A producer decides what goes into a programme. I get into work at 7.30 a.m. and scan the papers and emails for ideas. Some items are set up already, but Today with Pat Kenny is quite a news-driven programme, so we have to be alert to what's happening each day.
We often cover social issues, and doing an outside broadcast (OB) tends to make a programme very lively. There's new sounds, unlike the usual studio sound, and anyone can come up and talk - it's lovely when the unexpected happens out of the blue. When we first thought of doing the show in Fatima Mansions, we envisaged it as a picture of the community of people living there, and that it would be from their point of view.
I have to say I was surprised by how fantastically organised they were. It has been one of the best OBs for me. Normally the show stems from an idea we have, and we go and find the people to talk. With Fatima, the community were both wary and very enthusiastic about being involved in the process, but firm about not wanting to be used.
Meeting with them, I was struck with what a positive force I saw there - I wouldn't have expected that. We had never intended doing a tabloid story, but I did anticipate a community in crisis. But the group was very informed, they knew exactly how they wanted to represent themselves and they were very aware of how they have been represented. Still, there was always a question mark surrounding whether we'd do a job on them in the end.
It was a very challenging experience. It made you think about what the issues really were. We gave them a lot of time with planning, met with them a lot - it was like being at a very exciting programme meeting most of the time! They'd have the ideas and we'd talk about how to get that moving - suggest how Pat might walk over to a certain flat and talk to someone, or whatever.
They decided on the guests who'd speak to Pat. Normally we'd never assent to that, but we began to trust them and that they had people who could tell their story well. Through people living in the community, the story of its history and its present was told. An OB is always quite a big operation.
I have to free up myself and a researcher and spend about two to three days at it. Yet you have a commitment to the rest of the time here working on the day-to-day shows, so you can't take forever at it.
There are three other producers with the show. I'm responsible for about two-and-a-half hours of the 10 hours the show is broadcast each week. If it's your day on, during the show you are behind the glass in the control room, driving the programme in the studio.
There might suddenly be some breaking news that we have to do a slot about, so we have to make an instant decision about what to drop for it. We might be able to drop a prerecorded slot - or we might have an interviewee waiting outside who's driven miles to be there. If the interviewee has to go, we'd try to arrange a post-recording to be broadcast at a later date.
On an OB, the job literally involves pulling people over and dragging Pat around!
After the programme we meet to discuss items for the next day, and I spend the afternoon setting up those items. Sometimes by 4 p.m. I'm ready to head off, but frequently I have to wait and call people at a time that suits.
The wonderful thing about Today with Pat Kenny is that we can do anything. If there is a particular social issue we're interested in, we can cover that. The difficult part, of course, is we have to be really on top of absolutely everything that's going on!
In an interview with Jackie Bourke
