DETROIT (WXYZ) — It's National News Literacy Week, and from Jan. 23 to Jan. 27, we'll be encouraging news consumers to stop the flood of misinformation and learn how to identify trustworthy news through a series of stories.
In broadcast journalism, news gathering and dissemination are a team effort, employing the expertise of numerous people within the newsroom. From the news director to reporters to assignment editors, getting the news to viewers is a process that requires a lot of planning, verification and execution.
The news director is the leader of the newsroom. They are responsible for developing, managing and implementing editorial strategies to most effectively meet company goals and reach news consumers across multiple platforms while managing all news personnel working within the station.
“We take seriously what’s going on in metro Detroit and in our community. And by doing that, we dig deeper and this can be seen in the people we hire — the diversity of people, not just in race and religion but creed and thought process. I think to have a well-rounded newsroom, you have to have people from all walks of life and cultures here to be able to have a voice and to be able to speak up and speak out about stories, especially stories that go uncovered or are largely ignored. If I don’t have the right staff to be able to talk about it, then we’ll never know about and never report it,” said Kennan Oliphant, news director at WXYZ.
The news director works closely with newsroom management, like the digital news director, executive producers and the news desk manager for planning and execution of news strategies.
RELATED: Test your knowledge: How news-literate are you?
Verifying information is at the center of each step in the editorial process and is the responsibility of every person in the newsroom.
“People have their opinions about things, but it’s about fact-finding and understanding those facts. We’re all predisposed to bias and opinion, and we have certain thoughts about things based on how we were raised and what we are exposed to, but our journalists, from me down, should understand what their biases are and then be able to effectively move around them or through them in order to get to the heart of the story. And to me, that heart is, what are the actual facts and when you find those facts, who are the people you talk to from not just both sides of a story, but all sides,” Oliphant said.
Vetting is different for each type of story. Just ask Yve Jones, the assignment desk manager at WXYZ.
"If it comes in the form of an email from a municipality or agency that vetting usually stops there because you’re getting the information from the source themselves,” Jones said. “If it's vetting from a social media post, then you need to make additional phone calls or emails to see if the information is accurate. The first step in this process is normally the phone call from a tipster or agency. Then we contact law enforcement agencies to see if the information is legitimate. Then you move on to determine if you have a crew available to go to the scene for further vetting. The vetting continues with the staff in the newsroom, who will then have additional questions that often require another call to the agency.”
As consumers continue to expand their consumption of news across multiple platforms including television, print and social media, digital content has become a major part of the operations at WXYZ and throughout the industry.
“From a digital perspective, it's important that we make sure we're reporting the facts in a fair and balanced way on our website, social platforms and streaming devices. Our digital team scours the internet to get a pulse on what people are interested in and talking about. We also work very closely with the broadcast team so we are in sync with our coverage and inform them when we have story tips that should be looked into,” said Lyle Cifuentes, digital director at WXYZ.
Executive producers lead teams of producers who research, find, vet, plan, approve and produce daily and long-form news content. Producers also assist with content creation for anchors and reporters. This can include contacting and vetting sources, writing copy, approving scripts, creating graphics and ensuring there is accurate news coverage on multiple platforms.
A major role in the newsroom is the assignment editor. They research, respond to and vet tips and sources, monitor police scanners, communicate with law enforcement agencies, schedule Chopper 7 and keep up with news on all mediums, including social media, to assist reporters and photographers for all stories. When viewers call or contact the news station, they speak with an assignment editor.
“For the WXYZ newsroom and in most newsrooms, the assignment desk is the heart of the newsroom. That’s because it is the gatekeeper for dissemination of information. If you think of a command center — that’s what it is," Jones said.
“When it comes to the people who reach out to us... about ideas and stories, we really want to look at things and take them seriously because you never know who’s sitting on something that can really change lives or the course of something for people,” Oliphant added.
Jones said one of the most important roles that assignment editors have is “making sure that what we put out is accurate."
She said it makes no difference in the news department if it’s on web or on TV. We want to make sure we’re giving out correct information.
“Unconfirmed information is never posted. We always wait until we have the confirmed facts before posting a story on WXYZ.com and our social platforms. The team also looks for the positive community stories from across metro Detroit — reporting the good things that are uplifting. Anchors, reporters and producers also contribute to our platforms. It's a true team effort. Overall, our priority is to serve our audience with the news and information in the different digital spaces where people are consuming news,” Cifuentes said.
Anchors and reporters are responsible for finding stories, researching, vetting tips and sources, writing stories and reporting their findings, both live and prerecorded for TV. Anchors and reporters work closely with producers, assignment editors and photographers to produce news packages that air on TV, a station website and social media.
Before viewers see news packages on-air, a team of photographers are tasked with capturing video content including interviews, b-roll and anchor and reporter stand-ups.
Once back at the station, photographers and editors take what was captured and turn the content into news packages and TV segments.
Want to test your news literacy? Click on the following links for short quizzes to test your knowledge.
- Quiz: How newsrooms work
- Quiz: Is it legit? Vetting news sources for credibility
- Interested in more quizzes from the News Literacy Project, click here.
For more information about News Literacy Week, click this link.
If you have a news tip, contact the WXYZ assignment by calling 248-827-7777 or via email at news@wxyz.com.
