LEAWOOD, Kan.—As the 2020 Presidential and Congressional campaigns enter the homestretch, the impact of COVID-19 on TV news organizations continues to be felt with news managers ripping up plans on how best to deploy news crews, technology and workflows, and starting over as the virus injects a wildcard into their coverage equation, even as the possibility of not knowing the winner of the Trump-Biden race Nov. 3 looms.

Those were among the major takeaways during an “Election Tech in the COVID-19 Era” panel during the News Technology Summit sponsored by TVTechnology and B+C magazines. (Full disclosure. I moderated the panel.) 

PLAN, PLAN, PLAN

“We've planned about five times at this point, and I think that we're pros at planning for the upcoming election, and in saying that, I can say that we’ll probably plan it end-to-end once more before it actually happens,” said Tony Brown, chief of staff at Newsy, during the panel discussions. 

Brown was joined on the panel by Susie Banikarim, executive vice president and global head of newsgathering at Vice News; Patrick McCreery, president, local media group, at Meredith Corp.; and Jorge Dighero, senior solutions architect at Vizrt.

“[Y]ou know, everything from remote production to remote sources and contribution on the night of [the election] to what we're looking at as a multinight and multiday event, where it used to be just one night, it is ultimately affecting the plans,” he said.

COVID-19 is making it difficult for Meredith stations to firm up election night planning because the major political parties aren’t sure what they are going to do, said McCreery.

“In years past, you’d have a planning meeting three months out and know where you’re going to be and where your crews are going to be,” he said. However, McCreery predicted that there will be a lot of last-minute decisions made about whether or not to hold election night rallies and parties.

“I think in a lot of situations, we're looking at the use of pool [cameras] within our various cities, put a pool camera at certain places and share the video and minimize [COVID-19] exposure that way,” he said, adding that “this view here [referencing the Zoom meeting used for the panel] will be used heavily on election night.”

COVID-19 is affecting coverage from the campaign trail, too, said Banikarim. Likening the situation to “an incredible jigsaw puzzle,” she explains that the virus has made it far more difficult to assign news crews because an entirely new set of factors beyond the newsworthiness of a campaign story have come into play.

“[If a crew goes into the field,] how long do they have to quarantine? How will you quarantine them? Do they have people at home? Do they need to be put some place else?” she asked, illustrating the new challenges. 

MAINTAINING WORKFLOWS

The COVID-19 pandemic has prompted many broadcasters to reduce to a bare minimum the number of staff working in newsrooms, production control rooms and even on the news set in an effort to keep employees safe and healthy. Doing so, however, has created serious workflow challenges, said Dighero.  

“What this proves is that software is the absolute key, the absolute answer here because software can be deployed on-prem and remotely accessed,” he said. However, problems with computers on premise in newsrooms locked down during the outbreak underscore the importance of cloud computing to maintaining news workflows.

“All of our customers [have] been focused solely on how we can do a complete transition to the cloud,” said Dighero.

While they won’t scrap their newsroom technology and workflows anytime soon, broadcasters are looking to a cloud-based future achieved incrementally to protect them from future circumstances that might limit newsroom access, he added, noting that cloud pricing and connectivity will only continue to improve with time.

PLUS: 2020 Campaign: A News Cycle Unlike Any Other

Since the outbreak of COVID-19, all three broadcasters on the panel said their news organizations have taken steps to reduce staff working at their facilities to promote safety. However, election night—or an extended number of days while results are tallied—will see a return to a more normal workflow.

“To be live, the way we would need to be for that full week, we are going to start to put some people back in the building,” said Banikarim. “We’re going to fire up a live control room. ... [T]he risk of being live in a fully remote way feels too great, right?”

Newsy, too, went fully remote when the pandemic hit. “We have not done a show out of the studio or… physically out of a control room since March,” said Brown. But because of the logistics involved in election night, Newsy news personnel will return.

Office space vacated by non-news personnel during the pandemic will help. “What we’ve ended up doing is actually just spreading pieces of the control room around our larger floor,” he said. Directors and producers will have their own socially distanced “pods” and connect to one another via intercom rather than sitting at the same desk and risk exposing one another to the virus.

Control room automation also has helped to reduce the number of people who need to be involved in producing election coverage, Brown added.

At the height of the pandemic, Meredith got down to about 20% of its employees working from its facilities, said McCreery. That figure has grown steadily, and today about half of the station group’s workforce on any given shift is working from their stations. 

“We do have producers and directors in the control rooms, you know,” said McCreery. However, Meredith has erected Plexiglas dividers and taken other safety measures to reduce the likelihood of transmission.

