There's No "I" In Teamwork
At 6:29:30 p.m. on Monday February 11, 2013, it felt as if the weight of the world was lifted off my shoulders, I finally had a chance to breathe.
For ATVN's first live show of the year, I was the Video Teammate for Team Monday. During the day, I balanced the responsibilities of copy editing all scripts in the rundown, reviewing each video that was edited and instructing and teaching the Multimedia Journalists how to improve upon their skills.
What I learned most this week was the importance of clear communication and teamwork with the Lead Producer and Web/Graphics Teammate. In order to successfully produce a newscast, I needed to be in constant communication with the Lead Producer, sitting to my right, to ensure that it was clear what we both envisioned for each story. Because I am the producer to oversee all video that is shot and edited throughout the day, I discovered this week that I need to discuss this with the Lead Producer. This is important because the Lead Producer formats each story according to the amount of content, the importance of the story and most importantly, the quality of the b-roll. Just during this first newscast, I found that if I announced each video and quantity of video for every story to the Lead Producer, we were able to discuss the format of the story and change it if it was necessary. I think that the Lead Producer and I worked very well together this week in terms of staying on the same page and informing each other of any differences in video or in the rundown.
Going into this week I thought it wouldn't be very important for me to be conversing with the Web/Graphics Teammate during the day. I learned that I was very wrong. From the Pope resignation story to the manhunt for Christopher Dorner, I realized that in order to write stories or assign stories, I must understand the information that is detailed in graphics. This week I think we did a great job at communicating what video and quotes the MJ's had obtained and what stories and information would be good for the web. I think there is definitely still room for improvement in that communication, including the use of the video white board.
In the end, the calm and quick breaking news announcement of Michael L. Jackson's one-year sabbatical was just another testament that Team Monday is a group of talented people with the potential to have a very successful semester.
Watching the newscast from the studio was definitely the cherry on top of a very stressful first day!
