The Desk Vol 1 No 5

THE DESK

The newsletter about TV news gathering...
And the people who do it

                                  Paul Skolnick
                                 Managing Editor
                               skolnick@newstrench.com

Volume 1, Number 5
July 14, 1997

BREAKING NEWS

HORN TOOTING
This issue of "The Desk" is getting out a little after we had intended it to. We've put the time instead into revamping and updating crime statistics on our Web page -- http://www.newstrench.com. In addition to a complete set of the FBI's 1996 preliminary crime statistics, including all seven of the categories in the Crime Index Total as well as four different cumulative categories (Total Crime, Alphabetical List, Violent Crime, and Property Crime), there's a new set of statistics up.

We've prepared crime trend studies for nearly 200 of the largest cities of America, showing 1-, 5-, and 7-year changes in crime rate. While the FBI makes the statistics themselves available, we're unaware of any other similar set of statistics anywhere, online or off.

And just what are they doing in Ann Arbor, Michigan that has cut their crime rate almost in half this decade? And what's going on in Indianpolis, which has posted a crime-rate increase of nearly 50% since 1990?

What's the trend in your market? And why is that the trend? Now you have the statistics. We'll leave it up to you to get the story.

---

WHAT GIVES YOU THE RIGHT?
NOW YOU CAN TELL THEM!
Have a story working in another state and wonder just what documents you have the right to see? The Reporter's Committee for Freedom of the Press, which has long been able to provide help in many of these situations, just made the help a whole lot easier to get. RCFP is offering on its Web site -- http://www.rcfp.org/tapping/ -- the third edition of its state-by-state summary of Freedom of Information and Access laws, "Tapping Officials' Secrets." The guide is also available for a fee in printed and CD-ROM form.

"Tapping Officials' Secrets" does not include the complete text of every state FOI or public access statute. Instead, it goes for consistency with a lengthy outline that answers detailed questions about each state's laws.

Another group concerned with FOI issues, the National Freedom of Information Coalition, also offers state-by-state access information on its Web site, http://www.reporters.net/nfoic/web/index.htm. Click on the state flag for the place you're interested in finding out more about, and the NFOIC site returns a page with legal citations and places to get more detailed information by phone, surface mail, or email.

---

DOES IT REALLY COMPUTE?
Scarcely little has been said questioning President Clinton's avowed goal of wiring the nation's schools and immersing every student in digital education. Is it as good an idea as, say, stepping up instruction in the Three R's?

A good question, and one that goes to the heart of "The Computer Delusion," an analytical piece by Todd Oppenheimer that is the cover story of "The Atlantic" (http://www.theatlantic.com/issues/97jul/computer.htm). The issue in many ways is not whether our children should learn about computers, but at what cost.

Astonishingly, it's a question that can -- and should -- be asked in every school district in the country.

The article details horror stories where school districts, and sometimes even whole states, have REDUCED their contributions to education in general only to turn around a spend exponentially more money on computers for the classroom.

It makes me wonder how school board members where I live have dealt with the issue, which means that there are probably a good many other people wondering about the same thing.

---

MONEY FOR NOTHIN'
AND THE HITS ARE FREE
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services' National Institutes of Health National Library of Medicine has now opened access to Medline, a database of nearly 9 million medical-journal articles and abstracts (http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/PubMed/).

The free access will undoubtedly make medical reporters happy... and there's no telling what it will do for the business-office folks who have had to pay the bills for those reporters trying hard to keep up with the research in rapidly evolving areas of great interest to TV news viewers.

PubMed has an easy-to-use search engine. Put in the topic (a disease, a medical journal, a researcher's name) and off it goes to retrieve all relevant abstracts.

Free access to Medline is another step in that great computer continuum of making information available to anyone with the $2,500 or so to invest in a computer, and another $250 a year in Internet access.

---

CHOPPER WARS:
A DIFFERENT POINT OF VIEW

Manny de la Rosa, a freelance reporter in Los Angeles, has emailed "The Desk," taking exception to our comments in the last edition. You may remember we had problems with quotes from University of Southern California journalism professor Sherrie Mazingo in a front-page article in the Wall Street Journal about helicopter coverage of TV news. Professor Mazingo was quoted as saying, "Reporters are not named Captain Bob. This is not the Howdy Doody show."

The Desk,

     Your comments about Sherrie Mazingo were uncalled for in this newsletter.
     Mazingo was a great producer for NBC News and is a great professor at
     USC.

