News from the Team Training Desk: Sessions for Shared Newsroom Standards

Why teams ask for shared standards

Most of the enquiries I answer for Newsroom Team Training begin with the same observation: two people from one newsroom go out to cover the same kind of story and come back with footage that looks and sounds like it came from different organisations. One reporter frames a piece to camera tightly, another stands far back. One records interviews with the microphone close, another leaves the sound to chance. Nobody has done anything wrong, but the editor has to compensate in the cutting room.

Team sessions exist to close that gap. Instead of coaching individuals one by one, we work with the whole group so that everyone leaves with the same vocabulary and the same expectations. When a producer says the shot is too loose or the interview needs a cleaner room, every person in the team knows exactly what is meant and what to do about it.

How a session is put together

Every session is built around the team that asks for it. When an enquiry arrives through the contact page, I note who is in the group, which kinds of stories they cover and what the editor finds hardest to work with. Daniel Whitcombe and Helen Marsden then decide how the time is divided between camera work and reporting to camera, depending on what the group needs most.

Sessions run online, in live format, so a team spread across a county or working different shifts can still take part together. We usually plan a short block of live teaching followed by exercises the team films in its own area and sends to us. The tutors review that material and give recorded feedback, so each person can return to the comments later instead of relying on memory.

• Live online teaching with the whole group present
• Exercises filmed on the team's own patch
• Recorded feedback from the tutors on each piece

What a team should bring along

The most useful preparation costs very little. Ask each person to send two or three recent pieces they are reasonably happy with and one they are not. Real work shows us far more than a description of it ever could, and it lets the tutors point to moments in the team's own footage rather than invented examples.

It also helps to bring the equipment people actually use on the job, whether that is a full news camera, a smaller kit or a mix. Tell us which microphones are normally to hand and who usually shoots, who reports and who does both. If the newsroom already has a written style guide for field shooting, send it, even if it is only a page. We build on what exists instead of replacing it for the sake of starting fresh.

• Recent pieces, including one that did not work
• The kit people really carry on assignments
• Any existing guide or house notes on shooting

Settling on a few standards that stick

A common mistake is to try to agree on twenty rules in one afternoon. Teams rarely keep more than a handful in daily use, so we aim for a short list that fits on a single sheet. Typical choices cover how an interview is framed, how much clean ambient sound is recorded at each location, how a piece to camera is opened and closed, and what a camera operator checks before leaving the vehicle.

The tutors suggest, the team decides. Helen often finds that a group already agrees on more than it realises, and the session simply puts it in writing. Where opinions differ, we film both approaches and look at them side by side, which settles most arguments faster than discussion does.

• Interview framing and distance
• Ambient sound recorded at every location
• How pieces to camera begin and end

Planning for the darker months

Mid autumn changes the work. Daylight shortens, so stories shot at four in the afternoon are suddenly shot in poor light, and outdoor interviews compete with wind, rain and early dusk. Teams that settle their standards now tend to handle the winter months with less friction, because exposure and sound decisions have already been talked through rather than improvised on a wet pavement.

If your newsroom wants a session this season, it is worth raising the question of low light and wet weather kit when you write to us. We can build part of the programme around it, with exercises filmed at the dimmer end of the day so the whole team sees the problem and the practical fixes together.

Arranging a session with us

The first step is a short message through the contact page. Tell me roughly how many people would take part, what they cover and what you would like to change. I will reply with a few questions, and once we agree the shape of the programme you receive a written quotation. Payment follows by invoice and bank transfer, and the details are set out on the prices page.

Nothing is booked until the quotation is confirmed in writing, so there is room to ask questions first. If you are unsure whether a team session suits you better than individual coaching, say so in your message. I would rather help you choose the right format than sell you the wrong one.

Shared standards do not make reporters identical; they simply remove the avoidable surprises between the field and the edit. If your newsroom has felt that gap this autumn, a team session is a calm, practical way to address it. Write to me through the contact page with a few lines about your group, and I will help you work out what would be most useful.