Lights, camera, nonstop drama for Filipino producer at CNN

Rewind to 9/11/2001: It was a calm, balmy Tuesday and Armie Jarin was curled up in front of the TV set at her home in Atlanta, Georgia when she saw a plane smash a tower of the World Trade Center in New York. The rest is history, nay, a black chapter in the history of mankind. In a flash, a city was in shambles, hundreds of lives were lost (and are still missing) and a thousand and one dreams were shattered. Armie was not just going to sit there and watch it all happen. Our petite girl at CNN International went to work and stood 10 feet tall among her American colleagues as she produced one of the network’s biggest shows that day. The 34-year-old Armie Jarin, who traces her roots to Kawit, Cavite and Tarlac, is the only Filipino producer at CNN. Another Filipina, Veronica Pedrosa, is an anchor for CNN.

"I was off from work that day and I called up the office to ask if they needed me to come in," Armie reports during a three-week visit here recently. "They told me, ‘Come in, you have to do a show.’ CNN was on emergency staffing. CNN and CNN International are two different networks, but we merged our operations and I must say it was one of our biggest shows that day and I produced it."

Work to death (pardon the expression) she did, to produce an hour-long show "at the height of all the craziness." She goes on to report: "It was very stressful because it was a very emotional time. We were coordinating our live shots – merong New York, Pentagon, Bush’s speech. It was one of the best shows I’ve ever done. Our main goal was to put out a story, to say what was happening, what the government, Red Cross were doing, how the international community was reacting. We did everything we could to cover the story from beginning to end."

Trying her darndest to keep a cool facade as she sifted through the day’s mind-boggling events, Armie recalls: "What was dramatic was that when we came in that night to cover the story, we were getting exclusive pictures of the WTC collapse and the actual crash of the plane, from the first to the second tower. We saw the reaction of people, people who were hurt, from shots taken by other people with their own cameras. People just passing by with video cameras sent their footage to CNN. We didn’t have a lot of photographers on the field because who would have thought that such a carnage would happen? Besides, the city was closed. Luckily, our studios were nearby so our anchors were able to anchor right in front – from the building, you could see the World Trade Center."

It was the worst of times but it was also the finest moment in Armie’s TV career with CNN. "We didn’t have our regular days-off – we worked 13 to 15 straight hours a day. Usually, I have to be at work seven hours before the show to prepare and after the show, I have to help the next producer. We’re on 24 hours, round the clock, with no commercials."

And each day, there was always something more dramatic than the day before. "As a producer, it’s my job to present the story in the most interesting way possible," Armie describes a typical day in her atypical life. "I’m the one who decides which video, what sound to use, where to go – are we going to New York, Washington D.C.? – or if there’s going to be any guest."

Coming home after a long and hard day’s work, Armie plopped into a chair and broke down. She confesses, "When I was at work, it was just work. But when I got home to watch TV, umiyak na lang ako. Because when I’m at the office, I try to be detached from the story. So it was when I got home that I realized the gravity of the situation."

Amid the rubble, as stories of "survival" were told and retold, the tragedy took on a personal face for Armie. For instance, there was this busload of schoolchildren who were on their way to visit the World Trade Center that morning but missed their date with history because their bus had a flat tire. Or Armie’s friend who was supposed to have breakfast at the WTC, but woke up late.

"What was sad was that all her friends were there," Armie laments. "To this day, people are traumatized. If you go around Atlanta, you’d see many US flags around. Especially last December, when it was very hard to celebrate Christmas. People are still hurting. It will take time for the wounds to completely heal. People are still afraid to ride planes, the airline industry has not recovered, people are losing their jobs, the economy is down."

For this city that never sleeps, it will take time to recover from the nightmare. "Our CNN cameras are focused there on a day-to-day basis to cover the progress of the WTC work," Armie tells us. "Malinis-linis na but not all the bodies have been recovered. I think it will take a year even with recovery operations going on 24 hours a day."

Sharing Armie’s burning passion for work is her husband John Bennett, 39, who covered the Sept. 11 attack from the streets of New York City, where everyone, says Armie, always got free food and water.

"My husband and I don’t really work together," Armie points out. "He directs live shots. Like if there’s an explosion, he’s sent there. If I’m producing a show and he happens to be there, we take their live shots."

Armie and John were working together when they first met. He was a director and she was a production assistant. They were inseparable at work – and off work. The couple were married at civil rites in the US. It was a first for both. Last month, Armie came home with husband John – and 12 friends from CNN – to marry John in church. Armie had her gown made in the US but her mom insisted that it be beaded here. A Jesuit priest friend, Fr. Tito Caluag, officiated the rites at the Archbishop’s Palace. Armie wanted a small wedding but her doting parents – Hermogenes and Amelia Jarin, both doctors – would not hear of it. The Rizal ballroom of Makati Shangri-La Hotel was bursting with guests from near and far.

In Manila, Armie had the luxury of time to bond with former colleagues at Citylite 88.3 FM where she was news director.

