Dunn and Best Buy: When breaking news happens during the show

The breaking news of Brian Dunn's sudden and unexpected resignation happened just as the show began yesterday. As luck would have it, our 10 a.m. in-depth segment was all about retail, particularly "big box" retail since the business model is in its 50th year. Here's a rundown of what the top of a news cycle can look like on a breaking story.

8:56 a.m. Kerri Miller, Tom Weber and senior producer Chris Dall are in studio ready to begin The Daily Circuit. Everything is on track to run smooth.

9 a.m. The producer team is prepping for a news meeting, conducting interviews and scanning for any breaking news. I spot a tweet from our own Cathy Wurzer that Best Buy CEO Brian Dunn suddenly resigned. Timely! And lucky, I think to myself; we can definitely talk about it this morning during the show.

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9:02 a.m. I can feel the buzz in the newsroom as reporters and editors start to gear up to cover this news.

9:06 a.m. Chris asks me to touch base with our retail experts and see if they can provide insight on the news. I make some calls. The minutes I wait feel like an hour.

9:15 a.m. Morning news meeting begins where all editors and the web team is figuring out how to cover the news and get to the bottom of why this resignation happened, especially since Best Buy just announced its new strategic plan. All ears are on The Daily Circuit to provide some insight to move this story forward.

9:30 a.m. Our guest, renowned retail expert Barbara Khan of Wharton, is surprised by news herself. She says she knows of their general problems. I think I need to find someone else for specifics. Make a call to another retail expert just in case.

9:35 a.m. But then our other guest, retail reporter Natalie Zmuda, says, "I just wrote a piece on this. I'm up to speed." Perfect! Relief sets in. Natalie sends a copy of her piece to us. Chris, Kerri and Tom can get the news and see what questions need answers. These two guests have plenty of knowledge to get move this news a little further.

9:36 a.m. To top off our retail show hour, I scan for more updates and let other editors know The Daily Circuit guests will be able to provide some insights.

10:20 a.m. Retail hour begins. Guests are fantastic.

-Meggan Ellingboe, assistant producer