Broadcast News Winter 2013

broadcast news the Newsletter for sag-aftra broadcasters // vol.2 // issue 1 // WINTER 2013

news in brief KPCC Goes Union // Staff at Los Angeles public radio station KPCC have voted to be represented by SAG-AFTRA. The new unit covers 65 reporters, producers, show hosts and news anchors.

N.Y. Podcast Online // The New York Local is recording audio interviews with local broadcasters.

In the first interview, longtime New York radio personalities Jim Kerr and Elvis Duran have a conversation about their careers, the importance of union membership and the radio profession.

To listen, go to www.sagaftra.org/ locals/new-york/local-news Chicago Focuses on Social Media // The Chicago Local presented a workshop for broadcast members, showing them how to maximize the potential of social media while protecting their online identities, brands and intellectual property.

The two sessions were held on Jan. 24, 2013.

New Contract for WGN // SAG-AFTRA Chicago Local members have negotiated a new contract with WGN-TV, making significant gains while coming up with common-sense fences around the concept of reporters operating cameras. The contract includes increases to wages and health and retirement contributions.

No Contract/No Work // A Do Not Work order has been ordered against audiobook publisher Bee Audio of Ashland, Ore. No member may accept work as an audiobook narrator for Bee Audio until a fair contract is negotiated for members.

BSC Meeting Set // The Broadcast Steering Committee will meet on March 2 in Philadelphia.

Covering Tragedies: PTSD and Journalists

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he headline looked but think I had gone soft; there was familiar: “Residents, something wrong with me. It was Members of Media want only later, when I got a Dart Ochberg Journalists to Leave Fellowship, that I learned through the Newtown.” A friend sent me The Dart Center what trauma can do to Huffington Post article via email. journalists.

Same old story: Journalists flock to the scene of these tragedies to A friend says these stories we cover become the eyes and ears of society. are like the drip, drip, drip of water torture. Eventually, they get to you. I It doesn’t take long for society to call made a documentary film about this them the vultures of the press. They

By Mike Walter experience. It’s called Breaking News, complain about the questions: “How Breaking Down. When it was finished, the editor do you feel?” “How much have you cried?” wondered if anyone would see it. They have, and they’ve spoken up after screenings!

No one ever asks the journalists.

The answers would be one-word responses: “Lousy” and “Plenty.” Journalists observe, but they also absorb. There is a limit to how much they can take. Take it from an expert. Years ago, on a sunny Tuesday morning, I slurped down my coffee, kissed my wife goodbye and set off for work. I never expected the morning would include a massacre; I never expected to witness the mass murder of 184 people. I was stuck in traffic on 9/11 when I watched American Airlines Flight 77 dive from the air and pierce the side of the Pentagon.

My journalistic instincts kicked into gear, but something else was at work that day. I found myself breaking down. In the days that followed, I was haunted by nightmares. I was in a fog; a deep depression. I got counseling, but I couldn’t help

PTSD Resources AFTRA H&R provides several mental health benefits. Information can be found at www.aftrahr.org as well as through Achieve Solutions, https://www.achievesolutions.net/ achievesolutions/en/aftra/Home.do.

Employer Health Plans: Members who participate in a health

We’ve heard from journalists around the world.

I’ll never forget the field producer in Australia who wept as she talked about clutching her sound man as he took his last breath in Beirut.

It was the first time she had spoken about that tragic day. There was the young journalist who covered the Virginia Tech massacre who cried as she recounted the scenes forever seared in her memory, and the print reporter who covered Columbine who hid behind a satellite truck, just so he could have a good cry. There are many more, too many to mention.

I feel like the film has given all of them permission to do something they never do; it’s given them permission to tell their own stories. As I

plan provided by the employer should check with their human resources office or the benefits book for coverage information and resources.

The Dart Center for Journalism & Trauma is a project of the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.

The center provides the necessary resources to journalists who cover

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violence, conflict and tragedy.

Visit dartcenter.org The International Center for Journalists has a free 28-page PDF brochure featuring case studies, tips and other information on trauma and stress. To download, go to http://www.icfj.org/resources/ journalism-and-trauma.

Sandy Dangers

message from catherine brown

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ultitasking is a way of life. I still remember hearing the term for the first time while being trained to use a newsroom computer system during the third or fourth upgrade. New and veteran broadcast professionals are caught up in a workday whirlwind of fact-gathering, writing, shooting and editing (scripts, pictures and video), keeping an eye on social media platforms, news delivery (on-air, online and other platforms like taxis and gas stations) and a barrage of other work demands. If you haven’t already done so, add your union to your long to-do list.

SAG-AFTRA elected leaders and staff need details about our work life, our working conditions and our questions about professional development. Together, we are developing our approach and response to today’s duties and assignments, and getting out ahead of those that we know are coming. Our results in these efforts depend on each of us being committed to the outcome. Broadcast professionals are valued and respected members of SAG-AFTRA throughout our locals and among our elected leadership. Thank you for the opportunity to serve and collaborate with you to improve our union.