Her knowledge of news is amazing. I should know because she taught me a
lot during my years as a student at USC.

     Her comments about Bob Pettee and helicopter pilots were right on. From a
     journalistic standpoint, riding around in a helicopter covering news
     isn't journalism. Sure, he may get the facts right and do all the things
     we are supposed to do, but remember... he's doing his reporting from the
     air. Reporting involves being at the scene and talking to people.
     Getting reports from officials is very risky... and that's all helicopter
     pilots rely on when reporting from the air.

     Lastly, the least you could have done was call Mazingo to follow up on
     her comments instead of showing her comments and hitting her with a cheap
     shot.

Manny De La Rosa
USC Class of 91

---

WHO YOU GONNA CALL?
TRY THE FREEP

Come across a CAR problem you just can't slog through on your own? Looking for guidance at all the wrong hours?

It turns out there's an amazing computer-assisted reporting resource available around the clock at the back of the Detroit "Free Press" Web site (http://www.freep.com/jobspage/academy/intel.htm). Free Press CAR guardian Heather Newman has posted notes of several presentations at Investigative Reporters & Editors (IRE) conferences over the years, as well as other thoughts, tips, and guidance.

Faster than a phone call, and likely to deal with some of the most common general CAR questions, the site is worth bookmarking.

---

ANOTHER NEW WAY TO SEARCH

There's a lot of praise being heaped on a new Internet search engine called "Inference Find" (http://www.inference.com/ifind/), some of which may actually have been earned. "Inference Find" is what its owners called a parallel search engine, which means that it searches existing search engines and then organizes the findings in a better, or at least a different, way.

I tried a simple search on "Inference Find" -- looking for my name -- and came up with an astonishing number of hits. Since each search engine has its own grammar -- special logic that lets you narrow your findings to things you're actually after -- there no universal way to have "Inference Find" go after precisely what you're looking for.

A "Yahoo!" (http://www.yahoo.com) search for my name, with quotation marks around it to make sure we get the whole phrase in order, comes up with ten hits. On HotBot (http://www.HotBot.com), specifying "the person" in the pulldown menu, brings back 22 hits, more than half of whom are actually me. In "Inference Find," there are 133 hits, arranged by server and subject, but only about 10 of them are the actual me.

The bottom line: "Inference Find" is a worthwhile resource for certain kinds of searches, but probably not the great end-all and be-all of Internet search engines.

---

DESKNOTES

CHARLES KURALT, RIP

[EDITOR'S NOTE: Charles Kuralt's death
earlier this month leaves a great void
in our industry... as if a bit of the heart
and soul of TV news had been taken from
us too soon.

A few days after Kuralt's death, I got a
call from Al Mann, an itinerant TV news
guy for decades who makes his retirement
home in Orlando, FL.

Al told me he had a Kuralt speech in his hands
at that moment. Not just "a speech," I should
add, but Kuralt's original copy of a speech
delivered at RTNDA. Al says it was in 1972, but
from the context, it appears it must have been
in 1975. (Kuralt talks about the first year of
the Ford Administration.)

Al said he'd shaken Kuralt's hand when Kuralt came down
from the rostrum there in Dallas, and had asked Kuralt
for the speech. Kuralt handed him the sheaf of papers.

It has become a famous speech -- prophetic, incisive, and,
yes, cutting -- in that way Kuralt had of getting right to
the bone while making you chuckle about it.

Al keyed the speech exactly as it appeared on Kuralt's
copy. All typos are reproduced here as they
appear on the original.

It's not the letters or the way they were typed
that matter, of course; it's the words. Kuralt's words
were written to be said, not read. So imagine that
voice -- the one that took us to so many different
places for so many years -- taking us deep into our
own industry.]

I would like to thank the Radio and Television News Directors for getting me off the road and into a hotel with room service. And flush toilets. And everything. I have never been to one of these meetings before and I didn't have what goes on here. Well, I have been here for a day, and I would like to observe that if there is any justice in this world, when the liquor dealers hold their convention this year, they will watch a hell of a lot of news.

I think somebody at this meeting should just analyze briefly the first year of the Ford Administration and the outlook for the election year we are headed into, and discuss the state of the national economy and just where this country seems to be headed. And I sure wish Sevareid were here to do all that for you. I can't. Bill Small has given me standing instruction which are a model of clarity and simplicity. To stay out of the kind of hotel that has room service and flush toilets and if I ever come across a news story, to call a real reporter to come cover it.

