Inside the New Trumpet Daily

Trumpet executive editor Stephen Flurry has revitalized the Trumpet Daily, a webcast that appears on theTrumpet.com four days per week. The program features not only a new set but also a refreshed format and a more rapid production that enables Mr. Flurry to discuss events with the viewer the same day they happen.

In early November, Mr. Flurry greeted viewers from the new Trumpet Daily set on the stage of Armstrong Auditorium, a performing arts center on the campus where the offices for the Trumpet, Herbert W. Armstrong College and the Philadelphia Church of God are located. The set sits between the same cherry wood walls that have framed a parade of musicians, from Branford Marsalis, André Watts, the Canadian Brass, the Russian National Ballet and the Vienna Choir Boys to young Imperial Academy grade school students.

The new set in part also enabled the program’s format to be recharged. Many programs now feature Mr. Flurry delivering an introduction focusing on a critical current event, his analysis of the topic in relation to Bible prophecy and biblical laws, segments on other important news, and then features promoting free literature. A setting with chairs has allowed Mr. Flurry to interview other members of the pcg staff about activities on campus ranging from music department head Ryan Malone to Trumpet editors.

“We got the idea to use the auditorium stage for a set back in 2011 when we started producing TDs,” Mr. Flurry said. “But with so much going on in Jerusalem over the past year-and-a-half, the timing just never seemed to work out.” He and the television department started working on the idea “in earnest” in mid-October. “We wanted something that would be a little more intimate” than the previous setting, where he would tape his messages before an audience. “I think it will give us much more flexibility to try new things.”

Television department head Andrew Locher said the change was a “refresh.” “We like the versatility of the stage, the lighting and some of the other features …. We have more people involved, which also makes it nice to have more physical space for maneuvering.” The new space also enables “different camera angles and more elements on the stage. We have better depth-of-field for the shots as well.”

On taping days, power cables snake across the floor and high-definition cameras shoot toward the desk and chair. Camera operators test and calibrate their equipment. House crew members check arrays of spotlights 30 feet overhead. Information Technology staffers prepare background graphics and check a set of wireless microphones. In the control booth, director Dwight Falk radios instructions to a crew of eight camera operators and other assistants and checks monitors for four more robotic cameras sitting in camera bays, powered on and focusing in. Mr. Locher looks at his clipboard; Mr. Flurry walks onstage and hands him a sheaf of program notes. As final preparations wrap up, Mr. Flurry begins to warm up his voice. Then it’s time.

“Hello, and welcome back to the Trumpet Daily ….”

If you’ve watched the program, you know the rest of the scene. You have probably also noticed that the new format has brought with it a quicker turnaround. Mr. Flurry often analyzes an event or article that surfaced just a day—or even hours—earlier. After the program wraps, Falk’s production team goes into high gear to complete the program. Viewers can watch it when it is posted online later the same day.

But even when the cameras power down and the program is released to the public, the work is just beginning—for the next program.

The new format for the program has brought closer teamwork between Mr. Flurry, the television crew and the Trumpet staff, which works to feed the semi-daily cycle of the webcast, which in turns feeds and promotes the Trumpet. This symbiosis—along with the Trumpet Weekly newsletter and the Key of David television program—has amplified the effect of each part of the Trumpet message.

Even if you are already a regular watcher of the Trumpet Daily, stay tuned. The set and program continue to incorporate new elements and proclaim the timely, relevant, urgent message of Bible prophecy and the refreshing hope of real Christian living—and the connection between the two. Visit theTrumpet.com/trumpet_daily for today’s webcast of warning, and of hope!