every edit tells a story Sound and the Visual Frame: a comparative analysis of videotape editor routines in global newsrooms

Abstract

The way video images are edited together to frame stories have historically evolved through news routines from linear to nonlinear (digital) editing contributing, in part, to the globalization of television news. The tape editing process, specifically in Western television newsroom cultures—such as those found in Germany, Britain, and the United States—have historically exhibited different news routines that have seldom been discussed. This research documents the distinctions in one aspect of the news routine: the practices of global newsroom videotape editors and their role in framing news stories. Across borders there were differences in story construction, the shared professional language of the newsroom, the actual story construction routines, the newsroom culture of story construction, and in the historical foundations from which each system developed. Despite the fact that the global newsrooms visited in this study have subsequently shifted to digital editing functions, differences in the routines of tape editors remain and can be linked to their national identity. These differences are most obviously revealed in discussion over the use of sound in the framing process.

Notes

The author wishes to thank Dr. Don Godfrey who helped with earlier drafts.