We're doin' it live!

I went into work yesterday, thinking "It's my Friday!" (I have Thursdays and Fridays off each week, so Wednesdays are my "Fridays.") I was also thinking how great I had the whole day planned out. I planned to do a feature piece on the late Bob Wagner, who founded and built Wagner Vineyards, one of the first wineries on Seneca Lake. He passed away this past Saturday, and I had plans to talk about him and the legacy he was leaving behind with his son and daughter. I also had a few other stories I was planning to work on.

That all changed when I checked my fax machine upon arriving to the office and immediately got a phone call from my boss. A major 9-injury car accident had happened early Wednesday morning. The passengers were 9 teenagers who were driving home from an underage drinking party.

My profile piece was scrapped and I had 2-and-a-half hours to speak with the County Sheriff, get footage of the car, footage of the scene, and hopefully interviews with the neighbors. Everything moved extremely fast, from the time I arrived at the Sheriff's office -- where I got directions to the scene of the accident -- to the time a live truck was sent to me from Binghamton.

About an hour after I first received that phone call from my boss, I was informed that a live truck would be sent to me. OH MY GOD was really the only thing I could think. I had never gone live before (unless you count one Skype live shot my last semester at school), and all I could do was thank the universe I remembered my IFB (the ear plug that would allow me to communicate with the anchor and people in the control room).

Needless to say, going live was not something I expected to be doing yesterday. After I finished interviewing the Sheriff and got video of the impounded vehicle, I had a good 20 minute drive. Normally, when I'm driving around, I'm blasting Top 40 radio in my company car, but yesterday, the music was turned down low and instead, I compiled a mental list of the most important facts of my story. I talked to myself over and over again as if I were doing the live shot in order to talk it out and come up with the best way to include as much information in as little time as possible.

By the time the live truck operator arrived and set up, I had another 25 minutes to really get everything together. I don't know how I did it, but it happened. I hooked up the IFB and said hello to the anchor and also spoke with a woman in the control room. Normally, our station does "look lives," in which we're not actually live, but the "live" hit is recorded and then airs 2 minutes later. That way, you can still try it again if you mess up. But when the person in the control room told me they were actually taking me LIVE, I knew this was for real. I couldn't mess up, and if I did, I just had to keep on going.

As it turned out, I pretty much aced it! The hit warranted a big "YAY!" from me and even a call from my producer who complimented me. My brother saw me on TV, as did my college roommate's boyfriend. Overall, it was a pretty epic moment for me and an extremely successful day.

**NOTE: The live hit had since been available on my station's site, but has since been updated.

Long Night, Lots of Stories

When there are no reporters to go out with at a news station, it makes things a little difficult for an intern. Last night at News 10 Now (now officially YNN - Your News Now), neither my Executive Producer or my reporter, Kat, were there. I thought I'd be stuck shadowing the producers all night, but luckily Jim, the photog, took me out on a few stories.

Initially we were to go to Syracuse's Hancock International Airport, where the Syracuse Chamber of Congress set up welcome tables to greet fan flying in for the NCAA Basketball Tournament games to be held this weekend at the Carrier Dome.

We did go to the airport, but not before covering some breaking news. Jim and I headed over to a J.P. Morgan parking lot in Cicero, where a man lost control and crashed into a parked car. We spoke to Sheriff Snell, who said the man was in critical condition, and at the time they thought he might have passed out and hit the accelerator, causing him to crash. The man died later, and it was determined to be a suicide.

After leaving the scene, we headed to the airport, but there wasn't much going on. So our next stop was the Sheraton Hotel near the S.U. campus, where Cornell University's Big Red basketball team, cheerleaders, and marching band were staying. With their game at the Carrier Dome tonight, they prepared by having a huge celebratory dinner, during which the team was honored.

Finally, we had one last piece of breaking news. Our assignment editor called us after hearing that a boy shot his mother and threatened to shoot police when they came to his house. But once we arrived at the scene, we learned that it was most likely a prank call. The boy's mother wasn't even home, a third party allegedly made the call, and the son was cooperating with police.

It was a crazy day. None of our stories turned out to be anything super major but driving all over the Syracuse outskirts to cover multiple stories was eventful and exciting nonetheless.