I want to be a TV news producer.
February 1st, 2008, 2:54 pm · Post a Comment · posted by jshrader
This year I am celebrating my 29th year in the newspaper business, but recently I have figured out that I could be a local TV news producer.
Now, I don’t really know a lot about television other than watching it. As a kid I was on “Cookie and the Captain” when Jim Bolen roamed the halls of Channel 4, and I was on “Captain 11″ when Harry Fender showed Three Stooges shorts from the upper floors of the Chase Park Plaza.
More recently, and for the past 8 years or so I have been a panelist on MetroTalk on LCTV, but for the most part I’m a print guy (though I’ve been told I have a face for radio).
So what qualifies me to be a TV news producer? It would be easy, and I’ll bet you could do it too! Want proof? Here’s what I’ve observed lately on our St. Louis television news broadcasts:
“Welcome to Your 1stSource NEWS. Our Top news story tonight, ‘Highway 40 finally closes’. Let’s go to Len Zoom for a Live 1stSource NEWS report:”
“Thanks, Chuck. I’m standing here on the closed section of Highway 40, and as you can see behind me there is no traffic. If this stretch of highway was open, I couldn’t be standing here now, I am sure. This section of highway would be full of commuters trying to get home from work. I’ve been here several hours, and MODOT reports no problems on this section of the closed highway. I’m Len Zoom for Your 1stSource NEWS.”
“Great report, Len. Gosh, I’ll bet it’s cold out there! That wind seems brutal. Try to get warm and we’ll check back with you later. Now let’s check with Dawn Light for a 1stSource NEWS look at the other major highways.”
“Chuck, we’re getting reports from MODOT that due to the closing of Highway 40, there is more traffic on all other area highways. As you can see behind me, rush hour really brought out the traffic on Highway 44. I can see a string of red taillights for miles! Add to that the cold temperatures and the strong, gusty winds, I’m having trouble holding onto my hat. For a look from the 1stSource NEWS SkyBird Traffic copter, let’s check with Capt. Tom Lands.”
“Thanks, Dawn. I’m flying over the closed section of Highway 40, and it’s almost spooky down there. Usually it would be bumper to bumper down there this time of night. I’ve checked the other area roadways, and it appears traffic is heavier than usual on the other interstates and feeder routes. All I could see on Interstates 55 and 70 was a long string of headlights heading out of the city. Now, let’s send it back to Chuck in the 1st Source NEWSroom.”
“Thanks for that team coverage 1stSource NEWS report. We’ll check back with all of you later in the newscast. Now to check the impact the weather is having on the Highway 40 closing, let’s check with Meteorologist Sunny Deigh with the 1stSource NEWS Lookout Forecast. Is the weather causing any problems for those displaced Highway 40 drivers, Sunny?”
You get my drift, right? I can be a TV news producer. I could sit in my warm cozy office with six TV screens and decide, “This Highway 40 closing is gonna be a big pain in the butt to commuters. I’ll send Len and Dawn to stand on the shoulder of the road. Maybe it will be windy so we can laugh at Dawn trying to hold on to her hat! I’ll get Capt. Lands to do a live flyover and show how dark it is on the closed section of the highway. And he can say something about the miles and miles of head and taillights on the other interstates. And the weather has an impact on everything! And, I’ll bet Sunny can do a weather map with little road barricades to show where the highway is closed!”
It couldn’t be that simple could it? Then I saw the TV news last night during the snowstorm. How many 1stSource NEWS reporters did you count standing in the snowstorm reporting that “the snow is really coming down out here now, Chuck.”?