So I have stuck to the church suppers and county fairs beat, and applied myself with some diligence to what has come to be my duty at CBS, to let no musical saw player or one-room schoolhouse or swimming pig go unreported on national television. But it has led to a certain obscurity in my career. And at CBS, obscurity knows no limits.

It is wonderful to watch a great news organization like the one I work for gear up to cover a big story. And I have watched, and watched. I remember during the early stages of the Watergate, Bill Small summoned me to Washington with a cryptic telephone call. He said, "This is one we don't think Rather can handle." And that is how I happened to do the half hour broadcast that was titled, "Christmas At the WhiteHouse with Julie Nixon Eisenhower.

You can see what a thrill it has been for me to working for CBS News, to be right at the nerve center, during all these years of historic events. I can tell my grandchildren that I was watching when Walter Cronkite described the last fateful hours of the Nixon Administration. I was watching from a gas station in Talkeetna, Alaska.

My memory ranges back. I was there, in Paris, that dramatic spring, 1968, wasn't it -- when the students and workers of France were in the streets, threatening to bring down the French Republic. I was on vacation with my wife. Of course, I rushed to the side of my colleagues at the CBS News Bureau to offer my help. And I will never forget Peter Kalishcher shuffling his feet and staring at the floor, obviously touched by my selfless gesture, and I will never forget what he said -- "Francioise would you see if you can get Charles 2 tickets to the Folies Bergere." And I will never forget that the Folies Bergere was on strike.

I was there at the dawning of the space age. I remember the hope and excitement and pride that attended the launch of those early Redstone and Titan rockets, with their fragile human cargo. I remember learning that men had firs orbited the moon. And I remember how I learned it. Three days late -- in an army latrine in Binh Duong Province, South Vietnam, in a copy of Starts and Stripes which had not even been placed there for the purpose of reading.

It has been a great career, steady, downhill, and I come at last to this honor -- getting to fly in from Crow Agency, Montana, to Big D, to have crackers broken on my hear.

Well, it is a great opportunity for a reporter who has never been a boss to talk to a whole room full of bosses. For a reporter who has never been an anchorman to say a word about anchormen. And for a fat man becoming bald to remark on slimness, and hair on the air. This is a God-given opportunity, and I am going to sieze it. What I have to say is going to be critical, but at least, it is going to be brief.

For eight years now, I have been On The Road, and since I really haven't had anything to do out there, I have spent a lot of time watching the news on television. There I am, morning after morning, sitting on the edge of the motel room bed, wishing there were room service, scratching myself and trying to wake up, and watching your local news inserts in the Morning News or the Today show or AM America. There I am, evening after evening, having one last beer before bed, watching the late news. I assert fearlessly that I have watched nearly every one of your newscast at one time or another. I know this is a room full of sluggers, but I claim to be the Henry Aaron of news watchers. I can whistle the Action News themesong, la march. I have got the words Eyewitness News printed across my eyeballs.

I have been dazzled by the technical progress -- from one man news departments armed with one used Filmo and a carte blanche from management to cover all the news that can be covered on 2 100-foot black and white rolls, to the present maxi-coverage and mini-cams.

But my overwhelming impression of all those hours in all those years is of hair. Anchormen's hair. While mine has been going, theirs has been growing. That's what I remember best, hair. Hair carefully styled and sprayed, hair neatly parted, hair abundant, and every hair in place.

There's been a big improvement in hair styles. But I can't remember much that came out from beneath all that hair. I don't think much did. I remember the style, but not the substance. And I fear that the reason may be there wasn't much substance there.

Now, nothing I say here should be construed as relating in any way to Dan Rather. I recognize that anchormen can be brilliant as well as beautiful, and some of yours are.

Still I cannot watch the Mary Tyler Moor Show without a shudder of recognition. I know that sensible professional news director, terrified of what his idiot anchorman might say next. And I know that anchorman, in love with himself and his image, who wouldn't know a news story if it jumped up and mussed his coiffure.

And I think you know him too. And I think it makes you as uncomfortable as it makes me. And I don't care what the station managers say, I don't care what the outside professional news advisers say, I don't care what the ratings say, I say this is the continuing disgrace of this profession. The plain truth is that in a society which depends for its life on an informed citizenry, and in which most citizens receive most of their information from television, millions are getting that life-giving information from a man -- or a woman -- whose colleagues wouldn't trust to accurately report on his afternoon round of golf.

