Wednesday, November 25, 2009

travels home

Finally arrived home in NJ Tuesday after not being home since August. I stayed in Columbia until yesterday because I filled in a few live truck shifts. Otherwise I would have flown home Sunday. But anyway, I flew out of KC to Newark, and took the MO-X shuttle so I could leave my car at home. I'm thinking this was a bad decision despite near-exhaustion from lack of sleep the night before. I got on the MO-X at Gateway and changed buses at their terminal on Providence and the Business Loop. I boarded the bus and was surrounded by old women. I thought, "uh oh." I have nothing against old women, but I was NOT in the mood for making conversation. I wanted to put on my Springsteen Live in NYC on my noise-cancelling headphones and sleep for at least 45 minutes. So when the guy with a Bluetooth headset, enormous backpack, and walking cane steps into the bus, introduces himself, and tells everyone he has a laptop to check "traffic and weather for the whole trip" you can imagine how irritated I was. He then told folks he was a former Navy SEAL (the picture of him is included with this post) had "friends in NASA", and then asked the driver to plug in his portable charger to the power outlet in front. So upon departing Columbia, he began making small talk with just about everyone. I was basically asleep by the time the Mo-X accelerated onto I-70, and slept til about milemarker 75 (a good 30-35 minutes). I was awoken by the same man blathering on about his computer's internet connection and the old woman behind him horrified of missing her flight she'd be arriving for 3 hours in advance. I was forced to endure this background talk as my Springsteen blared on in my headphones. Of course, instead of taking I-70 through downtown Kansas City to I-29, the Mo-X takes I-435 around the entire city to the airport. It adds a good 30-40 minutes to the trip because apparently they're afraid of getting stuck in traffic - in the middle of the day, no less. Line of the day came at this point - the man pointed to his computer screen and said "We'll be out of this rain in 2 minutes!!" 2 minutes later, it was still raining, and he looked very disappointed. Anyway, he got off at USAirways (a completely different terminal) and I was one of the last to get off at Continental.

I ate lunch at the majestic Budweiser Lounge while being tempted by the fine alcoholic products available at 12:15 on a weekday. I didn't have any, but any later in the day I may have considered some. This, and going through security remained uneventful. Upon sitting at my gate for a while, a Continental employee got on the PA and told travelers the "aircraft's lavatory light is not working, and the pilot doesn't want to take off without that because it's a 2 hour and 15 minute flight, so we'll try to get it fixed, worst case scenario we'll either fly with no lavatory service, or change aircraft." I've never heard of that happening before - the lavatory light not working - and the fix seemed incredibly simple (change the bulb??) but what do I know, I'm not an airline mechanic. So they had us move to the gate next to ours, the plane to Houston, while the Houston passengers moved to our plane.

So all that goes on, and I get on the plane content to sleep again. We took off and enjoyed a relatively uneventful flight until about halfway through when the small child in front of me began 1) singing constantly 2) telling its Daddy to "DADDY LOOK THE WINDOW WON'T CLOSE". This eventually devolved into the child singing one line from "Joy to the World" on repeat until the door opened in Newark. Of course, the parents didn't do anything and seemed to think their child was just bringing JOY TO EVERYONE!!

Hardly - they would have been more joyful if the kid had just shut up! UGH!!!

Tuesday, November 24, 2009

Charlie Weis and wastefulness

Preface: I dislike Notre Dame, but I don't hate them. Nor do I enjoy the undue attention they receive from ESPN and NBC for playing pedestrian football almost every year for the past 10 years (besides their Fiesta/Sugar Bowl losses). And in those 10 years, it's become more and more common for the definition of "success" in college football to mean "making bowl games." Regardless of whether it's a BCS Bowl or the papajohns.com Bowl, I still consider it a success because you're playing in the "postseason", whether that be a playoff or bowl system. So with that understood, I find it shamefully lavish that Notre Dame (or its fans) want to fire Charlie Weis because he didn't win a national championship in 5 years. Somehow, it's forgotten in their thought process that under his guidance, the Fighting Irish played in 2 BCS games (against very good teams), earned 2 top-25-at-end-of-year BCS rankings, and won the Hawaii Bowl. This year, they're 6-5 (bowl eligible, yet again). Weis has a winning overall record in South Bend and 4 of ND's 5 losses this year came by a touchdown or less. Is that his fault? Maybe - but you can't deny the guy will see his QB and stud WR drafted early in this year's NFL draft. I'm guessing 110 out of 120 D-1 teams would be thrilled to have the kind of success Weis has had. Think they're screwed for the future? Rivals.com ranks Weis' recruiting class as #11 in the country.

From what I gather, there's at least $20 million owed to Weis, and it'd require at least $5 million per year to hire a new coach. I have no idea if donors and boosters are willing to cough up such an outrageous amount of money to fire a successful coach. If they do, it could be the most disgusting display I've seen in a long time. In economic times like this, it's simply a display of arrogance and unreasonable expectations, especially in a sport where athletes are unpaid. I have no respect for attitudes like this.

Monday, November 16, 2009

PA guys in Big 12

I've been fortunate enough to watch enough Big 12 football in my career at Mizzou to hear most of the stadium PA announcers either in person or on TV. Here's a quick list of how they stack up, in my boredom.

1) Randy Wright, Missouri: Of course he's a huge homer and I'm totally biased towards him but he does an excellent job both feeding off the crowd and getting people fired up at football or basketball games. He rarely makes mistakes with players' names/numbers and usually has pretty good phrasing for plays. I'll give him and the Mizzou marketing people credit for coming up with the "First down, M-I-Z" - you can hear him around :15 in this:
2) Name unknown, Oklahoma State: This guy has an AWESOME voice. He uses a few quirks in his announcing - i.e. instead of the overused, cliche "That's good for a [insert team name and wait for crowd to yell 1st down]" he says "Oklahoma State 1st down and ten". He also doesn't use the opposing team's name - simply saying, for instance, on defense "3rd down and 3...for the visitor." Definitely a fan. You can kind of hear him in this
3) Name unknown, Kansas: The state of Kansas is pretty good for PA guys. Like OSU, this guy has an great voice. I haven't been to a game in Lawrence but having heard him in the background on TV and the radio, he doesn't get too fired up and lets his inflection carry the enthusiasm, instead of yelling or sounding crazy. It sounds like he avoids cliches and sticks to the basics, and, gets them right. I'm guessing he's an old-school guy and he does a good job.
4) Name unknown, Kansas State: Also has a great voice, but uses too many cliches/overused phrases to try and fire up the crowd i.e. "That's another WILDCAT [pause while waiting for crowd to yell "First Down"]" I also noticed several crucial errors in identifying opposing players - for instance, identifying Aldon Smith as someone else, or completely missing Sean Weatherspoon for someone else. Not sure if you can hear him in this, but it's worth a try.
Schools I have not heard: Texas, Texas Tech, Texas A&M, Baylor, Nebraska, Colorado. For the sake of this article, we'll assume they fill slots 5-11 as I leave the schools below out for a reason.
11) Name unknown, Oklahoma: Not a very good voice, occasionally to the point of irritation for listeners and fans. His voice was monotone and lacking depth. He had decent form and phrasing, but I do recall him saying Chase "Daniels" instead of Daniel, a crucial mistake for any announcer's credibility. I don't mean this in a bad way, but he sounded like a less enthusiastic Alex Anthony (New York Mets' PA announcer)
12) Name unknown, Iowa State: Probably the worst PA guy I've heard call a football game at any level. While it could be a symptom of a bad sound system, the guy sounded like he was literally screaming into the microphone. To make matters worse, he used every cliche in the book - from "THAT'S ANOTHER CYCLONNNNNNNNNNNNEEEE FIRST DOWN!!!!!!!!!!!!" again, literally SCREAMING into the microphone, while on defensive 3rd downs, shouting "IT'S 3RD DOWN AND ___ MAKE SOME NOISE!!!!!!" Overall, very irritating - and it's unforgivable to announce like that if you don't have the voice for it. You can kind of get a sense of this guy from this:

Friday, November 13, 2009

November update

This is the 1st Friday I've been free since the start of the semester! I've shot football games just about every Friday night, and with high school football just about over, I'm pretty much free now on Friday nights. I'm gearing up for a trip to Manhattan, Kansas tomorrow for Mizzou's game against the Kansas State Wildcats. This will be my 2nd road trip (3rd if you count the Illinois game) for Mizzou football, and I've shot every game except for Nevada. It's been a blast to shoot all the Mizzou games, despite the disappointing record and tough home losses. I can honestly say I've shot in all weather conditions this season - from torrential rain and cold during the Nebraska game, to warm and humid during Bowling Green and Furman, and plain ol' chilly during the Oklahoma State game. Tomorrow looks to be in the 50s and overcast, so it should be comfortable. Meanwhile, producing sports has gone well. I've definitely improved since I began. It's VERY easy - much easier than I thought. I've even gotten to the point to where I think "Hey, this isn't so bad, I could do this for a living" until I realize it's still not the greatest place to be. But hey, at least I've gotten some experience in it and had some fun with it.

