Communication: The best Plan “B”
No. Put simply, this week there was no Plan “B.” It wasn’t my show per se, as I wasn’t the lead producer, but there is plenty that I could have done to prevent the show from going in the direction it went, so I am not completely off the hook.
One of my teammates said something that resonated in my mind tonight, “I feel like [you] don’t have my back.” I think a more accurate way to depict that statement is, in my view, “we don’t communicate well!” And to be frank, communication is the BEST Plan “B.”
Lead producers are responsible for the content that goes in their shows. At the end of the day, it’s their show going on air. However, the video teammate and the graphics teammate should be there to help the lead producer with sudden changes and backup plans. In essence, the video and graphics teammate are Plan “B.”
This week, we had a show unlike any that I’ve experienced in my four years at USC. To my chagrin, I don’t mean that in a good way. Everything that could have happened at the wrong time seemed to happen today, and as much as we tried to fix the show, it seemed like an overwhelming snowball effect. We had, two LIVE shots, breaking news, missing stories, and we were short of personnel among other things. Most of these things are great for LIVE newscast, but we weren’t prepared for them.
I don’t think it was anyone’s fault in particular, considering we’ve had really good shows in the past and we’ve all had the chance to rotate positions. We’re obviously capable of putting on a good show, that’s not the problem. The valuable lesson that we all learned in this week’s show is that we can never communicate too much. Communication is key and most definitely the best Plan “B.”
