The Key to Chaos

It was the best of times, it was the worst of times.  And last week, America was definitely edging towards the "worst of times" side of the spectrum when it came to the news.

On Monday, my lead producing day, the tone of the week was set as tragedy struck in Boston.  The finish line of the Boston Marathon should have been a place for celebrating the completion of a 26-mile endeavour.  If I had to run 26 miles, I would have liked a private concert by Beyonce to greet me at the finish line.  Yet instead of the predicted joy and celebration, there was heartache, devastation and incredible pain. 

There's a brief moment of panic when you realize a huge story is breaking in front of your eyes.  Then you realize you can handle it.

First, I called my friends in Boston who were at the marathon to make sure they were safe.  When calls wouldn't go through, I switched to Facebook.  Luckily, I heard back from each within five minutes.

It's important to deal with life as you deal with the news.  Yes, getting a story up and running was a high priority that day.  But my first priority? That would be making sure the girl I spent a summer with at Yale, the girl who had become one of my cross-country best friends with a simple shared love for "A Streetcar Named Desire" and Tory Burch, was safe and sound in the city of Boston.  It took five minutes, but it was an important five minutes.

The next step is simply to breathe. 

This far into the semester, we are trained as producers to handle these scenarios.  It is our job, and we are as prepared as we can be to do our best.  We can do it.

Team Monday ended up producing a fantastic newscast last week that managed to go outside of just reporting the most recent news.  We were able to localize the story by gathering different elements pertaining to how the tragedy affected us here in Los Angeles, and even more so, at USC. 

We achieved this by working as a team.  Everyone helped and everyone was so flexible.  Our reporters completely rerouted and changed their stories.  Our MJ's and assignment desk secured important interviews, statements and b-roll that we needed.  The sports department ventured to the right side of the newsroom and helped out in news.  We all came together. 

I experienced a rare surge of emotion as I watched our broadcast from the booth.  It was overwhelming to think that in some way, I helped document history that day.  It may sound silly.  Afterall, how can a student newscast thousands of miles away from where the action is happening manage to land on both feet and walk away making a difference at 6:30 p.m. when the cameras turn off and the crew goes home?  But we did it.  And I couldn't have been more proud.

Ultimately, you can't change the news circling around you, but with the right team and the right attitude, you can certainly survive it.