I noticed my last update came after the Nebraska game. I traveled to Oklahoma State the next weekend to shoot the game down there - also really cool but a disappointing result again. I was greatly impressed with the quality of Boone Pickens Stadium - insanely nice overall. The attention to detail is immaculate - everything from deluxe catered meals for the media to OSU engraved elevator buttons. Clearly, ol' Boone is sinking money into his namesake's building, and I can definitely see the results. However, I thought the crowd would be a lot louder than it was - perhaps because the stadium's capacity is around 55,000 - but after experiencing OU in 2007 I expected the same outrageous decibel level in Stillwater. It only got really loud after Gabbert's pick-6 and OSU's TD towards the end of the 1st half. Their student section seemed into the game the whole time, and their odd paddles certainly made a lot of noise. But, I can definitely say Boone Pickens Stadium, while VERY nice and luxurious, is not nearly as tough to play in as I'd expected.

I'm curious to see if Bill Snyder Family Stadium is any more hostile! I'll be sure to take plenty of pictures and such of the journey. Will Maetzold and Brandon Spiegel are joining me on this trip - Maetzold hitching a ride and covering it for Palestra.net, Spiegel also with KOMU.

Check out my Youtube for some of my packages - here's an embedded link.



Wednesday, October 14, 2009

We got shucked

Put simply, Missouri did not have a good game last week. I produced the 6 sports, and I was pleased with how it went. Gervino went live from the 6th floor of the press box with a live interview during the sports block, and then a Cardinals gm. 2 NLDS highlight. We scrambled to get it in on time but I was happy with it overall. Chris did a great job of doing the highlights without a monitor. After we wrapped up the show, I headed off to Faurot Field, where after lugging all the gear in the driving rain to the media shuttle, I got my credential from Kyle Stokes, who was running the live truck. Upon arrival though, I discovered the power outage situation (more on that later) resulting in limited elevator service, so I had to climb 4 flights of stairs with all the gear while dodging rich old geezers clutching their wine and cheese within the club level. Of course, the rain and overall weather was terrible - cold, driving rain and a somewhat strong wind. So, once within the press box, I finagled a garbage bag to cover the camera and went down to the field. I immediately discovered it'd be really difficult to shoot like I usually would, so I had to literally create a photo booth-like setup by putting the garbage bag over my head and using it like a cape with my only view through the LCD screen. While it was tough to see long passes and ball trajectory, it did a great job of keeping the camera dry. And with a complete lack of big plays in the 1st half, I didn't miss much. I was right behind the end zone where Gabbert scored on the QB sneak, but unfortunately on the complete opposite side of the field for the safety earlier in the game. So, I departed the field with Missouri holding on to a 9-0 lead.

About that power problem - I'm guessing the extreme rain caused some sort of fuse to break in the campus power plant, shutting off all the power to the stadium. I was told the lights and all power shut off to the stadium for about 10 minutes. After backup generators fired up, the main scoreboard and PA system remained off - creating an eerie silence and dampened (literally) atmosphere for the entire game. On one hand, it was really cool because the whole crowd stood for most of the game and really paid attention to what was going on. They didn't need much prodding to make noise on defensive 3rd downs or for the Mizzou touchdown. But, I think people began to lose energy as the game went along, and understandably so - the cold and rain began to affect people midway through the 3rd quarter. That loss of energy, coupled with the silent PA system and no Randy Wright "THIRRRRRRRRRRRDDD DOWN AND _____ "or "FIRST DOWN, M-I-Z!!" almost created a sense of foreboding collapse, even with a seeming impregnable 12-0 lead late in the 3rd quarter.

So I enjoyed the 2nd half in the warmth and dryness of the press box with my good friend Will Maetzold - whose trusty old camera succumbed to the elements, and he was forced to sit out the 2nd half. We viewed the collapse. That's all I'll say about that - but perhaps the most irritating part of it all was seeing the Nebraska fans going crazy from high above. I understand they travel well, but good lord, they made a lot of noise and hearing "There is No Place like Nebraska" blaring from the Marching Huskers was very annoying.

After the game ended, we went down to the media room to wait for Pinkel and co. His presser was uneventful - he didn't say anything that surprised me or anyone else. We then talked to Andrew Gachkar (quite honest and a good interview), Sean Weatherspoon (as always a good interview), Jaron Baston, and Blaine Gabbert (after 45 minutes waiting for him). Gabbert was in a terrible mood (understandably so) but he was uncharacteristically short and terse in his answers. He's usually pretty approachable and courteous, but on that night with the pain he endured physically and emotionally throwing 2 INTs, I can understand.

After taking off, I put together a PKG on Sunday for the sports show about Nebraska's resurgent 4th quarter. Watching them put up 27 points seemed like I was watching a sleeping giant of a program emerge from its hibernation to swat and destroy a pest - in this case, Missouri. I may not have pleased some diehard Missouri fans, but that's what it seemed to me. I wanted to put some of my personality and commentary into the story, and the story hit me while sitting in the press box watching them come back.

Friday, October 2, 2009

Long overdue update

Well, I'm now a sports reporter/producer at KOMU and despite it being MUCH less stressful than news, I am still at the station almost every day. I work live truck for the Monday/Wednesday morning show, and for the 5/6 on Tuesdays. It's been a lot less stressful this semester working live truck, too. The early morning hours are tough, but it's an easy show to work because with so many hits, it's easy to rearrange things if we have trouble with the truck. It's also a solid way to pick up hours, even if it does come at a time I should be sleeping. For the most part, I've had good reporters too, so it's been fun.

I experienced probably the wildest story I've probably ever been a part of on Wednesday morning. I woke up somewhat early at 2:15am (usually wake at 2:30 to get to the station at 3am) and Matt Jeffries, the morning student producer, called me to tell me to come in "early" because of a breaking news situation in Columbia. Up off Stadium Blvd, the Columbia Police Department were staking out a couple of people holed up in an apartment. These people apparently SHOT AT A COP CAR, then peeled out in their high-performance Dodge Stratus, crashing through their apartment complex's gate and hiding in their apartment. The suspects refused to come out of the apartment, so the cops called in some serious reinforcement - State troopers, SWAT TEAM (!!), and a few other imposing vehicles to handle the threat of these 3 whacked out dudes. So I showed up with the truck and Chance Seales was already there. He shot some video already, and I fed it back through the truck, which I thought was fun. We basically set up our shot just alongside the driveway into and out of the complex, so we could see cop cars coming in and out of the area. We had plenty of nats too, with "flashbangs" aka stun grenades going off (which we thought was gunfire because it was so loud). Chance did a great job with his hits, and I was pleased with my camera work. Eventually the cops got the dudes to come out of the apartment by blowing down its windows. This was a really awesome live shot experience all-around, so I'm glad it went so well. On a side note, KMIZ showed up half an hour after we did, and their reporter was far too chummy with Jessie Haden, CPD's "Public Information Officer". I would expect nothing less from them. Here's the link to our story.

Working in sports has been awesome. I've shot every Mizzou football game so far (minus Nevada, since that was on the road) and I've done FNF every Friday night. I FINALLY broke my Gold Star duck with a win last weekend for my Boonville/Hannibal highlight. Jim Riek totally got me by surprise, and I went nuts when he said we got the Gold. I had a lot of help from the guy who went with me, Caleb Barron - he deserves a lot of credit. I'm psyched to shoot Jefferson City's homecoming game tonight. Another great part of this game is the chance to visit Kate & Ally's Pizza in Jeff. City - probably the best pizza you can get in Mid-Missouri! I've also been mildly surprised at how easy producing sports has been. Yeah, it can be a little "crazy" but I'm confident in my abilities, so I don't stress out about getting video transferred, edited, or graphics created. Of course, Jim's sports class is awesome too, so overall it's been a pretty good semester so far! Hope it stays as good! Here's the link to my Gold Star video (it's the first one in the vid.)

Saturday, August 8, 2009

Back in NJ

I have returned to the great state of New Jersey for a little downtime with the family. I really enjoyed the drive back. It wasn't nearly as brutal as I expected it to be. I left Columbia at about 4:30am Friday, July 31. Yeah, I know it was 4:30, but it wasn't that bad! I'm used to being up at crazy hours to work as a production assistant or live truck operator for KOMU, so I felt wide awake getting out of the shower. On my way out of Columbia, I purchased the breakfast of champions: an apple fritter and chocolate donut from Quik Trip and a 44 oz. Diet Coke. Topping off the RSX's tank, I hit the road. Missouri was really easy. I had the iPod on then switched to KBIA for some Morning Edition, until I lost the signal around milemarker 180. I picked KWMU's signal up for the drive through St. Louis. Their morning announcer is awesome, I must say. Plus, the ads for The Law Firm of Gallop, Johnson, and Newman are always fun, since my good friend Jeff's father, Robert Epstein, is a partner at that firm. Instead of taking 270 around the city, I stayed on i-70 for the scenic route through St. Louis. I hit the metropolitan area around 6am, and I was really surprised with the volume of traffic at that hour, it was quite heavy - not slow, mind you, but just busy - I'd have expected it to be that way an hour later in the day. I stayed on I-70 into Illinois, which was quite uneventful. Missouri and Illinois both seemed to take good care of the highway. Illinois' DOT was out in full force with tons of construction projects for the entire length of I-70 in the state. Either way those were the only memorable things about the drive in the 'Nois. Indiana was another story. It had construction everywhere and terrible road conditions. Extremely bumpy and not fun to drive in my car, where you feel every bump and niche in the road. Upon hitting Indiana, I stopped in Terre Haute to gas up and refill my 44 oz cup. I had an odd exchange with the clerk inside the Speedway gas station, who commented on my "Arch Rivalry" Mizzou v Illinois t-shirt by saying "I don't speak to people from Illinois or Missouri." I chuckled and unsure what to say, just said "Thanks" and took my change and went out to the car. The rest of the way through Indiana was easy - Indianapolis is very easy and has a much nicer skyline than I would have expected. However, in my boredom behind the wheel, I tuned in on my AM dial to the ESPN Radio affiliate in Indianapolis to catch Dan Dakich, former Indiana and Bowling Green head basketball coach. I was appalled at how bad the show was. It was July 31 - MLB trade deadline, and I wanted to hear updates on trades/rumors/etc that I would typically hear on almost every other ESPN radio affiliate. However, instead of a 20/20 type Sportscenter update, I was forced to listen to Dakich drone on about why women are smart about sports. Now, to most people living in 2009, to say women are smart about sports is like saying the sun comes up in the East. Yeah, there are women out there who know their stuff - and it's been that way for a long time. This isn't some breakthrough occurrence - I'd say for at least the past 100 years women have been involved as fans or participants in every and all types of sports. So, hearing Dakich pontificate on why suddenly NOW women are smart about sports when he could have been talking about sooooo many other, more interesting topics, I felt compelled to call in and bash the man. I got through right away and was on the air quickly. I made my point, bashing Dan, and got cut off. Thankfully there was a 3-4 second delay, so after the line clicked, I turned the volume back up and caught his response. I think it was only then that he realized it was a dumb topic, as he casually mentioned "Oh, there's Michael Vick, there's NFL training camp, there's the Senior Open here in Indianapolis..." My thoughts were - WHAT ABOUT THE MLB TRADE DEADLINE!? I understand Indy doesn't have an MLB team, but still, they're in Cubs/Reds/Cardinals territory and we're in the middle of the season. Come on.

