There's No "I" in Team

To the say the least, Tuesday was an eye-opening experience for me in many ways and really showed how much the web team and the broadcast team have to work together. 

To start, I did not have anyone on the web team with me until noon. Therefore, the morning consisted of me trying to balance what stories would go on the web, contacting MJ's/reporters to send us quotes/pictures back and furiously writing stories.

Another lesson that can be learned from this is to always show up for your shifts when you are assigned to them. But, that's another matter entirely. 

When the afternoon hit, I had to work on BOTH the web and the broadcast, since I had to work on graphics. Normally, I don't work on the web in the afternoon, so this was quite a change. To top it all off, half of my graphics team did not show up either, which had me scrambling at the last minute to try and get graphics done. 

Because of this, I really had to focus on both sides of the newsroom. I had to work with both producers to see how the newscast was coming together and how I could bring some of those elements into the website. 

Furthermore, it allowed me to work on my communication. The newsroom was crazy with so many people missing that everyone had to work together to get stuff done and realize who finished what. 

Even if I thought a graphic was reloaded, I always made sure to call the studio to have them reload it again, just to make sure. 

The web team and the broadcast really have to work together to get things done. One element cannot exist without the other; it just does not work well that way. 

At the end of the day, I came to the realization that I couldn't just focus on myself that day and what I had to get done. Because so many people didn't come in for their shifts, I had to focus on the team as a whole and how we could improve our coverage together.