AVID iNEWS PRODUCER’S GUIDE FOR HNN

LOOK AT THE RUNDOWN COLUMNS AND WHAT THEY REPRESENT:

Page: number using this format: A or B to indicate which block the story is in. Start
numbering with 10, then go to 20, 30, 40—that will keep the pages in order, but also allow us
to insert pages such as 11, or 21, 22 if we decide later to add breaking news items. So it would
be A10, A20, A30 and so on.

Cam: the director will fill this in to indicate which camera should be used for OC shots.

Tal: Use this to indicate which anchor will be reading the story. Use the first three letters of
the person’s first name. For example, if the anchor is Mary, then the column would be filled
with the letters MAR.

NOTE: Whenever we have a story that will use a two-shot with both anchors involved,
then we need to create two lines and two page numbers for the script. SEE THE
EXAMPLE ON THE TEST HNN RUNDOWN

Slug: Keep it simple, one or two words. For PKGs, there will be three slug lines and three
page numbers. For the anchor, it would be SLUG ANCHOR, SLUG PKG, SLUG TAG. The
corresponding page numbers would be like this: A20A, A20P and A20T.

Video Clips: named for the folder that the director will use to find Clips.
Use the terms
PKG, VO or V/S/V (VO/SOT/VO). IF THERE IS NO VIDEO FOR THE STORY,
LEAVE THAT COLUMN BLANK.

OTS: named for the folder that the director will use to find Over the Shoulder boxes (Still 1 is
for LEFT OTS and Still 2 is for RIGHT OTS) --- so in this column put S1 or S2. IF THERE
IS NO OTS FOR THE STORY, LEAVE THAT BLANK.

CG: This indicates if there will be a lower third or upper third super.
Write in the number of
CGs there will be on the story. IF THERE IS NO CG FOR THE STORY, LEAVE THAT
BLANK.

FSlogo: The Logo folder on Broadcast Pix is for Full Screens, so this is named to help the
director find that on the air. Write in the number of FS there will be for the story. IF THERE
IS NO FS FOR THE STORY, LEAVE THAT BLANK.
Time: iNews uses this column to keep track of each story’s time. There are already some
times embedded in this column that will be used in every newscast such as the break and the
time for the open video. When the producer creates a rundown for the show, he or she should
put a “dummy” time in this column for the expected time for each script. For example: for a
VO/SOT/VO, the producer goes to the blank for Time and erases the 0:00 and replaces it
with :45. The replaced time now starts adding into the total time for the newscast. The time in
this column will remain in BOLD even after a writer begins to enter the story information into
the script page. The producer, to get the exact time of the written script, will need to go back to
the time column after the story is completely written, erase the time in the Time box and then
the iNews program will recalculate the time of the script as written and put the exact time into
the total show time.

Cume: This represents the accumulated time of all the stories in the newscast. We are
shooting for a 15-munte newscast, so the time in the Cume column, after all the stories’ exact
times are entered should be about 14:30, allowing for a little chat and late rolls on tapes, etc.
You do not need to change anything in this column. JUST KEEP AN EYE ON THE TIME.

Backtime: You also do not need to change any times in this column. The backtime shows
at the top of the rundown when the newscast begins (05:45:00) and when it ends (06:00:00).
This can supplement the Cume time when preparing the newscast before we go on the air. But
it is especially useful to see how close we are to the time we are supposed to be at as each story
airs. Let’s say for example, that the Backtime column says the Break should begin at 5:55:15,
but the real-time clock says it is 5:56:30 when the break begins. THAT MEANS WE ARE
ONE MINUTE AND 15 SECONDS OVER!!! The producer will have to decide to cut
something during the break. In order to end the newscast on time, the producer may decide to
cut a sports story. So, the producer would tell the director and the sports and news anchors
that “WE ARE OVER, DROP PAGE B40.” Or the producer may decide to drop the kicker
story instead; in that case the producer would tell the director and the news anchors to “DROP
PAGE Bxx”—whatever the page number of the kicker story is.

Writer: As the producer adds lines to the HNN Rundown Template, the producer’s name
will appear in this column. He or she should replace the name in that column with the name of
the writer who will be assigned to that story.

Approval: The EP or his designate will put his initials in this column to indicate that he has
read and approved the story for content and script format. Only then can the video for the story
be edited to match the script.
USING INEWS TO CREATE A RUNDOWN AND PRODUCE A 15-MINUTE HNN NEWSCAST

1- Determine what stories are available for today’s newscast.

