Re(13): New Year's Wishes Posted on January 7, 2025 at 07:15:46 PM by just sayin
You be stuck in the rut of radio, and only as an observer at that. Radio is what I did putting myself through college. I spent much more time in TV which was a whole different world. And actually I have a journalism degree and a research and writing career. Radio was just the medium for what I did.
I'm still doing it, but now on the internet. My other career was in technology which I also enjoyed. One job I was in a cubie, I always had an office but my office also where I ran my network servers.
Most of my time in broadcasting was NOT in a newsroom at all but out researching, interviewing. I summarized that part as being paid to learn cool stuff. You can't imagine it but it was about discovering new things, filming them and then telling a third of the community audience what I'd learned.
Some was boring like covering city commission meetings but some was exclting like spending an afternoon in an undergground ICBM site or ghetting a personal tour of a nuc power plant, or flying, or covering storm damage, or interviewing famous people who blew through town. Or later teaching people how to use their computers, or buying and setting up equipment, or creating programs that automated business tasks.
Seriously, Jim, I kept busy. Too busy to be jealous and envious, and hypocritical. When ya boil it down, news is about learning and teaching what you learned. I'm not sure you were every exposed to that when you form your superficial assumptions about your antagonist! You, pal, are just unteachable.
I'm somewhat sad this week with the passing of Jimmy Carter at age 100. When I was at KLEO in the 70s, he gave me a half hour of his time to do a radio interview...he was traveling the country, and he won that election. I managed 10-15 minutes doing a 1 on 1 with RFK during HIS primary but he was assassinated in California not long after. A short little guy, tanned, sounding very Bostonian. That was radio, not studio work which is just a cubie with a microphone, but out in the field where the real world is. Pretty fun experiences for a young guy like me. But ya know, after awhile, the rush wears off because one interview, one big news story, one TV news series is like another. When I started feeling that way, I just found something new and different to do. In news, you can drive down the road, look at an industry or an event, and say to yourself, "I wanna find out what theyd o there". Ya call em up on the phone and because you give them publicity because of where YOU work, they let you in, show ya around, and answer all your questions.
Ya go back to the station, write what you learned, tell your story, show your story and a third of the households in your city tune in to hear what you learned. It was pretty fun doing that.
I'm sure TV news is till fun for field reporters, but not as much because you dont' get the same latitude in TV as we did back in the day.d
ITs not that WE changed, its that the MEDIA did. Then the internet came along and the media cut their staffs in half when the investors bought em out.
That's when I bailed for computer work, which wasn't as exciting as news, but it did pay better. Understand, I'm not bragging, Jim, I'm just reminescing.
Did I ever tell you when a photog and I were out off Kellogg and West street and a Learjet employee taxiing a new plane to the paint shop decided to try flying, he took off without permission, not a pilot at all, circled the airport and bellylanded on the runway, destroying a brand new Learjet. We got there before they could block off the crash site, he survived and as the cops were dragging him from the wreckage and I yelled at him asking him why he did it. He didn't answer but he was probably in shock. That was pretty interesting thing you dont forget ever, like covering a race riot at 21st and Grove or the Herman Hil l riot, getting video of Sheriffs deputies hitting collega age coeds... It was Johnny Darr's Deputies were were rioting with their tear gas...the protestors were just there that Easter Sunday morning having fun in the park. That day, THe police chief was saying hee was going to 'exonerate' his officers. I was at his office to get a soundbite and I said to him, "Dick maybe before we call that your statement, how bout coming over to KSN and we'll let you see the video we have of your men and you'll change your mind."d
He did. And instead, he went on set with Greg Gamer, sort of apologized for his officers, and he fired several of them including his FOP officer who he saw on our video abusing a protestor.
Those are the most fun times, but they're rare and I decided I was glad I left my business major at college and got into journalism instead.
Don't even for a minute suggest I'm envious or jealous...It turned out even fun getting drafted into the military, going overseas, doing high tech communications and doing a requestline show on American Forces Radio. Once I did a 102 hour radio marathon, which was fun tho not so much when I lost my voice. I was raising money for an orphanage of locals. Got my picture in Stars and Stripes for that one. That was then, now I'm retired. My dad in his nursing home told me essentially, 'everyday above ground is a good day'. He's right but he's been gone for twenty years. I've learned now people my age are accepting.
I'm sure you'll have a retort, but nothing you haven't said before. Maybe you should stick to buying time on the radio until you get bored with it. Replies: