Assignment Desk Editor Mitch

A Tailgate Party in the Newsroom

Mon, 08 Feb 2010 19:55:32 GMT

A typical Sunday evening here at KOVR is usually quiet with around 10 people in the entire office. Its a change of pace from the rigors on Monday through Friday here, where at any given time one could see up to 50 people coming in and out of the station doors. But this Sunday was a twitter with Super Bowl energy.

Once every three years CBS receives the rights to air the big game, and we make sure nothing goes wrong. Extra engineers are brought in on their days off to monitor the signal. We even send one lucky sole to the actual transmitter way out in Walnut Grove to keep disaster at bay. Extra Producers, Anchors, and Reporters were brought in to beef up content for the locally produced shows directly following the Bowl.

With the extra bodies came the food!

Mountains of pizza boxes formed a skyline in the break room, an arsenal of 2 liter soda bottles lined the counter top, and every other snack you could think of was steaming away in a crock pot vat. A coworker even concocted a cake in the shape of Miami Stadium, with details in Blue and Gold in-zones.

All total I had 6 pieces of pizza, three tacos, a liter of soda, countless chips with dips, one meatball, and a sandwich. It took a lot of strength to keep from napping on the job. I think I’m good with not eating anything until CBS airs the next Super Bowl.

Brewing Storm

Sun, 17 Jan 2010 23:31:24 GMT

In case you haven’t been paying attention to the news over the last few days, I’ve got a News Flash: Batten down the hatches, the storm is coming!

Moist weather is on the way and it’s expected to linger. Starting this afternoon, storms are predicted to hit the Valley and Sierra through out the entire week. This means we will have all hands on deck. Be prepared to see full coverage of rain and snow on not only CBS13 and CW31, but on all stations.

When storms are forecasted, we take the time to organize crews and coverage plans. For example, tomorrow morning, if the weather is anything what we have been foreseeing we will have three to four reporters in the field scattered through out the Sacramento region. If its flooding in Modesto or snowing in Blue Canyon we will be there.

Some, however may ask themselves, why all this fuss for just a little rain?

Weather is a story, an occurrence really which affects all of us. When assessing the value of stories, a prevalent bench mark is how many people will this story affect? For weather, the simple answer is everyone.

Rain may not have the journalistic punch of other newsworthy stories, but people do want to know the conditions of their worlds, and we will have it covered.

Internship Fulfillment

Sun, 10 Jan 2010 14:23:16 GMT

Besides handling my duties on the desk, I have also been given the responsibility of coordinating interns at our station. Every semester my coworker and I receive and screen a new grouping of wide eyed bushy tailed interns from various colleges in the area. They come in with eager smiles, but leave their term with defeated eyes after they realize the business they were so looking forward to working in was a chaotic deadline driven business which sometimes leads to madness.

Well, that’s not always the case.

Interns are a refreshing reminder of why I am in news. This may sound cheesy, but these young people are our future. When intern applications stop coming into my inbox, our business will be in jeopardy.

Not too long ago I was walking into a small newsroom in Santa Rosa filled with a demanding Producer, a jaded Assignment Editor, and a quirky News Director not knowing exactly what I was getting into, but I had the drive to find out. And that’s what makes a great intern, a wide eyed eager individual willing to soak everything up like a sponge and do anything that’s asked of them, short of making Starbucks runs.

This coming week I will be knee deep in creating login accounts and introducing the entire staff to new interns, but I know it’s worth while. If one intern leaves our doors with a career goal, be it in news or any other industry, I have succeeded.

Interested interns can submit their applications on our website, under About Us / Internships located on the left side of our homepage.

Manteca gets Snow!

Mon, 07 Dec 2009 20:50:28 GMT

This morning was a white surprise to many communities. The white stuff fell in Lockford, Carmicheal, fell in Linden, and fell in Citrus Heights. Viewers called proclaiming snowflakes were at their door steps adding to our Flake Tracker. But not one place made it more apparent that there was indeed snow in the air than the good folks of Manteca.

Mantecans started flooding the phones lines one after another giddy as can be explaining their own winter wonderlands. At one point every person in the newsroom fielded a call with an exuberant Mantecan on the other line. By the time I talked to the 10^th viewer from Manteca, I made the proclamation, “Its official, every Mantecan has called in seeing snow.”

