Using digital video for broadcast style news programming has its own set of rules and principles. Digital video is essentially a creative medium, but news relies on expectations and standards so the audience does not have to reacquaint themselves with the new style. News is not meant to be an outlet for creative expression because the main goal is for the audience to absorb the information. It should have a uniform structure so the audience already knows how to relate to it. Every aspect of video news reflects this conformity, and that includes the video imaging.
When you are recording in the field you will usually have a field reporter talking into the camera periodically. When this is the case you have to ignore the standard ways of thinking about digital video imaging and put them directly in the center of the image. This works best for the audience to absorb the content of what they are saying and to generally ignore the quality of the image. This really should be the only time you center a shot, including the rest of the clips you may be using in the news piece. Since news often uses a text graphic
in the lower third of the screen to identify the person you will have to compensate for this. This may require moving them either left or right (usually right), onto the line of thirds. Having a field reporter use the standard because you will usually have some form of a teleprompter or cue cards being held for them to read, even in the field.
News is very much concerned with who, what, when, where, why, and how, things have occurred. All b-roll clips that you get should be strictly concerned with answering these questions and no others. For locations get large establishing clips, but not too many close-ups or interiors. To identify an individual in the story a photo works best because then the audience will be able to connect with the still image of the person. A quick interview usually answers why, but you want to frame that person like you would a normal interview because you want a difference in authority between the field reporter and the interview subjects.
Everything in news is meant to have a purpose so do not let aesthetic choices overpower your goal to inform. Video journalism is an important field, and broadcast news is one part of that. Documentary work runs off different principles, just as creative non-fiction is much different than a quick piece you might read in a newspaper. Keep in mind that the standards in video news are there so that people can absorb information quickly without much effort.