Most reporters get their first jobs in small-market stations. They still have a lot to learn. But this survey found that many of them get little or no supervision, particularly when it comes to script review. Here are the results:

Does your news department have a formal process for script approval before anything a reporter writes gets on the air? * Your station is in what size market? Crosstabulation

There is no significant difference between markets 100-150 and the smallest markets. The total shows that almost 40-percent of reporters (rightly or wrongly) don't think their stations have a formal script approval process.

Two years or less experience as TV News Reporters:
Does your news department have a formal process for script approval before anything a reporter writes gets on the air?

Even if a station has no formal script approval process for the entire reporting staff, you might think the newest people would get closer attention. Not so when you look at only the reporters who say they've been TV news reporters for two years or less. The percentage who say their station has no formal script approval process (39.2 percent) is actually slightly higher than the overall total.

Before anything you write gets on the air, how often does a member of management or a producer read your copy? * Your station is in what size market? Crosstabulation

While there may be no formal script approval process, the vast majority of reporters say someone is reading their copy before it gets on air. But about thirty percent say someone only reads their scripts "sometimes, rarely, or never."

Before anything you write gets on the air, how often does a member of management or a producer edit your copy or otherwise make changes to your story? * Your station is in what size market? Crosstabulation

This table is open to a couple of different interpretations. With close to 40-percent saying changes are rarely made to their stories, you have to wonder if their work is that good or if the script reading process is more or less a rubber stamp. As Brian Bracco observes in a report on this research in RTNDA Communicator, oftentimes a producer who's only been out of school a year or two is the one reading the scripts.

1.Chris Tuohey teaches journalism at Syracuse University.

2. This survey was conducted in late 2001 and early 2002. The survey was mailed to 112 television newsrooms in 56 randomly selected small markets (100+). The response rate was 30 percent.

3. Read more about the lack of systems to ensure accuracy in Getting it Right, a report on a NewsLab research study.