“I think the reality of this pandemic now is not about what happens if you get a positive; it’s what you do. When you get a positive, how do you react, and how do you continue to keep people safe on a go-forward basis and limit the amount of exposure you have?” he said.

“I feel confident that we'll be able to pull off big election coverage. I mean, we've been able to cover tornadoes and floods and wildfires and you know, 100 nights of rioting in Portland. So, I feel like we're well-positioned to be able to handle it,” he said.

All News Technology Summit virtual sessions and keynotes are available on-demand at the summit’s registration page.

NEW YORK—This year’s News Tech Summit from Future US will feature case studies to help news organizations navigate the “new normal” of live news coverage.

In addition to a slate of keynotes with senior news executives, the organizers of this year’s News Tech Summit have announced that the virtual event will feature a number of case studies that will provide attendees with practical advice on how they can improve their news operations and attract new audiences. 

“The news business is undergoing a period of unprecedented change,” noted George Winslow, the executive producer of the News Technology Summit. “Changing consumer habits and the pandemic are forcing news organizations to radically rethink their operations and the technologies they use to produce the news. This year’s News Technology Summit will take a deep dive into the new technologies that can help news organizations navigate this period of unprecedented change and strengthen their operations.”

The News Tech Summit will take place virtually, Sept. 8-11, and feature a wide array of keynotes and panels with senior technologists and news executives. 

One highlight of the program will be a series of case studies that are designed to provide practical advice and insight into news operations, with a close look at building new facilities for local news, the next generation broadcast standard ATSC 3.0 and practical examples of successful digital and social media strategies. 

The opening day of the conference on Sept. 8 will take a look at the new facility NBCUniversal has built for their owned stations and operations in Boston, providing an inside look how new technologies and innovative engineering can improve news operations and the quality of information they deliver to audiences. 

The second day of the conference will feature Axios CEO Jim VandeHei, Axios Political Reporter Alexi McCammond and "Axios on HBO" directors and producers Matthew O'Neil and Perri Peltz talking about how Axios has successfully moved from digital into TV, offering insights into successful digital strategies that can boost audiences across platforms. 

Two additional case studies will focus on how newsrooms can use TikTok to engage young audiences and some of the opportunities that the next-generation broadcast standard ATSC 3.0 is creating for TV news. 

The News Tech Summit, which is the longest running and most successful conference devoted to news technologies, is hosted by Broadcasting & Cable, Multichannel News and TV Technology. 

The agenda and registration for the News Technology Summit can be found here. 

NEW YORK—With the TV news industry facing increased competition and rapidly changing consumer habits, the News Technology Summit will focus on innovative technologies that can help news organizations thrive in a digital world.

Hosted by the three leading magazines covering the TV industry—Broadcasting & Cable, TV Technology and Multichannel News—this year's event will feature expert speakers discussing the latest in news production, TV infrastructures and IP video. Sponsors include AWS, Bitcentral, Dalet, Ross, TVU Networks, Newtek, Teradek, Vitec Production Solutions, Vizrt, Clear-Com, Octopus, and CP Communications.

"This year's Summit agenda will showcase new technologies that can help news organizations address those problems and feature discussions by top executives on how they are successfully reinventing their operations. That combo of new technologies and strategies makes this a must attend event for anyone looking for new ideas on how they can improve the quality, profitability and popularity of their news operations," noted Executive Producer George Winslow.

Senior executives from CNN, CBS News, Telemundo and other major news organizations will provide keynotes and case studies on how they are building new, cutting-edge facilities that are allowing them to more efficiently deliver news to more outlets.

Attendees will gain practical advice from experts on how they can use cloud based systems, IP video and the next generation of early warning systems as well as research presentations.

Lisa Pedrogo, VP of Engineering and Strategic Initiatives, WarnerMedia's Global Broadcast Technology Services will discuss the construction of CNN's new groundbreaking all IP facility at Hudson Yards in NYC.

Jeff Mayzurk, Senior VP, Operations and Technology, at NBCUniversal Telemundo Enterprises will describe the new IP and cloud-based technologies at Telemundo's new Florida facility that are helping them more efficiently deliver news content in the run-up to the 2020 elections.

Christy Tanner, Executive Vice President and General Manager, CBS News Digital will talk about their successful digital strategies for their 24-hour streaming service CBSN.

Attendance to News Technology Summit is free but strictly limited. Those who qualify will receive two free nights of hotel, meals, and have access to all the educational and networking events during the summit.

Apply to attend here. For sponsorship opportunities, contact Vytas Urbonas at; vytas.urbonas@futurenet.com.