Tuesday April 14, 2009: Return to the Word Factory

Day One on the new job. Senior reporter at Seven News, Melbourne.

And already, "specials" duty. The dreaded long-form TV news story which, at birth, exists only in the mind of the producer or chief of staff. No actual hook or angle, and certainly no talent. Nothing more, in fact, than a vague idea on a piece of paper. Usually conceived in panic, to provide the station with something promotable, designed to counteract a perceived ratings threat from an opposition broadcaster.

The popular definition of the TV news "Special" among reporters - those whose job it is to create them - is a news story that takes two or three days to shoot, write, and edit.

My assignment is to examine the issue of older workers who find themselves unemployed and who manage to regain employment, perhaps in another field.

I spread the word among media contacts in the recruitment industry and the union movement. The first to reply is MD of the Slade Group. She delivers two interviewees and agrees to be interviewed herself. She is excellent talent and we knock over the interview in less time than it takes to find a parking spot outside her CBD office.

The first interviewee panics and withdraws when we are literally at her door. The second is happy to talk but is hundreds of kilometres away in eastern Victoria.

We kill time by shooting overlay in Collins St and my first piece to camera in ten years. Two takes - amazingly, word perfect. I still got it! Meanwhile, Slade obligingly finds us a third interviewee who works close to the city, agrees to see us immediately, and speaks well.

I call another contact who sets about finding me another career transitioner - I need one more to really bolster the story. He calls back late that afternoon and we agree to meet for an interview first thing in the morning. Such is the luxury of having more than eight hours to conjure a story from nothing.

An hour before our appointment the next day, he calls to cancel. Coincidentally, moments later, the MD of the company who sourced this former client for me, calls to see if he had made contact. I tell her he pulled out and she is mortified. She sets about finding a replacement.