Bob was in a good mood as he sat on set in the CNN LA bureau on Sunset Boulevard that September in 2003. We were excited, ready and waiting for the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals’ decision. I checked the printer to make sure it worked and had enough paper. Then I went back to the studio and kept refreshing the court’s website as the top of the hour approached.
Bob Franken, one of CNN’s most experienced and well-known political reporters at the time, and I were in LA for several weeks covering the 2003 California recall of then-Gov. Gray Davis.
We were already in touch with Atlanta and prepared to go live. Then, just after the hour, there it was. I pressed the button on the studio mic that connected me to the IFB in Bob’s ear. “Bob, I got it, I got it!” I proclaimed.
“Read me the summary and print the whole thing!” he responded, shifting from jovial to impatient-reporter mode.
I read the legalese into the mic. He took a few notes. “OK, I got it. Let’s get on the air, Atlanta!”
There is nothing more exciting in television news than breaking a story you’ve been covering. You get the information out first, but, most importantly, it’s factual and has context. This is what Bob was best at.
We worked together for about four years, ending in April 2007, when he was let go by CNN. I left CNN seven months later.
My 12 years at CNN were amazing. The time I worked with Bob was the best part of it. We traveled all over the U.S. covering politics, cultural debates, and disasters of all types, from hurricanes to mine disasters and whatever falls in between. There isn’t just one story I remember; it’s a montage of scenes with Bob: his writing (“No lipstick on this pig,” Iowa State Fair, 2006), his quirks (he ate one meal a day, dinner, and it always had to be at 6 p.m.), his disdain for upper management, and his loyalty to his family and friends.
There is so much more to say about Bob, but saying it all would do his memory an injustice. He provided context yet was succinct, as only the best journalists do.