NewsEditing Guide

Setting Up a Fast Edit Routine for Daily News Bulletins

A practical walk through the edit routine we use for same-day bulletins: how to prepare media, cut, caption and add graphics so a package reaches transmission on time and clean.

Callum Reid8 October 20265 min read

Start the edit before the footage arrives

The quickest edits are decided before anyone opens the timeline. When a story is confirmed, we create the project the same minute: bin structure, bulletin template, caption style and graphics folder are all in place, so the editor spends the first ten minutes cutting rather than organising. A project that exists before the first clip lands saves more time than any shortcut key.

It also helps to agree three things with the producer up front: the running time, the intended slot in the bulletin and the deadline for the final file. Write them on the first line of the project notes. Callum Reid, who writes this guide, has seen many late packages that were not slow to cut, only unclear about what they were meant to be. A one-line brief removes most of that doubt before it costs anything.

Create the project and bins as soon as the story is confirmed
Agree running time, slot and deadline with the producer
Load the bulletin template and caption style first

Ingest and log in one pass

Copying cards and logging them are usually treated as two jobs. Do them together. While files transfer, the editor or an assistant watches the first clip and notes where the strongest pictures and the usable sound are. By the time the last card is verified, you already have a rough map of the story and a short list of shots you will certainly use.

Name clips by what they show, not by the camera counter. A clip called Council steps, wide, rain is findable in seconds, whereas a numbered file means opening everything again. Mark interviews with the speaker's name and a single line about what they said. If a reporter is still in the field, ask for a voice note listing the best moments; two minutes of talking saves twenty minutes of searching.

Verify the copy before wiping any card
Name clips by content and shot size
Ask the field team for a short voice note of best moments

Build the cut in layers

Cut the story in a fixed order: narration or interview track first, then the pictures that cover it, then natural sound, then music if the bulletin style calls for it. Working in layers stops the common trap of polishing a beautiful opening while the ending is still empty. Get a complete, rough, timed version on the timeline early, even if it looks plain, and improve it afterwards.

Check the running time at each layer. A package that is forty seconds over at the rough stage is cheap to fix by dropping a whole sequence; the same problem found at the final stage means trimming frames from every shot and weakening the pace. Keep one clear sentence of what the story is about in front of you, and cut anything that does not serve it. Newsrooms rarely complain that a package was too tight.

Voice or interview track first, then covering pictures
Reach a complete rough timed cut early
Fix length by removing sequences, not by trimming every shot

Captions and graphics without the last-minute scramble

Captions are where fast edits most often go wrong. Names are misspelt, job titles are out of date and straplines arrive after the file has been exported. Collect the correct spellings and titles from the reporter while the cut is still being built, and type them into the caption template straight away rather than at the end.

For graphics, use the bulletin's own templates and change as little as possible. A locator map, a name strap and a lower third that match the programme's look are worth more than something new and clever that needs a fresh round of checking. If a graphic needs figures, have a second person read each number against the source before it is placed. We would rather lose thirty seconds to a check than broadcast a wrong figure.

Confirm name and title spellings before captioning
Use the bulletin templates unchanged where possible
Have a second person check every figure

Review, export and hand over

Reserve the final ten minutes for a full watch from start to finish, at normal speed, with sound up. Do not skip through it. Look for jump cuts in the middle of a sentence, audio levels that change between clips, captions that sit over important detail and any shot that should not be on air. A fresh pair of eyes, even the producer's for thirty seconds, catches what the editor has stopped seeing.

Export to the format the transmission team asked for and name the file the way they expect, with the slug, version and running time. Send a short message with the file: what it is, how long it runs, and anything they should know about the captions. Then keep the project open until the story has aired, since a late change is far quicker in a live project than in a rebuilt one.

Watch the whole package once at normal speed
Export to the agreed format and naming
Keep the project open until transmission

A fast edit is mostly a matter of order: prepare the project early, log while ingesting, cut in layers, settle captions as you go and leave real time for a final watch. None of this needs special equipment, only a routine the whole team repeats until it becomes habit. If your bulletin edits regularly run to the wire, start by timing each stage for a week; the slowest one is usually obvious.