"Don't look back." That can be advice good for life and even for live TV.
I remember when I first began television news I would anguish over every little mistake no matter how small. It did not take me long to realize that unless I wanted to meet my maker early, I would have to learn to "get over it."
And now after close to 25 years in the business, I know it's dumb to agonize over what you cannot control. There are just going to be days when you get caught a bit off guard on live TV. Case in point, today, while anchoring "Live at 4" Charles Benson was not aware that we were on camera as he was busy paging through his scripts. We came on camera a little sooner than we expected. I jokingly told Charles to wake up. Even though we were on live TV, we chuckled, and made fun of it.
For all aspiring journalists out there beware. There will be times when what is broadcast on television is less than stellar. But, don't despair. With any luck, you'll get to do it all over again soon. In this case, I had four more shows to anchor, so the odds were in my favor.
I know as your watch this clip, you're not laughing at us, you're laughing with us...Yeah right..ha..ha..!!!!