Good Morning! I’m Christine Persichette. That’s actually written in the TelePrompTer every morning when I deliver the news. No, it’s not there because sometimes I’m so tired I forget my name! It’s really there for closed captioning purposes. I never actually read it... I just adlib my hello. The rules are: you have to say the date and time, your name, the traffic reporter’s name and introduce the meteorologist. There are some days where I should have used the prompter... like when I accidentally say Thursday instead of Tuesday (wishful thinking 😉) and there are other days when Lorin Richardson is in for Nicole Edenedo and I introduce her as Nicole. Fortunately we tape our hellos. They are not live. So, as long as someone catches my mistake, we can redo it. (now I’m giving away all of our secrets!) Well, while I’m at it, here’s another secret: I run the Teleprompter with a footpedal. It took some getting used to- but after a while, it became second nature. At my first station in Elmira, New York- I had to run the prompter using a hand controller. I hated that. Look, I’m Italian, I like to use my hands when I talk. That prompter meant one hand was kept on my lap at all times. Using the footpedal means my hands are free!
Now, just like any technology, the prompter can sometimes just stop working. There have been times where I haven’t had a prompter at all... and just had to memorize my scripts. Sometimes, I think it actually sounds more natural that way... you don’t have to pretend that you're not reading... because you really are not reading!
Aside from the prompter, there are other tools of the trade that anchors use everyday. Of course, our microphone, which is a tiny lavalier mic that clips at the top of a shirt or dress (or tie for the guys). And the IFB- which I guess is known as interruptible feedback or interrupt for broadcast. I actually don’t really know what it stands for! In my 20 years in the business- I’ve only called it an IFB LOL. Well, anyway, this little box and earpiece allows me to hear my director and producer. It’s especially helpful when we are live on the air and the producer has to tell me something that I need to tell you- the viewer... or when my director has to give me a time cue. For example, if we are wrapping up live breaking news- we usually have to time it to get to the commercial break. So my director will give me cues... 30 seconds, 15, 10, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1. Doing this job for so many years... I know how long it takes me to say something like ‘thanks for watching - keep it here on FiOS 1 news for the latest on this story throughout the day.’ Or you learn how to stretch- to fill time- so you can hit the break right on time.
And, of course, there are other tools of the trade which any good anchor has at their disposal... usually on the desk hidden behind the laptop! They include my little mirror, my lipstick for touchups, a pen (just in case I have to write notes down in the event of breaking news) and, probably the most important tool for us morning newsers, a cup of coffee. But don’t let that FiOS 1 News mug fool you... it’s just a prop! (another secret!)... my morning cup of Joe is on a little table next to my chair.
So even though come next week I won’t be getting up at 1 o’clock in the morning... I’m sure I’m still going to need that morning cup of coffee. And hopefully I won’t be so tired that I forget my name... because I won’t have a Teleprompter to help me!
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