Athena Stanfield WCNC Assignment Editor

My name is Athena Stanfield and I am one of WCNC's Assignment Editors. A news assignment editor's job involves extreme multi-tasking and dealing with different personalities. As an assignment editor, you have to also monitor scanners, call police and fire agencies and drop everything if and when breaking news happens. As an assignment editor, you must check in with reporters and photographers to get story updates and continuously update our team of producers.

While my colleagues are in the morning assignment meeting, I am listening to scanners, staying in constant communication with police and fire agencies across our coverage area.

My typical day at work is normally crazy, stressful and busy! I have been doing this almost 10 years and I love it. It also has some great perks. Today while my colleagues were in the morning meeting, I was monitoring my e-mails. I clicked on an e-mail from a local radio station, which was an invitation to local media to cover a celebrity birthday bash with rapper Bow Wow. As I communicated with the program director of the station about coverage, my boss sends me an e-mail from the meeting asking me my thoughts of the story.

As I sat at my desk and looked at the e-mail, I thought how wonderful it would be to go see Bow Wow in person. So me being the aggressive assignment editor that I am, I entered the conference room and asked my boss and the executive producer to let me cover it. Not only did the news managers say yes to me, they told me there was one catch -- I had to write my first blog.

I am one of Bow Wow's biggest fans. I remember when he was Lil Bow Wow. I have every Bow Wow CD and I have even gone to one of his concerts. I am also big fan of his hit song "Girlfriend." I play it repeatedly in my car. I love the beat, just everything about it. I play it so much that my daughter just asked me the other day to play something else from the CD. I was able to ask Bow Wow a few questions for our news broadcast; click here to watch the interview. And one more thing: Bow Wow wished me Happy Birthday!

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