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inter-views that lasted longer and sounded more professional. It was as though the executives had mandated a certain politically correct response for most news topics, and the station manager's role was to see that response carried out.
    Occasionally a child's outstanding achievement or the way a family survived a personal tragedy might be worthy of a news story, but not without heavy editing. Stories along those lines tended to feature Christians who attributed their success or sur-vival to God, but rarely did their statements of belief make the final televised piece.
    There wasn't much Faith could do about it. It was an industry rule that anchors and reporters be unbiased in their work. It was written that way in her contract. If she used her visible position in any way other than to report the news without opinion, it wasgrounds for dismissal. She knew the rules and she had no intention of breaking them. Not with all that had happened over the last few years.
    “Three minutes…” The off-stage warning caused Faith to sit straighter in her seat as she memorized the story order. Ron had the first segment: Gunman takes a hostage. She had the next one: budget cuts at the city hospital. Two more follow-up segments, including cutaways to taped interviews, and they'd have their first commercial break. One more eight-minute news segment with additional footage, another commercial break, weather, and then sports.
    “Three, two, one…and…go!” The voice stopped abruptly as intense, upbeat music filled the soundstage. Faith and Ron adjusted themselves on their seats and sorted briefly through their individual stacks of paper as they faced the camera, serious expressions in place.
    “A gunman takes three hostages in a shootout today that left one local man dead and another critically injured…” Ron's voice was crisp and upbeat with the polish that comes from years of working the cameras.
    “And good news for the city hospital. Budget woes may be over but at whose expense…?” On cue Faith glanced at Ron.
    “Good evening everyone, I'm Ron Leonard.”
    Back at the camera. “And I'm Faith Evans. Welcome to tonight's edition of
WKZN News. “
    Faith angled her head toward Ron and he kicked in with pre-cision timing. “A burst of gunfire ripped through a family home in the two-thousand block of Westchester Avenue this morning as an escaped convict broke in and took three people hostage. We have more on that from Alicia Rodriguez who was there at the scene.” A thirty-second segment filled the screen with live reports and statements from family members. Faith and Ronchecked the story order again and prepared once more to go live.
    The newscast continued without a hitch, and Faith prayed between stories for the little girl in tonight's
Wednesday's Child
segment. Rosa Lee, a six-year-old biracial Asian sweetheart aban-doned by her parents at birth and shuffled through five foster homes since then. She was legally free for adoption but she had a problem: She had been born with just two fingers and a thumb on her left hand.
    Faith had spent an afternoon with Rosa and her social worker over the weekend, amazed at how well the child worked to com-pensate for her handicap. Even so, the missing fingers were another strike against her. Chances were Rosa might never be adopted, unless God used the news segment to touch someone's heart.
    Ben Bloom, the weatherman, was wrapping up.
    Lord, prepare the right person's heart even now…
Faith loved talking to God even in the middle of a newscast. It was some-thing her dad had taught her when she was only a child.
Father, please… find a home for little Rosa, please.
    A brief commercial break ended and the sports segment began. Chase Wilson was a former college athlete with model-like looks, a beautiful wife, and three children. He was in his early thirties, and rumor was the network had plans to move him into the national spotlight sometime soon. Women viewers often wrote to the station