Anchoring: Then & Now...

1978: Above, WCBS anchors Lou Adler and Jim Donnelly doing morning drive. The anchors concentrate on reading and interviewing: Production is handled in a room behind the camera, by a dedicated producer.

2004: Anchor Marla Diamond reads the news in a more self-service setup. There is no live production help -- in addition to reading the news and interviewing, she runs her own board.

1978: The console that Adler and Donnelly used. Mostly a reading stand, with telephone lines and communication to the back room producer.

2004: Inside the anchor console.  Technical Supervisor Barry Siegfried gives us a view inside the type of digital console that an anchor like Marla (above) uses on air. 

Producing and Writing: Then & Now...

1978: The WCBS newsroom, paper everywhere. With the world's news resources at his fingertips, a WCBS producer coordinates the work of writers, reporters and newscasters. Writers are in easy view, and the producer can communicate with anyone else in the station from his communication console here. On the desk, typed stories are wrapped around "cart" tapes which will be shuttled to production.  To his right, a filing system for current stories. Wire copy is Xeroxed for each of the 2-5 writers on duty. 

2004: The WCBS Newsroom, computers everywhere. With the world's news resources at his fingertips, WCBS producer Rob Hawley coordinates the work of writers, reporters and newscasters online and by phone. There are no more cart tapes -- all audio is electronic. And all the paper has been replaced with computer systems -- no more Xeroxing! 

2004: Writer John Wilson at a writer's station in the newsroom.

Production: Then & Now...

1978: Technicians work fast at the all-news giant. Barry Siegfried in the "Control-C" tape studio, WCBS news production. Note the tape carts (back wall), reel-to-reel tapes (everywhere), and analog production board.

2004: Barry Siegfried shows off an all-digital production studio. File systems and CDs have replaced tape.

2004: An audio editing studio. Feeds come into this studio and are labeled and saved into the online file system.

Technology Behind the Scenes ...

2004: The digital newsroom requires seemingly miles of CAT5 cable.

2004: Server room.

2004: Servers for the NexGen broadcast automation system.