So I’m driving from Sacramento to San Francisco for my night-side reporting shift when I get stuck behind an accident. No worries, I’ll call into the 3pm assignment meeting.
I get my assignment: People are calling into quit-smoking help lines in record numbers… find a local angle.
Great story… except its 3pm on a Friday and I’m still an hour away from the city. How am I going to line up interviews with doctors and smoking clinics before everyone leaves for the weekend?
Enter the iPhone… Without disconnecting from the conference call, I google quit smoking SF. Up pops a list of hypnotists, hospital programs, and (wait for it…) quit smoking hotlines.
The beauty of the iPhone is you don’t actually have to dial the numbers from websites. Without taking my eyes off the road for more than 2 seconds (I’m dead stopped in traffic anyway) I click on a website, click on the contact number, am instantly connected.
After each call, the iPhone sends me back to the station conference call so I can continue to listen in between calls.
By the time I reached the station at 4pm I had all of my interviews set up. I met my photographer, hit the road and was back at the station by 6 ready to write.
Oh, and did I mention, I also found all the stats for the story by using iPhone news apps?
Once again, iPhone saves the day (or at least the story :)
Now if only I could get AT&T to quit dropping my calls…
Monday, April 6, 2009
Wednesday, March 18, 2009
Where is Julie Watts??
It’s been a while since I’ve blogged… and I have received a lot of questions about my whereabouts since I left KCRA in December.
I am currently working at KPIX CBS 5 in San Francisco as both a reporter and meteorologist. I'm still living in the Sacramento area and commuting between Sac, the city, and San Jose (my home town).
As for the Sierra Leone piece… Obviously it never aired on KCRA (a combo if union issues and lay-offs).
“From Sacramento to Sierra Leone” ended up a half-hour mini-doc airing on KVIE in December. A second version will air in May leading up to a Sierra Leone benefit concert this summer. Stay tuned!
For more on the journey, read the article below…
I am currently working at KPIX CBS 5 in San Francisco as both a reporter and meteorologist. I'm still living in the Sacramento area and commuting between Sac, the city, and San Jose (my home town).
As for the Sierra Leone piece… Obviously it never aired on KCRA (a combo if union issues and lay-offs).
“From Sacramento to Sierra Leone” ended up a half-hour mini-doc airing on KVIE in December. A second version will air in May leading up to a Sierra Leone benefit concert this summer. Stay tuned!
For more on the journey, read the article below…
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