Rundown Rationale

November 4, 2010, 5 p.m.
By Kenny Connolly (NCC News)

A1 Music and Heads

A2 Halloween Shooting - I decided to lead with the arrest made in one of the Halloween night shootings because it was a hyper local story. On the wire, it was reported that Police Chief Frank Fowler had just announced the arrest that was made so I felt it was timely, and was a second hour lead to update a mjor story that was still fresh in people's minds.

A3 Accidental Shooting - Keeping up with the crime trend, we followed up the Halloween shooting with a reader on an accidental shooting that had also occurred in Syracuse. Again, it was hyper local so we wanted to put it up high in the script. The man had been indicted on the day of our newscast, so it was timely as well.

A4 Buerkle Leading - We needed something other than a reader in this slot because we did not want to have three consecutive readers. Staying with the local trend, we updated the Anne Marie Buerkle-Dan Maffei race for the 25th Congressional District Seat. The story was our local anchor actuality, which included a quote from Maffei's Communication Manager. Again, the hyper local trend continued, and it broke up consecutive readers.

A5 Law Building - Continuing with the hyper local trend, the next story was a reader on the new Law Building being dedicated this weekend on Campus. It flows with the Beurkle story because politics and law are definitely related to one another, and the fact that it is happening this weekend on campus added to the story's appeal.

A6 St. Joseph's - Another reader that had to do with property. St. Joe's bought the rights to North Medical Hospital, making it the largest private practice in Central New York. Going along with SU's new building on campus, it seemed logical to follow that up with St. Joe's acquiring new property.

A7 Tax Cuts - To break up consecutive readers, we put the national anchor actuality about tax cuts. The President had just announced his intentions to extend the Bush-era tax cuts for middle class families. There was a decent flow from property acquisition to taxes.

A8 Recycling - After a national story, we decided to bring the focus back on the local community with a bit of a softer story. The recycling event held in Onondaga County allows locals to bring in their old electronic devices for safe disposal. The event was targeting a middle-class audience because they were not accepting electronics from businesses. So just like the tax cuts, this story focused on local middle-class families.

A9 Minors Alcohol - To avoid putting two wraps together, we needed a reader to break that potential problem up. This reader was local and focused on store clerks in Madison County selling alcohol to minors. The Madison County sheriff's office cited nine clerks for the illegal sale of alcohol. And tying this in with the recycling story, the teens could have recycled the cans they illegally purchased.

A 10 Sports Horse - This wrap also prevented us ending the A-block with three straight readers. It was a local story on Equestrian events going on at the On-Center this coming weekend. Again, a local story that ended up capping the A-block.

A 11 Madison Square - We ended up cutting the story on asbestos in Madison Square Garden. It was okay to cut because it was the softest of the stories, and New York City is not in our DMA.

A 12 Tease

B1 Kicker - Syracuse Beer Festival. An annual event that is held at the State Fairgrounds.

B2 Weather

B3 Music and Close