SAG-AFTRA Broadcast News - Summer 2014

BROADCAST News The Newsletter for SAG-AFTRA Broadcasters // VOL. 3 // ISSUE 2 // SUMMER 2014

NEWS IN BRIEF NEW CONTRACT FOR WHEC-TV // SAG-AFTRA members at WHEC-TV in Rochester, New York ratified a new contract with Hubbard Broadcasting Inc. on April 28.

DEAL REACHED WITH KOIT AND KBLX // SAG-AFTRA reached a tentative agreement with Entercom for the talent working at two Bay Area radio stations, KOIT and KBLX. After SAG-AFTRA initiated the Save Local Radio social media campaign, the company agreed to wage increases and compromised on other significant issues.

UNIVISION STAFF GAIN CBA IMPROVEMENTS // Staffers at Univision’s KDTV in San Francisco achieved significant improvements to their collective bargaining agreement, including salary increases and increased severance. Multimedia journalists also won better terms, including premium pay and no solo live shots.

NEW AGREEMENT FOR KQED-TV STAFF // Increases in wages and contributions to AFTRA H&R are among the highlights of a new agreement for San Francisco members, including the host and correspondent for locally-produced KQED Newsroom, as well as multiple hosts on various entertainment programs.

BSC MEETS IN NEW YORK // The Broadcast Steering Committee met June 7 in New York City.

ENJOY MOVING DISCOUNTS THROUGH UNION PLUS // SAG-AFTRA members can enjoy various moving discounts through the Union Plus benefits program. Discounts range from moving supplies and storage to mortgage programs. Visit unionplus.org for more information.

WALL-TO-WALL COVERAGE:

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THE WORKLOAD SURGE AND YOU

n 1949, SAG-AFTRA broadcast member Stan Chambers broke ground covering the tragic and unsuccessful rescue of 3-year-old Kathy Fiscus, who fell into an abandoned well in San Marino, California. His marathon 27-hour live coverage of the Fiscus tragedy has been recognized as the first live television coverage of a breaking news story.

While Chambers’ reporting made broadcast history, the practice of round-the-clock coverage over the decades was something reserved for special breaking news events, such as the assassination of President John F. Kennedy or the 1969 moon landing. But recent technological advances in the industry have allowed the public to consume more information on multiple platforms, allowing the floodgates to open for news outlets to cover high-profile events for as long as needed.

Now, wall-to-wall coverage isn’t just a reporter on location delivering updates. It’s a station’s on-air report coupled with an online story, as well as social media. Not only is the station posting information, reporters from the scene are sharing photos and information on their social media accounts.

The SAG-AFTRA News & Broadcast Department staff has long recognized that the ways in which its members report the news is constantly evolving.

And the union has been tackling this one headon. In an age where information is consumed in record times, the emphasis on getting the story, keeping the story and reporting the story is even greater. Putting aside the issue of whether wallto-wall coverage is needed for certain stories, for SAG-AFTRA, the concern is always on how members juggle this workload. Language is now being included in collective bargaining agreements covering reporters for on-call and call-back issues and working six and seven days.

“SAG-AFTRA staff is actively engaged with members during these coverage situations to address issues of compensation, assignment, workload and safety concerns,” said Chief Broadcast Officer Mary Cavallaro. “The union must be vigilant of the working conditions and concerns of our members during these breaking news events.”

Members who have questions regarding a surge in workload due to wall-to-wall coverage, should talk with their shop steward and/or contact their local SAG-AFTRA broadcast representative. •

CONNECTING WITH CATHERINE BROWN:

HOW’S YOUR DAY GOING?

Y

ou’re always on a deadline. Most days there’s barely enough time to get the best interview, make phone calls, get to the live shot location, shoot, write, transmit your story, while tweeting and updating your Facebook page — often repeating the effort for multiple newscasts throughout the day and evening news cycles. So who’s got time to tell me how their day is going?

The truth is, the answer to that question could be a key factor in your next contract negotiations. Collective bargaining often involves addressing our workplace concerns and problem solving, right along with ensuring we receive fair wages and benefits. The working conditions component of most contract conversations is based on our assignments, including how we’re spending our time during the workday and how many hours we’re required (or sometimes may volunteer) to put in.

I learned a lot of great information as a shop steward for 25 years, listening carefully to the responses from my colleagues. Our SAG-AFTRA staff negotiators also count on workplace updates to help enforce the contract provisions once bargaining is finished.