One viewer said that they hadn’t seen snow hit Manteca in 15 years. From the sound of it they took full advantage of the phenomenon.

Keep the phone calls a coming Manteca!

Thanksgiving On The Desk

Sat, 28 Nov 2009 02:47:36 GMT

Working during the Holidays in isn’t new. Ever since live broadcasts became the norm, TV news people have been forced away from family and stuck inside a newsroom while the rest of the world gets to be home, stuffing their bellies and throwing around the pig skin.

Being here during the thanksgiving holiday on the desk isn’t that bad. I still got to over-eat and even sneak in a nap (well maybe not the nap). There was a whole turkey with all the trimmings, banquet-style, sitting in the conference room. Needless to say, there were multiple trips made, and the plates weren’t pretty. Greasy mac and cheese, moist turkey -- some trips were nothing but stuffing and cranberry.

Holidays are always slow when it comes to news. Scanners dull and phone calls become less frequent. We even change our story picking from crime and grime to features about giving and the holiday spirit. The news gets a break for the day while people get their naps.

A Real Barn Burner

Wed, 11 Nov 2009 21:25:45 GMT

Whenever I come into work and find the morning reporter fronting a story from the previous day, a little alert pops up in my head saying we need some NEW news today.

This morning for example, Courtney Dempsey was reporting on the Synagogue in Carmichael which was defaced with swastikas and other anti Semitic images. While it is a worthy story to cover, it happened the other day. We need fresh content for the morning.

Immediately I get into breaker mode where anything goes. I am on the hunt for a new story, preferable a breaker, anything to get Court onto a fresh story.

As I go about my morning routine, a scanner blasts out, “Units respond to a hay fire, possibly a barn threatened.” I have to find out where this is happening.

A few more call outs over the scanner reveal its burning in Farmington south east of Stockton. That’s a hike from Sacramento!

But in the back of my mind I know how this will play out. Hay fires tend to burn for a long time, sometimes for days on end. Fire crews initially respond with full force, but once they get on scene they most likely find the hay burring in an isolated area and are continent to let the blaze burn itself out. There is enough hay and fuel to keep the blaze alive for several days.

We send Court knowing it will take hours to get there, but on the assumption the fire could potentially still be lit. Bets are thrown around the newsroom whether the gamble will pay off. I, at first, was skeptical that there wouldn’t be a scene. But Brent, the News Director, was glowing with his usual optimism.

After an hour and a half from dispatching Court, she chirps me over the Nextel, “Hey Dawg, we have smoke and flames.”

I yell into Brent’s office, “You were right!”

The Gov puts us in a Scramble

Wed, 04 Nov 2009 21:57:18 GMT

Every day the Governor's press office puts out an itinerary of the events Arnold will be attending. Today he was scheduled to be in Stockton at 10am to parade a new electric car manufacturing facility. Knowing this we send Courtney Dempsey down to Stockton all the way from Davis to cover.

Immediately I start making phone calls to set up her live shot, demonstrating the e-cars and previewing the Governors arrival. As soon as she is done with her first hit on Goodday, Court calls and tells me Arnold won’t be there until 4pm. 4pm, are you kidding me?

The man is known to be late to his own events, but a six hour delay is crazy talk. Now we have to redirect Court and have her change her angle.

Soon after the first delay from Arnold, I get an email from his press office stating he will be holding a media briefing on the infamous Water Bill that was passed early this morning at 10am.

Wow, who do we have to send? In the back of my mind we have another press conference being put on by the Office of the Inspector General regarding the Phillip Garrido (Jaycee Dugards abductor) investigation. We can’t miss this one either.

While consulting with my desk manager Kellee, she notices that both events are at the same time and in the same place! Someone messed up.

After a few phone calls it’s revealed that Arnold’s event on the Water Bill will be at 10am in room 1190 at the Capitol, and the Garrido presser in the same location at 11:30am. Great, we plan accordingly to cover both.

Everything is falling into place, until Ralph the photographer calls up informing me the Water Bill announcement has been pushed back to 11am and will be in an entirely different room within the Capitol. AND, Garrido has been postponed to 2pm.

