Five News bans staged shots

Five News editor David Kermode has today banned the use of 'reaction' or 'nodding' shots his team's reports, in a bid to restore viewer trust in television.

Shots where a reporter is seen nodding, looking sad or attentive - apparently in reaction to the interviewee - are just one of uses of 'staged' shots that Kermode has clamped down upon. The former BBC Breakfast News man hopes that Five can "lead the way in restoring trust in television news."

Other techniques that will be prohibited at Five News - which is produced by Sky News - include the use of 'contrived cutaways’, shots that are cut with the main action to depict supposedly concurrent action; ‘contrived walking shots’, where the interviewee is asked to walk up the stairs so a set-up shot can be filmed for example, and ‘staged questions’, where a reporter is filmed asking questions, usually to an empty chair, so they can be edited in later.

Kermode said: "These are tired old techniques that belong in a different era. Viewers - many of whom create and upload their own content - have a pretty good grasp of what an 'edit' is, so I think the time has come to be honest about signposting when we edit our interviews."

"Modern digital editing technology mean that edits can be made by 'dissolving' from one shot into another, something that wasn't achievable in the days of tape-to-tape editing. It’s about being honest, but I also see this as a creative challenge," he added.