5 Questions with Bloomberg West’s Lauren Furniss, Associate Producer
By Sharon Kane
Eastwick hosts a monthly “Media Meet & Greet” session with leading journalists in the tech media scene. These sessions are a great way for our team to get to know the media — what they like (and don’t like) to cover, trends they’re tracking, tips for connecting, and how we can best work together. The goal? Build relationships, brainstorm ideas, deepen our knowledge and expertise, and become better resources for the media.
Lauren Furniss, associate producer at Bloomberg West, stopped by our San Francisco office recently to share some key insights and advice. Lauren produces live segments, coordinates interviews, pitches story ideas and edits the video and graphics for the segments she produces for Bloomberg West. She also assists in the field for major tech industry events and manages package shoots and live shots.
Read on to hear from Lauren on what makes a good story and what keeps her viewers watching. A good rule of thumb:
“If you’re pitching a segment that you wouldn’t want to watch yourself, you need to re-evaluate your approach.”
Follow Lauren on Twitter @lfurniss and Bloomberg West @BloombergWest
Interested in joining our next Media Meet & Greet, or is there someone you’d like to see profiled? Email sharonk@eastwick.com.
- What are some of the big tech trends you’re seeing? What’s been overdone?
I think our priority is focusing on what’s important now and today, rather than tracking big-picture trends the tech community has been discussing for months. However, we are always trying to look ahead at what stories and topics may become important in the future. Right now, I think growth in the commercial use of drones, robots and self-driving cars will lead to some great news stories. I also anticipate U.S. companies will face more major data breaches…and that state-sponsored actors are going to play a big role there.
Topics/stories that need some fresh angles and ideas? Mobile growth. Wearable growth. Internet of Things. Whether or not we’re in a bubble. Major tech conferences. Companies making the transition to digital or to the cloud. Mobile payments. Edtech & Fintech.
2. In your opinion, what makes a good story?
Most of our viewers have Bloomberg TV running all day with the volume down. As a TV producer, my goal is to get our viewers to stop what they are doing, turn up the volume and take a few seconds to watch. Here are a few things that will get people to pause and watch my segments:
- On TV, visuals make the story. Whether you’re showing something scary, wacky, beautiful or exciting, good video draws viewers in and keeps them watching. This can be a challenge when covering tech and business, but it’s forced my team to get creative about finding visual angles to stories.
- A timely news angle is also crucial. If a viewer sees visual content about a topic or person “everyone has been talking about”, he/she will be curious to hear/see what the fuss is all about.
- Prominence is another component I look for in a story. Viewers like to hear about the companies they rely on every day (Google, Apple, Facebook etc.). Or there’s the celebrity factor- more and more, business leaders like Richard Branson and Elon Musk are becoming famous. We realize that we can’t interview guests from these companies or high-profile executives every day, but if we can find stories related to these major players, it’s a plus.
I look for a story’s significance by asking what kind of impact this will have on people’s lives or the tech community. In Silicon Valley, there’s an app for absolutely everything. Is the launch of yet another app going to have a profound effect on our audience? Are our viewers actually going to use this technology? These are some of the final questions I ask myself while reading a pitch.
A good rule of thumb- if you’re pitching a segment that you wouldn’t want to watch yourself, you need to re-evaluate your approach.
3. What do you find most valuable in a source (both a PR/communications source and a CEO/executive spokesperson)?
I look for different criteria in guests and the PR sources I build relationships with. I respect PR reps who are knowledgeable, organized and considerate. It’s really helpful to me when a publicist is not only up to date on all that is going on with their client, but also tech news in general. I also appreciate when a PR source takes the time to understand my schedule, my duties and the mission of Bloomberg West and then shapes pitches to my team based on that knowledge.
I also value PR reps who are considerate of my time, space and profession. Journalists have ethical boundaries that cannot be crossed- when I say “no” to something because there’s an ethical issue, that’s a non-negotiable. I also appreciate people who keep emails, calls and project hand-offs to a minimum, rather than pinging me each time they have a question.
When it comes to CEOs and executives, I love guests who are passionate about their field, not just their company. I love when I can sit with someone and just ask their opinion on different stories I’ve covered recently. These are the people who send me articles and commentary on breaking news during their personal time, with no expectation of air time. It’s clear that these sources aren’t just in touch with me because they want to promote themselves- they think any conversation about their sector is valuable.
4. What story/segment are you most proud of?
In February, I coordinated our network’s coverage of President Obama’s cybersecurity summit. It marked my first time leading a field shoot, my first time working with the White House and my first time meeting many of my cybersecurity sources in person. Many logistics were not confirmed until the last minute for security reasons, but I managed to keep calm and put together as much of a plan as I could. Thankfully, everything went incredibly smoothly thanks to an amazing satellite crew and camera/audio team.
Working on that project made me feel like I was part of an important moment in the cybersecurity field. I had covered breaches and proposed bills on cybersecurity for a while prior to the event, but this was the first time the President was taking a bold stance on the issue. It was really exciting to be on the ground at a huge event held for people and companies I’d been following for months.
5. What got you interested in working in TV? Why Bloomberg?
The idea of working in TV starting germinating at age 15. During the Turin Olympics, I watched an amazing package about truffle-sniffing pigs in the mountains of Italy. I turned to my parents and asked how the correspondent got paid to travel the world, talk about sports and chase mushroom-hunting pigs. It sounded too fun to be a real job — and it didn’t occur to me that I could get into the same field.
While I still haven’t earned my trip to Italy, I am holding on to that dream. If you have any pitches for truffle-hunting technology, just let me know.
