Down to the Wire

Looking over the producing goals I made earlier this year, I realized while I have improved in some areas, there is always room for more improvement. 

The goal I put the most emphasis on was communicating better with MJs. At the beginning of the year, I found that I expected my MJs to know exactly what I wanted from a story, without explicitly talking it out with them. Huge mistake. I assumed that by reading the wires they would pull the same information out that I had. This approach led to many rewritten and re-worked stories. As a producer, it is my job to explain to reporters what angle we want the story to take for our newscasts, the essential soundbites and the most compelling video. I would say about mid-way through the semester I learned my lesson. When I assign MJs to stories now I tell them exactly the angle we are going for, what bites would fit best with the angle and remind them to find the video that captures their attention the most.

This past week we did a lot of coverage on the protests in Egypt. I thought our MJs did a great job of selecting video and seeking out students to be interviewed. I also was able to communicate to them what Funmi and I wanted for each story.

I still need to improve on my writing speed and skill. The best way to improve my writing is practice, practice and more practice. 

My last time lead producing is next week, and I'm looking forward to it.