Shortenings

LCTR

VOSOT

PKG

NATPKG

OPACY

BATCO

News has an almost military like interest in shorthand phrases.  Sure it makes information easier and more quickly conveyed.  It also leads to a club.  A group of people that know what those terms mean.  A group that would scoff at someone who did not.

I was a film major at Towson.  When I started as an editor I had no clue what a VOSOT was.  A guy looked at me funny when I asked.

LCTR - Locator.  These are fun.  This is when something horrible happens to someone in Baltimore when we aren't working.  We have to go back to the scene and film where it happened.  Without police.  With pissed off neighbors. 

VOSOT - Voice Over/Sound on Tape.  The term for a shorter story read by the news anchor and not a reporter.  Photographers are usually sent solo to pick these stories up.  Shooting some video of the scene and  then one quick interview with someone from the location.

PKG - Package. A standard news story with a two person team of a photographer and reporter. Usually shot, written, and aired in a single day.  (I got a t-shirt from a friend that said "My Package is so famous it's in the news."  Big hit at work parties.)

NATPKG - Natural Sound Package.  The story that shooters make to show off their skills.  A story told through the people without any reporter track. Really hard to do but amazing when done right.

OPACY - Oriole Park at Camden Yards.  Honestly this took me forever to figure out

BATCO - Baltimore County.  BATCO also gets the unique title of being 'the county' Anytime something is "Out in the County" they're referring to Baltimore County.  Sorry Howard County.  You suck.