Now, I have already said that these remarks are coming from somebody who isn't an anchorman and doesn't want to be. But I would like to be proud of this profession we are in. Unfortunately, I know it to be riddled with glib, highly-paid poseurs who wouldn't last two weeks as $125-a-week cub reporters on the local newspaper. I am ashamed, I think we all ought to be ashamed, that 25 years into the television age, so many of our anchormen haven't any basis on which to make a news judgment, can't edit, can't write, and can't cover a story.

I don't object to their being stars. I know that anybody who sits down there night after night and says, "Good evening, here is the news," is going to become a star. Let me tell you something, around my office there is mighty little informed resentment of Walter Cronkite and his big salary because every one of us had reason down the years to gain respect for Walter Cronkite as a reporter. If the members of your staff have equal respect for your anchorman as a reporter, then nothing I am saying here applies to you.

That we can meet here, discuss lofty questions of ethics, and then go home to put the news in the hands of a shallow performer for the sake of a point or two in the ratings is not only shameful, it is ultimately self-defeating. Ultimately, or so I believe, substance counts more than style -- even in ratings. Walter Cronkite -- I could say the same for John Chancellor and Harry Reasoner and a handful of your anchormen and women who I won't name for fear of leaving out one or two of the best -- These people did not become much watched and much trusted by being pretty, but by being good.

Here I cite the gospel according to Severeid, who has been heard to murmur, "One good word is worth a thousand pictures." Every good anchorman is a good writer, someone who can express himself with clarity and precision and richness of language. How many are there who can do that? I say most anchormen across our country at least -- when they are called upon to express themselves -- fall back on sloppy and demeaning use of words. Good writing elevates people. Bad writing depresses people. I think one of the reasons for our national malaise is the language of advertising -- cars that are "accessorized" with radios and heaters...soaps which give you a lot of clean, pills which prevent gasid indigestion -- and the language of youth, uptight, groovy, full of hangups and copouts -- and the language of politics, at this point in time, stonewalling, taking the hangout road -- and the language of business and education with their input and feedback, opting for life styles, studying in depth. And I will just be damned if, sitting there on the edge of the bed inthose motel rooms, I do not listen to anchormen on newscasts, which should be fortresses against the language of mutilation, adopting all those usages and extending them. They just don't know any better.

I see that Charles Osgood, one of the best writers in radio and television, is going to talk about this this afternoon. Well, praise the Lord. The novelist Jean Stafford, has previously addressed herself to the question, "We do not speak and we do not write," she said. "We communicate. Well, so do dung beetles communicate with one another. Sod do sheep and rattlesnakes, and so do jackasses." I see she has been watching the news on television.

Someday, when we grow truly mature as a medium, the man or woman who sits down at that desk and says, "Good evening, here is the news," is going to be a person who cares about that news, far more than about his hair style. He is going to be a person of experience in reporting and experience in the community. He is going to be a person with a lively and curious intelligence, and with a calm and disciplined mind. Whatever he looks like, he is going to be the best reporter in the office. When that day comes, we're not going to have to worry any longer about our image as opposed to that of the opposition. Our image will rise. So will our ratings.

When that day comes, the anchorman is going to b e worth all that money he gets paid. He's going to be respected by your viewers because he's going to be worthy of that respect. He's even going to be respected by you.

That is the one thing I wanted to say before heading back out there to Crow Agency with my hair full of crackers. I have chosen to say it here because you are the ones who can help make that day come sooner, for the improvement of our craft and for the good of our country. We don't have to go on hiring hair styles instead of brains. The fault is not in our stars, but in ourselves.

[NOTE FROM AL MANN, THE
CONTRIBUTOR:]
This is a copy of the speech Charles
Kuralt delivered to RTNDA in Dallas
on September 18, 1972, which I got
from him and which I have kept in my
files.

I copied this from his original. The
punctuation and the spelling, even
the combined words, are exactly as
he typed them. The only thing I left
out were the xxxxxxxxxx'ed-out portions.

Those who were there and were inducted
into the Chili Appreciation
Society will appreciate the reference
to "crackers in the hair."

