'll hold yeah okay did you get very upset no not at all nothing personal nine riters transform news agency stories into conversational television style a separate sheet for each story so the producer can arrange them at will reporters like Bob Lake usually write their own stories always hoping to read them on the air for the extra pay six editors trim down an average of 20 minutes of each batch of film to a few minutes the film is edited to illustrate the story they work fast deciding what to keep what to throw out once edited the story must be cleared by the producer hi John hello Steve how's it going with this thing well he's got a lot of time here how you want to cut it down or how long is it it's a minute and 50 now minute 50 I understand uh crutchmer had a bad cold can you let me listen to his audio a little bit please one of the gates it does sound a little funny but [Music] come up sound pretty good how's a B- roll well you a lot of good scenes of the water FL down the streets and out of the building fine why don't you uh let's roll on down in let me see the tag I want to make sure I love that shot of those guys spinning around okay let's take this out and let's it's going to be on uh on goes about 10 after you think we'll be all right yeah we'll have time I would want to own that car let's use that shot good that's good shot great story right that's nice okay I think a minute 50 will uh sounds like good piece fine we'll use good it'll stand up a minute good quicker okay Ste to help illustrate his stories the producer orders about 16 graphic illustrations for show drawn up by staff artists they are later photographed onto cells for projection behind the Anchorman I wi haraldo on six Heraldo Rivera was a lawyer before becoming a TV reporter he breaks with tradition in openly expressing his opinions on the air I thought we were going to use the tape recorder uh well we're going to try this one out I think it'll probably work even better okay is that new it's the wireless mic you know what we're doing with this know but it doesn't look like the one I had to wear that time which don't you think he's going to recognize you I don't care if he recognized me as long as he doesn't recognize my microphone well if he recogniz you then he's not going to say what he bought well I'm just going to confront them I'll say well what do you mean you bought 10 cups of coffee and a half now who's kidding who you bought some heroin didn't [Music] you Rivera is at his best exposing serious Injustice in bringing the shocking conditions of mental institutions old people's hospitals and Drug ridden slums to television he has changed people's awareness and has often brought about constructive action and I know that this is true because I've personally bought it you know off the streets right and from clinics while heading back to The Newsroom the crew is diverted to another story calling un 5 un 5 this is unit 5 go to the it building at Park Avenue in 51st I'll send you a CER okay good enough tell him to look for us so he can stick with us in case the thing moves that way you can just jump in the car as soon as we've got it in the can over Rivera agrees with ABC policy that people watching TV in their living rooms respond better to reporters who are natural I see the newsman just as being more than a conduit of information there's no reason why he has to stand on Mount Olympus and lecture the people as to what he's seen in cooly objective terms this is kri Van can you give me the mayor schul Tony we're going to need a curry on that too of it wherever you see this movement now that's what I want I want to show like like streams of humanity [Music] flowing 1 2 3 4 we don't want r 1 2 3 at this time the anchormen arrived to write their stories and go over the script this Vietnam package is incred producer briefs bill but I've got it all broken down if I give you a little flight plan with the uh the angle I want you to cover in the amount of time and the RPS and the whole works break down PE by fine all right and iron out the point with Anchorman Roger grimby I don't add that's on tape tape goes here on the producers orders stories are polished and changed Graphics are photographed on cells More film edit [Music] came clearing the streets camera Crews from rival TV stations Converge on the scene as traffic on Park Avenue is [Applause] block you get [Applause] that the corer arrives to get the first role of film [Applause] as he speeds it back another is quickly loaded no reason to get [Applause] hurt rush to The Newsroom a desk assistant speeds the film to the lab it will be ready in only 40 minutes once the producer has numbered the script sheets a desk assistant sorts the copies one for the associate director The Anchor Man the director the audio man the producer the basis of everything now the script is copied onto teleprompter roles en large type easily read by the Anchorman the director and associate director check every second of the script's timing what's the DF monl 52 commercials are on 33 one film chain 91 the film from the demonstration has been developed then it will be edited and taken to the studio projectors back before 6 to write his story araldo Rivera has left his camera crew at the demonstration to shoot more action on camera too hello I beg your pardon cell one it's on cell one limbo okay at 5:45 all is ready and Bill butell joins Roger grimby for the Trek down the block to the studio better get going I suppose I guess it's time think we can fill in half an hour cigarettes don't mind it today but when it's raining it's miserable it's okay thank you change cell however there are compensations aren't they all right let's do the payche yeah Roger starts it off at 2 three 3A four Bill pre five five 6 7 7 a 8 9 10 you did this on purpose work in on page 11 going to work in here at 11 Roger 13 38 a 38b 38 C 38D 39 bill 39a that's terrific Steve you do act like lieutenant commander commander three broad after all it's our war now say something funny standby here we go okay stand by K check in theme we'll have the Finish better theme under announce stand by to take camera three news the 6:00 report in color with Roger Grimsby Phil butell and the Eyewitness News Team good evening I'm Roger Grimsby here now the news Clifford Irving has been subpoena to a in a Los Angeles Court the producer watches anxiously as the show ink on paper images on film comes alive in the hands of the television director and the personalities on screen with Split Second timing the director picks shots from 16 screens directs the floor manager and three cameramen unlike national news shows this local show is live and mistakes cannot be erased in that area and costus thousands of dollars worth of damage Bob BL covered it has this report Bob bill this was a very stubborn problem one that City Water Supply Cruise had not licked fully 4 hours after it began the pipe almost 100 years old loosing tons of water into the street and nearby basements the nursing home's parking lot with both cars and trash cans a wash in the sudden tide man around the mle 4 during the film report the producer has time to warn bill butell of an impending change yes I told you never call me here you don't think that we ought to make that the first demonstration story instead of the one that we do have number five roll 30 show them a five four 2 and even if it is as Mr kretchmer said earlier the cleanest Block in town now the city says that block on East 80th Street will be closed indefinitely to traffic due to the Damage Done the pavement Bill thank you Bob 68% of the precincts have reported and it appears that stand by camera ready to tighten up on billing thep the people because of the latest film reports from the it demonstration the script must be changed in mid shell F black after making the necessary changes the producer sends the story with a desk assistant down to the studio floor during a commercial [Music] break St would you run it up no prompter we're on we're on page five now but uh why don't you why don't you just come up to page eight and I'll do page five uh oh 78 is on script come up to page nine beautiful 10 seconds stand by to take camera two take two we told you earlier about the protest against the war along Park Avenue that turned into some violence Heraldo Rivera went to cover it he's back now with this report Heraldo bill with anti-war sentiment running as strongly as it does here in the city there was never any question that the most recent escalation of the fighting in Southeast Asia would cause renewed demonstrations against the war take it it was all peaceful enough with the demonstrators making the point that the same company that makes wonderbrad Twinkies and Morton pot pies is also manufacturing hardware for the air War then came the turning point and what had been a nonviolent demonstration turned ugly the Mounted Police were given the order to move them and all hell broke loose I saw several of the demonstrators clubbed and dragged away and I also saw one of the mounted policemen injured by a thrown by a demonstrator stand by take [Music] [Music] 30 is all hell break stand by camera [Applause] to take the demonstration was still going on when I left about an hour ago and I have absolutely no idea how many people were arrested or how many protesters or policemen were hurt but I do know that I hate that ugly War it's being fought across the world but it's setting Americans against Americans right here at home your news is good news I'm Roger grimby I'm billel thank you very much and have a good [Music] evening how come there no tally lights are we using those anymore there were no tally lights carea never work it's mean you know I wonder why they can't make the tally light light all the way up instead of just a little top on the on the top for