Journalism students visit ITN Studios

We were fortunate enough to be given the chance, through university, to visit the ITN studios in London. It was interesting to learn that ITN are employed by ITV, Channel 4 and Channel 5 to source, create and present the news for each of these broadcast channels.

After a brief explanation of the towering building we had found ourselves in, and a quick glance of Jon Snow, the ITV editor showed us around the ITV newsroom. This enabled us to gain an understanding of how each person works effectively to fulfil their roles; from organising cameramen to continuously sourcing newsworthy stories to creating and editing video features.

Each person forms part of a much larger team. This team would not run as efficiently or competently as was evident without each team member completing both their own tasks and balancing the workload across other team members. The atmosphere was quiet and organised. There was no sign of urgency or flurry as we had previously expected a busy newsroom to be and the journalists never shouted, but spoke calmly to one another in the relaxed environment that they had created in their workplace.

After a tour of the newsroom, we were able to sit in the gallery and watch the live broadcast of the London regional news. It was exciting to watch the communication between the members of the gallery and the television reporter, as well as those who were out in London on correspondent reports. We were also able to gain a better understanding of how a television show is organised and aired, and it was a thrill to see how close to the second each feature was queued. When a special guest was running late, we were amazed at how seamlessly the team rearranged the live news programme whilst the reporter continued to address the audience watching from their televisions at home.

We were also able to watch the national news broadcast live with Mary Nightingale. It was a shock to learn that the bustling and fully equipped newsrooms that you see on television is, in fact, an empty green room. Sitting just behind the cameras, wearing a headset to listen back to the gallery and watching Mary presenting the news with obvious flare and professionalism was a unique experience. She explained about how the camera targets worked, her ability to read the news at three words a second and showed us what would happen in the event of a Royal death; complete with a set of drawers full of black ties and obituaries.

This opportunity was one that we were very grateful to be able to experience and enjoy, and if the opportunity arises in years to come, we would encourage all journalism students to put themselves forward to visit ITN.

Authors: Eleni Harvey, Madeline Goodwin and Kiffy Clelland