The Pulse

Every new station does some form of national content, but I like to do it in a different way in a segment called "The Pulse". I write about the storie that are are most popular online because I believe that people want to know as much as they can about trending topics on Facebook and Twitter. It could be about an uprising in Egypt or about National Doughnut Day. Instead of starting the segment with the biggest story, I write it the opposite way to keep viewers' attention. Every story in the segment is followed by one that's even more popular. This keeps viewers from turning away because they're engaged and watching for the latest updates on the stories they've been following all day.

Here is the segment that aired June 9th. Below is the script that I wrote for this particular segment. The anchor uses the script as a guide for what to say but will often ad-lib so it suits his normal speech patterns.

Number five: Google Doodle. Google's ever-changing logo today was a guitar in honor of Les Paul's birthday. The interactive doodle allows you to play the guitar as you move your mouse over the strings. You can also record a video of yourself playing and put it on YouTube. Les Paul pioneered the solid body electric guitar in the early 1940's.

Number four: the CMA's.
The Country Music awards aired last night. Among the winers, Taylor Swift taking home Video of the Year for "Mine" and Lady Antebellum won Group Video for "Hello World". But one of the biggest stories was this: Shania Twain slipped on her way to the stage to present Male Video of the Year. After a second on the floor, she popped up and kept on walking to the stage. And don't worry, she's ok.

Number three: "Super Eight". Not the motel, the new movie by J.J. Abrams. The sci-fi thriller hits theaters tomorrow and centers around a group of friends in 1979 who notice and investigate strange happenings around their town. Our director, Mike Emery, got a sneak peek at it. Find out if it's any good tomorrow in movie night.

Number two: "South Park". The midseason finale aired last night and showed a cynical Stan celebrating his 10th birthday. A lot of people on Twitter are wondering what to make of the episode which some are calling a sad one. Many think it may be the beginning of the end for the series. And the description of the episode isn't helping matters saying quote "The very fabric of South Park begins to unravel."

And number one: "Hangover Part Three". Yes, one appears to be in the works. In an interview with "Rolling Stone", Zach Galifanakis let some early details slip. Instead of waking up after a night of partying, it's supposed to center around the guys trying to bust Galifanakis' character out of a mental institution. He's got a good record of being right; in 2009 he let slip that "Hangover Part Two" would be in Thailand.