Newsroom Operation

Before understanding the newsroom operation we need to understand what newsroom is. Newsroom generally refers to the place which is the powerhouse of all media institutions, some prefer to call it the main controlling unit, and others seek to understand it as the main commanding area of the press. They like to compare it to human brain box. Simply defined, the newsroom is the place where reporters and editors along with their technical and management staffs work for bringing out a media product.

The main function of newsroom varies in different ways.

Means, it is the place where the essential materials are available, assigning works, as well as gate keeping are done. In simple words newsroom is the office which is directed towards production of news before publishing/broadcasting.

It depends upon different media houses about how the newsroom is operated. Economical investment and the condition of manpower should be carried in it. Any publication house either that is print or broadcasting, without effective management of the newsroom, media house cannot achieve its successes and proceed ahead. For the regular and well conducting of the newsroom it is necessary to obey special rules and disciplines.
In most of the publication houses, newsroom usually refers to the editorial department. In a news-structure mainly there are three branches. They are Reporting Section, Editing Section, and Specialized Sections like (sports, political, economic, current affairs, article section, etc.).

Thus, for conducting newsroom efficiently, news editor and sub-editor work under the editor or chief editor. All staffs of newsroom are busy in editing and rewriting of the news. Reporter, sub-editor, and news editor of each branch is co-coordinates with each other. The work of each news evaluation is also done in this branch.

An editor has to play the role of manager in the newsroom. He is the leader of the newsroom. He has to take the responsibility of any obstacle and he also gets praisings of success at times. Like him, there are also other chiefs in a publication house. Marketing manager, administration chief, distribution chief, production chief are those chiefs who work as a chief of their own department. But the responsibility of editing department is totally different from any other departments.

Chief Editor of the newsroom is directly responsible to publisher or managing director ain a publication house. If there is more pressure of publisher, managing director or executive director upon newsroom, the news of newspaper, radio or television may be less commercial because they are concern more concerned in business than in services. In print media, from the action of news collection to press, all phase and process are the work of newsroom. In fact this is the main part of journalism. Later, other departments are developed in the case of newsroom.

In the broadcasting media, newsroom only produces the programs which are related with news. It searches the news and also analyzes it. The newsroom should be understood under the criteria and the code of conduct of journalism. In print media these following branch are mainly involved in the newsroom processing:

• Article/Opinion Section
• Copy editing Section
• Reporting Section
• Photography Section
• Technical Section
• Other sub-branches also assist these main branches in the news room processing.
  For the any newsroom the ideas or planning of proper management, planning of budget, manpower selection, appropriate direction etc have the effects upon the newsroom operation.

Newsroom structure of Nepali Media

Q. Describe the general newsroom structure of Nepali Newspapers.

Ans: A newsroom is the place where journalists-reporters, editors and producers along with other staffers—work to gather news to be published in a newspapers or magazine or broadcast on television, cable or radio. Some journalism organizations refers to the newsroom as the city room.

Newsroom is the powerhouse of all media institutions, some prefer to call it the main controlling unit, and others seek to understand it as the main commanding area of the press. They like to compare it to human brain box. Simply defined, the newsroom is the place where reporters and editors along with their technical and management staffs work for bringing out a media product.

The main function of newsroom varies in different ways.

However, the concept of division of labour and technological revolution, the function of the newsroom have also undergone change overtime. It is sometimes said that “the publishers were printers first, editors second and reporters not at all.” In almost all newspaper newsrooms, editors customarily meet daily with the chief editor to discuss which stories will be placed on the front page, section front pages, and other pages. This is commonly called a "budget meeting" due to the fact that the main topic of the meeting is the budgeting or allocation of space in the next issue.

Also today, newsroom management is an important part of media organizations. In oder to perform smoothly, competitively and in a more professional manner certain structures are drawn in newsroom management. Here, let is understand newsroom structures under two main types:

Horizontal Newsroom Structure: This type of newsroom structure explains the authority and power distributed equally to the chiefs of every sections or beats of news. The newsroom consists of chief editor to reporters like in commonly understood newsroom but their position or the structure of newsroom varies. Mostly chief editor remains at the top and other editors or chiefs of sections or beats remain parallel to each other. Sub editors or reporters assigned to work for the relat

ed field or beat work under the supervision of those chiefs. In this case there is more interaction between chief and reporters of the same beat of sections as they have direct access to each other. The newsroom structure of Nagarik National Daily can be viewed as an example of horizontal newsroom structure. The gate-keeping process doesn't necessarily pass through all the members of the newsroom, rather it is limited to the staffs of the related field or beat only.

Vertical Newsroom structure: This type of newsroom explains the authority or the power

distributed vertically i.e. like an inverted pyramid. The chief editor remains at the top and the reporter and

stingers remain at the bottom. The every news related to every sections or beats are passed through every steps of hierarchy. Editors work under the supervision of chief editor while sub-editors work under the command of editors. Sub-editors supervise copy-editors and reporters. This is such a chain of relations between the staffs of newsroom that a reporter directly meet the editor. The news structure is depicted in the newsroom management of Kantipur National Daily and other several newspapers.

Thus, the newsroom structures of Nepali newspapers are changing with the advancement in journalism and mass communication process. Competition between the media houses have made them manage their newsroom in such an effective way that they try to stand themselves different from others. However, in most of the media outside the capital city and even most of them within the city still have traditional vertical structure of newsroom.

References:

• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Newsroom

• Kafle Kapil, Patrakarita dot Khoj,2062, 119