Another Casualty of the Swine Flu: My Story

World News producer Susie Banikarim from New York:

Every day at World News, difficult decisions get made about what makes it to air.  We often have more stories than we can squeeze into a 30 minute broadcast (really only 22 minutes if you don’t count the commercials) and, to steal an expression, breaking news means that the best laid plans often go awry. Last week was no exception. 

As part of our coverage of how the country and the economy looked 100 days into the new Presidency, I flew to Evansville, Indiana over the weekend to explore (with the incomparable Chris Bury) how one small town was faring. But by Monday morning, it was pretty clear that swine flu was going to be the primary focus of the news cycle, that night and for the week ahead. And rightfully so.

But, as a producer on the show, the hardest part of that equation is knowing that in many cases we’ve imposed on people who’ve taken time out of their lives to share their stories and that they may feel that that time was wasted. 

So to all the good folks in Evansville, Indiana who took time out of their weekend for us, thank you and, please, let me assure you that your time wasn’t wasted.  Every time we go out and talk to people they inform our reporting.  We are better journalists for their input and perspective and even when their stories never air, they help us shape our broadcast.  And, anyway, this story has a happy ending.  We’ll be airing that piece on our webcast today for those of you who still want to know how Evansville is doing…