Friday was the kind of news day that separates the journalists from the alarmists. The horrific mass shooting near Denver yesterday morning broke shortly before I went on air with my first newscast. I love my work even if I sometimes loathe the tools (stories) I work with.
Our mandate is to “lead local” with our newscasts but there are days when that simply doesn’t make sense. While a competitor started his newscast by expressing the joy some local farmers are feeling after finally getting a full day of rain, the rest of us understood the scope of the tragedy that was unfolding in Colorado. Following the details moment by moment is draining but I’m acutely aware that I have nothing to complain about when compared to those who are actually involved in the situation.
Someone tweeted that the gunman had been wearing the same mask Christian Bale wore in the Batman movie that was on the screen during the shooting. There was no attribution to a source and as it turns out, no truth to that. But it’s one of the dozens of little items that needs to be checked out and verified or in this case, not verified. The whole morning becomes a whirl of searching and writing and verifying and rewriting. After 9-11 I always said I was grateful to have had something useful to do that day by staying on the air. It was the same thing yesterday. Best to keep busy and not spend too much time thinking about the maniacs who walk the earth with us.