And block buster movies like Shaft, Foxy Brown and others,
demonstrated to the movie industry how profitable it was to include
African Americans in leading roles. It wasn’t long before television
followed suit. More and more TV programs began including African Americans in prominent positions. Eventually, we began seeing
African Americans as news anchors. It was a huge deal for the African American in front of the camera and for all those tuned in who
looked like them.
What was not known by the majority
of African Americans at that time, was the
“brothers and sisters” in front of the camera
had little influence on what they reported.
The real power—the decision makers—were
behind the camera and it would be a long time
before African Americans were invited to this
elite group. Fortunately, this began to change
within the past 20 years. However, there are
still only a few African Americans in the position to help influence what gets reported.
One such individual is Denise Hendricks, Senior Producer, HLN Morning Express
with Robin Meade (CNN). You won’t see Hendricks in front of the camera. Yet, the blessing is that she handles production for one of
the most recognizable news programs in the
industry and the world. Needless-to-say, without African Americans like Hendricks behind
the scene to influence what is seen on camera, there would be no checks and balances to
ensure the news isn’t one-sided.
We caught up with Hendricks recently
and learned some surprising things about her
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background that not only confirms she has
the credentials to be in the Senior Producer’s
chair, but the Christian upbringing and education that gives her a unique insight and perspective about what is happening in our communities and what can be done to help solve
some of the problems—especially for African
American youth.
So Denise, you’ve been a senior producer with HLN’s Morning Express with
Robin Meade for three years. What is a typical day is like for you?
I start my day around 4:15 AM and I’m
usually at work by 5:30 —6:00 at the latest.
Every day is different. The morning express
team is comprised of an executive producer,
senior producers, copy editors, line producers,
writers, and associate producers —it takes
a village to get the news on every day. The
majority of the team starts at 2:00 or 3:00am.
We have a different producer for each hour
that we’re live and there are usually six writers
to cover those four hours. Senior producers
oversee the editorial content, special series,
guest segments,
and planning for
the future segments, as well as
overall day-to-day
execution.
I know HLN
Morning Express
is a spinoff of
CNN’s 24/7 news
organization, tell
me how its format
differs?
HLN Morning Express with
Robin Meade was
formerly Headline
News and airs
from 6:00a-12:00. It is live from 6:00a-10:00
covering a wide range of national and international news and trending topics. The last live
hour, repeats from 10:00a-12:00.
You were with the CNN organization
earlier in your career, right?
Yes, I started with CNN on their domestic side in 2004 as a producer. Then, I moved
to Chicago, less than a year after arriving at
CNN.
Why did you leave when your career
was taking off at CNN?
I got an opportunity to go work for The
Oprah Winfrey Show as one of her producers
for five years from 2004-2009.Two seasons
before the show ended, I was offered an
opportunity to help launch BET’s late night
talk show “The Mo’Nique Show” which was
actually being taped
back in Atlanta, so I
moved back to the
South. I worked with
The Mo’Nique Show
for two years before
it was cancelled.
Approximately one
month after, I was
offered a position
to help ABC launch
a talk show called
The Revolution in
New York City. It
was a lifestyle make
over show with five
hosts which included
style guru Tim Gunn,
celebrity fitness trainer Harley Pasternak,
and former Extreme Home Makeover host Ty
Pennington…that show lasted approximately
a year. The show was over, but my contract
hadn’t ended so I stayed in New York while I
figured out what direction I wanted to go in.
So, it was a good time for me.
After spending some quality time sorting out your future, how did you decide what
was next?
During that month, actually it was after
about two weeks, I got a call from HLN. That
was in 2012 and they were launching some
new shows. I was hired for a contract field
producer position for six weeks while they
were launching the shows. I worked the six
weeks, and they kept extending the contract.
In November, we discussed a full-time, senior
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