Bloomberg TV’s Dominic Chu on being “on” all the time

Janelle Harris of MediaBistro interviewed Bloomberg Television reporter Dominic Chu on covering the markets.

Here is an excerpt:

Besides your obvious knowledge of the material, what did you bring with you from your finance career that made you transition fairly easily into television?
You know what I think it is? There are a lot of similarities between a full-throttle newsroom and a trading desk on a trading floor. You’re being blitzed with all kinds of information, and you have to make heads or tails of it in a coherent fashion in as quick a time as possible. It’s kind of like trading during times when there are volatile markets or big economic data releases. You have to deal with lots of information on a real-time basis. I think that that was probably the thing that most prepared me for this kind of job, because in an organization like Bloomberg you’re dealing with a lot of breaking news all the time.

You were on air during the Flash Crash in 2010 when the stock market plunged 1,000 points. What was the most challenging thing about covering that day and how did reporting on such a pivotal event make you a better journalist?
That was where I really cut my teeth in terms of journalism. It was definitely a very fast and furious situation. Things were literally happening not in hours or minutes, but seconds sometimes. It was a bit of an adrenaline rush, because it was historic just by the sheer volatility. Probably one of the hardest parts was trying to stay calm and be able to deliver some kind of message that was understandable to the audience. Everything comes so fast these days that you have to make sure that you understand what’s going on yourself before you just have a gut reaction to something. For me, it really was a test to stay on task and a defining moment in a career that was obviously very, very young in terms of age. But, to look back on it now, it was great to be involved in such a historic event in real time and to have viewers and listeners count on me to give them information.