Before You Commission a News Package: A Checklist for Editors
Owen Davies
6 minutes to read
A practical list of questions to settle with your edit team before a finished news package is cut, from running order and graphics to captions, voice-over and delivery.
Start with the running order, not the footage
The first thing I ask an editor who wants a finished package is where the item sits in the bulletin. A thirty-second item that opens the programme is cut differently from a ninety-second piece that follows a studio introduction. Before anything is commissioned, write down the slot, the exact duration you need and whether the presenter leads in live or from a pre-recorded link.
It also helps to say what the item has to do for the viewer. Some packages exist to show what happened, others to explain why it matters, and others to carry one strong interview. When the purpose is stated at the start, the edit team can decide quickly which shots lead and which stay in the rushes.
Our edit packages are cut to your running order, so the more precisely that order is described, the fewer rounds of changes follow. Send the slot, the length and the intended opening line if you have one.
- Slot in the bulletin and exact running time
- Live lead-in or recorded link
- What the item must show or explain
Settle graphics and captions early
Graphics are where deadlines quietly slip. Decide before the edit begins whether you need a locator map, a name caption for each speaker, a lower-third headline or an on-screen date. Each of these needs checked spellings, and a wrong place name on screen is far harder to forgive than a rough cut.
Agree the caption style too. If your newsroom uses a particular font size, colour band or position for names and job titles, say so, and send a sample frame from a recent item. Priya Sharma, our lead editor, keeps graphics consistent across every item we deliver, but she can only match a house style she has seen.
Spelling of names, titles and places should come from you in writing, not from memory of a phone call. A short list sent with the brief saves a correction pass later, and it keeps the package accurate when it reaches the gallery.
- Locator maps, name captions and headlines needed
- Your house style, with a sample frame
- Written spellings of every name and place
Decide who records the voice-over and when
Voice-over is often the last item on the list and the first to hold up delivery. Be clear on whether your reporter records the track, whether we record it to your script, or whether the package will be delivered with a guide track for your own voice to be laid over.
If a script is coming, tell us when. An edit cut to a script that arrives late is a rushed edit, and the pictures should follow the words, not the other way round. Ideally the script and the timings of the main pictures are agreed before the cut is locked, so the final read fits cleanly without trimming sentences at the last minute.
Also say whether the track needs to be clean for foreign-language use or for a version with sound on the pictures. These small choices affect how audio is mixed, and they are far simpler to arrange before the cut than after it.
- Who records the voice-over
- When the script will arrive
- Whether a clean track or alternate mix is needed
Check what material the edit will draw on
A package is only as good as what was shot. Ask what footage exists, who filmed it and whether anything is missing, such as a wide establishing shot, a cutaway to cover an interview edit, or a clear shot of the location name. Gaps found at the edit stage cost time that a short extra shoot would have saved.
If the rushes came from our crews, the team already knows what is in them. If material is arriving from elsewhere, send it early and say what has been checked for permissions. We cut what we are given, so footage that cannot be broadcast should be flagged before it appears in a timeline.
This is also the moment to mention archive pictures you want to use. Name the source and confirm the right to use them. Mixed material often needs a quick grade so that shots from different cameras sit together on screen.
- Wide, mid and cutaway shots available
- Source and permissions for any outside footage
- Archive pictures and their clearance
Agree the review rounds and the deadline
Every package needs a clear point at which it is finished. Agree how many review rounds you expect, who signs off for your newsroom and the last moment a change can still be made. A single named person giving feedback is far quicker than comments arriving from three desks.
Work backwards from transmission. If the item airs at a fixed time, allow for the final render, quality check and transfer, not only the edit itself. Rushing the last twenty minutes is where captions get missed and audio levels drift.
When we confirm a job in writing, it states the deadline and what is included. Read that confirmation against your own notes before work begins, since it is far easier to correct a misunderstanding on paper than in the gallery with the clock running.
- One named person approving changes
- Number of review rounds expected
- Time allowed for render and checks
Confirm the format and how it reaches you
Last on the list, but never the least: how the finished item arrives. Tell us the file format, frame rate, resolution and audio configuration your playout system expects, and whether you need a version with captions burned in and another without.
Say where the file goes and who receives it. Secure transfer to your newsroom is part of our footage delivery work, and a delivered file should be checked on your side straight away so that any fault is caught while there is still time to fix it.
Finally, think about what happens afterwards. If you want the project files or rushes kept for a follow-up item, say so at the start, because storage is arranged on request and not assumed.
- File format, frame rate and audio layout
- Burned-in captions or a clean version
- Whether rushes should be stored afterwards
None of these questions is difficult on its own, but together they decide whether a package arrives calmly or in a scramble. Go through them with your producer before the brief is sent, note the answers in writing and send them with the request. Our edit team will work from the same list, and a short conversation before the cut starts is nearly always quicker than corrections made after it.
More from the news desk
-
Setting Up a Studio Interview That Sounds and Looks Right
A practical walk-through of how we prepare, light and record a news interview so the audio is clean, the framing holds steady and your editor has usable material straight away.
-
Running Order, Back-Timing and Hard Out: Edit Terms Explained
A plain-words guide to the terms an edit package lives by, from the running order to the hard out, and why each one shapes how we cut your finished news item.
-
How one tight deadline became a clean evening package
A short story from these autumn weeks: how a producer called Gareth, a half-written running order and a stack of rushes turned into a finished news package before the evening bulletin.
Ask for a quote
- Phone
- 01792 410386
- Write to us
- newsdesk@ordivix.com