So, I continued eastward on I-70 into Ohio. I stopped outside Dayton for a fine, filling lunch of a spaghetti 5-way from Skyline Chili. Having stopped there before, the timing almost always works as it's a good spot to take a break for lunch. I got back on the road, and stayed on I-70 through Columbus. It's a beautiful city and I enjoyed Columbus' FM transmitter for ESPN radio, 97.1. This time, of course, they were streaming Van Pelt and Tirico, a quality show, so I enjoyed it until I lost the signal about 50 miles east of Columbus.

My destination for day 1 was Pittsburgh, so Google Maps had me getting off I-70 to go north on I-77 for about a mile before heading east on US-22, a 2-lane road twisting its way through northeast Ohio. This part of the trip was a lot of fun because the road was hilly, full of fun curves, and very scenic. I was on it for about 3 hours and even got stuck behind an 18-wheeler unable to traverse a steep hill. Much like Indianapolis, Pittsburgh snuck up on me quickly - despite having to stop in West Virginia for a desperately-needed bathroom break. I hit major traffic in Pittsburgh at the junction of 22 and 60, which was narrowed down to 1 lane in each direction during rush hour. It was quite silly but it ended up not hurting me. I checked into my hotel by the airport, the Hampton Inn, got changed, and headed out to my next destination - PNC Park in downtown Pittsburgh. Again, I hit traffic on 279 as people didn't seem able to merge into 2 lanes to go through the tunnel. But whatever. Pittsburgh seemed beautiful and it has a really amazing skyline - very underrated. I loved all the bridges, and how the rivers' confluence is right in the middle of a steep valley. I parked a block away from the park for $10 and headed inside. I was greatly impressed by the park. The skyline is far better in person than on TV. The crowd also seemed really into it for a game between 2 terrible teams. I enjoyed all the nostalgic/historic items throughout the park - something Citifield desperately needs. On a side note - the PA announcer was really bad. Weak voice, little enthusiasm. The Pirates ended up winning 5-4.

I returned to the hotel and passed out, exhausted after the extremely long day. I awoke the next day, enjoyed my free breakfast, and put together my itinerary for the day. Curious to see how long the trip would take, I Google-Mapped the trip and saw it would have taken me just 20 miles or so south of State College. Since I'd never been to Penn State before, I figured I had to take the opportunity and check it out. So, I hit the road. Like the day before, I was on US-22 for a long time. Much of it was under construction, which slowed me down, but I didn't mind since my gas mileage ended up being fantastic. About 2.5-3 hours later, I got to State College. The campus was outstanding - very much like Mizzou but a lot bigger. It also seemed more spread out than Mizzou. But overall it seemed really nice. I got a "Peachy Paterno" from the Creamery, the famous ice-cream place on campus, then walked over to Beaver Stadium. It's enormous. It reminded me of an NFL stadium and rightly so - friggin 100,000+ people on Gameday is obscene. I checked out the Penn State Athletics Hall of Fame and then got a tour of the stadium, where we got to see the inside and sit down in the club seats. Very cool all-around, but it was really hard for me to fathom watching a football game in such a huge building. Faurot Field and everywhere else I've been do not seem nearly as big. Actually, Memorial Stadium in Oklahoma might be the only one I've been to nearly as big. Oh well. So I got back on the road and followed US-322 through the mountains to Harrisburg, where I got on I-81/78 and followed that pretty much all the way home. Since the Mets were playing at 7, I had expected to pick up some afternoon WFAN talk or at least the Mets pregame show, but to my surprise I couldn't get a strong signal until about 10-15 miles into NJ. I enjoyed 78's 3 lanes of majestic, well-paved blacktop all the way to exit 48, the first of my 2 exits. Now I'm home and I've been having fun!

Friday, July 24, 2009

Safety vs. Sexiness?

Let me preface this post by mentioning I have never singled anyone out for criticism via the internets or complained about anyone at KOMU. To do so would be unprofessional, rude, and immature. But my experience today left me so irked I have to put it in writing to gather others' thoughts on it.

I picked up Matt Tarnawa's 5/6/10 Live truck shift as I figured I could use some extra money, and I had nothing going on tonight. I arrived at the station and was told immediately we would be going live from Stadium Blvd. on TOP OF THE LIVE TRUCK to demonstrate the traffic for a story about possible expansion of the road. I thought it sounded like a cool idea and I was certain we could make it work visually. I went out to Stadium, parked in the lot next to the McDonalds, and began to set up. After tossing a few things on top of the truck, I realized we would have very little space to safely work with. I tried to set up the tripod, but that left roughly a FOOT for me to move from the front of the truck (closest to the mast) to the back of the truck, with the larger platform area where I intended on having the reporter stand. I took the tripod down and figured with the space we had, the safest thing to do would be to shoot off the shoulder.

Now, I was fully aware whenever I shoot off the shoulder, especially in hot weather like it was today, I get Parkinson's-like symptoms and don't hold the camera too steady. But that seemed like a fair trade-off. (While some might disagree) I'm not an idiot, and given the responsibility of getting the job done SAFELY, I would much rather have a semi-shaky shot for the 15-20 seconds before/after the PKG or Vo/sot than:

1) fall off the top of the truck because I lose my balance attempting to connect/disconnect/move cables because the tripod is in the way
2) see my reporter fall off the truck because she doesn't have enough room to move around.
3) Lean back on the mast and cause it to drop down, losing the shot.
4) Assume other risks for the sake of A SMOOTH/SEXY live shot.

I'm sorry, but I'm not paid enough or insured enough to risk my health and safety (and that of the reporter) over something I consider quite silly.


Here's a picture I snapped with my Blackberry prior to the hits. You can see I have the camera set down on top of the A/C unit. Behind the A/C, and in front of the mast is roughly 1.5-2 feet of space. IN NO WAY is that enough room for a tripod. Now, look to the edges, where the width of platform is about a foot. To have the tripod on the truck would require me to constantly maneuver around the top of the truck while walking on that foot-wide platform. Sound silly? You can see where I'm coming from now.

Now, with that written, the director of the 5 and 6 wanted me to call her after the 5 to discuss this. She INSISTED I use the tripod, saying (in a very condescending/rude/demeaning tone) "OH NO, DON'T SAY YOU DON'T HAVE ENOUGH SPACE, I'VE DONE IT BEFORE" to which I stated I did not feel comfortable using the tripod because I didn't have enough room. To be fair, she said the shot needed more light, and I completely agreed after seeing how it looked, so I changed a few things for the 6 hit. I did not use the tripod for the 6 and I feel it came out a little better than the 5 knowing I really had to go steady.

I really have a problem with this kind of attitude from the director. I COMPLETELY understand the need for good-quality shots, don't get me wrong. And there's something to be said for suggesting I use the tripod, but then understanding my decision to go with what I considered the safest shot. But by assuming we're invincible, capable of doing anything in small spaces, and otherwise demanding we take on more risks than normal is what leads to accidents - often injurious or fatal. If it makes me look bad for choosing the safe route, so be it. I'm sorry the shot was "too shaky", but I'd rather that be the case than anyone even come close to getting hurt. If my KOMU "reputation" is harmed for it, so be it. I'll take my health and safety 1st over putting myself into a dangerous situation.

Thursday, July 9, 2009

Clunking for an HFR

As I blogged a few days ago, I’m done with B3 reporting shifts. It’s very relieving to not have to constantly be on the lookout for news stories. However, I began working on my HFR yesterday, and it was a mixed experience. The “Cash for Clunkers” program seems to have both strong proponents and opponents in Mid-Missouri. I stopped at 8 dealerships yesterday to try and talk to them about the program. The program has been delayed a few weeks until the official rulemaking process can be completed by the federal government – to me, that is the story because, as I understand it, people seem willing to trade in their inefficient cars for cars getting better gas mileage, especially with a $4,500 credit essentially subsidizing the use of gas-sipping cars. So my mission was to find out what dealers thought of the delay, and whether customers have been coming in hoping to take advantage of the program.

