Ignore the bear in the newsroom. I decided to bring a bear to work during my last week at my Sacramento newsroom. Other producers looked at me funny. On-air folks took it in stride.
As my cousin would say, Andre’s butt has sat in interesting spots around the world. That’s another reason why she’s a little nervous about hugging the little guy.
Top Chef Masters made me think about the crazy things we do for our jobs.
Like dealing with no running water. Or having prep time cut. Then adjusting food service when waiters decide to take the night off. It was all part of a manufactured nightmare for the chefs competing on an episode of Top Chef Masters. Some chefs shared their kitchen curve balls from their restaurants like a power outage in the middle of service. I imagined line cooks searing steaks and chopping vegetables by candlelight.
News producers grapple with similar challenges.
From newsrooms in Topeka to Sacramento and now, San Francisco – I monitor police scanners, skim through headlines and examine video before sunrise.
While Daisy and the rest of the world is sleeping, I juggle phone calls from angry viewers (did you know Obama is letting the rich get away with murder?) and call fire dispatch for more information on a structure fire burning after midnight.
As I finish reviewing writers’ stories and start printing scripts for my anchors, the universe decides to throw a wrench into my news operation.
Bring it on, Universe. Bring it on.
The joys of studio automation (robotic studio cameras and digital video playback) in my Topeka newsroom also came with some serious risks. I remember prepping my news anchor about a switch in live locations and stories when our show director announced part of the automation system went down.
Basically, we didn’t have any audio or video available for the show.
The show director scrambled to reboot servers and I dialed up sleeping IT folks at home. (IT guy: “Do you really need audio and video in less than 45 minutes from now?” Me: “Yes, we have a live news show. We would be dead in the water without audio and video.”) I also scrambled for backup plans…leaning on more weather coverage since our weather maps and graphics operated independently from the automation system. I also worked with the Master Control operator about switching on-air programming to network since we may not have our act together before showtime.
The IT guys fixed the system seven minutes before showtime. Crisis averted.
There were other shows when the system went down in the middle of a live weather report. It was my job to make sure our on-air folks and Master Control knew what we were doing to the system and where I wanted to go next with the show.
My Medill professor, who was once the voice inside Tom Brokaw’s ear (aka Nightly News Executive Producer), once said a producer needs to make sure her anchors on the desk and reporters in the field could go on with show even if there was a fire burning next to me in the control booth.
I can do that.
Another show director once said: “Live TV. Gotta dig it.”
Yes. I dig it.