I throw up my hands in defeat and just walk away. I will find a way to make it work after I go and bang my head into the wall.

Wind Puts Desk on the Hot Seat

Tue, 27 Oct 2009 17:51:40 GMT

While lying in bed this morning at 3:30 a.m., I started my usual tossing and turning. This habit comes in anticipation of a 4:30 a.m. wake up call. Suddenly I hear a faint howling rumbling up through my window and realize right away it’s no dog when my shutters flash open and crash against the wall. It’s the WIND!

As fast as my shutters flew open I realize what I am in store for at work, The Wind Beat. I am struck with visions of sparking power lines dancing on the street and massive oaks crashing to the ground.

I get into work, scanners are all ready blaring and Brent, my news director, says, “Find me some trees!” Right away I dispatch Nick Janes and Scott Zentner to Davis near Highway 113 and Russell Blvd. We've got a BINGO!

Zentner chirps me on the Nextel saying he has a huge tree on the ground blocking traffic. “That’s fantastic,” I say, “When can we see live pictures?” He responds, “I will see what we can do, there are trees all over the place preventing us from getting a signal.” Nooooo!!!!

We give him some time to trouble shoot, and an hour later, Brent and I see a great looking tree down. Luckily, the tree landed right between two parked cars without causing any damage or injury – a great looking live shot.

It’s rare when we are in weather chasing mode that we catch a lucky break. Lots of times there are reports of trees down, only to find it's a branch in the road.

Today we got our golden goose right off the bat.

Accident Leaves Newsroom Re-thinking

Mon, 14 Sep 2009 18:37:12 GMT

Yesterday afternoon two veteran sky divers lost their lives after their parachutes failed while performing a mid-air routine. Both divers had countless jumps under their belts and were considered veterans of the sport, but luck, it seems, caught up with them.

It’s a sad story that had the whole newsroom buzzing with opinion. Many had sympathy for the pair who died doing what they loved. Others felt sorry for the loss of life but had little pity for people making a conscious choice to jump out of a flying plane. A co-worker who had contemplated a jump themselves said, “That’s it, I am never going skydiving!”

Let’s face it, there are risks involved with everything in life, from driving in a car, to walking across the street, but obviously some acts are more risky than others. Having never had the desire to sky dive I can't tell you what the mind set is, although I can imagine it’s a rush that can become addictive.

Everyone is entitled to their own kicks, some dangerous some not. I personally love power walking!

Record Standoff

Tue, 25 Aug 2009 16:42:09 GMT

Yesterday Rocklin Police experienced a situation I had never heard of before, but have seen many times. At 3pm a Berkeley man walked out of his barricaded hotel room at the Park hotel in Rocklin after a 43 hour standoff. I have covered countless standoff situations in the past but have never heard of any of them lasting Three days. Under normal circumstances, standoffs are known to last hours on end without a lot of action, but are usually concluded promptly, either by force or by choice.

Saturday August 22^nd officers received a call from Berkley Police advising a welfare check for an individual they knew to be staying at the Park hotel. When Rocklin PD roll up they learned that the man had a gun and was threatening to use it on himself. Immediately the entire floor of the hotel was evacuated and teams of officers were called out. Negotiators made contact with the man, but made no progress in getting him to surrender himself or his gun.

By this time it’s early Sunday morning, police conclude that the man inside is of no harm to anyone, but him self. They decide to back off. But you can’t just leave a disturbed man with a gun in a hotel, people lives could be in danger. Rocklin police choose to leave a few officers in front of his door just to be safe. The scene got quiet enough, police allowed people previously evacuated back into their rooms to retrieve there belongs. The hotel even remained open to the public.

Now it’s Monday, around noon. A call comes into the newsroom that there has been a standoff for the past three days. No way, that’s impossible! How could there have been a standoff for the last three days with out us knowing?

We call Rocklin Police and leave a message, and don’t get a call back until later that day. Sure enough, they confirm that a three day stand off just concluded safely. They guy finally picked up the phone and called saying he was ready to come out.

A Lieutenant for Rocklin Police told me he hadn’t seen a standoff go that long during his entire career.

I wonder if he was able to get room service?