My first stop was Albert Honda. I’ve met Eric Cronacher, the sales manager, before for a B2 story. The receptionist told me he’d be the man to talk to, and that Wednesday was his off day. Not a problem for me – I’ve dealt with him before and I know he’s pretty accessible. When I called back today, he was “out to lunch” and the receptionist said she’d have him call me back. I’ll keep trying – can’t hurt to have multiple sources because it adds variety and depth to this story.

I went down Providence Rd. to Perry Nissan. The salesman I met in the showroom said the sales manager is the guy to talk to, as is usually the case in most car dealerships. He gave me his card and I called today, he seemed helpful and willing to go on-camera when I get back to Columbia on July 17.

I headed over to the Saturn dealership, where the sales manager told me she didn’t want to go on-camera about it. Meanwhile she had no idea whether Mid-Mo has had any advertising about it. Next door, Dodge City/Hyundai told me a similar thing. They said their president is the only person who can talk on-camera, so I left.
I cruised over to Bob McCosh (formerly known as Perry) Chevrolet, where upon approaching the doorway, Brian Bailey, Angie’s husband, opened the door. I did not know who he was, but upon explaining why I was there, he said, “Oh, Angie Bailey, she’s my wife. I’m Brian Bailey.” So he told me to leave my business card at the receptionist’s desk and he “would take care of me”. Not sure what that means, but I asked Angie about it later at the station and she said she’d “remind” him to get back in touch with me.
Here I took a little detour and stopped at a little shop on the Business Loop that piqued my attention. I can’t remember the name of it, but this little machine shop that looks like it’s 50 years old was open for business. I stopped inside and told the lady inside what I was doing, and asked how business was going. She said the shop is run by her husband and that they’ve been incredibly busy – she said she had not seen any slowdown in business at all. I met the man, Elson, and he said he’d be up for a story on their little shop. As I suspected, the shop has been there for nearly 40 years and apparently “everybody knows Elson”. I’d love to do a story on their shop and how it’s staying strong even in a recession, and as Elson gets older and he admits he doesn’t work as many hours as he used to.

A thought also hit me while driving down the Business Loop to stop into another machine shop to try and find a junkyard in Mid-Missouri, since, according to the plans so far, when “clunkers” are traded in, they essentially have to be destroyed/scrapped by a junkyard. A welding material shop told me of 2 junkyards in Mid-Mo, which is definitely enough to work with. Later, I Googled a few more and got some numbers to call. I really like this element of the story because it goes a little further beyond the car dealership hype/spin. I’d like to possibly do this in 2 or 3 parts – with the “we’ve been waiting for these regulations, and they’re hurting us” schpiel before the rules come down on July 23, the junkyard bit as the 2nd piece, and the 3rd when the actual rules are implemented.

I continued west on the Business Loop and stopped at University Chrysler/Subaru. I received perhaps the rudest reception I’ve ever gotten as a reporter with KOMU upon going into their showroom. I go in, and introduce myself to the geezers behind the counter and explain what I’m doing there. I was interrupted by the head honcho in a very harsh/rude tone,“I’m not gonna comment on that, we don’t know anything more than what you do, and when you hear something you let me know” but I continued, explaining how I thought the story was just that – dealerships are left with little information on something that could be helpful to customers. So, this gentleman, whose name I did not get, proceeds to say, “Hold on a sec son, let me find you something here.” He typed in a few words on his keyboard, clicked a few buttons, and I heard their printer hum and spit out a piece of paper. He picked it up, and as he did, I noticed the other men in the room began to smirk menacingly as if they appreciated his style of embarrassing me. He handed me a sheet of paper with a “Thank you for your comment” form letter from the White House. He said something to the effect of, “I don’t mean to be facetious, but you’re better off asking this guy than me.” For some reason, I found this very irritating and somewhat offensive, as his salesmen began to chuckle behind him, but I tried to remain professional – something evidently this man could not do (In BM’s personal opinion, one of the reasons why Chrysler/Dodge is in dire straits – bad dealerships, like this one, and numerous my family has dealt with in New Jersey). I asked him if he would be willing to mention his comment/advice letter to the White House on-camera, and he declined, giving a mini-rant on “the media”, and instead referring me to the Missouri Auto Dealers Association. So I left, annoyed, with nothing from there.

My next stop was Machens Toyota. Thankfully, the sales manager there, Dan Kellar, was willing to talk on-camera about the process so far, and he gave me some really interesting bites. In stark contrast to the gentlemen at University Chrysler/Subaru, he was very professional and approachable, and actually seemed to understand that THE MEDIA IS YOUR FRIEND WHEN YOU ARE ACCOMMODATING AND HONEST! I shot some video around the dealership of fuel-sipping cars, and headed down the street to Machens Ford/Lincoln/Mercury.

While not as approachable as Dan Kellar, (and asking “Have you ever seen the movie ‘Stalin’?”) the man in charge at Machens F/L/M offered to give me several internal documents and emails showing the process and approach Ford Motor Company and Toyota have been taking with regard to the Cash for Clunkers. I felt this was an outstanding find that, at the very least, would give me a good Web Extra for this story. The president of Machens, Gary Drewing, (apparently the only guy who can go on-camera there) told me to call him in the morning. While I didn’t call him this morning, I left a message with him this afternoon. Hopefully he gets back to me. If not, I know I have time to try and arrange an interview.

After these stops, I headed over to Creasy Springs Rd., where apparently there is a junkyard, according to one of the guys in the welding shop. I drove about 3-4 miles on it and didn’t find it, so I turned around and headed back to KOMU. I’m pretty happy with what I have so far, and if I can get a few more interviews at some dealerships and visit a junkyard, I’ll be good to go. I think the only thing missing is finding someone who wants to buy a car now and is left waiting until the official process comes down from the gov’t.

As is probably apparent from my approach to this story, I really enjoy reporting on the auto industry. Yes, it might be a pain in the rear to deal with the BS at dealerships, but I’m a car geek. I enjoy going into the showrooms and checking out the cars, and comparing/contrasting them.

Tuesday, July 7, 2009

End of B3?

Well, B3 is technically over, but not literally. I still have to do my HFR and the last "interview" paper. I'm at a bit of a loss over my HFR - no one has called me back or returned my emails, and I'm getting annoyed because time is ticking by. I want to get most of it done by the time I leave for NJ on Thursday afternoon. I left a message with a man who owns a truck running on biodiesel, and emailed Mike Kehoe, who mentioned the "Cash for Clunkers" program when I interviewed him a few weeks ago. I think tomorrow (Wednesday) I'm going to start calling other people about it since clearly these sources are not really cooperating. As for the paper, I've emailed 5 reporters in other markets about interviewing them, and no one has emailed me back yet. Granted, I sent 2 tonight and 3 about a week ago, but I'm out on a limb here waiting for people to get back to me. So it goes in Journalism. I'm also out on a limb financially waiting for KOMU to pay me back for all that gas money I've put into the Scions!!! :)

Monday, July 6, 2009

Jefferson City Fires/Sedalia Parade

Well, I got back to the grind after a nice battery recharging in Hawaii. I went right to work on Wednesday and came in with some interesting ideas - including Marshall's airport renovation plans, and the School of the Osage graduate who is now joining the astronaut program with NASA. None of them panned out, so I started working on the "suspicious fires" release we received from the Jefferson City police department. It seemed like a pretty interesting story and I got the sense it would have some decent visuals. So, we called the contact listed on the press release and hit the road to Jeff. City. I had my trusty intern/shadow Coleman with me, and once we got to Jeff. City, we drove around to try and find some of these "suspicious fire" sites located mainly on the east side of the city. While we didn't find anything, we got the sense of the neighborhood where some of these fires had happened. We stopped at the Fire Department's administrative office to try and find out a little more information. A secretary gave me the number of someone who knew more about it, and after speaking with him on the phone, we found out some of the basics on where the fires were happening. Turned out there had been a fire behind the Gerbes Super Store over the weekend - someone started a fire inside of a dumpster behind the store, rendering the dumpster almost completely destroyed and also damaging a few wooden pallets. I had Coleman shoot an off-the-shoulder standup with me showing the damage to the dumpster. I liked what we had and I was happy to let him shoot so he learns how to use the cameras. After the standup, we went to the Jefferson City Police station downtown and spoke with Captain Doug Shoemaker, who gave us the "official" soundbite. He told us about the house that had been hit by a fire, which I did not know of - so after talking to him, we hightailed it to the house to shoot some video. I was shocked at how much damage had been done, yet Shoemaker said the fire was not intentionally set to burn down the house - only that some pyromaniac was messing around on the foreclosed property and the fire spread onto the house. After that, I went to pick up my pizza from Kate & Ally's, and we hit the road back to Columbia. Unfortunately, this is when my day started to derail. Hungry for some of the best pizza in Mid-Missouri, I ate a slice while driving. Not being careful enough, sauce dripped down from the pizza onto my tie, completely ruining it. We got back to the station and I didn't have any trouble cutting a mini-package for the 6. Meredith and I agreed it would be good to go live at 6, so I left the station at 5 assuming I'd have plenty of time to run home and grab a new tie, then get to Jefferson City by about 5:40-5:45. Unfortunately, it didn't go that way. I got stuck in traffic on Highway 163 (my mistake in going that way instead of Grindstone to 63) and then on the Whitton Expressway, so I didn't make it to the house until about 5:55. I scrambled to the setup, began to mic/IFB myself up, and RIGHT as I held up a piece of paper to white balance, EVERYTHING shut off. Kyle Seever, the truck operator, did everything he could to revive the truck, but we were royally screwed - no generator = no live shot. So, I was naturally pissed that 1) I didn't give myself enough time to get to Jeff. City, and 2) that fate/karma would have it that the generator shut down after arriving late to a live shot. I really got a shitstorm when I got back to the station, and understandably so - I deserved every bit of criticism and such for ruining the A block of the show. But otherwise it was a fun/interesting story that was overshadowed by my bad luck/planning.

