Who writes the CNN and MSNBC, etc chyrons?

August 25, 2016 6:09 PM

Pretty great chyrons this election. Who specifically and generally (viz., job title and the folks holding the job titles at CNN and MSNBC) writes them?
posted by hleehowon to Media & Arts (1 answer total)

Best answer: They're written by producers. The work is shared between segment producers and news writers depending upon the type of segment. Head writers, line producers, and senior producers may also see them before they air and change them or punch them up. Talent (hosts) may also make or ask for changes, but this is more common with spoken scripts.

Research staff may also write chyrons in advance when requested. Occasionally bookers (or bookers who are also segment producers) may also write lower thirds.

Field producers may write lower thirds for live shots, or even field reporters. Generally field staff/correspondents do a lot more writing than studio based talent do, though some studio based talent are more hands on than others about writing tasks. When I was working there, Shepard Smith used to like to rewrite a lot of his material on the fly.

The technical personnel (director, technical director, chyron operator) may also call for changes if they notice typos or the like that aren't caught by the production staff. Likewise, producers in the control room may call for changes orally that are typed in by the technical staff in certain situations.

Production staff will have a variety of titles depending on seniority, from entry level interns and production assistants through associate producers, line producers, senior producers, and executive producers.

Chyron, by the way is a company name (sort of like Kleenex) for a company that produced a family of character generators (CG) that generated lower thirds (the most generic term). Lots of places now use software from VizRt rather than from the Chyron Corporation (and the Chryon Corporation is now the ChyronHego Corporation after a merger).
posted by Jahaza at 6:44 PM on August 25, 2016 [29 favorites]