Part II of the interview with Worldfocus anchor Martin Savidge, about his experiences covering stories in the field, and how he came to Worldfocus. also see part I.

In your international reporting experience, what are some of the tougher places you’ve had to report from?

Any war zone is very difficult. It’s very remote, the conditions for living and working are extremely rough, and then you add the element of danger. So I suppose those are the ones that test you the most, because: One, you’re just physically trying to keep yourself alive; Two, feeding and cleanliness are very difficult but very essential; and then there is the regular work of reporting; and then…there is the emotional toll. What you’ve seen that you don’t get to edit out of your own mind–even if you edit it out of the piece that you send out. And missing your family, knowing that they are worried to death about you, and because you feel like you’re not there to help them through their own concerns.

I was in New Orleans when Katrina struck. That was in my own country, and the most impacting story I ever covered, because I lived it as much as I reported it. I never expected to see that kind of death, destruction, and desperation in and on the faces of Americans, in an American city. I never expected to see that in my world. I still get very upset thinking back on that time.

To review 20 years…I’m leaving out so much–East Timor, a terrible time there, covering the violent insurrection that occurred after the nation voted to become independent from Indonesia. I was embedded with the Australian Army….in fact, that was my first embed.

Any stories dealing with children are difficult. Back in local television days, we went to the Ukraine, during the time of Chernobyl. It was absolutely heartbreaking, to see these fragile little children, from Belarus and Moldova, brought in from other places, brought into Ukraine, and their parents couldn’t come. They’re suffering, sick, there’s nothing to take their minds off of the hospitals and being alone. There was nothing for them, no toys, no videos, no games…you’d cry just to see them.

Difficult stories also shape you as a reporter, and as a human being. They make you realize how lucky you are, and fortunate…gives you a good smack at the side of the head that most people don’t get: to be grateful for what you have, because we have a treasure compared to what many people have.

What are some of the stories you reported on, but that weren’t picked up by the producers at the home office?

It’s a problem a lot of reporters face…you see a story, but you have producers back in New York or Atlanta that feel they know the story better than you do, even though you are on the scene. And they say no…. there was a story that ended up getting out there, just not in the way I’d thought….

During Hurricane Katrina, I had heard on the radio–the radio at that time was sort of a free-for-all–the announcer say: “we understand that Wal-Mart down there in Tchoupitoulas has opened their doors, and people are welcome to come in and get anything they need…” and I thought, I’ve dealt with Wal-Mart quite a bit and they’re a generous company, but there’s no way they’re going to open their doors–this doesn’t sound right. So I went down there…and there was a police officer lounging in front. People are coming in and out and…they’re looting. This was not some sort of organized event by Wal-Mart. This was wild chaotic looting. And I asked the police officer—is there something you can do, can you stop this? And she said “there’s too many of them, and too few of us.” So we went in there with a camera, and we began to interview people–as they looted–it was a very bizarre scene, people caught in the act of breaking the law, and everybody had their reason why they were doing it, but they would talk to you while they’re looting! One lady broke down, she had a roll of paper towels, and she broke down in tears and said “I can’t do this”, and put it down and ran out. Other people were going out with plasma screen TVs and anything they could carry. And we said “you know this is breaking the law” and they would say “nah, I deserve it because…”—everybody had a reason. We didn’t bother anybody who was taking food, because we felt that that was justifiable–the food was going to go bad anyway. So we did all these interviews, even the police were in there looting, taking stuff. We called up New York, and they said “no, we aren’t interested.”

But Keith Olbermann had a program, and one of his producers saw the material feeding in, and they thought it was phenomenal. They put together the piece using my stuff, using my interviews and stand-up—that went out on the web after it was on his show—it became a widely-viewed video.

Is your role on Worldfocus mostly to stay in New York, to do in-studio interviews here, or will you do field work also?

The secret about this is that when I originally applied to this program, I applied as a reporter, that’s what I’ve always done. And they put me in touch with Marc Rosenwasser, the producer, and I said…”this sounds like a show I really want to be a part of, can I report for you?”

And Marc said—”well, actually, we could use someone of your stature to anchor.” I live in Atlanta, I told him no. And that was the end of it.

Later I was in New York, and I came and talked to Neal (Shapiro) (we already knew each other from NBC). I met Marc for the first time, I saw the staff, and I saw what their goal was. And I got it. And I discussed the idea with my wife. And Neal said the magic words: “would you be willing to commute?” I talked with my family long and hard about it. I do 5 days in NY and spend the weekend in Atlanta. And that’s how I went from the person who was maybe the reporter, to the anchor.

Anchoring is something I enjoy, I know the value of it, but I really love to report. Last week I went south into Mexico, gathering stories from Mexico that we’ll see in the first few weeks of the program. One is that this heavily Catholic nation has approved abortion in Mexico City. And the other is an immigration story, it’s a different way of looking at it, I won’t give it away. But hopefully I’ll be out there, and maybe occasionally we can even bring the show from someplace else. It’s our desire not to lose the reporting element.

See part I of the interview.