EARTHQUAKE! (This is what we live for)
Posted: Tuesday, July 29, 2008 10:38 PM by Jen Brown
By Stephanie Becker, TODAY producerFirst we had two little jolts and a pause and then a 10-15 second set of bigger movements. It was like the Earth's core was sending up some seismic Morse code. In that small break between the jolts, three of us producers tucked back here in the Burbank offices, away from the hubbub of the main desk of the newsroom, all came out of our offices looking at each other, still unsure if it was just a tease or the big one.
How we reacted really may tell a lot about us. Ian and I stood in the hallway and just took the ride like we were surfing. When it was over we grabbed our bags and our cell phones and headed for the newsroom desk to work the phones. Richard grabbed the Today Show camera to head out. Our associate producer, Molly Palmer, was out driving to a story and is furious because she didn’t feel it. She feels she’s still an earthquake virgin.
We didn't see it, but a bevy of interns slid under their desks. Newbies! This is news. This is what we live for. Although when I first came out here I reacted the same way. Mercifully, it was a false alarm and no one saw me. It was just the water-man rumbling down the hall with a cart of about 100 gallons of water. When I realized my over-reaction I sheepishly came out from my hiding place and smacked my head on the edge of the desk and vowed I would never do that again.
There were two other times I have hit the deck during my years at the Today Show. One time, during a presidential campaign event (with an eventual loser) we were in a small, enclosed courtyard surrounded by high rises. There had been some sort of high security alert. Although this was way before 9/11, things were tense. The local advance team had rigged up a stash of mighty powerful fireworks, way too large for the area. During the candidate’s speech, these pyrotechnics were set off early and so frightening loud that it rocked everyone’s kishkas. About 10 of us weenie journalists we dove for cover. We were all just looking for pens, really.
The only other time I was that scared was at a "Peace Rally" in Somalia during the U.S. intervention in 1991. The "peaceful" protesters started pushing and shoving toward the stage until I was literally being squashed between the stage and what seemed like everyone behind me. Up on the stage a Somali man carrying a very large and menacing AK 47 started yelling at me and pointing that thing at me. Even without a translator I was pretty sure what he was saying. All I kept thinking was "NBC Producer killed at peace rally." I hit the dirt. A CNN producer grabbed me by my shirt and pulled me 20 yards away, where their jeep waited away from the madding crowd.
So I write to you with mixed emotions. As a news producer I feel a little disappointed about this "moderate" news event. But as a resident, a homeowner, a Californian, I breathe a deep sigh of relief that this was just a minor seismological shift. And now I'm going to the store to stock up, just in case next time it isn’t.
