How do news reporters read the teleprompter without moving their eyes up and down?

Question

If I was staring at a screen with the words moving down I would probably have to keep looking down and up to catch what it said. How do they do it?

I know that it's basically on the camera, but you think it would be hard not to make a mistake because it would be hard to know when the sentence finishes or when they need to change their tone of voice of whatever.

Answer 1

They always look at the cammera, but its right next to it, you basically have to look at both.

Answer 2

The TelePrompTer displays the script on a shield in front of the camera lens so the newscaster can read it while looking right at the camera. Some units allow the newscaster himself to control the text flow.

As for how the newscaster knows when to change his tone: in most cases he has written the script, and he has definitely read it before going on camera.

Answer 3

For one thing the words they are reading are being scrolled so that rather than the reader move his eyes down the lines the lines actually come up to where he or she is looking. Another thing is that as they read/speak you'll notice that they constantly nod and move their head which not only adds expression to their words but hides the movement of their eyes following the words they are reading.

Answer 4

They do not read ahead or get behind. They have to train themselves to mark a spot on the teleprompter and read the words as they pass instead of moving the eyes.

Answer 5

The teleprompter is basically the camera lens. It's not "right next to it" like one of the answers suggested.

Answer 6

The words are very large and pass into view as its is spoken. The words do the moving while the eyes remain still.
Something like the message below.
PICK
ME
AS
BEST
ANSWER
!

Answer 7

They're familiar with the script before the cameras even go on.