In the news business, the title of “producer” covers a lot of ground. It could mean someone who writes scripts for anchors in local news, produces reports from the field in national news, or produces short-form video in digital. These responsibilities often overlap, but they are done off-camera, away from the studio lights and without bylines.
Like every person who works in a newsroom, a producer is a full-fledged journalist who works to keep their community informed.
“When people ask me what I do for a living, I don’t say I’m a senior digital content producer,” said Helen Jeong of NBC4 Los Angeles. “I say I’m a journalist.”
NBCU Academy went behind the scenes with Los Angeles’ combined NBC4 and Telemundo 52 newsroom to see where television news broadcasts intersect with how those stories appear online.
What does a TV producer do at NBC4?
Brianda Sanchez, NBC4 platform manager, 4 p.m. show (TV producer): It’s honestly the hardest question to answer because producers do so much. It’s beyond putting shows together. It’s looking at videos, selecting graphics, making sure the show flows, placement of stories. It’s a lot of problem-solving and having backup plans.
My day starts with a 9 a.m. editorial call. Everyone is on this call: reporters, managers, producers, photographers and assignment desk editors. And we go through what the day could potentially look like. We also have meetings to divide the reporters’ stories and place them throughout the shows, not only in the 4 o’clock show but from 3 to 6:30.
It takes a whole day to put a show together, and seeing the vision become a reality, and getting everybody on board with what we’re doing, is the most fun and rewarding.
What’s a good example of the kind of work you do?
Clara Ramirez, Telemundo 52 senior digital producer: A digital producer is fully immersed in the newsroom, and here in Los Angeles, we receive so many feeds and information from many different sources.
What we do is, we make sure that we maximize all that information and make it so it goes in the perfect format for all our digital platforms. We have the website, we have our app. We are the first ones who break the news about what’s happening.
We also do a lot of social media, but we have to make sure that we target that video and use it in the perfect way for all the different social media we have.
For example, I realized that some of the stories that are more important for our audience for Telemundo 52 were related to immigration. A TV reporter today was working on an immigration detention story, and in the meantime, I was on a digital article. I talked to a lawyer, and I asked what kind of resources or what else people should know if they are in the same situation. When the TV reporter was on the air, he could tease at the end of his story to go to our website to get more information.
That’s a full-circle story from the beginning. Reporter, side story, push alert.
What does collaboration look like in the newsroom?
Helen Jeong, NBC4 senior multiplatform content producer: One thing I love about this newsroom is that I truly, truly like everybody. I love working with the linear producers and editorial managers. Today, as soon as I walked in, we had some breaking news, so I talked to the managing editor of digital and asked him how we’ve covered this story so far and how we’ll cover it in the future.
Then I went to the managing editor on the TV side and asked them, “Where are we getting the details? Where are we sending the reporters?” Then talking to linear producers like Brianda, so I have a better idea of when the story is running, how we’re covering it, so I can share the same story that TV is airing on multiple platforms simultaneously.
My job is now adapting to the new frontier of journalism — multiplatform journalism — so using the real-time data that I get from across all platforms and sharing that with linear TV producers. We collaborate and ultimately deliver the stories by meeting the audience where they are.
What do you think is the most important part of your job?
Brianda Sanchez: The biggest part is the impact of these stories, and just staying to the facts.
Helen Jeong: Verification is important, following good stories, stories that impact people, those are my priorities. If there are urgent needs, to alert the public. That’s my job.
Clara Ramirez: Information is that tool that helps people to be empowered. With what I do every day, I bring that information to people where they are, and I feel very happy to know that that information is going to help them make better decisions.
