Show Producer’s Blog: Hidden Heroes

One of the things I’d like to do on this show producer’s blog (check out my first stab at this) is highlight the hidden heroes in the newsroom. The conventions of public radio mean that hosts in the studio and reporters in the field are well-recognized.

But much of the essential work goes on behind the scenes. A prime example is my colleague Carol Hills.

She was a driving force behind the conception and development of The World in the early days. In fact she hired and mentored me when I came on board as a staff reporter in 1998.

These days she’s a part-time producer and editor of our Global Political Cartoons. She’s developed a unique beat devoted to those cartoons and the cartoonists who create them. (Some great recent posts here, here and here.)

She’s on Twitter @globalcartoons.)

Her on-air chats and online slideshows are proving to be a vital link between our radio and web operations as we morph into a different kind of digital future.

Carol is also a source of endless great ideas and a conscience for the program. Just this morning she was haranguing me about Syria coverage and the importance of staying on the story and finding fresh angles (see Carol’s powerful story about Syrian cartoonist Ali Ferzat) and interesting ways into the unfolding tragedy there.

She’s right but she’s also vying for attention for a story in the context of a very big world full of complex issues that all clamor for coverage. I need colleagues like her to remind me what’s urgent, what’s vital, what’s not OK to ignore.

Thanks Carol!