I would not presume to say how he
might feel, but I suspect he would
believe these words are more true
today than when they were delivered 25
years ago.
--Al Mann
almann@bellsouth.net
---

FOREIGN CORRESPONDENCE
HONG KONG HANDOVER -- THE VIEW FROM AFAR
by Alisha Ryu
aryu@users.AfricaOnline.Co.Ke

In Kenya, where I live, the Hong Kong handover was about as noticed as a mosquito on a baboon.

While I stared at the clock anxiously on June 30th, the Kenyans in my office casually went about their business. To them, it was just another Monday and they looked at me quizzically from time to time, wondering why my eyes were misting over watching CNN.

"Is something wrong?" they asked. "Yes, everything is wrong!" I screamed. "The greatest city on earth is turning Communist! Do you know what that means? Political uncertainty, loss of freedoms, maybe even financial collapse!" "Oh," they said. "That's First World problems. Why should WE care about that...?"

Why? Hmmm... I was stumped. I knew I cared because I lived and worked there for over two years... because I know every nook and cranny in the city... because I have money invested there... because I have life-long friends there... because Hong Kong has the best nightlife of any city on earth.. because it's one of the most free and most efficient cities in the world...

But why SHOULD it matter to anyone here? The average Kenyan makes about 50 bucks a month and lives in a country which already has political uncertainty, restricted freedoms and a financial system that's teetering toward collapse. They couldn't care less if the Hang Seng Index is up or down... if property prices are reaching ridiculous levels... if China cracked down on dissidents and jailed Martin Lee for life. None of that has any meaning to the average Joe Ngomo here.

And I'm fairly certain that goes for most Africans, Central Americans, and South Americans who are too busy trying to do things like SURVIVING.

What shocked me, though, was that the handover apparently didn't have much meaning among some people in the First World, either. On NBC, live coverage of Wimbledon tennis edged out coverage of the handover ceremonies.

So, exactly who were the eight THOUSAND journalists in Hong Kong catering to? Who ACTUALLY cared about the Hong Kong handover? Only those who live there or have lived there? Financial geeks? Corporations? Amnesty International?

The world is sometimes not as small as we would like to believe... And the handover showed just how far apart and disinterested we really are in the affairs of fellow human beings.

[EDITOR'S NOTE: Alisha Ryu is a
producer and English-language
correspondent for the German TV
network ZDF. She is based in Kenya.
Previously, she was a correspondent
for CNBC/Asia, based in Hong Kong.]

---

TROGTALK:
RELIVING GREAT MOMENTS IN
BROADCAST JOURNALISM
by Dave Linder
dlinder@vegas.infi.net

I stumbled across a weird (and wildly esoteric) website whilst following the Watergate 25th anniversary on the New York Times webpage. They had a hyperlink to something called "The Fall of the Right" a/k/a "The Twelve Stations of RMN" -- on something called the "Failure Institute" webpage (http://redwood.northcoast.com/~failinst/). Apparently it (The Failure Institute) started in NYC by an artist whose gallery owner didn't understand his "art" (JPEGs of subject on the website), so he ended up in the Redwoods area of Mendocino on the Northern California coast.

While browsing through the many different hyperlinks, I came across one (located in the "Failure 95" link), which is a hilarious sendup of Win95. Try clicking on each of the "Windows 95" icons for more neat links.

One of those neat links was a collection of 25 images the author took off a screen of a CBS Evening Newscast in 1977. The author indicates that the captions for each of the 25 images (very low-res, grainy and fuzzy pics of Unca Dan and some correspondents and key shots and even commercials) but, the captions were lost over time. He/she went on to say wouldn't it be neat if the actual 'cast (sometime in February '77) could be found on kine or videotape and audio clips corresponding to the images could be added. No such luck, but anyway, I suggest you sample the page and see if you don't keep coming back for more. It brought a tear to the eye of this ol' Trog, thinking back to the glory days of '77 and earlier.... (It's at http://redwood.northcoast.com/~failinst/cbs.htm)

Speaking of the Watergate era, MSNBC did a great job of reliving the days. For those of you who worked in those heady years, and especially, those of you who are too young to remember the era... check it out, and imagine trying to do a story of that magnitude without the advantage of ENG. Check out the 1200-foot magazines on the film cameras in the cutaways.. 1200 feet of film that had to be exposed so that one 20-second sound bite from one of the Players could be spliced into the other bites culled from four or five other film crews around the Hill and the White House. Imagine the angst waiting for the film to come out of the lab...

