Working with an idiot

I'm going to try not to butcher this a la George Bush, but isn't there a saying that the whole is greater than the sum of its parts? This is true when it comes to our morning newscast. As a whole it comes off looking decent. But the idiots involved in putting it together are worthless.

My 5 a.m. producer is ... well, an idiot. The rumor is, he's mildly autistic. So, that's great that he's functioning and able to hold a job. Good for him. But he needs to function in a job that's not over his head. This 5 a.m. producer has NO news judgment. Instead of major international stories, such as the elections crisis in Zimbabwe, he includes video of people in the Philippines hosing each other down to celebrate Saint John the Baptist Day. In lieu of important national stories (you know, the Democratic primary, etc.), he picks stories about wall collapses in Texas or a gas protest in Minnesota.

Today just happened to be a huge news day because of a major event in our area. Because I give a rat's ass about my newscast, I spend yesterday vigilantly writing breakouts and pacers -- 17, in all. Then, I formatted the 5 a.m. newscast for him with live hits so he wouldn't be overwhelmed. I talked to the reporter, photog, director and meteorologist about the changes. So, I come in at 2 a.m. and he tells me his show is done. I'm doing the 6 a.m. today because that producer is sick. I focus on getting the 6 a.m. done without much thought about the 5 a.m. since he's "done."

I wrap up the 6 a.m. and start looking over the 5 a.m. It's not done. He still has me assigned to write his headlines, teases, top stories and a couple other story intros. He's done because he only wrote three stories -- for the entire hour-long newscast. So while I'm working on his show, he's playing computer games. Seriously.

What a fucking idiot.