Tuesday 23 April 2013

Breaking News..? I'll Just Stay Here Then.

Imagine the scenario... It's the weekend and all is calm... There i am, with all my TV kit in the truck and i am at a pre-planned filming job at a football ground. Parking is at a premium but i am safely in, ahead of time. I chew the fat with my reporter until it's time to film a bunch of keys being handed over to the new football club owners. I nibble on a sandwich,  take another swig of coffee. Time is on my side...

There's already a breaking news story about a man involved in a hit and run somewhere in our patch... but there's a VJ on the way, so i stay where i am. He can mop that one up, for i have the big ceremonial handing over of keys to film.

I stretch a little in the afternoon sun and launch the twitter icon on my mobile phone to pass the time.




I ring the newsroom. Can i go..? No you can't. If i leave now, i will never get back in. They need me where i am, it's an important sports story... Sports news and the football programme want those pictures. Oh well, i guess they have it covered. Back to the Twitters...




That's only 20 miles away... Surely now they will release me from the tedium of sitting in a car park..? No. So there i sat, with breaking news going on all around and not a lot i can do about it. The frustration builds, my news cameraman head is dying to get out of here and join in the action of covering a breaking news story and the uncertainty that goes with it. It's what a news cameraman is built for.

My news producer decides to rub it in and let me know just what i am missing...




I sit there and watch the story unfold on Twitter... following my colleagues as they at least, are on the case...




You see sometimes, you've just got to let it slide. Someone else has got it covered. When all hell breaks loose around you it's tempting to jump in the van and fly down the road with your hair on fire... To get there first and film the action. I glumly let my own Twitter followers know what's going on...




You see the news is not all about the fast and the furious, it is also about the sport, the weather and other pre-planned, important stories that the public want to see. And sometimes, i am the man to film it. I guess i will just have to bite my lip and get on with the job in hand. Mop the rest up later when the action has stopped, the adrenaline has faded and the crowds have long since melted away.

For now though, i sit in the sun and wait for a man to ceremonially hand over a bunch of keys to another man on a football pitch. After all, the beer swilling Mad Dog McGinty in the Dog and Duck pub wants to hear what's going on at his beloved football club... And who am i to deny him..?

Paul Martin is @ukcameraman on Twitter.

www.media-attention.co.uk


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