My Last Day

     Today was indeed the last day of my producer position at News 20. I was happy because it was the last day. I was proud because I was able to make it to the last day. I was a little sad about it being the last day to work an awesome team that has been with me show after show. But it was a fun, if not intense, journey being a producer.
     As for my last show, it was great. Everything was timed perfectly and flowed just right. Of course it wouldn't my show if it didn't have a couple of mishaps and hiccups. I was even excited enough to give a little speech to the cast and crew. I really am surprised that I have been able to build a show Monday and Monday. I almost don't believe that it was me doing it. Committing to this position really helped me see my potential, it was a great experience.

"For everyone here in the studio, I'm VeAngela Ashley. Have a great evening." ^_^

Another Day

     Today's newscast was okay. I didn't have any particular problem that I can think of. I think everyone was more or less absorbed in the story involoving a drum major dying. Throughout the day everyone was coming up talking about it, and giving their own idea as to what could've happened and if it was indeed foul play. Besides that... everything was very pretty much the same. There were a couple of hiccups during the show but nothing that couldn't be solved. I will say that the crew, including myself, seemed very tired all day. It felt like we were running low on energy and there was nothing there to left us out of our funk. Maybe everyone was ready to get home for Thanksgiving... I know I am, but funk or not everything was just fine and I can't wait for next week. Happy Thanksgiving everybody.

Today was... eh.

     Today started out pretty well, that is until my AP's hard drive stalled on him. Everything was going great and we were making good time. But, when we started to he that clicking from his hard drive I knew it was going to be bad. I really felt bad because he had a lot of things going on as it was, but we had to keep moving on. I know it really bothered him though because I found it hard to get through to him for a little while afterward. Once he figured out how he can possibly recover what he lost, he was back on track. 

     Even though there were hard drive problems we got over it quickly. Now I could turn my focus to a story that was minutes from breaking. I really didn't want to put it in but knew that I had to. I hate when I have to cover breaking news stories because it throws my whole groove off, but I had to suck it up and roll with the punches.

     I was in a rush try to load the package and in my haste didn't realize it was the wrong package. Then again, it was in the right folder with the correct name, so I didn't think much of it. It wasn't until the package ran on-air that I realized it was wrong. Not only that, but there were misspelling in the sports block... MISSPELLINGS! It wasn't like they were complicated words to began with, they were very much grade school words. I was so upset, I can't believe I missed those.

     All in all, I felt the show would have been great but due to the errors it ended up being very lackluster for me... of well, better luck next week.

Day of Frustration

     Today was definitely a day with all type of frustrations. Once again I was limited to just one reporter, which meant a rather short A-block. I wanted to added more graphic OTS's this time around, I guess I just wanted to make the block more interested instead of just having readers and full screen macs. The rest of the day was a pretty uneventful compared to last Monday. When we finally got downstairs, it seemed like I had more questions flying my way more than usual. Questions about video, graphics, scripts, and the rundown... it all gave me an uneasy feeling. Once the show started, everything seemed to go just fine... it wasn't until the B-block. I was trying to drop a story because I saw that I was running long, but I guess that was too late for my professor because he then decided to put the story back, which then gave me reason to try and drop it again. As we were playing ping pong with a story, the promotor was also going back and forth, which of course threw off the anchors. It was such a huge irritation for that to happen because instead of me trying to gain a couple of seconds the back and forth just added more time than I wanted. As a result of that and sports block the show was starting to run heavy, which I had to drop story after story. I thought I had a really good show today but the little things really set me back. Like I said... frustration.

Houston, we have a probl... Oh wait, nevermind.