— Catherine Brown, National Vice President, Broadcasters

message from joe krebs

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’d like to wish everyone a happy new year. I hope it’s going to be happy. I know it’s going to be busy and important for all broadcast members of the new SAG-AFTRA. Since March 31, we have been in the “initial period” of the life of this new union. We have been operating under an initial governance structure as we make the transition from two unions to one.

This time of change has had all the fits and starts and aches and pains that you might imagine when you try to wrestle two different cultures into one unified whole.

In August and September of 2013, we will elect our first national leaders to take us forward — new national officers, a new National Board and delegates to our first national convention.

It is critically important for broadcast members in all locals to get personally involved in this process.

Run for office, run for a delegate spot, support someone who shares your views, or just pay close attention and speak up and speak out on what you consider to be important issues.

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Broadcast delegates to the national convention in September will, for the first time, elect a national broadcast vice president. This constitutionally mandated elected position will be the voice of broadcast concerns at the very highest levels of the union. We need a large contingent of broadcast delegates to assure that the diverse interests of broadcast members all across the country are represented.

Brian Thompson // N.J. Correspondent, WNBC-TV

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e were about four hours from high tide, still daylight, and as the winds and spray were whipping around us, my photographer said to me, “Brian, I think we need to get out of here.”

We were trapped next to the boardwalk. I was unwilling to risk a power line or building debris falling on our vehicles if we tried to escape this boardwalk location, nor did I have a clue where we could go with the bridge closed (eventually, even the police department would be underwater, as would our hotel).

message from mary cavallaro

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he news events of the last few months have had SAG-AFTRA members and their colleagues working very long stretches, often in dangerous conditions and/or covering very difficult stories.

SAG-AFTRA members are working to cover these stories in newsrooms and in the field, and are engaging audiences in thoughtful discussion on radio and television programs across the country.

But before that happens, the Broadcast Steering Committee will meet in early March. Please, think about issues that we should consider discussing and let me or other committee members know, so that we can get those on the agenda.

Recently, journalists nationwide have experienced an increasing number of incidents of physical attacks, theft and other threats while working their stories — a sobering reminder of the risks they assume when pursuing a story. Last month, after several SAG-AFTRA members working in the Bay Area were subjected to theft and assault, our San Francisco-Northern California Local staff and member leaders responded immediately, working with our employers to ensure the safety of news crews in the area.

Safety for our members is one of SAG-AFTRA’s top priorities, and it is a critical part of our continuing mission.

One of the issues we may well discuss is a large and ever-growing threat to us and the union movement. As you know, Michigan just became the 24th state in the union to pass a so-called “right-to-work” law. These laws allow people who elect not to pay their fair share —

We must continue to work to address the issues that our members face in their daily work lives through day-to-day administration of our agreements and at the bargaining table. Our contracts must evolve

In addition, at the convention, broadcast delegates will also vote — and can also be candidates — for the position of national executive vice president and, depending on the member’s local, the vice presidents from the largest local, the second-largest local, the mid-sized locals and the small locals.

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And ever since the night Sandy roared across the Jersey Shore on Oct. 29, I have been asking myself, why were we even there?

I’m not sure you will find a good answer in this article, but I will give you an account of my thinking before and after.

For starters, I was going to go to Point Pleasant Beach a few miles north, where we would have had the lee of a solid concrete building on that town’s boardwalk. We got bigfooted by network and Weather Channel trucks — I was told to go somewhere else.

But why go anywhere along a shoreline about to be battered by a “postcyclonic storm”?

For starters, I had survived the eye of Hugo in Charleston back in 1989. I knew how survivable a hurricane can be, though it was a close-run thing even back then. Secondly, due to a lack of knowledge (you can say ignorance), a prediction of a record six-foot storm surge across Sandy Hook farther north really meant nothing to me.

covering tragedies,

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watch the coverage from Newtown, I’m like everyone else. I worry about the families, the police and emergency crews, the coroner — in fact, the entire town. But I also worry about my brethren, the journalists, the people reading this piece. The viewers will always see the “breaking news,” but the “breaking down” part will go on in the shadows, hidden from view. I hope these journalists know when they do leave Newtown, they are not alone. There are people willing to listen who can help, and there are resources, including the Dart Center.

Please don’t suffer in silence.

Mike Walter can be reached at mike@waltermedia.tv

We all know our job is to go where the action (read: risk) is. But while I may individually accept a risk that I cannot properly measure, I will never forget that I put the lives of my crew at risk as well. And therein lies the predicament. It was my decision on where to go, but I had their lives in my hands.

What will I do when the next storm comes through? In part, I will be guided by new guidelines our station is developing; in part, by the tolerance of my photographers for risk; and in part, by a better understanding of what different types of storms can do.

