There is a lot of work that goes into a newscast, whether it’s pre-recorded or live. For a live broadcast, the reporter is on-site at the story or the event and gathers information, reports it to the anchors and sometimes even interacts with people at the scene. Then there’s the editing and the graphics and all the other stuff that goes into putting it all together. All of this takes place in a very short time frame because news deals with current events, and it’s likely that new information will be uncovered right up to the moment the show airs.
Breaking news live shots don’t get much planning; if there’s a big story breaking, the producers send a reporter out to where the action is happening, and she’ll try to relate it to viewers. This can be risky, especially if someone is trying to interview a person on the street and they end up talking about something that has nothing to do with the story they’re supposed to be covering.
Planned live shots can also be challenging, because the reporter may need to pre-record VOs or SOTs or tag for the package she’ll be doing in the field. They also need to make sure they have IFB (Interruptible Feedback) working, which is a signal that the studio transmits from their production truck to the reporter and photographer on the live shot so that they know when it’s time to start talking.