Okay, perhaps not a rise…its more of a regression to the way things once were. “One man bands” are nothing new…they’ve been with TV since the first shaky test patterns were transmitted and with journalism itself much longer (the first news cameramen were all “one man bands” until the Movietone sound recording system was invented in the late 1920s).

Some words from the past illustrating this point:

Fred Mooke of WTVJ (1964):

…In local station operation, he’s known as the newsfilm reporter; more specifically the type of newsfilm reporter we jokingly refer to as the “one man band.” It’s no joke, really, because it’s his type which dominates the American television industry, as we know it today. He’s employed, for instance, in every TV station in Florida and in most stations throughout the country. The man I’m taking about is a solo performer; he shoots film (sound and silent), gathers story information and, in many stations, is capable of processing the film, editing it and even preparing the copy to go with it…

…How does the “one man band” operate within this scope? It definitely has its humorous side, occurring mostly when our solo performer films and conducts a sound interview, both at the same time. Sometimes the interview subject just stands there dumbfounded and speechless, apparently awed at the physical dexterity of this man who has just piled a pyramid of equipment in front of him, and has raced around it with microphone in hand, firing questions practically on the dead run. When the subject stands mute, the reporter, rather than making the grueling trip again, continues his line of patter, hoping the individual regains his faculties. He seldom does. Or the cameraman may have a dramatic interview situation going and muff it due to his technical concerns. In one such case, the subject was the former sheriff of Dade County, Florida, who had just lost the election and was on the verge of tears. The “one man band” interviewing him suddenly thought to himself, “Do I have the sound pot on?” and going out of the frame to check it, left the Sheriff high and dry and twice as upset wondering miserably if the cameraman had run out of film.

From a survey in “Television Magazine” (Feb. 1965)

…The “one man band” newsfilm-reporter who shoots film (sound and silent), gathers story information, and, in many stations, processes the film, edits it and writes the copy, was once the product of a station’s budget limitations. Today he is often the result of lavish and polished technique. Reporter-cameramen are carried on the news staffs of 111 stations in the TELEVISION survey, 66.5% of all the stations responding. Personnel with the sole function of cameraman, on the other hand, were billeted at only 80 or 47.9% of the stations (KSTP-TV Minneapolis-St Paul, with 17 reporter-writers, carries 12 separate cameramen. Its market competitor, WCCO-TV, lists 13 cameramen.)

Dual purpose personnel may be desirable or they may not be; it’s a matter of opinion. “Its the race case when you get a newsman doing two or three jobs and doing them all well,” says an Oklahoma news director. “I’ll stay with single specialists and get better work done.”