"After graduating from De La Salle College with a degree in communication arts, my first job was as a newscaster for 99.5 RT," Armie traces her career path that ran from Manila to Atlanta. "After that, it was KISS FM. And then Citylite. I was also a radio talent and did some voice-over for commercials on radio and TV. Remember the Ivory commercial ‘Ang gaan ng feeling’? Boses ko yon. My boss, Francis Lumen, to whom I owe a lot, sent me to Atlanta to observe. He gave me every opportunity, helped me and encouraged me. After nine years with Citylite, my goal was to be on TV so I auditioned at GMA Channel 7 to do the news. GMA turned me down, they took in Vicky Morales. There were a lot of applicants and I was one of eight ‘semi-finalists.’ They turned me down kasi muhka daw akong bata. Siguro pango ang ilong ko. But that’s OK, it was a blessing in disguise. I sent a resume to Channel 2 but they never said anything about it. So I went to CNN, and they accepted me."

Armie started at CNN on an entry level position. She describes, "I was a PA, I did camera work, floor directing, I was a scroll prompter, kung ano-ano lang. Then I took a test to be a writer, became a writer and was promoted to associate producer three months later. Every three months, I’d get a promotion. Not long after, I became a producer for Headline News, the 24-hour news channel of CNN. Then I moved to CNN International, which is what you watch on CNN here."

Looking back, Armie is in awe of the abundant talent we have in the country. "We have a lot of people here na talagang super galing," she gushes. "Before I left, I met Jessica Soho and Tina Monson-Palma. I met Tina after college and she was very good to me. She’d say, ‘O sige, just work hard.’"

According to Armie, there’s a whole world of difference between the work culture here and that in the US. "We’re very careful here. Hindi mo masabi, ‘Mali yan!’ Hindi mo puedeng sigawan. In my office at CNN, there’s always high stress, people are very straightforward whereas here, pasikot-sikot pa. There, straight to your face they’ll tell you, ‘Mali ka, you can’t do that.’ Noon, madali sumana ang loob ko. But in the States, they don’t care, they tell you what you can do, what you can’t do, what you’re supposed to do. They’re very, very frank – typical of what we perceive Americans to be."

What about discrimination?

"I never experienced that," comes the quick reply. "On the contrary, my being Filipino helped me to get a job because they needed some diversity in the newsroom and the Philippines is a very important country because of the news coming out of here. I feel very important at work, especially when it comes to the nuances of the local news. Like that time when we got a direct feed at the height of the Erap case and he was making a speech and they couldn’t understand what he was saying. Usually, we wait for a translation, if it’s in a foreign language, from Reuters or the Associated Press. We didn’t have to wait because I was in the newsroom. So we were able to bring the news right away."

But she adds with a chuckle, "But I couldn’t translate the Erap jokes because I had no inside information."

At the height of People Power II at Edsa, Armie was there at CNN to identify the major players. "They’d ask who Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo was in the crowd because they really didn’t know her, or who was Cardinal Sin there," she relates.

Certainly, Armie has seen enough action to last her a lifetime. "I have a very stressful job," she stresses. "Minsan, ang feeling ko parang maloloka na ko. Like I put my show together and I’m ready to go on the air, but 10 minutes before the show, something explodes in the West Bank. So I’d have to look for a reporter to do a live report from there. Sometimes, the explosion happens in the middle of the show. As producer in charge of the show, you’d have to decide where the show is going, if it’s going to go on a commercial break, and what’s going to happen after the commercial break."

After all the stresses at work, Armie looks forward to some quiet, stress-free time at home with her husband. Home to the Bennetts is a four-bedroom house with a full basement, study, and sun room in a suburb 25 miles north of Atlanta.

"When I’m not working, I de-stress by cleaning the house, going to the gym to exercise – we’ve put up a mini gym at home – and going shopping," Armie enumerates her simple joys. "My husband John cooks (when he’s had enough of my adobo, lumpiang shanghai and pancit), cleans the house, and does the laundry for me. He also brings me to work if I’m tired because I was on the graveyard shift, from 10 p.m. to 8 a.m. But when I get back, I’d be on the morning shift, which is evening in Manila."

Armie notes with sadness that very often, news coming out of the Philippines is "almost always bad news." "Which is why I brought some of my CNN friends here – to show them that it’s beautiful out here," she says with a hint of pride.

Despite the perks of the job (like free tickets to the NBA games, airline discounts and good medical benefits) and despite being married to an American, Armie doesn’t "feel American." She declares: "I’ll always be a Filipino citizen. I haven’t even acquired the American accent. And I’d like to raise my kids the Filipino way."

With the action-packed life that she lives, Armie admits that every now and then, she’d welcome a boring day at work, when nothing’s happening, nobody’s blowing up or hijacking a plane or spreading anthrax.

Again, we’re proud to present Armie Jarin, our girl at CNN, reporting live in Manila.