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The last generation has been described as the digital age in which technology evolved, bringing in its wake new devices, formats and applications for news production and delivery (Castells, 2009). The evolution is also accompanied by training in human resources to enable them manage the processes. These changes in technology and tasks are observable in the news industry. According to Pavlik (2001) a digital newsroom has every component: text, data, graphics, audio and video, computerised. This provides that news professionals use these components in a nonlinear way; cutting, pasting or manipulating video and audio as easily as a word processor does (Pavlik, 2001). The digital newsroom has introduced major changes in the television news production processes.
The Ghana Broadcasting Corporation (GBC) began television transmission in 1965 using the monochrome technology. Television was transmitted in Accra using three main band I 5kw transmitters at Ajangote in the Greater Accra region, Jamasi in the Ashanti region and Kissi in the Central region and a 500 watt Band III transmitter in Northern regional capital, Tamale (Asamoah, 1985). The station further installed small-power Band I and Band III television transmitters to extend coverage to about half of the country’s geographical area. The microwave links that carried television programme from Accra to the main transmitters were controlled by the post and telecommunications Corporation (Asamoah, 1985). The process of news gathering at the time required that reporters attend assignments with cameramen using cameras for still photography. The Director of Technical Production, Oscar Nchor, in an interview (16th October 2014) mentioned that before the introduction of video
cameras in 1984, still photographs were used for television broadcast. Photos taken were processed through chemicals and projected for transmission. The U-matic cameras introduced in 1984 were part of preparation towards the introduction of colour transmission. According to the Director of Technical Production, GTV replaced the U-matic in 1998 with BETA Cam. The technology, though now outdated, was so durable that the station was able to use it until 2005. BETA Cam was an analogue technology, therefore editing was done by dubbing relevant portions of the footage needed for a story on one BETA discs to be played during the bulletin. News and relevant footages are archived on the BETA discs.
The state broadcaster’s first attempt at digitalisation was the introduction of the XD Cam in 2006. XD Cam uses memory cards that show thumbnails. Therefore, reporters could easily identify the videos they needed for their stories. The video was edited after the data was captured or transferred onto a computer. Reporters used Microsoft Word to type their stories and stored their finished stories on the cards (personal interview with Director of Technical Production).
As at 2010, GTV’s transmitter network was made up of 31 main transmitter systems comprising 30 TV transmitter stations and an FM transmitter network. The TV transmitter network also had additional low power transposer equipment, which served as gap-fillers at Axim, Dunkwa, Obuasi, Somanya, AkimOda, Asamankese, Bawku, Akosombo, Ho and Koforidua to enhance television coverage. The television signal distribution system is composed of satellite uplink in Accra and 31 satellite downlinks or TV Receive Only (TVRO) systems (GBC 75th Anniversary brochure, 2010).
The head of GBC 24, the dedicated all-news channel on GTV’s digital platform Johnny Aryeetey in a personal interview (10th October 2014) stated that GTV introduced the Z5 cameras and Que series software 2010. The software combines properties for writing, editing text,recording and editing voice, playing and archiving video footages and the autocue for reading news on live TV. The Z5 cameras record images onto chips. The video was downloaded onto a computer and edited using Sony Vegas version nine and played on air using the Que series.
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