Attention to Detail
Details, details, details. The smallest of things always seem to try and slip their way through the cracks, but they prove to be the most important.
On Tuesdays, as web and graphics producer, I make two major shifts throughout the day, once to transfer my duties as web supervisor over to Matt mid-day, and again when Mariah leaves for the studio, passing on the remnants of her video producing job to me.
This week I made sure to sit down with Matt when he came in to make sure he knew what each story in the web rundown was about, which ones we needed to be watching for more details so we could update them, and which stories were to be added upon when the reporter, Madeline, and the MJs returned to the news room with not only b-roll and sound bites, but more information on events of the day.
The transitions both went smoothly, but as I shifted my focus from graphics to video and working with our MJs to finish up last minute videos and copy editing, the two last graphics being produced slipped through the cracks.
One graphic had a mirrored image of the caption, and another had an incorrect age for a missing student. Yet something so small makes a large impact on our newscast.
Luckily, over in the studio during run throughs, Mariah caught the error and we immediately fixed and resent the graphics before the show aired. Everything was running smoothly and John had received the latest versions of the graphics, which Sarah and I made sure were accurate.
When I got to the studio, however, it came as a huge surprise when I found out the graphics weren't loaded and the incorrect ones aired on the newscast. After a full day of hard work, something like this is such a disappointment.
Working at ATVN can be hectic and stressful, but I have learned that no matter how many things you must be doing at once, you must always triple check the accuracy of not only your own work, but of those who work under or around you.
If we can all pay specific attention to detail, our newscast will be much more professional.
