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Laurie Leiker: Undercover Reporter
Ok, this is definitely not a picture of me, nor did I ever wear anything resembling that, except I had a leather bomber jacket I’d wear on all our shoots.
While working for Tom, one of the most fun experiences I had was doing undercover stories. I loved dressing up, strapping on the camera, and going in to catch the bad guys. At times, it was a little nerve-racking, but in the end, we were able to catch them in the act and make things right for consumers in Denver.
Typically, I was dressed in an oversized men’s denim jacket. All along the inside back of the jacket were pockets to put battery packs (remember — this was way before micro-technology). I had a fanny pack that held the camera itself. Finally, the engineers at the station took out one of the breast pocket buttons and installed the lens of the camera. I was ready to go. I looked like someone experiencing homelessness.
One story I’m particularly proud of is when we saved Denver’s childcare facilities.
We came up with the story while we were on the air at the radio station. It took some planning, but we identified ten daycare facilities to run our test. Each day, I would don my undercover jacket and go into the chosen facility to see how far I could get before someone stopped me.
