CBS may cancel Dec 10 debate due to possible CBS writers strike - cougarguard.com — unofficial BYU Cougars / LDS sports, football, basketball forum and message board

Tex · 11-28-2007, 05:13 PM

So I've seen this postulated a couple of times, and now Drudge is headlining it. There's a looming threat of a CBS writers strike (which apparently is separate from the entertainment-world writers strike), and it's possible they may cancel a Dec 10 Democrat debate as a result.

Can someone in the broadcast world explain this to me? Why would you need writers for a debate? Can Katie Couric not come up with her own questions? Do they really need someone to write, "And now we're going to take a brief commercial break"?

What would CBS writers "write" in a live televised debate? I don't get it.

Cali Coug · 11-28-2007, 06:35 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tex

So I've seen this postulated a couple of times, and now Drudge is headlining it. There's a looming threat of a CBS writers strike (which apparently is separate from the entertainment-world writers strike), and it's possible they may cancel a Dec 10 Democrat debate as a result.

Can someone in the broadcast world explain this to me? Why would you need writers for a debate? Can Katie Couric not come up with her own questions? Do they really need someone to write, "And now we're going to take a brief commercial break"?

What would CBS writers "write" in a live televised debate? I don't get it.

Yeah, I thought that was very strange too. How hard is it to ask "what is your position on Iraq?" or any other major issue?

MikeWaters · 11-28-2007, 06:39 PM

Has anyone considered that perhaps its the candidates responses that the CBS writers write?

Sleeping in EQ · 11-28-2007, 07:32 PM

Couric can certainly write a script for the broadcast, but she, no doubt, has other duties.

Perhaps the technical people are part of the writer's strike? They write documents that plan out what camera shoots what person, when, and from what distance, and so on. Many of these decisions are modified by the technical director during the broadcast, but there is pre-production documentation for this kind of thing.

11-28-2007, 05:13 PM	#1
Tex Senior Member Join Date: Dec 2006 Posts: 8,596	CBS may cancel Dec 10 debate due to possible CBS writers strike So I've seen this postulated a couple of times, and now Drudge is headlining it. There's a looming threat of a CBS writers strike (which apparently is separate from the entertainment-world writers strike), and it's possible they may cancel a Dec 10 Democrat debate as a result. Can someone in the broadcast world explain this to me? Why would you need writers for a debate? Can Katie Couric not come up with her own questions? Do they really need someone to write, "And now we're going to take a brief commercial break"? What would CBS writers "write" in a live televised debate? I don't get it. __________________ "Have we been commanded not to call a prophet an insular racist? Link?" "And yes, [2010] is a very good year to be a Democrat. Perhaps the best year in decades ..." - Cali Coug "Oh dear, granny, what a long tail our puss has got." - Brigham Young

11-28-2007, 07:32 PM	#4
Sleeping in EQ Senior Member Join Date: Jan 2006 Location: The People's Republic of Monsanto Posts: 3,085	Couric can certainly write a script for the broadcast, but she, no doubt, has other duties. Perhaps the technical people are part of the writer's strike? They write documents that plan out what camera shoots what person, when, and from what distance, and so on. Many of these decisions are modified by the technical director during the broadcast, but there is pre-production documentation for this kind of thing. __________________ "Do not despise the words of prophets, but test everything; hold fast to what is good; " 1 Thess. 5:21 (NRSV) We all trust our own unorthodoxies.

11-28-2007, 06:39 PM	#3
MikeWaters Demiurge Join Date: Aug 2005 Posts: 36,365	Has anyone considered that perhaps its the candidates responses that the CBS writers write?