--

Since I was in Hawaii for what would have been my Monday dayside shift, I came in to cover Brandon Spiegel's Thursday nightside. Unfortunately, all the stories I had were total flops, and otherwise the day was completely dead, so I left with nothing to show for the day. It wasn't too big of a deal to me because I had agreed to work on the 4th of July, Saturday, and had a story lined up in Sedalia about the town's revived parade. So, I came in early and hit the road to Sedalia. I had heard about this from a woman I met there when I was there for the stolen donation jar story. She gave me the name and number of a guy who had supposedly revived the Sedalia 4th of July parade when for years the town did not have one, for unknown reasons. So, I went to Sedalia and got the obligatory parade video, trying to move around as much as possible without getting the camera too wet from a surprise rainstorm. There was some cool stuff - like motorcycles, classic cars, and war veterans. Then, I interviewed the 2 guys who had a big part in the parade's return, and got their story. It seemed pretty interesting, and a good "return to tradition" type of story. I shot my standup in the park where free BBQ and community games were going on. It definitely seemed like a legit 4th of July event - people came with their kids, parents, aunts/uncles, etc. to fish, play volleyball, etc. It was pretty cool to see several different generations of people on display. I also interviewed a woman unrelated to the organizers for a good "resident" soundbite. Overall I was very happy with the video I had, and I felt I'd have plenty of information to write whatever I needed. When I got back to the station, I went on-set for the 6, and cut a vo/sot for the 10. Definitely enjoyed this story and I felt it was a success! The on-set came in the C block of the 6, and I'm not sure when the vo/sot aired.

So, done with b3 reporting shifts! Now, I have to do my HFR and a paper with an interview of someone from a different ethnicity in a different TV market.

Wednesday, July 1, 2009

Update from the AIR on last week

My apologies for not posting this after the shifts. I got caught up in packing/preparing for my trip to Hawaii. I type this sitting on layover in the majestic Phoenix airport with a view of several USAirways Airbus 319s, "downtown" Phoenix, and Chase Field - home of the Arizona Diamondbacks. Anywho, I'm pumped to be getting away from Columbia for a few days. I haven't left the state of Missouri since January, so this trip is a much-needed break from America's Heartland. Let me explain how my trip has gone so far:

Woke up at 1:30am. Left for MCI (Kansas City) at about 2. Arrived there 4:30am. Upon parking and waiting for the shuttle bus, I encountered some of the dumbest travelers I've ever seen. They had been standing waiting for the shuttle bus for "half an hour" and had no idea the shuttle didn't run between midnight and 5am unless it was called for on the little hotline phone inside the bus shelter. Then, when the bus showed up and we boarded, they proceeded to have an extremely asinine conversation in a far too-energetic manner for 4:30am. Basically, all rules of travel etiquette appeared to not exist in their minds - loud conversation, getting in people's way, and displaying an overall cluelessness in an extremely easy airport to navigate.

The flight was uneventful until the descent into Phoenix, when I got to see the amazing topography surrounding Phoenix. I was shocked at all those little pimply mountains coming up from the ground with houses surrounding them. And, the basic notion of Phoenix being in a massive desert valley with huge mountains around it just seems bizarre having been in the Midwest for what feels like forever. I'm also weirded out by all the West Coast people in here. They call this place "America's Friendliest Airport"...which is a little creepy but hey, whatever. As long as I arrive in Hawaii in one piece...

Anyway, Monday's shift saw me come in with a couple of tough ideas. I had hoped to work on a story I saw in the Jefferson City News-Tribune about low water levels in Taos. But, everyone I called either knew nothing about what I was talking about, or didn't call me back or answer their messages. With a backup story of the Jefferson City Salvation Army receiving a meat grinder from Safari Club, I figured that’d be the best way to go to make sure I had something for the day. It definitely was not an ideal story but I did the best I could to shoot enough video for a package and have enough of a human-interest angle to make it interesting. Hence, why I shot off the shoulder a lot to show New Jersey-native Gene Rurka demonstrating how the meat grinder would work, and then later to ask one of the kitchen workers how the grinder would help. Everyone I spoke with gave me some good bites, but it wasn’t overly riveting video. Once we spoke with the people we wanted, and I shot a standup, with help from KOMU’s high school intern Coleman, we went to try and get video of meat in Jefferson City. We tried the Schnucks on Missouri Blvd but the manager didn’t want us filming inside without him there – he was apparently in a meeting, and couldn’t come out of it. So we went across the street to a butcher, and he refused to allow us to bring the camera inside. He said he had a bad experience with “you news people” before and that it was “a personal principle” that he would no longer talk with reporters. He didn’t say what station it was, but he mentioned his adversity to the press formed when he was interviewed for a Mad Cow disease story and he felt misquoted about the disease or its impact on him. I was disappointed because I wanted to just get a few shots of raw meat or something that could go inside the grinder, but this butcher’s vague media horror story left me annoyed. I tried to assure him we didn’t even want to talk to him on camera, but that still didn’t assuage him. So, we left the butcher’s shop and went back to KOMU. I had a vo/sot for the 5 and a package for the 6 – thankfully the producers killed the idea of another vo/sot for the 10 as they felt “ground out” about the story.

After the newscasts, Kent made a great point about my story, saying the Salvation Army and Safari Club “owe [Brian] a lot of money for all the publicity you gave them.” I totally agree – that was definitely the downside to this reporting shift. I’m NOT a fan of staged photo-op events like the meat grinder thing. And the way the representatives of each group behaved toward the camera really indicated to me a desire for us to give them good publicity – one man sycophantically thanked us repeatedly for no reason at all – signifying a “Hey, we love photo ops and we’re going to be nice to you so you make us look good!” sort of mentality. Anyway, I’m glad I was able to make it work despite the story’s overall flaws.

--
I pick up writing from 25,000+ feet above the Arizona desert. It’s incredible. I’ve tried to take as many pictures as possible with my crappy point-and-shoot camera. I can’t begin to describe how cool/weird it all looks. I’ve never been through here, and we have a terrific day for sightseeing while flying - Clear skies, very few clouds, and a window seat looking south. I keep thinking as we fly over these endless mountains and valleys, “HOLY SHIT THAT’S AREA 51!” or “Goddamn, that’s where they blew up a few nukes”. I’ve also been wondering where Yucca Mountain is. Many of these mountains and such appear to have dirt roads traversing them. I keep getting images of the scene from “Grapes of Wrath” when the family is driving across the desert just trying to survive. Makes me realize how cool/advanced we are as a society to be just cruising along at 35,000 feet above the scorching desert. **Post-writing Addition – I spoke with my Mom once I landed in Hawaii, and she said the area around Phoenix is like the moon, but red – and I completely agree. It does appear similar!**

Anyway, enough of that. About my shift from Wednesday – I arrived with a couple of decent story ideas I hoped would work out. I pitched them all – Jen seemed to like them – but she told me about “this Gasconade County thing” that needed to be covered. After a very basic rundown of the story, she told me to call Nick Berardini to get the gist of it. So, I spoke with him about it, got the lowdown, and got a few names of people I should talk to about the story. Basically, these 2 county commissioners added $10,000 each to their salaries in 1999 and 2000, and got away with it. Several concerned citizens of the county found out about the extra money from a state audit in 2002 that said the extra pay was illegal. Another audit in 2006 said the same thing. So, these citizens sued in 2007 to try and recover the money. In 2008, in a Franklin County court (a Gasconade judge hearing the case in Franklin) the judge ruled the commissioners must pay back the extra money plus interest – also noting the commissioners’ clear guilt based on the evidence at trial. The commissioners appealed the ruling to the Missouri Court of Appeals (Eastern District) on the basis that Missouri’s 5-year statute of limitations outlaws the original ruling forcing them to pay back the money. The judge agreed, and overturned the first decision – meaning the commissioners were off the hook simply because, “You didn’t catch us in time” as one source told me.

It took me a while to fully grasp the details of the case, but it sounded very interesting from the getgo. As I drove out to Hermann, I called several people who told me more about the situation and who would be good to speak with on-camera. I arrived in Hermann and made my way to the Glenn Oaks Winery, home of Glenn Warnebold. Warnebold was originally on the side of the citizens, but changed his position after a period of time in which he “realized the facts of the case”, and began to support the commissioners. Nick told me not to talk to the commissioners, so I didn’t bother trying to contact them. I think in retrospect it would have been good to get their side of the story straight from them, but I was happy with how the story came out regardless. So, I enjoyed a quick tour of the winery and then hit the road. I shot a little bit of video in downtown Hermann, then went back to Columbia. One of the men I spoke with on the way to Hermann was Mike Jacquin, who has been heavily involved with the case on the side of the citizens. While he is a Gasconade County resident, he was in Columbia at Boone Hospital helping his brother with a surgery. We met outside the hospital and I just interviewed him there. I loved how my story had such polar opposite viewpoints – the “let’s play nice” view of Warnebold and the “Hell no, we won’t” of Jacquin.

