For example, the anchor in the studio goes to a "reporter on location" where "the news is happening" in real time.

However, in many cases, the anchor in the studio already knows what the reporter on location is going to say. That field reporter could just as easily be sitting in a public bathroom a block away from the studio, for all the good he does. Or he could be sitting in the studio in front of a fake backdrop. It's a con.

But the sense of transition from one place and person to another imparts the sense of importance. The viewer thinks, "They're going right to the spot where the shooting occurred an hour ago." Yes, but the shooting, or whatever actually happened, is over. Or if it's still in progress, the field reporter is getting his information directly from the police—he could have accomplished that with a phone call from a thousand miles away.