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Annenberg School of Communication and Journalism University of Southern California
Producers

No I in Team

There's no "I" in "team"— How cliche could I possibly get?

You don't realize how much truth there is to that statement until you are completely reliant on other people for your own success. 

This morning, I had to work as a ‘one-man-band,’ with a tremendous amount of help from my Executive Producer, since my other two teammates were unavailable for a few hours. It was so challenging to format the rundown, assign stories, and monitor video all at once. I was being pulled in what felt like 100 different directions, and I wasn't able to finish anything thoroughly and excellently because I was spread so thin. It was then that I saw how much we each contribute to the newscast production every week as individuals. 

Changing roles each week definitely shakes things up, because we continuously switch main priorities and responsibilities. One thing, however, remains constant; we are vital and crucial assets to the show. Our producing team needs one another to fill in the lines when the other gets distracted, or when it's that absolutely crazy time in the Media Center when you can't even hear yourself think. As soon as I didn't have my teammates working with me for a little bit today, I could fully comprehend how thankful I was for them when they were around.

Generally, I think our team works pretty well together. We are constantly coming up with new ways to be better communicators, and I do feel like we are producing superior shows in the last two weeks, so we definitely are getting through to each other some way or another. Videos have been online and stories have been written much earlier in the day, so I am confident in saying we have drastically improved as a team. 

I have found that making and updating to-do lists throughout the day really helps me map out exactly what still needs to be done. That is how I personally help the newscast run smoother, regardless of which position I am. 

To be even better next week and in the weeks to follow, I think we need to have reporters and MJ's working closer together, since they are all such critical elements to the show. Sometimes the newscast feels like a variety of different stories strung together randomly, but I think if the workers who are creating the content interact with each other, there will be fewer gaps in the show. 

The biggest takeaway I have from this week is that if we keep moving forward as a team, we are bound to be successful. Not just in terms of my producing team, but Team Wednesday in general needs to take our recent triumphs, and instead of becoming complacent, use them as a catapult for even greater shows. 

Henry Ford said it best... "Coming together is a beginning. Keeping together is progress. Working together is success." 

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