A first-person account (Nikolai) describing his first TV report at Bavarian Television: assigned to cover the Ministry of Cultural Affairs' budget press conference, he improvised by securing an on-the-spot interview with the minister, prompting unexpected admissions and extended airtime. The anecdote shows how a simple, direct question transformed a routine assignment into a longer, newsworthy segment.
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And with all these stories and years in journalism, is there any one story that you were really proud of where you feel like, well, I put a spotlight on something that got attention in a way that other people didn't and that you're proud of? Yeah, it was my first report, which was broadcast at the Bavarian Television. I was just like an intern there, accompanying experienced journalists. But one day the head of the editorial board said, nikolai, can you go to the parliament and just film some. Some. Some news about the. Oh, now I missed the English word for household. The budget. Well, the budget of the. Of the Ministry of Cultural Affairs. And, well, they had their press conference. It was quite boring. It was 40 people there, maybe 20 journalists and 20 parliamentarians. And there was the. The minister, the head of the ministry. And he was talking, and we were filming with the. With the camera guy and said, oh, God, that's so boring. And then I went during the press conference to the front and asked his press officer, can we have an interview with the minister? And while he was talking, still next to me, and then he said, what's going on? And I said, well, for Bavarian tv, it's like, yeah, go out, I follow you. And then we install our camera nicely on the balcony with the view over all of Munich. And maybe two, three, four, five minutes later, the minister appeared. And then out of a sudden, I had the idea, oh, my God, what should I ask him? I have no clue about the topic. So I asked, okay, dear Minister, what's the bad thing on your budget? And he. He went red. And you're absolutely right, I wanted to employ more teachers. I want to. And that. And I needed more money for sports and blah, blah, blah. And so he brought all his ideas out, which he couldn't do with the budget. And so then I got some more ideas, found some more questions, and the interview went wrong. I went. Went well and well for you, but maybe not from his standpoint. Yeah, he was quite good then. He was very experienced. But. But the first moment was. And then I went back to the station and the head of the editorial board came and said, nikolai, do you have this 30 seconds report? And usually it would be made with a narrator telling the story while showing the picture of this boring press conference. I said, yes, I have it, but it's so boring. So I asked the minister and asked for an interview. And he said what? He refused to give an interview on this. On this topic. He said, no, I. I didn't interview. Okay, let me show it. And said, okay, that's cool. Can you make 60 seconds out of it and say, okay, I'll do it. Then later, he come back and say, wow. Do you have some more? Can you make 90 seconds? I said, okay.
