Something fascinating happened yesterday...
And terrible for the person to whom it happened. We were preparing the news for the 7:00 live broadcast (the only live broadcast each day). I was working on a story about a group of overseas Taiwanese from around the world protesting in Geneva before the World Health Organization was to meet.
One of the biggest stories concerning Taiwan right now, and one we see almost every day, has to do with the WHO granting it observer status. China has opposed this for the past 9 years because it views Taiwan as a Chinese province even though it has been ruled independently for over 50 years. So, every day there are stories and editorials arguing that viruses have no borders. Apparently, the Chinese government blocked WHO doctors from traveling to Taiwan for one week when SARS was breaking out. Indeed: "Viruses have no borders."
The story was to begin with an actual clip of the protesters singing "We shall Overcome," as it still does, but the focus was on the protesters.
Stephen, the editor, suggested that I end the story with part of another story, which was that the director general of the WHO, Lee Jong-wook, fell sick and was rushed to the hospital on Saturday, just days before the WHO was to meet, leaving the Taiwan issue up in the air. Doctors were attempting to remove a blood clot from his brain.
I had just finished writing the article (as simply as I could possibly write it). Starting to relax, I typed Lee's name in Google News. Several articles had appeared within the last 10 minutes.
Lee died after doctors operated on him.
Suddenly, Lee became the focus of the story. The protestors (and Taiwan) were pushed into the background. I remember saying out loud: "The story has changed!" Wow!
Here is the final version.
posted by Eli @ 10:14 AM
2 Comments:
It was actually 11 years. I always thought that was an interesting project. I would hate to be tied to one spot for that long though. The character played by Harvey Keitel could never take a vacation, because he was obsessed by the need to take that picture every day. The resulting photo album would be interesting.
"One of the most fascinating moments of Smoke occurs when Auggie talks about a project that has consumed him for the last eleven years: every morning at the same hour, he goes across the street from his shop and takes a single picture with his 35 mm camera. Over time, he has accumulated more than 4000 photographs, each of which tells a story"
I think you meant the post above this one, but thanks you (my brother). Are you? The quote really add something, a certain...you know. Welcome!
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