Is That the Best We Can Do?
I love the feeling of tracking the news as it develops live! It was exhilarating this week, as the Video Producer, to catch crucial videos from “CNN Newsource” and have them make air.
My favorite moment was working on the Hong Kong pro-democracy protest segment. I was scrolling through newsource.cnn.com when the link entitled "WHITE HOUSE BFG" caught my eye. Josh Earnest, the White House Press Secretary, released a statement about the Chinese demonstration. I immediately notified my Lead Producer and she incorporated it into the rundown.
After the show, our Executive Producer Faith Miller asked each member of "Team Monday" to share what he or she felt should have led the show as our top story. The vast majority asserted that we should have begun the broadcast with the Hong Kong protest, because of the compelling visuals and soundbites. I felt proud that I found these interesting elements and ensured that our multimedia journalists (MJs) edited the clips with the highest quality.
However, I should have helped this story come to life even more by connecting it to USC. We did interview two Trojans on campus to get student reactions, but we had great potential to develop a stronger, relevant angle. For example, Emily Chan is a USC Annenberg alumna working in Hong Kong for CNBC Asia. We could have scheduled a Skype interview with Chan and learned about the situation closer to the source.
Our meeting after the show reminded me about the importance of thinking on our feet! From before the morning meeting even begins to the time we make air, we as a team need to continue to ask ourselves throughout the day if we can make a story better.
As a producer, if I do my part to research closely, brief reporters and MJs efficiently, and critique edited content constructively, I hope to bring every big international news story home to USC. This would not only make our content on the 6 p.m. newscast more relevant to USC students but also provide excellent multimedia opportunities to publish our own content on atvn.org.
