USD Magazine Spring 2009

I THE GLAMOUR OF IT ALL From politics to pop culture, supervising producer for Larry King strives to keep the news fresh on a daily basis by Julene Snyder [ o n t h e g r i d ] viding live courtroom footage, two are teasing upcoming shows and one is deciding participants for the “Showcase Showdown.”

longest running interview pro- gram, and judging by the dozens of photos of herself with luminar-

ies ranging from Presidents Clinton and Bush to George

Clooney to Paul McCartney to Paris Hilton to Brad Pitt, the star power is a given. “What I love about my job is that it never gets old,” says Marsh. While the presidential cam- paign dominated much of 2008, before that, the focus was crime stories like Natalie Holloway and the Peterson trial. “Oh, and before that, it was pop culture for a while. Lindsay Lohan, Britney Spears, Paris Hilton. We were almost an Access Hollywood type show. Now, of course, it’s politics.” The self-possessed Marsh clear- ly doesn’t let the intensity of klieg lights, ticking clocks and non-

clamor to be made without hesita- tion. But it’s just another day at the office for Allison Marsh. Here, every moment is about moving forward; that’s the only way to keep from falling behind. “I watch the news all day every day,” says Marsh, supervising pro- ducer for CNN’s Larry King Live. Just now, four of the nine muted monitors facing her desk feature talking heads, one is advertising a heartburn medication, one is pro-

magine, just for a moment, a world without cell phones, without computers, without cable TV, without instantaneous media overload. It’s quiet with- out the omnipresent background hum, isn’t it? There’s no going off the grid, at least not in this office, where nine flat-screen monitors flicker from dusk to dawn, where the phone never stops ringing, new e-mail keeps piling up and decisions

“The news changes all day, every day. Basically, there are 500 channels and they are all our competitors.” Marsh explains. “I follow them all day just to see what the lead story is.” For the last six years, the 1998 USD graduate has been privy to the inner workings of CNN’s

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