     Today was definitely a day of uh oh's and oh no's. Starting in the morning when our professor had to attend to a family emergency, which left me and my team up the stream with half a paddle. Contrary to my belief, the wait time actually helped the reporters to better develop their stories and build a basic script.
     Once the reporters got their cameras, they headed off to cover their assigned stories. It was until about 11:45 that I got a call from my reporter explaining how he just witnessed a bus fly by him with five police officers on its tail. That's when news just started to happen. Another story came in over the wires about a suspicious death in a nearby area. The B-block was getting pack with newsworthy stories and the A-block was of course light as a feather. Though there were great top stories being covered I still needed more, wanted more. I was getting comfortable with building the show and wanted to try doing more on-camera things. I scheduled an on camera weather tease, an anchor chat within a block, and a live shot (even though it was mandatory).
     My professor seemed to be really excited about the amount of actual news we had today. "Finally... this is what I was waiting for... I'm tired of these full-screen macs, now we got some real news," he said... or something like that. I had to admit I was a little excited to actually had some news today also. I was getting too used to Mondays being slow news days, and today really showed me how news can happen at the drop of a dime. I was also hugely grateful to have a reporter who was willing to go the extra 10-15 miles (with no gas money provided) to cover a very important story.
     Everyone was able to complete pretty much everything by about three o'clock, with the exception of a couple of packages and teases, but it shows that we are progressing. Once I got downstairs, more uh oh's and oh no's started to piled up. Footage wasn't crossing over to the server, packages were still being cut, the script was being written and edited to fit anchors style, and the show clocked out at being four minutes light. I was hoping, praying, crossing my fingers that the package for the live shot would transfer to the server, but no luck... great two more minutes in the hole. When we had to drop the live shot, I thought that I was going to have one of those shows where the anchors sat for three minutes at the end trying to force small talk. However, due to some weird, surreal newscast fairy-godmother (or my pleading to the anchors to speak slowly)... we were able to catch up on time and actually had to drop a couple stories. Man, we must have the greatest anchors... they always manage to be my savior.
     All in all, the show was good... though I thought that I had committed suicide when that live shot was dropped. Whatever we're doing, I hope we keep it up because I am not even sure how we're doing it anymore. :- )

Falling into Routine

     Today's show was good... nothing completely spectacular, nothing significantly disappointing... just okay. There were simple mistakes here and there that could've been avoided if only I had paid closer attention, but for the most part I'd say another show down. All in all, everything seemed almost routine. Everyone fell into their respective places and started working without being asked. It was kind of freaky in a way... that after only five shows everyone wasn't as confused or panicky. It gave me a bit of hope, that it does get easier as times goes on and that it wasn't so impossible to begin with.
     Once again I was worried about my A block being way to light but it didn't seem to be anything too serious. I was also one reporter short again today, which is probably why I felt that my local section was so thin. The show itself was okay. Though we all seemed aware of our job today, the energy itself seemed out of place, almost like we were walking through the motions. I guess you can say it was one of those Mondays. However, all in all, it was adequate work... could be better... should be better... will be better. I just don't want to fall into a slump where we all are like zombies writing copy and editing video with no kind of enthusiasm, that would be bad.

Day 5

     Besides that fact that one of my APs was out sick, the show all went pretty well. I would have to say that this was the show of close calls. I made the unfortunate mistake of waking up late for class, so I was a little disoriented to find that neither of my reporters had arrived. I was considering the thought of splitting my APs up so that one was reporting and the other was working on B block. It wasn't until I got in contact with one of my reporters that I calmed down. One disaster avoided. During the day everything was pretty regulated or at least work itself out. However, the entire day I was worried about the show being way too light. I said it before, and I'll say it again... Mondays are slow news days, therefore I hate Mondays.
     Getting close to printing for the show, I was racing to try and add more stories. I was already a little disappointed about having a VO and RDR heavy show, what's done is done and show had to go on. Once the I got downstairs, I made it a point to tell the talent to slow on some of the stories since I still felt the show was too light. As soon as I get back to the control room, I get devastating news. The server was down... or at least not receiving any more video. Apparently, the server was finally full and none of the video that was cut earlier was going over. It was 40 minutes to the show and I couldn't even imagine a plan B. A newscast without video....  that's crazy right, right?
     Another disaster NEARLY avoided. Minutes before the show started the server was cleared and video was beginning to be loaded. I had to seconds before the cold open I was asking.. "Is A block safe... do we have video?" Greatly relieved to hear "Yes, we have video," I quickly unchecked all the floated stories. I couldn't have imagined getting through the show without video, the thought made me shake. Other than that... the show was pretty good. Though I was early for my first hit time, the anchors did a great job of filling it and putting the show back on track.
     One main piece of advice I did receive today is to be a little more aggressive with during the show. When he said that I instantly thought of me with an iron fist... dictating and commanding the airwaves that is News 20 at 5... I don't think that's what he had in mind. However, I am a bit hesitant to lay down the law sometimes, because I don't want to come pushy, bossy, or rude. After the class discussion about personalities types, I've been trying to remain neutral as not to upset anyone. I see now that the good ole saying "you can't make everyone happy" reigns true, I just don't want to seem like the bad guy.