Preparing for a two-hour biz news show never stops

Betty Liu

Betty Liu, anchor of “In the Loop” on Bloomberg Television, writes on LinkedIn about how she prepares for her show.

Lui writes, “The second answer is that preparing for a two-hour show never ends. News never stops. But if I can harken back to my old print days, it feels like every day you’re putting together a newspaper that airs from 8 to 10 a.m. ET. You’re always crashing on deadline, no matter how well in advance you prepared. Stories change, people fall through, something always goes awry, but no matter what, that paper is getting out in the morning. Just like with The Wall Street Journal, people want it on their front doorstep when they walk outside in their robe with their cup of coffee.

“So let’s get back to 3:45 a.m. That’s when I hit the snooze button. Twice. At that point, I finally wake up and fly into work on the traffic-less New Jersey Turnpike. I’m on my phone catching up on overnight emails and news from Europe and Asia. Producers would have sent me notes about what Guest A thinks about X topic and any news related to X topic. Our news desk will have updated the newsroom on any overnight developments, including any soundbites from important CEOs, politicians, and newsmakers. They’ll also send along enterprise pieces done by our reporters and interesting, sometimes off-beat videos/news that help break up the relentless beat of hard news. I call those elements “news-plus” — the sort of content that won’t make the front page, but makes our show that much more memorable.

“People are often surprised at the wide range of topics we cover on our program without straying too far from our core mission: counting viewers down to the opening bell. Just the other day, Eli Manning, the New York Giants quarterback, joined us. Why? Sports is big business, he’s a key part of the Giants franchise and, frankly, business and sports just mix well together. I’ve been in rooms where serious-minded CEOs turn into adolescent boys when one of their sports heroes walks into a room.”