Don’t wait to be asked by your steward or union staff. Check in from time to time and let us know how your day is going.

Catherine Brown is the national vice president, broadcasters.

A MOMENT WITH JOE KREBS:

CREATING A COMMUNITY EXPERIENCE

“T

his just in: News4 has learned that it is still snowing in the nation’s capital!”

But I’ve come to realize there can be more to it. In fact, it’s what TV news can often do best: Create a community experience.

That’s not sarcasm I ever actually spewed while anchoring wall-to-wall coverage of the Washington snowstorms, but I’d have to say — on occasion — I was tempted.

The TV screen can become something of an “electronic hearth” around which people gather to witness and share the same event.

During a blizzard or a hurricane, for instance, we can’t get out of our houses, but we can see what it’s like out there and how those out in it — the reporters — are coping. And we can talk about what we’ve seen. We can become united by a common, a shared, experience.

How many times can an anchor say, “The roads are slippery and stay home if you can”?

I was skeptical of wall-to-wall coverage, feeling like we weren’t conveying any new information but that we, merely, didn’t want to “yield the floor.” And I think that’s often the case. Every news outlet wants to “own the story” and be the “go-to” source for what’s happening. Wall-to-wall coverage has become, well, wall-to-wall.

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So, although wall-to-wall coverage is often done for the most self-serving of reasons, it can result in something that is, in fact, quite meaningful.

Joe Krebs is chair, National Broadcast Steering Committee.

MESSAGE FROM CHIEF BROADCAST OFFICER MARY CAVALLARO

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ecently, I was reminded of the power and importance that broadcasters have in connecting with their audience. I’ve traveled to San Diego over the last couple months to work with the KPBS bargaining unit to negotiate its first SAG-AFTRA contract. Last month, these KPBS members and their news colleagues spent long hours and difficult days covering the devastating wildfires in San Diego County.

We count on broadcasters for information and insight, for commentary and criticism. These broadcast professionals have an essential spark that allows them to tell these challenging stories the right way. The anchors and reporters covering deadly fires and other difficult stories see things that sometimes never make it to air, but will have a lasting impression on them and on how they tell their stories.

The importance of the connection between broadcasters and their audience on live television and radio is difficult to describe, but we know it works.

From local morning radio teams taking a left turn to discuss a serious topic to new members balancing their time between negotiations and breaking news, SAG-AFTRA broadcasters bring us continuing coverage of developing stories every day, and we are all the better for it.

WHEN TRAGEDY HITS HOME Strothman. Both flew regularly for KOMO and were fixtures in the newsroom. Strothman had retired from daily news coverage about five years earlier to work on his own production company, said the station’s chief photographer, Randy Carnell.

By Lindsay Cohen // KOMO TV

C

overing tragedy is nothing new for journalists. When others rush out, they rush in. Officer killed in the line of duty?

Speed to the scene. Giant apartment fire?

Spring into action. Helicopter crash? Gather the facts. Report the news.

Even when it involves one of your own.

That horrific moment came for dozens of Seattle journalists on March 18 — some who heard and even witnessed the helicopter crash outside of the KOMO News studios at the base of Seattle’s iconic Space Needle.

“You could see right out the window that something was really wrong. You could see it just going down,” said Kelly Koopmans, a reporter and anchor who had just finished that morning’s broadcast. “Then it kind of falls from sight.”

“You’re thinking, ‘There’s no way that was a chopper,’ even though you knew it was, because you could hear what it sounded like,” she added.

Koopmans grabbed her cell phone and a photographer and rushed downstairs. On the ground below — just feet away from the station entrance and rooftop helicopter landing pad — was a large fire, growing by the second, with jet fuel running down the street. Three cars were also mixed in with the debris on the street.

“I’ve covered tough stories where you see tough things,” she said, “but that was different for a whole number of reasons.”

In the wreckage were two beloved coworkers: pilot Gary Pfitzner, who had 15 years of flying under his belt, and seasoned photojournalist Bill

Koopmans

Carnell was also tasked with covering the story that day.

“Nothing was going to stop me on that day from covering the story. Nothing,” said Carnell, who worked alongside Strothman for more than two decades. “I wanted to be able to tell everybody that was around there what a great guy he was. I just wanted to be there for him.”

Carnell sped toward the scene after he heard the first radio reports in his car. He was on-site for about 11 hours, he said, doing live shots, helping edit packages and cover news conferences.