You young 'uns don't know how you got it made nowadays. Hmm... I recall an old timer or two reciting that same line to me in the seventies as he reminisced about his good ol' days in the sixties, and before that, in radio.

I guess David Byrne said it best for all of us generationally challenged dinosaurs: "...same as it ever was. Same as it ever was. Same as it ever was..."

[EDITOR'S NOTE: Dave Linder is old enough to
remember all of the Watergate co-conspirators,
indicted as well as unindicted. Dave left
commercial TV last year, and now heads video
production for a large and fast-growing
county government in the Western U.S.]

WHO'S WHERE

SCOTT RICHARDSON has been named Assignment Editor and Assistant News Director at WHBF-TV in Rock Island, IL. He was most recently a news photpgrapher at WOI-TV in Des Moines, IA and a freelance photographer/editor in Chicago, IL.

KRISTY MAZUREK heads to WJBK in Detroit as a reporter, from WICU in Erie, PA where she also was a reporter.

TERISA ESTACIO makes a move to KTLA in Los Angeles as a reporter. Terisa had been freelance reporting for KTVN in Reno.

GARY LOE to WDTN in Dayton, OH as a full-time staff reporter, from WKEF in Dayton.

SARA UNDERWOOD also to reporter at WDTN, from anchor at KIEM-TV in Eureka, CA.

WILLIE CHRIESTMAN, current Assistant News Director at Hearst-owned WCVB-TV in Boston moves to News Director of NBC-owned WVTM-TV in Willie's hometown of Birmingham, Alabama.

DAN SALAMONE current News Director at NBC-owned WJAR-TV in Providence has been named the new News Director at Scripps-Howard-owned WXYZ-TV in Detroit. Dan is a Emerson College graduate.

KEVIN HALE has been named Vice President and General Manager of WHBQ-TV, the FOX-owned station in Memphis, Tenn. Hale joins WHBQ from KSTW Television in Seattle, where he was Vice President and General Manager since March 1996.

BRIAN CUSTER, senior reporter at WSYX in Columbus, moves to KTVT in Dallas.

DONALD FORBES, nightcast reporter at KWCH in Wichita, will be moving to WCPX in Orlando.

SONYA SMITH, reporter at WPBN in Traverse City, is the new nightbeat reporter at Gannett's WBIR in Knoxville.

Veteran WNYW/Channel 5 (New York) news reporter Ed Miller announced last week that he is moving out of the market because of his wife's job change. At present, there is no word on his final on-air date. (NY Post)

MIKE COSTA to general assignment reporter, WNWO, Toledo, OH from reporter, WHOI, Peoria, IL.

RICHARD REEVE joins WTHR, Indianapolis, as a general assignment reporter. Reeve had done investigative and hard news reporting at WTNH-TV in New Haven, CT.

PAT COSTELLO, assistant news director at WJZ in Baltimore, to news director, KUTV, Salt Lake City. Costello replaces CON PSARRAS.

TO BE ASSIGNED (JOB OPENINGS)

MANAGING EDITOR (KTNV) Get a grip on one of the hottest news markets in the nation. KTNV-TV seeks aggressive, organized, and experienced Managing Editor to help put together the best newscasts in Las Vegas. We're an ABC affiliate with 65 news personnel and four hours of daily local news; multiple live trucks, helicopter, and digital editing. This position requires a minimum of three years' commercial newsroom experience, with an emphasis on assignment desk or management. Successful applicant will supervise news coverage efforts, from breakers to planned events. Resume, news philosophy, and references to: Perry Boxx, News Director, KTNV-TV, 3355 S. Valley View Blvd., Las Vegas, NV 89102. EOE. No phone calls please.

SPECIAL PROJECTS PRODUCER (KTNV) We're looking for that "Special Someone." Special Projects Producer needed at aggressive ABC affiliate in the nation's fastest-growing city. This position requires hands-on leadership to shape and direct individual projects, election and event coverage, and regularly scheduled franchises. You'll work closely with producers and other newsroom managers to generate compelling, promotable stories. Requires minimum 2-3 years producing or related experience. Resume, tape (if appropriate), references, and ideas to: Perry Boxx, News Director, KTNV-TV, 3355 S. Valley View Blvd., Las Vegas, NV 89102. EOE. No phone calls please.

