Director of News Programming at ABC Audio Scott Goldberg tells Radio Ink Wednesday’s focus wasn’t supposed to be about a Trump rally, it was about a joint session of Congress confirming the electoral vote. “We knew Trump supporters also were planning a rally, and Trump would speak to them. But the focus of this day was on Congress, objections to the electoral vote raised by Republicans, and any drama that might play out politically. We of course were watching the demonstrations, in case they grew into something larger. It struck us when President Trump seemed to suggest he might march to the Capitol with his supporters. When he encouraged them to go there and “show strength” we were on hard standby.”
ABC Audio had been doing two 1-minute status reports each hour, for the network and affiliates, covering the GA Senate election results and the joint session of Congress. But as people started to gather outside the Capitol Goldberg says, things changed quickly. “Our crews inside told us there was concern the Capitol might be breached. At that point, we were ready to break in with live anchored coverage, with our special events producer Ryan Kessler manning the control room in New York, our anchor Aaron Katersky in front of the microphone, and our correspondents and producers at the Capitol, White House and elsewhere in Washington communicating with NY to establish their lines. Our producers also were in touch with ABC’s powerhouse team of political and security analysts and experts, so they’d be able to join our coverage once we broke in.
And once the Capitol was breached, Goldberg says ABC kicked its coverage into high gear. “We ramped up to four Status Reports an hour. At 2:30 p.m., we began wall-to-wall live anchored coverage, which we maintained until 7:00 p.m. At 7:00 p.m., we provided an hour-long special report called “Chaos at the Capitol,” recapping the day’s event, providing the latest details and breaking down what happens next. Anchor Aaron Katersky was joined by Multi-Platform Reporter Ines de La Cuetara live outside the Capitol, Correspondent Karen Travers covering the White House, ABC News Director Rick Klein and more. Correspondents Martha Raddatz, Pierre Thomas, Mary Bruce, Rachel Scott, Kenneth Moton and more joined our coverage today. As did reporter/producer Trish Turner from inside the Capitol. We had interviews with demonstrators. Technically, everything came to us via access lines when possible, or guests called in on their phones.
“Also, throughout the day, our correspondents were available for custom 2ways with our affiliates and continued to call in to programs around the country, during our live coverage, and after it ended.
All of our live coverage is fed to our affiliates on a satellite channel. They also have the option of taking a digital feed. And we also stream live coverage at abcaudio.com/live. Our primetime special is available for download or streaming, after it airs live, as an episode of the “ABC News Radio Specials” podcast, available on all podcast platforms. Also, each of our hourly newscasts is available for download or streaming after it airs live – on the “ABC News Update” podcast.”
None of the ABC reporters were hurt during the day. And, Goldberg says his team performed magnificently. “Whenever I get to pause for a few minutes and just be a listener, I’m blown away by the talent we have at ABC, and our team’s ability to talk – for hours – with so much insight, such talent for distilling the most important details, so many well-placed sources, and so much energy. They’re amazing. Our listeners are very well served.
