Vendetta Stone by Tom Wood Read Free Book Online

vengeance,” saved it, and forwarded it to online to post.
    Sullivan punched in Online E ditor Alan Moore’s number while also emailing copies to Managing Editor Ken McGuire and Executive Editor Judy Flint.
    “Suze, take over that school funding story. I’ve got my hands full,” Sullivan yelled over her shoulder.
    “ Online. This is Alan,” Carrie heard in her earpiece and turned to the computer screen, looking at her version of my story.
    “It’s Carrie. Take down the Titans practice as your top story and put up what I just sent you. I forgot to add a tagline ‘Check back at TenneSceneToday.com for details’ at the end of the story. Also give it a ‘news alert’ keyword. There’s art coming, and I should be able to file an update within an hour or so. But get this up pronto. We want to beat the six o’clock newscasts with this one.”
     
     

 
                               
    “Sure, but replace the topper? You know how many hits Titans stories get.”
    “That’s an editorial decision, not online’s. And unless I’m way off base, this story will get more hits than anything in a long time. Gotta go,” she said as her other line buzzed.
    “Newsroom. This is Carrie.”
    “Start tearing up the front page. Heard back from Hilliard?” Ken McGuire said, his baritone voice causing her to lower the headset volume.
    “Not yet. I talked to him about ten minut es ago, and he’s getting some reaction and then going looking for Stone. Where, I don’t know.”
    “What else?”
    “Stone’s brother called and told Gerry to be at the East Precinct at five p.m. Casey’s shooting and supposed to get something here ASAP. We’ll re-post and add a photo, and then I’m meeting with the page designers.”
    “I’ll be down in five minutes. Ju dy’s at a seminar, but I’ll text her. I’ll inform the publisher, too, for this one. Tell Hilliard he’s got as much space as he needs.”
    “The six o’clock news is about to st art. Let’s see how they handle it.”
     
    On the other side of town, Channel 11 news videographer Greg Pittard weaved in and out of rush-hour traffic to get to the station located just off Interstate 65 South and Harding Place. Clarkston called, and gave the news editor the gist of the footage.
    “So where is Pittard ? We go on the air in fifteen minutes, and we sure don’t want to wait until ten o’clock for video,” said a frustrated Sam White, the fiftyish, pot-bellied director of the six o’clock newscast. He tried to keep up with producer Ellie Bligh, a former weekend anchor often referred to as “Captain Bligh” for her take-no-prisoners news judgment and a snappish attitude toward her staff.
    Bligh glanced out a window as they walked toward the set. “That’s him now. Is the intro ready?”
    “Everything’s good. We’re just waiting on the tape,” White said. “I’ll go over it with Julia.”
    Pittard rolled halfway out the door before the news van’s brakes screeched.
    “About time,” Bligh snapped as Pittard went straight to his editing bay. He hooked in to the machine and started punching buttons as the raw footage fed into the playback unit. Editors huddled with news writers around the screen, then scurried to edit what he’d shot. The producer and director came over to offer input.
    “Five minutes,” Pittard heard Bligh say as he concentrated on his final cuts.
    Getting a newscast on the air is in many ways like putting out a newspaper, except they produce five to six “editions” a day. The Internet has given us a chance to compete with their immediacy, without the chaos and equipment failures that sometimes accompany a live broadcast. Their jobs must be handled with precision both in front of the camera and in the control room, ready to deal with any glitches. In a frantic setting, most everybody stays cool. But not Ellie. For this story, she bounced from one task to the next, understanding all the ramifications after they hit the