awesome,” the young woman said with admiration and—if Kelly heard right—a touch of envy. “You’re the reason I wanted to intern at WBRX.”
The reporters exchanged looks. Even Monroe looked a little nonplussed.
“Is that right,” Kelly said courteously. “Well, thanks.” Maybe the intern meant well. But Kelly couldn’t help thinking otherwise when she looked at Tina. She smiled anyway.
“Kelly is definitely a star.” Monroe’s attempt to smooth things over fell flat. “But she doesn’t usually join us for morning meetings. To what do we owe the honor, Kelly?”
“Just thought I’d drop in, that’s all. No hidden agenda.” Besides finding out if yesterday’s shootout was going to be assigned as a story and who would get it. Maybe more information had come over the scanners after she’d left. Being followed last night still had her on edge.
“A pleasure to have you with us,” he said jokingly. “Any ideas on how we can get Dave Maples to attend?”
Her co-anchor never showed. “Serve breakfast,” Kelly suggested. She was regretting the lack of coffee.
Monroe turned the meeting over to the managing editor, making occasional comments to Tina in a low voice. Dutifully, the intern took notes. Reporters updated the group on their stories and floated ideas for new ones.
The assignment editors took it from there. They gave a concise account of last night’s scanner bulletins and readouts, generating an undercurrent of excitement.
Monroe nipped that in the bud. “Don’t get your hopes up, people. We’re not investigating that shooting or featuring it. Fred can write a short line for the crawl. We might or might not run it.”
“What’s the crawl again?” Tina asked. The intern kept her pencil poised above her notebook.
“The banner at the bottom of the screen with breaking news and upcoming stories,” Monroe explained.
He seemed to be about to pat Tina on the head. Kelly smiled inwardly.
“Too bad. Three bodies,” murmured a crime reporter, regret in his voice. “That’s a good hook. Could be a three-part special.”
“It’s not going to happen,” Monroe replied, running a hand over his balding head as if there were hair on it that needed smoothing. “Yes, I always say if it bleeds, it leads, but not this time.”
“Can you tell us why?” Fred inquired.
“I received a personal call from the chief of police this morning, and another one from a government agency I was asked to not identify. Both want us to hold off.”
“Someone online is going to scoop us,” a reporter pointed out.
“Which reminds me.” Monroe changed the subject. “We’re losing viewers to the net. Atlanta is one of the largest markets in the whole US, but market share fragmentation gets worse every month. Too many Atlantans don’t think WBRX when they think news. Which means . . . all of you need to work harder on getting exclusives.”
He had everyone’s attention by the last line.
“I’ll spell it out for those of you who are new. Nothing to it. Develop contacts in government, take police brass to lunch, dig up great stories no one else knows about.”
As if it were or had ever been that easy. Monroe had never been a reporter, if Kelly remembered right. But he was an expert at telling the WBRX team how to do it.
“Don’t just rewrite a story the competition is doing,” he added. “Unless they stole it from us in the first place.”
That got a real laugh.
“Why can’t we cover the shooting?” someone persisted. “If the powers that be don’t want it out there, that means it could be a big story.”
“Not necessarily.” Monroe tapped his fingers on the table. “And we didn’t get singled out. From what I understand, the information lockdown is across the board.”
Kelly backtracked mentally to his previous remark. Government agency. Not identified. That didn’t add much to what she knew about Deke.
“Besides, viewers don’t care about another gang shooting. Not
The reporters exchanged looks. Even Monroe looked a little nonplussed.
“Is that right,” Kelly said courteously. “Well, thanks.” Maybe the intern meant well. But Kelly couldn’t help thinking otherwise when she looked at Tina. She smiled anyway.
“Kelly is definitely a star.” Monroe’s attempt to smooth things over fell flat. “But she doesn’t usually join us for morning meetings. To what do we owe the honor, Kelly?”
“Just thought I’d drop in, that’s all. No hidden agenda.” Besides finding out if yesterday’s shootout was going to be assigned as a story and who would get it. Maybe more information had come over the scanners after she’d left. Being followed last night still had her on edge.
“A pleasure to have you with us,” he said jokingly. “Any ideas on how we can get Dave Maples to attend?”
Her co-anchor never showed. “Serve breakfast,” Kelly suggested. She was regretting the lack of coffee.
Monroe turned the meeting over to the managing editor, making occasional comments to Tina in a low voice. Dutifully, the intern took notes. Reporters updated the group on their stories and floated ideas for new ones.
The assignment editors took it from there. They gave a concise account of last night’s scanner bulletins and readouts, generating an undercurrent of excitement.
Monroe nipped that in the bud. “Don’t get your hopes up, people. We’re not investigating that shooting or featuring it. Fred can write a short line for the crawl. We might or might not run it.”
“What’s the crawl again?” Tina asked. The intern kept her pencil poised above her notebook.
“The banner at the bottom of the screen with breaking news and upcoming stories,” Monroe explained.
He seemed to be about to pat Tina on the head. Kelly smiled inwardly.
“Too bad. Three bodies,” murmured a crime reporter, regret in his voice. “That’s a good hook. Could be a three-part special.”
“It’s not going to happen,” Monroe replied, running a hand over his balding head as if there were hair on it that needed smoothing. “Yes, I always say if it bleeds, it leads, but not this time.”
“Can you tell us why?” Fred inquired.
“I received a personal call from the chief of police this morning, and another one from a government agency I was asked to not identify. Both want us to hold off.”
“Someone online is going to scoop us,” a reporter pointed out.
“Which reminds me.” Monroe changed the subject. “We’re losing viewers to the net. Atlanta is one of the largest markets in the whole US, but market share fragmentation gets worse every month. Too many Atlantans don’t think WBRX when they think news. Which means . . . all of you need to work harder on getting exclusives.”
He had everyone’s attention by the last line.
“I’ll spell it out for those of you who are new. Nothing to it. Develop contacts in government, take police brass to lunch, dig up great stories no one else knows about.”
As if it were or had ever been that easy. Monroe had never been a reporter, if Kelly remembered right. But he was an expert at telling the WBRX team how to do it.
“Don’t just rewrite a story the competition is doing,” he added. “Unless they stole it from us in the first place.”
That got a real laugh.
“Why can’t we cover the shooting?” someone persisted. “If the powers that be don’t want it out there, that means it could be a big story.”
“Not necessarily.” Monroe tapped his fingers on the table. “And we didn’t get singled out. From what I understand, the information lockdown is across the board.”
Kelly backtracked mentally to his previous remark. Government agency. Not identified. That didn’t add much to what she knew about Deke.
“Besides, viewers don’t care about another gang shooting. Not
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