Dig This Gig by Laura Dodd

Author:Laura Dodd
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Citadel Press
Published: 2011-03-10T16:00:00+00:00

ASA ESLOCKER

Associate Producer

New York, New York

Age: 28

It was hour No. 3 of a stakeout on a drizzly day deep in West Virginia’s coal country. Asa Eslocker, associate producer for ABC’s Investigative Unit with Brian Ross, had flown down from New York City, equipped with a video camera, to get answers. The subject of the story he was working—a CEO of a major coal company who was allegedly bribing members of the state’s Supreme Court—was not returning calls for comment, and the story was set to run on an upcoming Nightline broadcast. “No comment” means no story; no story is never an option.

The rental car was inconspicuously parked in front of the mining company’s headquarters, far enough away to not raise suspicion, yet close enough to make a positive ID. Finally, the CEO pulled up and Asa pounced to confront him, camera rolling. The coal titan did not appreciate the uninvited guest. “He basically assaulted me, broke part of my camera, and pushed me fifty feet while threatening me,” Asa remembers.

By the time Asa hustled back to New York City that afternoon, the coal company’s attorneys were already calling the network, threatening the young producer for assaulting The Boss. “I showed the tape to my managers and dealt with our lawyers and the senior vice presidents,” Asa says. “The tape showed I had done my job correctly. I was vindicated.”

Asa and his team later won an Investigative News/Business Emmy for that story.

Welcome to the world of television news production. Not every story will require such wily tactics. The job of an associate producer, especially one on an investigation unit, is to get what needs to be done, done. And it all begins with the story.

An ABC investigative team of twelve, which contributes to ABC news programs World News, 20/20, and Good Morning America, depends on a variety of insider sources for investigation-worthy story leads. They are also tuned into mainstream news media—newspapers, competing TV networks, National Public Radio—tracking who’s covering what and how well. Most stories are assigned to producers by seasoned managers with a keen sense of what stories make compelling news. Once an idea moves to the front burner, after a variety of approvals through the show’s chain of command, the story is catapulted into production—think dozens, even hundreds, of phone calls, thorough online research, exhaustive travel, and logistical organization.

On most assignments, Asa can expect to travel to shoot locations, set up interviews, or stake out a subject who “most likely does not want to be found.” The team has perfected the “accountability interview” (known as an “ambush” in some circles). When an interview subject isn’t cooperating or is ignoring them outright, they’ll put a producer on a plane to stage an intervention (with a ready and rolling camera, of course). It makes for high drama, and even better television.

Asa first got a taste of the producer lifestyle while he was a college student in the Midwest. ABC News had descended on the campus, along with dozens of other media outlets, to cover a presidential debate.

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