The Art Of Story Pitching
My preparation for Thursday morning's meeting always begins the night before. I usually start by checking the entertainment and BC budgets on City News Service's (CNS) story directory. I like to do this first in case there are local stories or events taking place early in the morning. This way the producers can start planning ahead of time which MJ's will be available in the morning to send out. Aside from CNS, I check ABC7, NBC Los Angeles, and the Los Angeles Times for current local news and then CNN and the New York Times for larger stories. I try my best to always watch ATVN's Wednesday broadcast to make sure there isn't an overlap in coverage, in case there is an ongoing story we may do an update on for Thursday's show. Other sites like BuzzFeed and The Daily Beast are also great places to gather ideas for stories, since these outlets are a popular choice among USC students. But overall, Twitter and Facebook are my main sources for all types of news.
I am always very impressed by everyone's participation with pitching stories in the Thursday morning meetings. No matter how informed and up-to-date I may feel walking into my morning meeting, I will always leave knowing about new newsworthy events or stories I didn't think about before hand. Everyone's participation helps to make a collaborative work environment where everyone involved brings something different to the table. On average, we typically end up packaging two to three of the producer's story pitches.
Still, news is always breaking and things are always changing. For Thursday's producers it can be especially challenging because we have class right after our morning meeting. The morning meeting provides us with a good layout of what stories we will do and who will be covering them; but by the time we get back from class at 12:30, it is starting to get busy in the Media Center and many of the stories on the white board are changed. As a producer in this position, it is essential to quickly play catch-up and be willing to change the direction of your show. But like I said before, no matter what day it is news is always breaking and causing us to change what stories we are covering. This can make things crazy, chaotic, and confusing at times but it is so rewarding when you pull-off a successful show at the end of the day.
