By Susan Carter
A frisson of enthusiasm, apprehension and anticipation came over the group as we arrived at Fusion 2, ITV Meridian’s offices in Whiteley, Hampshire. Rightly so, we were about to have an exciting and immersive experience.
As future journalists on the MA Journalism and MA Digital Media Production courses this visit gave huge insight into the live broadcast of local news. ITV Meridian covers the South Coast, the South East and the Thames Valley which includes Oxfordshire.
Kim Hewitt, Programme and Digital Editor, met us and explained the schedule for the day and how an average ITV day worked. Although, due to the ever-changing news, ‘average’ does not occur very often! We were split into two groups; one group started in news broadcast and the other in the weather studio. Alison Nice, Head of News, oversaw this part of the visit.
In the news gallery there were at least 30 screens giving constantly changing information. Some focusing on what is going out live on ITV, some showing auto cue screens, some the news room studio, some the live U screens and some the weather bulletin. Red and green lights show the time and countdown clocks.
The desk in front of those screens is monitored by up to 6 people.
At the back of this small area is the sound engineer who works between the studio, miking up the presenter, and his ‘desk’ of sliding buttons, controlling the sound.
Through darkened glass you can see the news room presenters, editors and journalists fact finding, editing and compiling the day’s news and weather. We were given an analogy to a restaurant where the meal has to be on the table at a certain time but can only be as good as the quality of the ingredients.
Timing is everything, down to the last second. One person controlling the schedule, both eyes on the clock and a mike for countdown. Facts can change at any moment and scripts can change during transmission. Another person is switching the screens and talking through the mike to the presenter and to auto cue.
We were all able to ‘have a go’ at presenting the news and weather. We felt first-hand what it is like to be ‘on air’, either following an auto cue for the news or operating a remote control to change screen for the weather. You need to remain calm, be adaptable, listen to all instructions relayed through your earpiece and work as part of a team.
We were lucky to meet Matt Teale, one of the news readers, and witness the live news broadcast and to have Holly Green, a weather presenter, helping us with our weather presentations.
A last few questions before it was time to depart. When asked about the effect of digital on the news Kim explained “Digital is a big thing going forward, it keeps us on air 24/7. Get to the location of the story and get the news out on digital first.”
And when confronted with potential AI stories “always trust your sources, use your journalistic instinct”. She added “ITV is a trusted institution, we are local people with local stories”.
The ITV Meridian team were so generous with their time and imparting of knowledge. We had experienced the excitement of live television, the professionalism of the ITV team, the need for quality journalism as against AI generated and the range of job types from production to presenting – or as Kim stated ‘the power or the glory’!
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