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Here's another reporter story.

Published 17 days ago • 1 min read

Ever pretended to be “live” outside a courthouse that’s been closed since lunch? Or a crime scene that's been inactive for days?

Welcome to local news, where the "LIVE" banner matters more than the actual news.
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Here’s one of my favorite (read: infuriating) stories from my time as a reporter...
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I told my executive producer, a full week in advance, that I needed to leave at 5:15 PM on a specific day.
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Not for a mani-pedi. Not for a hot date.
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To pick up my daughter from daycare by 6:00. Basic parenting.
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I even offered to come in early and bang out my story.

AND said I’d do a “look live” (aka the staged cousin of a real live shot). Nothing would be missed.
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But she said... absolutely not.
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So I said, “Would you rather I call out sick?”

Her answer? Yes.
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So instead of getting a perfectly good story from me, she got nothing.

Because I had the nerve to plan ahead and prioritize childcare over... pretending to be live outside a quiet scene.
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This is the kind of logic that runs local TV newsrooms:

You can fake being live, but you can’t leave 45 minutes early with notice.
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I picked up my daughter on time.
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(Why is this picture blurry? It was probably taken with a BlackBerry. Remember those? God, I loved having buttons on a phone.)

Become a Media Maven

By Christina Nicholson

Learn step-by-step how businesses are earning media exposure (without ads) from a TV reporter turned PR agency owner every Thursday.

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