When I got back to the station I had to take about half an hour to figure out how I could write the story in a way that was not too confusing or too full of legal jargon. I didn’t have much video to use, so we grabbed some of Nick’s file video from last year, which worked out well because he had footage of the commissioners. Kent was able to help me really boil down the issues to something people could understand. I went on-set for the 6 in the A block, which was fun, and then had a vo/sot for the 10.

I really enjoyed the story because it had so much controversy in it. It is just juicy-full of good stuff, and it’s still not over yet. I also thought the 2 men I spoke with, even with completely opposing viewpoints, were hilarious. They both said stuff I could not help but laugh at. I also enjoyed the legal exchanges involved in this story. Whether that’s an indication I should be a lawyer…I don’t know…But I had a good time reporting this story and I’d love to stay on it. Jacquin told me he would stay in touch with me and keep me posted on what happens.

Saturday, June 20, 2009

Twitter annoyance

I understand how useful it is. It really is - especially for going out to cover stuff and being able to let the station and our web site viewers or other Twitter users know what we're covering. I like that. But I dunno if it's just me, or what, but rarely do people talk to me on it. I try to "tweet" people or start conversations but no one responds. What's the point of doing it if no one really gives a crap about what I have to say? Maybe I'm just overthinking it, or my cranky mood is showing, but jeez...haha

Jumping into Fayette pool

Sorry, I'm posting this late, but life kinda caught up to me. I had a fun shift on Wednesday covering the Fayette city pool. It's an extremely old, above-ground pool built in 1936 in serious need of renovations. I came in with a few other ideas, none of which were particularly interesting to me (1. Marshall school district's search for new elementary school site, and 2. heavy rain's impact on local wineries). Jen liked the pool idea since it was going to be unmercifully hot, and I agreed. It sounded like a fun/interesting story we hadn't covered before. So, I made a few calls to Fayette City Hall and, as is the case when doing stories outside of Columbia/Jefferson City, the people were much more helpful and willing to talk on-camera.

(Tangent warning): Wednesday was an absurdly busy day for reporters - it seemed packed with B2 people, VO patrollers, and such, so all of the KOMU Scions were taken by the time I was ready to leave. I got the idea to wrangle up the KOMU Ford Escape, and I managed to get the keys to it from Stacey, so I was excited to finally take it out for a spin. It's like the forbidden fruit of KOMU cars - everyone seems to want to take it for a story, but it's kept in the bullpen for use ONLY when necessary. Wednesday was my day, thankfully.

My thoughts on its driving performance: I liked sitting higher up than in the Scions. Definitely a little easier to see everything ahead and in general it had less blind spots than the stupid XBs. I think the fact it's a Ford helps our street cred when I drive into little towns I'm prone to cover stories in - honestly, I think people look at the Scions and say "What the hell is that?" They're way too edgy, "cool", and attention-seeking for my taste. Don't get me wrong, I'm happy to have station vehicles we can use, but if I had a choice I'd take the Escape. It felt a little more masculine and macho than the Scion.



Anyway, back to its performance. It reminded me a lot of my old Ford Focus...it had a very heavy gas pedal and a similar 4-cylinder engine. It was somewhat underpowered because anytime I wanted to pass or accelerate on i-70 it would downshift and strain to speed up. I'm not sure about its gas mileage but fueleconomy.gov says it's worse than the Scions, which is disappointing. Makes sense though because it was made in 2006, just before Ford started getting its act together about gas mileage. I liked the back window that opens up, so I don't have to swing open the entire back door to get gear out. Otherwise, it was a fun experience to take a different car, hopefully I can do it again sometime.

Anyway, back to the reporting shift. I arrived in Fayette and stopped at the pool first. I got lucky and found Jake Hendrix, the maintenance guy I spoke with on-camera, and he let me into the facility. I shot some video of the inside, where things would need work, and on the upper level, where the actual pool is. Then, I went to Fayette City hall to talk with the City Administrator. She was helpful and I managed to get some good soundbites. After that, I went back to the pool, since I was told lifeguards would be there. I spoke with the main lifeguard there, and shot a little more video around the pool. Then, I tried to shoot a standup showing the plaque dedicating the pool to WW1 veterans. I did it and I was happy with it, but it had to be 100 degrees inside the little room with the plaque. I was sweating buckets and even with my best attempts to wipe it off with a lone towel I found on the floor, I still looked funny. After I snagged some lunch at "240 Culinary" in Fayette (very good - I highly recommend it!) I headed back to Columbia.

I had a vo/sot for the 5, a package for the 6, and a vo/sot for the 10. I experienced no problems whatsoever once I got back to the station. I even stuck around for a little while after I was finished to experience some of the severe weather craziness at the station - always a good time to hear angry callers upset about not being able to watch "I'm a Celebrity, Get Me out of Here!" It also felt safer to be at the station, surrounded by weather info, than in my apartment, on the top floor of its building. This was also the night the woman died in Finger Lakes Park from being struck by lightning, so the skies were pretty insane-looking.

Tuesday, June 16, 2009

Taking the Task Force to Task

Yesterday I covered the first meeting of the Missouri Auto Jobs Task force in Jefferson City. I came into the station with a few weak ideas, my main one about the potential closing of "Lover's Leap" at the Lake of the Ozarks. But, since the weather was so bizarre yesterday, Stacey and I agreed it would be tough to do that story without being able to see the view that makes this "Lover's Leap" so popular. With all the other reporters out on flood/accident/fire coverage stemming from the weather, I took that assignment. It sounded interesting anyway - I'm a car geek and I figured it would be intriguing to hear what the Task Force was up to. I got to the meeting, held in the Governor Office Building (not his house, or the Capitol - this building is on Madison St.) a few minutes after it began. It was a much smaller meeting than I expected. There were about 8 or 9 government/industry/representative people in the room with one other reporter. I didn't use the lav mic at all and just relied on the boom mic. It picked up audio fairly well even with no speakers and a somewhat loud ventilation system, and I used several bites from the meeting where I just happened to be filming when people said interesting things. For instance, the Ford Motor Company representative spoke about centralized manufacturing plants, and I happened to be recording when he mentioned that. Same for the GM rep - right when I hit record, he was talking about how the company plans to start making a small, fuel-efficient car in the U.S. in Wisconsin, Michigan, or Tennessee. Otherwise, it was pretty standard BOPSA video, but I knew that would be something to work around.

I hit the road over to Mike Kehoe's Ford dealership in Jefferson City since much of the meeting dealt with Ford's interaction with state and local governments. I figured it would be good to get someone from the dealership to talk to, and get some of their cars on camera. I shot some video of the cars currently made in Ford's Kansas City plant, and then some video of the ones made outside of Missouri - i.e. the small, fuel efficient cars that could be made in MO if "plant retooling" occurs with help from the state. I shot a standup in front of those - the Focuses and Fusions - and later spoke with Mike Kehoe himself on camera about the Task Force ideas. He was surprisingly friendly to me and understandably so since he is a relatively public figure in Jefferson City and in transportation politics of Missouri. I figured I had enough to make a good package - for me, this topic was really interesting, so even if it wasn't humanized as much as it could have been (i.e. by finding a Mid-Mo parts supplier who might be affected by some of the Task Force's ideas) I was still happy with what I had. It felt much more NEWS and TODAY than some of the stories I've done, so I didn't mind the lack of humanization in the story. Throw in the economic impact, and I think it sort of makes up for the abundance of talking heads in the story.

I enjoyed a pretty easy Monday, preparing just a package for the 6 and a vo/sot/vo for the 10. Both aired in the A blocks.
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Interesting sidenote to my experience at the Kehoe dealership... When I first got there, it was raining very heavily. So, I did my best to finagle a plastic bag and umbrella out of the showroom so I could shoot some video outside without destroying the camera. As I was walking around, an old Pontiac coupe drove into the parking lot with some guy in the passenger seat and a woman driving. The man waved at me as they went past, and me being the "polite TV man" I waved back. I saw the man get out of the car and it was obvious he had some disability as he was using a walker to get around, yet didn't appear too old.



By this time, the rain was torrential and I stood underneath the back door of the KOMU Scion to stay under cover. The woman who drove him walked him up to the door into the dealership holding an umbrella over his head while she got soaked. I was very confused. The rain subsided a bit and I went inside. I overheard conversation between a saleswoman and the man, apparently he wanted to test drive a Lincoln Town Car. I didn't think much of it and kept doing my thing - shooting video and being a good reporter. I went back outside as the weather cleared up suddenly, and shot a standup. I saw the man get into the Town Car with his woman, and I saw them drive off, again, didn't think much of it.

I shot my standup, and when I went back inside the dealership, I heard one of the managers answer his phone inside his office, listen for a moment, shout a few commands and say "I'LL BE RIGHT OVER", and hang up. He came out of his office, visibly angry, looking for the saleswoman who let the semi-disabled man man test drive a $46,000+ car. He said quite loudly, "That man you let out in the Lincoln? Just got broadsided by the Papa Johns!" The rest of what they said was inconsequential, but I was just surprised that stuff like that actually happens - someone going out for a test drive in an expensive luxury vehicle and getting into an accident. I don't mean to be politically incorrect, but the way the man behaved walking into the dealership (by that I mean his body language, conversation, physical appearance, etc) he did NOT seem fit to drive. On the other hand, he had a valid drivers' license and insurance, so he was perfectly within his rights to take the car out for a drive. I guess it goes as one salesman said to me yesterday after the incident, "It's tough, but we gotta let em drive." And I'd imagine dealerships have a ton of insurance for this very purpose. Plus, I believe your insurance is liable if the accident is your fault when using a car like that.