ASSIGNMENT MANAGER (KPHO) KPHO-TV, the CBS affiliate in sunny Phoenix (17th Market), seeks an aggressive assignment manager. Candidate will oversee assignment editors and be responsible for daily coverage. Must be able to win spot news consistently and foster an environment of innovative and enterprising news coverage. Will also assist managing editor in futures planning and special events. This is a demanding job for a go-getter who loves to win. Minimum 3 years experience as an assignment editor. Rush letter and news philosophy to: KPHO-TV, Attn: Human Resources, 4016 North Black Canyon Hwy., Phoenix, AZ 85017. No phone calls please. EOE.

REPORTER (WJXT) Opening for a General Assignment Reporter. Candidates must have a minimum three years experience. Must be able to enterprise stories and avoid being handed assignments from the desk. We want applicants who understand how to produce news stories that are memorable. This is an opportunity to join one of the most respected news operations in the Southeast. Send resume and non-returnable tape to Mike Stutz, News Director, WJXT-TV, 4 Broadcast Place, Jacksonville, Florida 32247.

INVESTIGATIVE REPORTER (KPNX) Arizona's News Station, KPNX-TV 12 News, will have an opening for an Investigative Reporter. Candidates must have a degree in journalism or related field. Five years reporting experience, with a strong emphasis in investigative journalism important. Must have the highest ethical and legal standards. A thorough researcher and reporter, the successful candidate must be a clear communicator and creative storyteller. Strong skills in prioritizing and organization are essential. Experienced in computer-assisted journalism. Bilingual in Spanish a plus. Must have strong camera presence both in-studio and live. The successful candidate must be skilled in working closely with a team of other investigative reporters and producers. Job responsibilities include: enterprising stories, developing stories from tips, establish and maintain contact with sources, and developing both long-term and short-term investigations and follow-ups. Expect long hours and erratic schedule. Send tape and resume to: Janice S. Gin, Managing Editor, KPNX-TV News, 1101 N. Central Avenue, Phoenix, AZ 85004 (602) 257-6559

GENERAL ASSIGNMENT REPORTER (KPNX) Arizona's News Station, KPNX-TV 12 News, is looking for a General Assignment Reporter. Must be a solid, creative storyteller with strong camera presence, both in-studio and live. Five years reporting experience required. Bilingual in English and Spanish a plus. Job responsibilities include responding quickly and confidently to spot news, enterprising stories, establishing and maintaining contacts, daily contribution to editorial meetings, careful and thorough research, actively and constantly pursuing follow-up stories, and skillfully using public documents and public records. Must have high ethical and legal standards. Variable schedule and long hours to be expected. Send tape and resume to: Janice S. Gin, Managing Editor, KPNX-TV News, 1101 N. Central Avenue, Phoenix, AZ 85004 (602) 257- 6559.

CONSUMER REPORTER (KPHO) KPHO-TV, the CBS Affiliate in Phoenix (17th Market), seeks a Consumer Reporter to join its award-winning '5 Investigates', unit. The qualified candidate will have extensive experience in researching, producing, and reporting consumer/investigative stories that are solution-oriented. Experience in computer-assisted reporting a plus. Minimum 3 years experience as a reporter at a commercial television station. Rush resume, recent tape, and cover letter to: KPHO-TV, Human Resources, 4016 N. Black Canyon Hwy., Phoenix, AZ 85017. No phone calls please. EOE.

ASSIGNMENT EDITORS (KNSD) Looking to work for a NBC O & O in beautiful San Diego? We are looking to build a pool of candidates for future openings. Looking for day-side, nightside and weekend assignment editors. Please let me know what position you would be interested in...and those you wouldn't. Candidates will have 2 years of desk experience. Will track all breaking news stories and be able to assign crews to reporters. Will help desk keep track of developments in old stories as well as develop fresh ideas. Will monitor scanner traffic, phone tips and do daily beat checks. Will also coordinate satellite and microwave remotes. Send resume and short news philosophy to NBC 7/39, Lon Tegels, Assignment Manager. 8330 Engineer Road, San Diego, CA 92111.

