Journalist Spotlight | Interview with David Richardson, Executive Producer at Channel 9 - Darwin News

Hi David! Thanks again for speaking with me! Firstly, could you tell me about your role as Executive Producer? What does this entail and what does your current media cycle look like?

Executive Producer in a smaller newsroom is a Jack of all Trades. You are combining the roles of Chief of Staff, EP, script manager and sub-editor while also finding stories, compiling and reporting yourself, and acting as mentor to the younger staff members. It is all-consuming but incredibly fulfilling. 

My current work cycle begins pretty early, getting across the news of the day from the Eastern seaboard, and being up to 90 minutes behind means getting out of bed early. Then the local press/radio, and the police watchhouse for overnight incidents. At work about 8 am flicking through and read the major mastheads nationwide and all local press. Then check our filing cabinet diary for events planned. During the day I take part in two national newsroom conferences for stories to pitch and take that night. The rest of the day is producing the rundown, guiding the journos through their stories, polishing, and putting to air.

You’ve also worked for Channel 7 and have been a freelance media advisor and producer. What were the biggest differences in how content was planned and produced across these different outlets?

Channels 7 and 9 are the same beast with different spots. The major difference here in Darwin is we are the only commercial broadcast news service with boots on the ground, providing locally reported local content. That means we are very much a part of the community, and we often partake in fundraising events and community programs as part of our work. The overall work as an EP and journo is little different to the larger markets like Sydney and Melbourne, bar the quantity of stories and type. Reporting is reporting. A story is a story. Having worked also for SKY UK as the Australian correspondent the difference was also notable, especially in viewer numbers. Tens of millions across the UK and Europe, compared to a million or two in the big capitals. So there is a very similar analogy comparing Darwin to the big caps.

Media advising and producing corporate videos was very similar to performing my role in current affairs, but the story is always positive. The message is to make people aware of the brand.

As someone with so much experience within the Australian media industry, what were some of the biggest changes you’ve seen in how we produce and consume the news? What were some of the challenges that you’ve faced throughout your career that have given you a new perspective/altered how you platform stories and/or events?

OH MY GOD. The changes. So many. When I began, the film was still in use! We had just begun with pneumatic BVU tape which we thought then was amazing. Over my career we have moved through BVU, Betacam, Discs and now memory cards and digital TV. It has been an amazing ride. 

Challenges are nothing new whatever the format. The deadline is immutable. It can’t be moved. News goes to air at the same time every night. Deadline pressure is as real today as it was when I started. Storytelling has improved and changed thanks to technology, like improved animation and graphics, but overall I believe the basics of good journalism remain the same. The biggest challenge to investigative journos today is access to information. Privacy legislation, suppressions, and other bureaucratic limitations have made access to information harder and provided organisations and even Governments with ways to avoid transparency. 

The impact of social media in using our hard work, or allowing platforms for garbage news is also a scary development. But it can also provide valuable information and videos when coming from areas of conflict, for example, where coverage by mainstream media cannot be performed. So on socials, it is a delicate balancing act. Good and bad.

What have been your most memorable experiences throughout your career? And how has the role of a media professional changed with Australia's geopolitical position? 

Seriously too many to recount. I consider myself to have been blessed with a career which has afforded me the opportunities I have enjoyed. The huge events are too numerous to list here, the incredible people and places never out of my memories. Dozens and dozens of countries, experiencing cultures I never thought I would as a kid watching 60 minutes or Willesee or ACA and dreaming of that life. But memorable experiences: 9/11, the Iraq War, Interfet in East Timor, gaining the last TV interview with Apollo 17 skipper Gene Cernan before his death. The list is endless. I am always grateful for the opportunities I have enjoyed, and continue to enjoy.

Geopolitically, now we are more Asia-Pacific oriented, with the rise of China, its tentacles and aims lapping at our shores and around our neighbours. I think that region will play a much more dominant role in news coverage for years to come. And Darwin’s position, so close to those areas, makes us a vital cog in 9’s machine.

What are your thoughts on AI? Do you think that its proliferation is detrimental to current affairs/news reporting? How do you think it will affect news gathering and production?

I’m not sure about the future of AI but I appreciate it is coming and we probably won’t stop it. I dread the thought of an AI Max Headroom style news reporter, reader or producer. I’m a child of the Terminator/Skynet era, and follow Stephen Hawking's advice: Be careful what Geni we let out of the bottle and how much control we allow it to have on everyday life.

If it makes solid research and fact-finding easier, I’m all for it. If it means scripts being written by computers and real journalists disappearing then no way.

Finally, what makes for a good pitch?

I believe every good story and every good pitch should aim for one thing: Striking at people’s emotions. To do that, provide a human face, someone customers, viewers or consumers can relate to and empathise with. Hip pocket nerve always sparks a response, especially now in times of cost of living pressures. If people are emotionally connected to a story or pitch they somehow react. But I also bear in mind advice from a former boss: They can hate you or they can love you. Either way they will watch. Just don’t be in the middle.