Thursday, June 11, 2009

Cole Camp-ing: June 10

On Wednesday, I covered Cole Camp's reaction to the triple homicide inside the home of the Luetjen family. I came into KOMU with 3 completely unrelated story ideas - I pitched the missing alligator story, the new Fulton vandalism, and a follow-up to the story I did in Glasgow over spring break. We were leaning towards the alligator story but no one offered to take the Cole Camp story, and understandably so. I figured I'd take it but I had no idea how to cover the story. Chance Seales did a good job covering it the night before when it was publicized, and he passed along several emails with shocking (yet unconfirmed by officials) details about the crime. I felt this made my job tougher - to have to get through the grisly details to get a story. By the time we (I had another shadow with me) arrived at the crime scene, we had a pretty good idea of how we wanted to cover the story - more on local reaction. There was very little new information available besides law enforcement officials calling it a triple homicide, so we had to take the humanized route and talk to a lot of Cole Camp residents.

So, when we got to the house, police tape surrounded it while a "mobile investigations unit" was set up outside the home. Several sheriff's department vehicles and Cole Camp Police cars were outside too. As we approached, an officer came up to us to get our names and who we were with. I guess they were keeping tabs on everyone who came - I don't know if that's standard procedure or not, but I found that interesting. He told us we could not go beyond the police tape, and understandably so. The house's location and surroundings were really good for video. It had some flowers out front with an American flag on it, with a church and playground across the street - providing an interesting visual paradox with the crime scene yellow tape. The officer on the scene would not comment on anything (as all other officials would do during our shift) so we really had no official source. We shot some video and left, and as we drove down the street we saw an old lady walking out to get her mail. We stopped and began talking to her - she was happy to talk to us on-camera, and she gave us some good bites. We then went to get some gas for the car, and while I gassed up I spoke with the station's owner. He said Donnie Luetjen would come into the gas station nearly every day to get gas. Next door, at the Dairy Hut, we found several interesting characters who all knew the family. One man we found was good friends with Donnie Luetjen. All the people we spoke with had their suspicions on the details of the crime - i.e. the perpetrator, but naturally we didn't want to "go there" on-camera and such. I shot a standup in the downtown area to try and show the quaint nature of Cole Camp. Otherwise there wasn't much to it. I didn't have much to show. Then we hit the road back.

We did an A-block vo/sot/vo for the 5, then an on-set A-block package for the 6. Then, a vo/sot/vo for the 10 with an update saying there would be a news conference at 10am Thursday for officials to give more details. I had a lot of help from my shadow, KOMU alum Holly (not Edgell...not sure what her last name is) whose experience at KFVS in Cape Girardeau was really helpful for my writing. She was also helped me out a lot with synthesizing the information and making our trip into a good package. Overall, while it was a sad/disturbing story, I thought I did a pretty good job. I also did a much better job of time management, making sure I was back to the station by about 1:50pm, so I wasn't pressed for time. I thought my on-set went very well - no complaints about it, and the mic worked this time, so it felt like a rousing success. But, apparently I have no idea how to put on makeup. I need help with that. I'd love to get one of those professional makeup stylists to do my makeup before a show to save me the trouble...oh well...Not something I take too seriously, I guess, haha.

Tuesday, June 9, 2009

Tuberculosis comes through in the clutch

So yesterday, Monday, I pitched the story of a kid in Camdenton who won a car as a reward for his excellent attendance at Lake Career Technical Center. We decided to go with this story, so I called the LCTC and spoke with a woman who said she would pass along my info to the supervisor of the place, who apparently would be available mid-morning. She also said she would give my information to the instructor at LCTC who refurbished the spiffy 2007 Pontiac G6 as part of a mechanic training class. So, I left KOMU for the hour and 40 minute drive with the understanding I would be getting a phone call. I did not receive one, and when I pulled into the LCTC I called the number again. The same woman answered and told me very matter-of-factly that the supervisor would be "unavailable", the mechanic instructor at home, and no one else in the building because of summer hours. Needless to say, I was not pleased. With no chance to contact the kid who won the car, and the unhelpful secretary denying any opportunity to speak with an official, I was pretty much SOL. I knew the "escaped" alligator in Versailles was a possibility as a backup story, but the producers didn't want to do it, so I headed back to Columbia.

I spoke with Stacey while driving back and he said he found an AP release on the "economic stress index", a measure of economic output in every county in the U.S. When I got back to the station I began to prowl around iNews for a link to the graphic/interactive map, but I couldn't find it. So, I spent about 45 minutes calling several AP numbers to figure it out, and finally a customer service rep emailed me the link - but by that point, we received a fax in the newsroom about a press conference at University Hospital with very vague wording - to the point that Randy thought something serious was going on, and to an extent, he was right. With a feeling it could be Swine Flu/H1N1, we (I had a shadow with me all day) immediately went up to the Hospital. We hung out in the conference room for a little while (as once again KMIZ showed up last) and every MU J-School affiliate was well represented. KBIA, KOMU, and the Missourian all were there about a half hour before the presser began! It began and we were given folders with the official writeup of what had happened - a hospital worker contracted "active" tuberculosis and had apparently been in contact with patients and other employees while carrying the disease. I immediately Tweeted the news to KOMU and sent a similar text to Meredith Miller - the only producer I had in my phone. She sent me back a few questions she wanted to know as a producer, which was excellent. I liked being on the same page at the same time we were in the presser. The other journalists in the room were on the same page, as they asked very similar questions to what Meredith wanted to know. There was basically no video at all to get besides the geezers talking in the press conference, so we booked it back to KOMU as the presser ended.

Once we got back, it was really easy to write a reader/gfx for the 5, a vo/sot/gfx for the 6, and a vo/sot for the 10. I had a lot of help from the producers, so it went well. Overall it was a crazy shift but it ended up going well, and I'm happy I had a lot of help to make it work. All 3 aired in the A blocks.

Saturday, June 6, 2009

"you're not saving anybody's life"

In our B3 meeting/lecture/roundtable yesterday (I call it that because it's technically a lecture, but it's so informal that it feels more like a meeting/roundtable) we discussed and viewed good/bad/ugly live shots. I may be on my own in this, but I think "going live for the sake of going live" is a good thing. Having reported in live shots, and set up live shots as the truck operator, I think it provides an important link in a newscast. Yeah, it might be completely worthless standing in the dark as a "floating head", but to me, that means you need to be more creative. Show me something worth flipping to from the studio - even if it's a sign or some sort of "scenic" backdrop (i.e. field, stadium, building, traffic). It can sometimes appear cheesy, but I like the aspect of "Hey, we ARE out in the community paying attention to things that are going on." As a reporter, I enjoy them because it gives me a lot of face time and a chance to show either my personality, or show something related to the story in more detail than I would be able to in the studio. Does the fact I enjoy it for face time detract from the journalistic quality? Perhaps.

I can see the argument both ways. With our training, I feel we're pretty apt to not let our personalities overshadow a story. The challenge comes for inexperienced live reporters who get nervous and stick strictly to a script, or get nervous from "YOU'RE ON LIVE TV. GO!!!" For me, that nervousness doesn't happen. Yes, the adrenalin kicks in, but I love that.

I attribute the fun of it to a line I heard several years ago (circa 2005) from Mike Quick, the high school sports producer, reporter, and anchor from MSG Network in New York. He taught the "advanced" section of the "Bruce Beck and Ian Eagle Sports Broadcasting Camp" in NJ. To this day, there are VERY few people who scare the living bejeezus out of me, and he is one of them. He's probably 6'5", 250 pounds, and as intense as Tom Coughlin. Anyway, we were doing on-camera exercises as a group. One person messed up, and Quick had him do it again. His advice? He spoke slowly, staring each one of us in the eye: "Calm down. It's just TV. You're not saving anybody's life here. You're not a surgeon, a doctor, a soldier, or a cop. It's JUST TV."

And that's how I look at it. Live shots help me, as a reporter, keep perspective on our jobs.

Thursday, June 4, 2009

A jarring crime

Someone in the Sedalia area thought it would be cool to steal a donation jar from a convenience store, the Cork'N Bottle. The jar was meant for the family of Diana Bryce, an employee of the Cork'N Bottle who passed away suddenly a few days before. Security camera video showed the man enter the store, ask the clerk for minnows (live bait), and as the clerk had her back turned, he grabs the jar and runs out the door. I heard about this on the Sedalia Democrat's website after noticing it was one of the most-viewed/emailed/commented articles on its site. I figured it'd be a good story since no one in Columbia had covered it, and it would be a definite gawker/"Oh my God, how terrible" story. Of course, I considered finding the family of the woman, but I felt that might be too sensationalistic or intrusive for a sensitive time. But, we were able to make the story work with an interview with a woman from the Cork'N Bottle and a Sedalia Police Detective. When I met the detective, she told me she'd be able to give me a copy of the security camera video, which was fantastic for the story because it showed how dastardly and despicable the man could be - his body language when stealing the jar demonstrated he clearly wanted it and had every intention of spending the money from the jar. It also seemed like he knew he was doing something wrong by running out of the store. In retrospect, I'm shocked at how dumb this guy was too - the security cameras are quite visible within the store, and he's a moron for stealing it in plain sight of the cameras. I think it was fair on our part to call it a "cowardly" crime - unless there are extreme extenuating circumstances, everyone agrees that it's not right to steal a donation jar. This was a really easy story to write, and with a long ride back from Sedalia I had plenty of time to think of what I wanted to use.

