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Through the eyes of a CNN Headline News supervising producer
By Dennis Newman
(CNN) -- Don't you just love it when a project is dropped in your lap at the last second? Herb Sierra, senior executive producer at CNN Headline News, came by and asked if I "wouldn't mind" writing a "Behind the Scenes" piece for the Web site. "Hmm, when's the deadline, Herb?" I asked. "Uh ... sometime today?" "Sure, I'd be happy to do it," I replied. (Is there an emoticon for sarcasm?) Being a supervising producer is sort of like being an air traffic controller. You've got a bunch of information coming at you from several sources and your job is to keep everything straight and on time. The big difference is that when a show crashes, no one dies. (Despite the occasional threat.) RING!! Hold on a sec, that's the phone. "Headlines ... Dennis." "Hi Dennis, it's Ryan in New York. When do you hit your 2 p.m. guest?" I want to state for the record that we at CNN Headline News never "hit" our guests. What Ryan means is: What's the starting time for an interview we have with a guest in the New York bureau? "Hit time is 2:18." "Thanks, Dennis." One of our duties is coordinating interviews and reporter live shots (also known as "hits"). These calls usually go to the Super Desk, but Ginger is probably too busy. "ATTENTION NETWORKS, THIS IS THE NATIONAL DESK!" Why is that speaker so loud? "TWO-MINUTE WARNING TO THE PRESIDENT'S REMARKS!" The CNN networks communicate with advanced technology, including e-mail, instant messaging, pagers and the phone. But if you have something urgent to say, the best way to communicate remains YELLING REALLY LOUDLY over the intercom. It's like being at Kmart except the blue light special might be a satellite feed from Washington or Baghdad. "Anyone listening to Bush?" The second voice you hear belongs to Al, executive producer when Renay & Kathleen are anchoring. Al's only 10 feet away in the control room, but we talk over another intercom that's also turned up way too high. "I got ya covered." That's Steve, supervising producer of the early shift. Perhaps our most important job is watching such things as news conferences, briefings, breaking news feeds, and choosing what portion needs to go on the air quickly. We have a large media department that edits nearly all the video we use in our newscasts. But if you want something done really fast, call a supervising producer. RING!! Speaking of phone calls. "Headlines ... Dennis." "Hey, it's Ginger on the Super Desk. Aiken wants to use something from Bush for his 2:30 hit. Would you pull it?" "Sure." The Super Desk coordinates live shots with reporters. Reporters usually want specific video or sound for their hits and the Super Desk has to make sure it's ready. In this case, Washington reporter Jon Aiken wants sound from the Bush speech for his next live shot in about 20 minutes. I'll pull the sound, relay the information to Ginger, who'll relay it to D.C. Meanwhile, back in the control room, it's getting tense. "Is it ready yet?" Al needs the Bush sound bite that Steve is pulling about five minutes sooner than expected. That gives Steve five minutes less to choose it, do some minor editing so it plays cleanly on air, and tell the writer what Bush says so the writer knows how to introduce it on the script. Doing all this at the same time is what Steve calls the one-armed wallpaper hanger act. Since Steve is too far away from the intercom to reply, he tells me what to tell Al. "It's almost ready." "ALMOST READY." "Less than minute to air!" Al is such a worrier. "It'll be there." "IT'LL BE THERE." Sure enough, less than a minute later, the sound bite plays on air just fine. "Beautiful," says Steve. That's pretty much how it goes. Some days it's non-stop. Some days are slow. We've also got to stay on top of alerts from the wire services, keep our eyes on new stories filed by reporters, and make sure everyone in the newsroom knows the latest. I'd go on, but I still haven't pulled that Bush sound for Aiken, and now his hit is only 15 minutes away.
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