STAFF WRITER

Regular watchers of Fordham Nightly News (FNN) may notice something different about the program this year. The channel debuted a new format on Oct. 7.

“This year, we have just one anchor, and then we have two reporters and two interviewers, and then hopefully we have one editorial piece,” Ann Pierret, FCRH ’13, the head student producer at FNN, said.

The anchor will give the headlines followed by a package, which is a television industry term for a two-to-three minute clip, in this case done by a reporter.

Then, an interviewer will question an expert on the subject.

For example, if the package contains material related to President Barack Obama, the interviewer could interview a professor from the political science department.

There will be two packages per show in the new format. An editorial piece which will end the program.

Pierret said that this was different from previous years, where reporters were more specialized in what they did at FNN.

“The old format was [that] we had two anchors,” Pierret said. “We had a weather anchor, we had a sports section, an entertainment section and we had a special segment. Now, we’re emphasizing the quality of the news over the quantity, and we hope it will be received just as well as the past decade of Fordham Nightly News that we’ve done.”

According to Pierret, students working at FNN will benefit from the change in format.

“It’ll be a benefit to the students involved, because each on-air talent, there are going to be six a night,” Pierret said. “So each on-air talent will change their role each week, and this will really beef up their reel, which you need if you want to do an on-air position after graduation.”

Pierret said that students seeking careers in the television industry will need to be versatile in different roles because some jobs depend on experience level.

“You never start as an anchor,” Pierret said.

“You normally start as a reporter, and then you eventually get to that position. For me in particular, I’m probably going to a small town, to a smaller market, and I’m going to work as a reporter. As a reporter, you need to know editing, you have to know how to work a camera, you have to create your own packages for the news each night, you’re a one-man band. Then you move to a bigger market, and you maybe get an anchor position.”

Pierret said that she expected to face some challenges in changing formats.

“It’s going to be a challenge, just because it’s something new, and creating a package takes a lot of time, compared to just writing a story for entertainment or writing a story for sports,” Pierret said.

“But we have a good team who’s really excited about it and willing to put in the time, because, obviously, this is what we want to do in the real world, eventually,”

Pierret said that she expected the new format would be well-received by FNN viewers.

“We’re giving our audience more news, and we’re really again focusing on quality over quantity,” Pierret said. “Hopefully, the quality will be what they appreciate.”

Maria Buck, FCRH ’15, produces on Friday nights, but she also works on the technical side on Mondays. Because of this, she was able to see the first show of the year live.

“This year, I like the fact that we, at Fordham Nightly News, as producers, get more free range with the stories, they don’t have to be just strictly Fordham, national, international, etc.,” Buck said.

However, there is a small drawback to the new formatting regulations.

“With that free-range we cut out the more news effects, since we don’t do weather and we don’t do sports, we mainly just focus on big stories, that the producer and reporter choose,” she said.

Fordham Nightly News airs Monday through Friday from 5:30 to 6:30 p.m. on channel 10.

Categories: News

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