It Was All Good Until The School Bus Crashed

That sounds like a movie title or something right? However it is another day in the life of a news producer. People in the business know the feeling. It's about an hour before your show, you've finished early and checking out what's going on on MySpace and Facebook while listening to "Goin Back To Cali" by The Notorious BIG. Ok maybe that's just me at my job. Nevertheless, I'm chilling when our breaking news pager goes off.

"THERE'S A SCHOOL BUS CRASH!! KIDS ARE HURT!!!"

I'm chilling cause I'm doing the 5:30 and mostly very little local news goes in the 5:30. Those stories are reserved for the 5 and 6. Not today though. The crew that is leading my show is the closest to the scene. Guess who just lost his local lead with an hour before show time? If you guessed me, you win!

"Sorry, we've gotta bust your crew to this. You just lost your lead."

Most people would have a hissy fit. But us newsfolk have an understanding...the most important story is the one that's going on now. So for the greater good, my show is now about a minute and thirty seconds short. Sounds like nothing to you, but imagine that being 1/3rd of your show. Yeah, hold that.