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Friday, November 14, 2014

I love it when @KPRCLocal2 viewers make me laugh.

Every once in a while, viewers make me laugh with their witty comments.

I’ve decided to start sharing them.

Earlier today, I postponed my weekend camping trip. Camping is fun, but camping in the rain is not. Randall’s reply to my ‘canceled camping tweet’ is a funny one.

Monday, November 10, 2014

One of the most fascinating interviews I've done airs Tuesday at 10pm. @KPRCLocal2

I’m lucky enough to interview people from all walks of life. Until recently, I’d never interviewed someone who has witnessed nearly 280 executions.

An article in the publication Texas Monthly piqued the interest of one of our investigative producers.

When she explained that a former spokeswoman for the prison system was willing to talk about her job, which required she watch the executions, I knew we should make an effort to talk with this person.

I drove with a photographer on Halloween day to Michelle Lyon’s home near Huntsville and interviewed her in her living room.
She was open with details. I suppose the topic of executions is interesting to most people. Hearing first-hand details from someone with a unique perspective was fascinating.

What added another level of interest for me was how Lyons described not being affected by the first several dozen executions she witnessed. It wasn't until after she left her position with the state that she realized she had been affected in a big way.

I invite you to watch her interview Tuesday night at 10 p.m. A few people in the newsroom have watched clips as we go through the edit process. They are captivated just as I was.

Thursday, October 23, 2014

When you’re reporting & you have no idea what you are about to say

We use a teleprompter in television, everyone knows that. That doesn't mean we don’t pre-read our copy ahead of time. It’s helpful to know which words to stress and make sure you give the story the proper ‘read.’


Last night I was casually walking into the studio 10 minutes before I needed to be there. Suddenly, the floor crew was ushering me up to our big monitor to be live reading a short tease of my upcoming story. (Teases are written by the show producer, not usually by the reporter.)

I'd never read the copy. As I started reading the tease live on TV, I had no idea what words were going to be across the teleprompter. Granted I didn't have to read much and I knew the topic, but it was still a bit uncomfortable.

You can see where I didn't quite stress "over budget" the right way. That's because I didn't see the word coming early enough to realize that.

Some viewers have told me they enjoy hearing what happens behind the scenes so I thought I'd share this. It was, in the end, not a big deal. Many people have tougher jobs and I love mine. I'm not complaining, just sharing what I hope people at home didn't realize.

You can watch the actual story here: http://www.click2houston.com/news/investigates/more-contractors-say-they-havent-been-paid-for-huge-government-project/29288032

Sunday, October 19, 2014

Trying not to feed the #Ebola hype, but it is incredibly tough #TipJace

Before I went on the air this week with news a Houston area woman had died after visiting Nigeria, I reminded myself that viewers want facts not hype.
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In the report, I was honest and upfront. I thought I explained that we did not know whether this was an Ebola case. (We made the decision to go on the air with the news because investigators were about to be walking around a populated area in hazmat/protective suits and it would surely cause alarm given what has unfolded in Dallas.)

Not three minutes after I was done with my live report, a resident from the area came rushing up to me worried. She had not seen my report but her mother had. Her mother was “freaking out” and very worried about the “new case of Ebola.”

I’m not sure what else I could have said in this report to be more clear. We did not know if the deceased woman had Ebola. She visited an African country but it had not had a case in 21 days. (That’s the longest time it’s believed a person can have the disease without showing strong symptoms that make most people seek medical help.)

 As I reported this case on Twitter, I did what I've seen many other journalists do. Be clear in each Tweet. Don't expect people to have read every other Tweet.

Wednesday, October 15, 2014

I tried live blogging my day as a reporter. Hard to imagine people interested in every detail. #TipJace

I'll admit, it was fun and hard to remember to update Twitter at every big turn. It did get some good reaction from viewers. Thank you for caring enough to interact with me throughout my day yesterday.

Here is a slice of my Tweets from Tuesday.



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