I had no idea when I got back to the station that I was supposed to do an on-set. It didn't go well because my mic was not cued in the booth. It cut into time I would have liked to use to write/cut/voice my package. But altogether I was happy with my shift. The 5 and 6 story aired in the A block, while the 10 vo/sot aired in the B block.

Tuesday, June 2, 2009

Wi-fi jobs

On Monday, I reported on the Wi-Fi Sensors Inc. company's announcement that it will buy a plant in Kirksville to begin manufacturing, you guessed it, wi-fi sensors. It's big news for an area that has been hit hard lately by unemployment. While Adair County's unemployment rate is lower than Missouri's average, it has shot up in recent months, so the prospect of about 100 new jobs meant a busy day at the Missouri Career Center in Kirksville. I pitched the idea and Stacey liked it - and I had no problem making the drive to Kirksville. Even if it's not quite within our viewing area, it's still news for people in Moberly, Macon, or other towns within commuting distance to Kirksville.

I must have made about 25 phone calls while on the way to Kirksville. I was surprised to lose cell phone service several times on 63 between Columbia and the Sturgeon exit - to the point I lost a call - but I was able to gather a lot of information about the best place to go for the story. While at the station, one source I spoke with mentioned the company selling the building, Hollister, was very weird about media coverage. He said the plant manager skipped town once it was announced Wi-Fi Sensors would buy the building, and they've been "unavailable" for comment all weekend. So my plan was to go to the Missouri Career Center and see if people were applying for the jobs to try and humanize the story that way. Since the Hollister building is on 63 right as you come into Kirksville, I got a wide shot and some sign shots from the outer edge of its property. We (I had a shadow with me) drove into their parking lot and I went inside to try and find someone to talk to, but no one from either Wi-Fi or Hollister answered my calls.

So, we hit the road to the Career Center on Normal St. When we arrived, I was shocked to see how many people were inside waiting to fill out applications. But, Wi-Fi had not given the Career Center applications, so all it could do is have interested people leave their names and contact information, and they'd be contacted once the applications came in. So we walked in and pretty much found a CCC immediately - a guy who was looking for a new job and who claimed to be very passionate about electronics. He mentioned that he had taken apart an iPod, a TV, computers, and several other things, so I pretty much knew he'd make for a great CCC and humanizer. I also interviewed several other people - the supervisor of the Career Center, who talked about how busy the day was, and 2 older women who wanted to apply. The 2 women didn't say anything very poignant or interesting - I'm guessing they were nervous about the camera because they gave very short answers even though I really tried to ask easy, open-ended questions. Eventually we left the Career Center and headed back towards Columbia. I shot a standup on the sidewalk across from the Hollister building because I didn't want to be on their property without permission. I didn't want to get in trouble for trespassing when it was obvious the company, for whatever reason, didn't want attention or coverage. And since I had already gotten a few shots from its property, I didn't want to risk any more.

After that, we headed back to Columbia. Everything was pretty routine once back at the station. I was the "new at 6" and just had to do a package for it, and a vo/sot for the 10. I was very happy with how the shift went. For a story that was somewhat odd in that I had no one from the companies involved on camera, I was able to humanize it enough to make it a lot more interesting than it would have been if I had some talking head from Wi-Fi or Hollister. Both aired in the A block.

Thursday, May 28, 2009

May 27 - Rummaging for a Story


I had a few interesting story ideas, but we couldn't find a way to spin them into a story, so I began looking at something Jen suggested, which was a story on how a Boonville health clinic received an $80,000 grant from the Missouri Foundation for Health while its doctor was supposedly on probation with the State Health board (I could not confirm this - we received this in a tip from a viewer, so I had no way of verifying it in time to turn the story in a day). The doctor also received notoriety in October 2008 throughout Mid-MO for losing her license to prescribe controlled substances like Oxycodone. So naturally, it brings up questions for us to see a doctor with this kind of a record receiving grant money. A call to the Missouri Foundation for Health resulted in me leaving a long voicemail for their spokesperson, and a few hours later receiving a long voicemail explaining that the organization is "investigating" how the grant was given to the doctor's clinic (Dancing Horizons) while issuing a "no comment" on the other aspects of the story. Jen and I agreed it would be better to do this story as an HFR, since it's clearly interesting but it needs more time to seek out. There's also no true "today" angle to it since the clinic received the grant in early May. So, the best we could find was the Rummage sale coming up on Saturday.

I went out to shoot some video and interview people there. I found several people who could speak on camera and they said some good stuff - worthy of making a package out of it. Upon returning to KOMU, the producers and I discussed going live at 5 and 6 - which sounded cool to me, so I was all for it. I cut a SOT for the 5 and 6, scripted a reader, and headed up to Memorial Stadium for the live shot. Since I'd already done a live shot before (speeding ticket story), it didn't feel too wild or crazy. I think my 6 shot went better than the 5 because I had it planned out better. Instead of grabbing something next to me to show on-camera, I simply held what I considered a good pair of shoes and showed how much they were for sale when the shot came to me. I was glad that we had SOMETHING to show - so our live shot was not worthless. I'd say I learned on-the-fly that keeping it simple for a live shot, and being able to show SOMETHING, are really important to a successful shot.

Upon getting back to the station I cut a package, which was pretty easy. It was shorter than the 1:10 I was given (about :53), but I think it's always easier for the anchors and producers to finish light than finish heavy. Plus, sports or weather always want extra time, so for a pretty weak story I was happy to have squeezed this much out of it. It felt very applicable to how Jack Nicholson quotes John Lennon in The Departed, "I'm an artist [or journalist, in my case]. You give me a f!@#$%^ tuba [pronounced 'toober'], I'll getcha somethin' out of it."

The 5 and 6 versions aired in the A block, with a live headline for each at the beginning of the show. The package for the 10 was in the B block.

I really need to find some good story ideas for next week.

Tuesday, May 26, 2009

Reflection on 5/25 shift

What began for me as a slow news day ended as an interesting but very emotionally tough shift. In the story meeting, I wasn't sure what I could really do besides Memorial Day events, and an MU Baseball NCAA tournament selection show watch party. I went with the watch party idea, but upon arriving there, we found Chris Gervino was already there and had plans to cover it, so we had to go with something else. I ended up going to cover the arrival of the "Missing in America Project" motorcycle riders in Kingdom City. I thought it was a pretty cool event and story - a different way to pay tribute to fallen veterans on Memorial Day. Basically, the group finds deceased veterans who never received a formal military burial. They were transporting 3 cremains from California to Arlington National Cemetery in Northern Virginia, and stopped in Kingdom City to refuel and grab a bite to eat. I felt I shot some good video and interviewed some interesting people, so I was pleased with what I had going back to the station. It was very easy to write a vo/sot for the 5, a package for the 6, and another vo/sot for the 10 because I felt I had plenty of good video and enough of a story to tell with what I found. I'd say the biggest thing I learned on Monday was to ALWAYS PUT THE PROPER GRAPHIC TIMES IN iNEWS!!!! I got chewed out in the post-newscast meeting, and rightfully so because my times were about 8-9 seconds off. There's no excuse for that out of me, and I was frustrated. I had cut that amount of video out of the original sequence after I voiced it, and never went back to change the times even after printing a copy for the director. Naturally, I was pretty annoyed with myself for not properly scripting it. Also, I used "Hwy" instead of "Highway" in the 5's vo/sot locator - something I specifically checked for and confirmed as correct in the iNews script tips and during the Tiger Chair check, but apparently we got it wrong. This was also very frustrating for me, because I felt I did all the right things as a reporter to check, double-check, and check with someone else before it aired, but I (not anyone else, these mistakes are totally on me at the end of the day) still got it wrong.

As I wrote above I found it to be an emotionally trying shift. I felt fine all the way up until when I sat down and began to write my web story when I was able to reflect on the day. Since it was Memorial Day, and we aired an incredibly moving Honor Flight story, the magnitude of what I covered started to hit home. I found the notion that hundreds of motorcyclists were riding across the country in convoy to transport 3 honored, but forgotten soldiers' cremains to be really touching. Combine that with the Honor Flight story, and the faucets began running, so to speak, in my eyes. I found this link on the "Missing in America Project" blog, and I really lost it. So many people have died serving their country yet no one knows their stories, their families, their sacrifices and heroism, and it's my role as a journalist to seek out those people. That's what was tough for me - the incredible, sometimes unfulfillable burden we have to convey this realm to people. I felt my story, and the Honor Flight story, were a valiant attempt at seeking that grain of truth. It took me a few hours and a long phone conversation with my Mom to really accept and acknowledge this.

All 3 stories aired in the A blocks of the 5 (A-10), 6 (A-10), and 10 (A-18). http://www.komu.com/satellite/SatelliteRender/KOMU.com/ba8a4513-c0a8-2f11-0063-9bd94c70b769/79fcf367-80ce-0971-0125-0bcc01ff7598