Keeping Up With Your Stories
I'm going to be honest - getting the latest on your newscast is tough. You're running around all day trying to keep up with your MJs, putting in your rundown, checking out videos and doing your best not to lose it in front of everybody. The last thing you need is a big development in a story you have already assigned someone to write and edit, but what can you do? As a producer, sharing the latest developments of each story is your responsibility.
After this week's morning meeting, we had decided to cover two major international stories - the Hong Kong protests and the Ebola crisis. I started off by assigning reporters and MJ's to go out for interviews and to start editing some footage. Everyone seemed enthusiastic and knew what they had to get done over the next few hours. But sure enough, things started to change as the morning went on.
As I was finishing up the rundown, I could see out of the corner of my eye a bright yellow box flashing on the computer screen. Oh no, I thought to myself. Please don't let it be breaking news. Sure enough, it was! A statement from Hong Kong's chief executive had just been released, as well as new findings in the Ebola patient in Dallas.
Of course, the rundown had to be changed. I alerted the team and let everyone know what the latest news was. And surprisingly, everyone responded very well and immediately began updating their stories. It turned out that the breaking news would not destroy my newscast afterall. All I had to do was to be ready for it and to act fast when it came. News is always happening and as producers, we need to be on top of it.
