When people ask me what producing our show is like, I typically say that it’s a marathon with some sprints in it. I think this week’s show is a perfect example of why that’s true. Not only did we work from 8 a.m. to 9 p.m. to get our newscast out, we also had to think on our feet and come up with solutions on the fly to make sure we could be proud of this week’s show.
This week, it seemed like nobody was responding to any of our emails. We had to get rid of several stories throughout the day– all of our prospective sources were busy, stressed or otherwise indisposed, and we had to come up with some way to save our show.
So, I decided to go get some fresh air away from my phone and computer– in the middle of a production day– to try to think of a story that I could be sure we could execute. I came back with a pitch about student-landlord disputes that we, fortunately, got all our required sources for in just under ten minutes!
That experience was something that stuck with me. I think it’s important to know when to work, but it’s equally important to know when to take a break so you can get the best out of yourself as a producer. You need just as much inspiration and creativity to work in broadcast news as you do to be an investigative reporter, an author, or anything else creative!
We have just one more week of shows left. The only thing I’ll regret is not being able to do it all over again.