10 Plus 1: Hardy Spire On Covering POTUS, SCOTUS And Pandas

(CBS)

What do you do at CBS News?

I'm the Senior Producer in Washington, D.C., for "The Early Show." I manage a staff of "Early Show" producers and associate producers who are responsible for covering all regional news including politics, the Presidency, the Supreme Court … and of course, panda bears at the National Zoo. Prior to that I spent four years as a White House producer working with/traveling with/learning from veteran CBS News Correspondent Bill Plante.

I agree with previous respondents to this question that there is not one single area that lacks coverage by CBS. One thought that occurs to me is that during my travels as a White House producer to 40 different countries, I noticed how citizens of other nations seem to have a much better sense of what's going on in the rest of the world than Americans do. That's not just in terms of conflict but in terms of economy, politics, and culture. For that reason I would love to see greater coverage of international stories that do not necessarily involve war.

There are many stories that would qualify as "you can't make it ups" (including a scramble to pick up socks and underwear from underneath Air Force One because a security-sweeping Secret Service agent had dumped mine on the tarmac just seconds before I was supposed to be aboard.)

One of the more unusual though was one of my first assignments. I was sent to run the CBS "Jordan, Montana Bureau" during the 1996 Freeman standoff with the FBI. The tiny dusty town of Jordan (population 600) was overrun with media, FBI agents, and various characters looking to leave their mark on the story. One of those who showed up was Randy Weaver, a separatist who gained notoriety during his own standoff with the FBI at Ruby Ridge. Late one afternoon -- after the "Evening News" story was filed -- the media, the FBI, and others headed for the infamous "Hell Creek Saloon" where we half expected to see John Wayne leaning up against the bar. What we did see however was nearly an old West showdown when several members of the press realized Randy Weaver had just entered the bar not more than 50 feet from where the FBI agent allegedly responsible for shooting Weaver's wife and son at Ruby Ridge was playing pool. Luckily Weaver's colleagues also noticed the situation and steered him back outside.

Yes, but often news judgment is subjective and just because you may not agree with the decision to cover a story does not mean it shouldn't be covered. I've not been asked to cover anything which went against my morals or ethics.

One high school English teacher suggested my career options might be limited following one particularly poor performance on a test involving the proper use of commas. I think though if not in news, I would find another outlet for the creative impulses I feel. In a perfect world that didn't involve mortgages, food, and tuition I think I might learn to become a master furniture builder following the tradition of some of my ancestors.

I read TVNewser for the best industry gossip. I read Public Eye. I read ABC's "The Note." I'm also obsessed with weather so I often find myself on the NOAA Web site for the best forecasts and weather maps.

I just read Treasure Island for the first time. It came in a box of my childhood possessions shipped to me by my mother when she moved. It had been given to me by my grandfather when I was young and I never made time to read it until now. It gave me an entirely new insight into him.

When I was very young I recall thinking Gerald Ford looked a little bit like my Dad … but my first major TV news experience was when Reagan was shot. School was closed so I watched coverage all day long including Frank Reynolds screaming at his producers to get him correct information.

I would try to eliminate the herd mentality of journalists ... the tendency for news coverage to be determined by what other media organizations are doing. This is certainly a generalization and there are countless examples at CBS and elsewhere of journalists thinking for themselves, but it's often a very easy pattern in which to fall.

I would have to say President Bush is the most fascinating. I have followed him in various capacities starting with the 2000 campaign and have watched him change from the guy on the campaign plane who liked to roll oranges down the aisle during takeoff … to an embattled wartime President under pressure to figure a way out of a nearly impossible situation before time runs out on his Presidency. All the while though, he seems to have remained true to his very certain sense of who he is as a person. As for the biggest jerk ... I really have not covered anybody I would call a jerk … but if I had, chances are I'll have to cover them again, so I won't be naming them here.

Disadvantages are few -- we have more time to report the news, we do it at a time when more people are home, and have the benefit of telling people all the things that happened in the world since they went to bed the night before. Having two hours of TV time six days a week also gives producers an incredible opportunity to tell a broad range of stories. Typically those stories can run longer on our show than on the thirty minute "Evening News." At the "Evening News" on any given day, stories are constantly fighting to squeeze into the broadcast. We at the "Early Show" hit a snag, however, on the rare slow news day when we're forced to "feed the beast" -- find a story which will be timely, newsworthy, and interesting enough to fill a hole in the show -- but again those days are rare.