Falcon Distraction

It was a pretty slow news day yesterday morning and I had my rundown full and ready to go around noon when news broke about the boy in the balloon (or not in the balloon as it turned out).

I knew my rundown was about to change but I had no idea how much.  Part of the problem was the story broke around noon but the balloon didn’t come down until around 2 pm.  And then they didn’t find the balloon boy until 3:30 or 4 pm.  Even later than that is when all our elements (sound from the boy and his dad and video of them) started coming in.

I feel like I may have been a little too emotionally attached to this story as a producer.  For the two hours that boy was allegedly flying through the Colorado skies, I was terrified.  I tend to think like a parent.  I have a brother who is 10 years younger than I am and I took care of him and my sister throughout high school.  I’ve also spent a lot of time babysitting….to the point where parents sometimes ask me for parenting tips.

When I watched that balloon fly, when everyone was asking where his mother could be, I kept thinking what I would do if my brother or one of the kids I was babysit for was in that balloon.  I would be hysterical.  So I stopped and watched the balloon fly like everyone else.  I chalked it up to having to be familiar with the information, but really I just had a genuine interest.

Later in the day I had a hard time abandoning that story.  I had a lot to do but I kept finding myself reading and re-reading that copy.  Eventually everything got done, but I think I need to be less emotionally involved in my newscast in the future.