"What's the News Today?"

For those of you who have wondered by the newsroom around 8:15 A.M. or 1:30 P.M. on any given weekday, you're probably heard Stacy or Serea beg the question: "So what's the news today?"

It's a simple question, yet vital for the success of your newscast. With big issues, for example Typhoon Haiyan, there has to be coverage every single day, but you need to find the news peg that makes it new news today. 

Last Thursday, I was lead producing and we were in the second week of coverage for the aftermath in the Philippines. The ruble was being sorted out, people were still without food or water, but nothing much had changed.

Still, I had to answer the question: "What's the news today?" 

Relief was just starting to make it's way over via the USS George Washington, but we only had CNN vide for that. So I got creative. As I was watching KABC the night before, I saw a quick bite on this photographer who was using his Facebook page to take photos of the victims in the Philippines and writing a message from them to their families saying they were okay and that they loved them. This sparked my idea to package the relief efforts that were coming via social media.

It ended up being a really unique news peg, and the package provided a specific, local angle that not a lot of stations had even covered yet.

So get creative when it comes to your coverage. When in doubt, go local. Ask people questions until your big idea hits you, because trust me. You do NOT want to go into the morning meeting or the rundown meeting and not know "what's the news today."