a. You should already have a list of JRNL 16 PKGs and VO/SOT/VOs that are available
to use
b. Check with someone in charge of NewsHub to see what stories have been covered that
day and see if they are available in some way for HNN
c. Scan the AP news wires to see what are the most newsworthy stories taking place that
day that would be of interest to the HNN audience. Especially check the Regional wire
for stories taking place on Long Island
d. Scan CNN NewSource through the Pathfire system on iNews. As you find stories that
you think might be useful for HNN, save them into the Media List created for HNN that
day. You might want to save some that we may not to decide to use later. Just get them
on the Media List and you can decide which stories to actually dub into the Avid
NewsCutter system later.
e. Check to see if the AP has information that is more current than the CNN stories you
selected. You may need to use both to have an up-to-date story.
2- Begin organizing your stories into iNews
a. The EP will have created an HNN rundown for the day’s newscast before you arrive.
Use that to begin placing stories into the system.
b. Add lines to the rundown using the CTRL-N command. Each time you do that, a new
line will be created at the spot where you have your cursor.
c. If there are JRNL 16 PKGs or VO/SOT/VOs that you plan to use, scripts will be
provided for you and times. Put not only the slugs, but cut and paste the scripts into the
proper lines on the rundown as well.
d. On the blank lines start typing in preliminary story information:
Slug
Video Clips
Time—use the amount of time you would like the story to run
FSlogo-if you know that there will be FS for the story, put that in
Page numbers will be important later, but for now just see how the newscast
times out. You should shoot to have 14:30 filled.
You can leave the other columns blank for now
e. Try to group stories together by subject matter. Also, arrange stories so that you don’t
have too many of the same type of stories (i.e. 3 PKGs) in a row. Aim for a well-paced
newscast that has a variety of story types within a group of stories.
f. You can check the accumulated time of a group of stories by following this procedure:
Click the tab to the left of the first story in the group that you want to time. Hold
the left mouse button down as you drag the cursor down the column of buttons
until all of the story you want to time are selected. A tooltip window will appear
that displays the total time of the block you selected.
g. Reorder the lines of the rundown as necessary to provide a well-paced newscast that
flows from one story to another. You can change the order of the rundown by clicking
the rundown’s far left tab and dragging it to another line on the rundown. The timing of
the newscast automatically adjusts when you do this.
THE HNN SPORTS PRODUCER SHOULD ALSO BE FOLLOWING THE SAME PROCESS
AS ABOVE FOR SPORTS STORIES. THE SPORTS SEGMENT IS ALLOCATED 2:30 (TWO
MINUTES AND 30 SECONDS). THE HNN NEWS PRODUCER AND HNN SPORTS
PRODUCER WILL MEET AT 1:25 TO COORDINATE THEIR WORK.

3- At 1:35, the HNN Producer goes over the rundown with the Executive producer to give
preliminary approval to the HNN newscast rundown. After that, the producer can begin entering Page
numbers and other elements into HNN rundown columns
4- The HNN News and Sports Producers continue monitoring news and sports events of the day
while polishing up the rundown and adding all the details that will be necessary to produce a smooth-
flowing, error-free newscast.
5- At 3:20, the EP meets with the News Producer to review the HNN rundown for the day and
make changes or give final approval.
6- The rest of the Producer’s time is taken up by communicating the plans for the day’s newscast to
the JRNL 75 and RTVF 14 students working on the newscast and monitoring the work. The News and
Sports Producers should also continue checking the AP wire and CNN to see if there are any breaking
stories or updates to existing stories that should be included in the newscast. If so, immediately inform
the EP and a decision will be made about what to do regarding the new information. The producer is
also responsible for making sure that each of the Assistant Producer’s work is being done well and by
the appropriate deadline:
3:30 p.m.: JRNL 75 class begins in Dempster 142; Producer gives briefing on the day’s HNN
rundown.
3:35 p.m.: In NewsHub, APs, writers and anchors begin assignments; video editors start
gathering video
3:35-5:00 p.m.: EP or designate approves scripts as writers finish them. Writers must sit with
EP or designate to go over stories as part of the story approval process
4:30 p.m.: Early rundowns distributed to director and other production staff
5:00 p.m.: All scripts written and approved
5:00-5:05: Final scripts and rundowns printed and copies distributed:
Distribute 8 copies of the script as follows: Producer, Director, 2 copies for News
Anchors, 2 copies for Sports Anchor and Producer, Audio Operator, Executive
Producer. Distribute copies of rundown to all the above, plus EACH technical crew
member.
5:15 p.m.: All video edited, graphics produced and exported to Broadcast Pix
5:20 p.m.: Anchors to Studio B for micing and IFB checks; run through of newscast as time
allows; practice any difficult live production tasks
5:30 p.m.: Final scripts and rundown changes made and delivered to control room for
Director, Anchors, Producer, Executive Producer and Operations Manager for any late
breaking news coverage,.
5:45 p.m.: HNN live on HTV
6:00 p.m.: HNN off-air
6:00-6:30 p.m.: Clean up Studio B and NewsHub; critique of newscast until class ends at 6:30
(RTVF 14 class ends at 6:15)
 iNews Scripting Macros for the Producer Keyboard

F1 Help
SH/F1 TAKE VO
CTRL/F1 WIPE VO
ALT/F1 MORE VO
SH/F2 TAKE SOT (Also puts in OUT= and TRT=)
CTRL/F2 WIPE SOT (Also puts in OUT= and TRT =)
ALT/F2 2-SHOT
SH/F3 TAKE FS
ALT/F3 TAKE PKG (Also puts in OUT= and TRT =)
SH/F6 TAKE SUPER
CTRL/F6 WIPE SUPER
ALT/F7 WIPE FS
ALT/F9 OUT= and TRT =
F11 OC (use for Anchor On Camera)
SH/F11 REMOTE INTRO
CTRL/F11 REMOTE TAG
ALT/F11 DOUBLE BOX
CTRL/F12 PRINT SCRIPT
SH/F12 PRINT RUNDOWN
iNews Scripting Production Cues
Production cues are playback instructions for devices such as video machines, still stores, and
character generators. When you insert production cues, they appear in the area to the left of the text in
the Story panel. In addition, a production cue marker appears in the story text to indicate where each
production cue belongs in the story.
To add a production cue:
1. Open the queue containing the story you want to work with.
2. Click a story to select it.
3. In the Story panel, position the cursor in the story text where you want the production cue
marker to appear.
4. Do one of the following:
a. From the Story menu, choose Insert Production Cue.
-OR-
b. Press ALT-Insert.
A production cue marker appears at the location in the story text, and the Instruction panel appears
with the cursor in a Production Cue text box (or area) to the left of the Story Text panel.
5. Type the production cue in the box.
For the correct format of production cues, contact your system administrator or see the related topics
below.