A Little TV Talk...

This week at work has been crazy.

On Tuesday, McCain & Palin were both in town. That meant numerous live shots* and wall to wall coverage. Wednesday brought Good Morning America, McCain and Brad Paisley. And Thursday brought Joe Biden. Again, live shots galore and big changes to my show. A year ago, I would have been out in the field, dealing with the crowds. Not anymore. I'm inside the newsroom frantically planning a hour long newscast that 9 chances out of 10 is NOT going to happen the way I want it to. I suppose that's why they call it live TV.

Thursday was really bad. Joe Biden speaking in town would be the lead**, that was a no-brainer. But, a large industrial fire came across the scanners. Hazardous waste was involved and dangerous fumes meant evacuations. If that wasn't enough, a important court case that we had been following for two weeks, went to the jury around 1pm. At 4pm, I had a very packed show. All kinds of live elements, two live interviews and I was excited.

At 4:37pm everything started to crumble.

First --the jury came back with a verdict in that court case. Not only did I lose the story that a reporter had prepared, I lost the reporter appearing in my show. Then, our reporter on the live could not hear the anchors in the studio. So, the anchors could not ask the reporter any questions. Oh, and don't forget that the fire prevented another reporter from doing their original story. Fifty-five minutes later, I was no longer excited. I was beat. And disappointed.

By the time Friday rolled around, everyone in the newsroom looked a little worse for wear this week.

So, I decided to have a "Porch Party".

My house has a large porch, which fits about 12 to 15 people comfortably. The weather last night was perfect...upper 60's and clear. I bought some beer, some cheese, some chips. That's really all you need for an impromptu party. After washing down the table and railings on the porch, I set out a bunch of candles. It actually looked like I had planned this out. Friends and co-workers floated in. It was just nice to kick back, have a drink, and talk about the crazy week. And to catch our breath.

Rumor has it, Obama will be in town next week.

*sigh*

How many days until the election?


*A "live shot" is TV slang for microwave or satellite signal. Basically, the reporter and photographer take a microwave truck (we don't have SAT trucks in my market) to wherever news is happening. They put a mast up into the air from the truck and "beam" back the signal.

**A "lead" in TV news is the first story you see on your newscast.