ASSIGNMENT DESK/PRODUCER (WWLP-TV, SPRINGFIELD, MA) WWLP, an NBC affiliate serving western Massachusetts and number 1 station in our market, has a full-time position available for an Assignment Desk/Producer in our News Department. The candidate for this position will manage the assignment desk on the weekends and will be trained as a frequent fill-in producer. This individual must have excellent news judgment, be well organized, persistent and reliable. Strong telephone, writing and communication skills are a must. Hours will vary. Experience is preferred. Please mail or fax resumes to Brian Zelasko, News Director, WWLP-TV22, P.O. Box 2210, Springfield, MA 01102-2210. Fax 1-413-786- 8179. To reply by e-mail: <news@wwlp.com>. Please, no telephone calls!

REPORTER (KSNW) KSNW, Wichita's NBC affiliate, has an opening for a general assignment reporter. We do a lot of news and we continue to expand. Are you a great story teller? Do you have a college degree and 2 years reporting experience? Then we want to see your tape! No phone calls please. Mail to Human Resources Manager, KSNW-TV, P.O. BOX 333, Wichita, KS 67203. TWO (2) ANCHOR/REPORTERS (KTBS) Seeking a hard working anchor/reporter with 2-3 years experience that includes plenty of live work. Send VHS or Beta tape and resume to: Personnel Director, KTBS-TV, 312 East Kings Highway, Shreveport, LA 71104

REPORTER (KTBS) A storyteller. Must be aggressive, responsible and resourceful team player. Degree in journalism or related field a must; one year experience preferred. Send VHS or beta tape and resume to: Personnel Director, KTBS-TV, 312 East Kings Highway, Shreveport, LA 71104

REPORTER (KWCH) The dominant market leader in Wichita is looking for an aggressive General Assignment reporter who can enterprise hard-hitting stories for our #1 newscast. If you're a compelling story-teller with strong live skills, send tape and resume to Asst. News Director, Jan Arrant, P.O.Box 12, Wichita, KS 67201.

NEWS DIRECTOR (WPBN/WTOM) Beautiful resort area in Northern Michigan is searching for an aggressive, hardworking News Director. This person is an assistant ND or EP in a medium, to large market, or ND in smaller market who is take charge type and isn't afraid to think out of the box. If you don't have that burning desire to be number one and aren't willing to put in the time to get there, please don't apply. Send resume, current salary and references to Gary Anderson, VP/GM, WPBN/WTOM TV PO Box 546, Traverse City, MI 49684 EOE

TV NEWS REPORTER (WICU/WFXP) NBC/FOX affiliate in Erie, Pennsylvania has an immediate opening for a general assignment reporter. Looking for a person with a great attitude and even greater ability to generate story ideas and present them in an interesting fashion. Journalism background and at least some television experience necessary. Please send resume, references, and non-returnable VHS or 3/4-inch tape to Mike Conway, News Director, WICU/WFXP-TV, 3514 State St., Erie, PA 16508. EOE. Minorities encouraged to apply. No phone calls please.

ASSISTANT NEWS DIRECTOR (KGW) KGW's newsroom has an opening for an Assistant News Director. This position requires at least 5 years news producing / news management experience, strong journalism background and successful track record. You will be responsible to oversee news department operations -- supervise, assist and coach news producers, reporters and assignment editors, evaluate news story selection and execution, and trouble shoot for the newsroom. Send resume to: Kathy Copeland, KGW Northwest NewsChannel 8, 1501 SW Jefferson St., Portland, OR 97201 EOE M/F/D/V

OVERNIGHT REPORTER/ASSISTANT PRODUCER (KTIV) Gather, write and produce television news copy, audio tape and video tape reports. Seek leads on possible news stories. Time and list news feeds as needed. Assist Morning Producer on items needed for AM newscasts. Honor invitations for public speaking engagements as warranted. Other news-related duties as assigned. Experience necessary. Will consider strong internship. Degree in journalism or related field. The desire to learn, work well with others and to win. To apply, send resume and non-returnable 3/4" or VHS tape (NO PHONE CALLS) to: Dave Nixon, News Director, KTIV-TV, 3135 Floyd Blvd., Sioux City, IA 51108.

NEWS DIRECTOR (WPBN) Beautiful resort area in Northern Michigan is searching for an aggressive, hardworking News Director. This person is an assistant ND or EP in a medium, to large market, or ND in smaller market who is take charge type and isn't afraid to think out of the box. If you don't have that burning desire to be number one and aren't willing to put in the time to get there, please don't apply. Send resume, current salary and references to Gary Anderson, VP/GM, WPBN/WTOM TV PO Box 546, Traverse City, MI 49684 EOE

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