“I didn’t think of (what I did) as (part of my duties as) chief,” Carnell said. “I wanted to be down there as Bill’s friend. I wanted to be there and cover the story in the way I hoped he would do it for me.”

Koopmans added that the most difficult moment for her was seeing Strothman’s son, Dan, also a photographer on staff, arrive at the scene.

“That was a tough moment,” Koopmans said. “I think I was in shock for a really long time.”

Award-winning journalist Lindsay Cohen has been with KOMO TV in Seattle since 2009.

UPCOMING EVENTS

Aug. 21-24 (Chicago)

Look for a SAG-AFTRA presence at these summer journalism and media conferences:

Sept. 4-6 (Nashville)

July 30-Aug. 3 (Boston) National Association of Black Journalists

Aug. 7-9 (San Antonio, Texas) National Association of Hispanic Journalists

Aug. 13-16 (Washington, D.C.) Asian American Journalists Association

National Lesbian & Gay Journalists Association Excellence in Journalism (Society of Professional Journalists and Radio Television Digital News Association) PLEASE NOTE: Due to a labor issue with UNITE HERE workers at the host hotel for the Native American Journalists Association convention in Santa Clara, California SAG-AFTRA will regretfully not be attending this year’s event.

MEMBER NEWS The National Breast Cancer Foundation handed out its inaugural ANDREA ROANE Courage Award, named in honor of WUSA 9 anchor and SAG-AFTRA member Andrea Roane. Roane is a breast cancer advocate who has reported on breast health issues and promoted the importance of early detection. The first recipient of the award was Tammy Gray, a breast cancer survivor and advocate.

SAG-AFTRA member and KFOR-TV (Oklahoma) news photographer JOE BUSCH was honored with his first Region 6 Edward R. Murrow Award in the Feature Reporting category for his work as editor on a story about Moore, Oklahoma resident Edith Morales, who was seriously injured in the tornado that swept the town last year. The story, honored by the Radio Television Digital News Association, focused on Morales’ recovery and her ability to speak to her daughter for the first time in the ICU. KFOR also won an Overall Excellence award.

DAVAR ARDALAN, a SAG-AFTRA member and Senior Producer for NPR’s Tell Me More with Michel Martin, recently concluded moderating Twitter chats throughout the month of March around the hashtag #NPRWIT (NPR Women in Technology). Women innovators across the globe tweeted about a day in their lives using #NPRWIT. The series garnered approximately 9,000 tweets, reaching 16 million people and creating 77 million impressions on Twitter.

SAG-AFTRA member and long-time CBS News White House Correspondent PETER MAER received the Merriman Smith Award for Presidential Coverage Under Deadline Pressure from the White House Correspondents Association (WHCA).

Maer, who has covered the White House for CBS since 1998, was honored at the White House Correspondents Association dinner in Washington, D.C., on May 3.

Broadcasters from three SAG-AFTRA Seattle Local news shops recorded big wins in the 2014 Region 1 Edward R. Murrow Awards. Teams from KOMO and KING split 11 of the 13 awards in the Large Market Television category, including Overall Excellence, Best Newscast and Feature, Hard News and Sports Reporting (KOMO), Breaking News, Continuing Coverage, Investigative Reporting, News Series, Writing, and Use of Sound/Video (KING), while KPLU-FM received the award for Feature Reporting, Large Market Radio.

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THE WEINGARTEN CARD. DON’T LEAVE HOME WITHOUT IT! you’re called in to explain why something went wrong, stop

LIST OF CONTRACTS APPROVED

BY THE EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE SINCE MARCH 2014

and think about your Weingarten Rights. By presenting this

(In alphabetical order):

card to management, YOU have a right to stop a meeting

• ABC Network (Washington-Mid Atlantic)

until your steward, assistant steward or a local rep arrives

• Entercom AM-FM (Missouri Valley)

Don’t let a meeting with management get out of hand. If

to accompany you.

• WBIG-FM (Washington-Mid Atlantic) • WDSU-TV (New Orleans)

“If this discussion could in any way lead to my being disciplined, terminated, or affect my personal working conditions, I request that

• WVUE-TV (New Orleans) • Yankees Entertainment Sports Network (New York)

my shop steward or union officer be present at this meeting. Until they arrive, as is my

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right under a U.S. Supreme Court decision

BROADCAST News is published quarterly for news and broadcast

called Weingarten, I choose not to answer

members of SAG-AFTRA. Corrections, suggestions and submissions

any questions regarding this matter.”

can be sent to broadcast@sagaftra.org.