And then I will cross my fingers and hope I guessed correctly.

cavallaro,

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to address the changes in our industry and, specifically, our members’ concerns on issues related to workload, safety, the around-the-clock demand for content on new media platforms and the impact that has on our members.

Our changing industry demands that we think proactively and focus on what truly matters in the work lives of SAG-AFTRA members employed across the country.

For questions, contact the Broadcast Department at (800) 638-6796 and mary.cavallaro@sagaftra.org — Mary Cavallaro, Assistant National Executive Director, News & Broadcast

KREBS,

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their initiation fees and dues — to get all the benefits that we work for and pay for.

They get the benefits of collective bargaining with none of the cost, and we — including our staff — have to represent them and defend them when they get in trouble. They contribute nothing.

These laws attack the very viability of our efforts to engage in meaningful collective bargaining. We, as members of SAG-AFTRA, need to decide how to respond. And, so, we need to talk — and to listen — to each other.

— Joe Krebs, Chair, Broadcast Steering Committee

member News Wayne State University hosted a starstudded memorial on Dec. 6 for famed Detroit weatherman Sonny Eliot, who died Nov. 16 at age 91. A broadcaster for more than 60 years, Eliot was a pioneer who brought his own distinct and endearing brand of humor and style to the airwaves.

“Sonny was a marvel to me,” WWJ anchor and SAG-AFTRA Michigan Co-President Jayne Bower said. “He worked for more than 60 years for the same radio station.

Sonny’s professional longevity was no accident. He was immensely talented at his craft and was endlessly kind to the people who were fortunate enough to work with him and call him a friend.”

Lu Ann Cahn, Angelo Cataldi, Stan Hochman, Sylvia Kauders, Jay Lloyd, Robin Mackintosh, Liz Matt and Beasley Reece were inducted into the Philadelphia Broadcast Pioneers Hall of Fame.

SAG-AFTRA Local Board member and WTOP’s Capitol Hill reporter Dave McConnell was featured on the cover of the Washington Post’s Oct. 29 style section.

Reporter Tony Glaros shadowed McConnell on a typical day, covering all the happenings of Congress. McConnell has been the Capitol Hill reporter for WTOP since 1981, and has been with the station since 1965.

Bryan Johnson has retired from KOMO-TV in Seattle as a senior correspondent. Johnson began his career in 1955 as a radio engineer for KAPA in Raymond, Wash. He joined KOMO News on Oct. 10, 1959. From 1962 to 1981, Johnson served as news director for KOMO Radio, rejoining KOMO News in 1976.

SAG-AFTRA member Arch Campbell of WJLA played host to the annual TIVA-DC Peer Awards, held Nov. 17 at the National Press Club. The Peer Awards, which began in 1997, is co-sponsored by the SAG-AFTRA Washington-Mid Atlantic Local in order to recognize D.C.-area members for their outstanding work in media production.

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inside COVERING TRAGEDY // Mike Walter examines the effects emotionally charged stories have on the journalists who cover them.

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broadcast news is published quarterly for news and broadcast members of SAG-AFTRA. Corrections, suggestions and submissions can be sent to broadcast@sagaftra.org.

list of contracts approved FrOM October 2012-January 2013 • KOMO-TV (Seattle) • KPFK-FM (Los Angeles) • Bell Media Radio/Detroit • KPRS/KPRT AM-FM AM-FM (Detroit/Windsor, (Kansas City) Ontario, Canada) • KTVU-TV (San Francisco) • CBS Sports Radio Network • KYW-AM (Philadelphia) AM/FM (New York) • Total Traffic Networks • Democracy Now! (National) (Boston, Los Angeles, New York, • Denver Adventures in Odyssey Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, San Radio Series (Denver) Diego, San Francisco, Seattle, • Family Theater Prods. (Los Angeles) Washington-Mid Atlantic) (In alphabetical order):

• WBBM-AM (Chicago) • WCPT-AM (Chicago) • WEEK/WHOI (Peoria) • WGME-TV (Boston) • WGN-TV (Chicago) • WHLI-AM/WKJY-FM (New York) • WHTZ-FM (New York) • WOWT (Missouri Valley) • WTIC-AM/FM (Boston) • WTNH-TV (Boston)

The Weingarten Card. Don’t Leave Home Without It! Don’t let a meeting with management get out of hand.

If you’re called in to explain why something went wrong, stop and think about your Weingarten Rights. By presenting this card to management, YOU may have the right to stop a meeting until your steward, assistant steward or a local rep arrives to accompany you.

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“If this discussion could in any way lead to my being disciplined, terminated, or affect my personal working conditions, I request that my shop steward or union officer be present at this meeting. Until they arrive, as is my right under a U.S. Supreme Court decision called Weingarten, I choose not to answer any questions regarding this matter.”