A few minutes before the 10pm newscast started on a night in January I answered the phone and found myself talking to a woman threatening suicide.

The call didn’t start out that way. The caller wanted to leave a tip about a story we had tried to work in November. I could tell she was very upset and her story sounded…well, honestly, crazy. I have taken many conspiracy theory calls, calls from people claiming to have been implanted with a microchip by the government, and yes, even calls fr...
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It seems though I may have programmed the producers too well.  I’ve written how I proudly wear the Dream Killer Tiara as I often have to tell producers they can’t have desired live shots because logistically they’re just not possible. Everyone knows though that I, and the others on the news desk, work hard to make all the requests come true.  

So I was quite surprised yesterday when a producer cancelled a live shot without even talking to me about a way to make it happen. "You’ve go...

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“Misty, I blame you!” exclaimed the producer half in jest half in frustration.  “All these weird truck problems are all you!” 

“Yep, that’s me.  I caused the tire to go flat,” I responded with a laugh.

Sometimes when it seems all is going wrong, all you can do is make a joke out of it as you work to make sure the viewer would never know what obstacles with which you’re dealing.  Tonight it was a flat tire on a live truck.  The truck was already in position for the 5pm newsc...

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I understand how difficult it is to be a PIO or PR rep during breaking news or a developing situation.  (For rest of post I will use PIO-Public Information Officer-to refer to all media reps.)  I relate to your job as I compare it to that of my own as an assignment editor.  I only know what is happening by what I’m told by news crews on scene, witnesses or PIOs; or by what I hear on the scanners. 

Producers, writers, editors, managers, reporters, photographers constantly ask me for more det...

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I say it all the time, we've done our job right when in the same day, on the same stories, when we're accused of being too conservative/right AND liberal/left by viewers. When this happens this means we've aired the story with all sides/angles represented. Yeah for unbiased, fair journalism!

Unfortunately, in the issue of referencing the president in our stories we will always be conservative/right for the next 4 - 8 years, as we were always liberal/left during the last 8 years. The difference...
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