For the executive producer of a network nightly news programme, the workday often begins at midnight as mine did during seven years with ABC’s evening newscast. The first order of business was a call to the assignment desk for a pre-bedtime?rundownof latest developments.
　　The assignment desk operates 24 hours a day, staffed by editors who move crews, correspondents and equipment to the scene of events. Assignment-desk editors ate logistics experts; they have to know plane schedules, satellite availability, and whom to get in touch with at local stations and overseas broadcasting systems. They are required to assess stories as they break on the wire services—sometimes even before they do - and to decide how much effort to make to cover those stories.
　　When the United States was going to appeal to arms against Iraq, the number of correspondents and crews was constantly evaluated. Based on reports from the field and also upon the skilled judgments of desk editors in New York City, the right number of personnel was kept on the alert. The rest were allowed to continue working throughout the world, in America and Iraq ready to move but not tied down by false alarms.
　　The studio staff of ABC’s “World News Tonight” assembles at 9 a.m. to prepare for the 6:30 “air” p.m. deadline. Overnight dispatches from outlying bureaus and press services are read. There are phone conversations with the broadcast’s staff producers in domestic bureaus and with the London bureau senior producer, who coordinates overseas coverage. A pattern emerges for the day’s news, a pattern outlined in the executive producer’s first lineup. The lineup tells the staff what stories are scheduled; what the priorities are for processing film of editing tape; what scripts need to be written; what commercials ate scheduled; how long stories should run and in what order. Without a lineup, there would be chaos.
　　Each story’s relative value in dollars and cents must be continually as

A. To illustrate the important role and function of the assignment desk

B. To give us a brief introduction of their working conditions

C. To exemplify the cooperation of all sections in the company

D. To emphasize the mission of the correspondents