Transcripts For KCSM Running On Empty The Brain Drain In Loc

KCSM Running On Empty The Brain Drain In Local TV News July 28, 2014

Unreal. If i was working at a station right now doing journalism, which i love, then i would be very frustrated and depressed. Were almost there. Were, like, ten minutes away, dude. If most of the people are relying on local Television News to inform them, um, then, you know, in a lot of cities in this country, i think democracys in trouble. So i guess if i had all the money in the world, i would put, you know, 40something reporters back to work in tv. Were now settling for tokenism when it comes to journalism, and i just couldnt do it anymore. I justwhats the point . To live the lie . Wow. Theres austin, tyler. Austin its just great to get here finally. Tyler, we made it. Schwanbeck Investigative Reporter Dwayne Pullman left a sixfigure salary and a threeyear Contract Offer at wewstv in cleveland, ohio, to start over. We caught up with him a few exits before reaching austin, texas, where dwayne and his eightyearold son, tyler, were headed to help start a new online venture with no guarantees. How are you . Fine. How are you . Tired. Wow. Schwanbeck this is a story about two kinds of tv reporters who are in their 40s and 50s the ones who quit their jobs to see if they could do better journalism on their own terms and those who got out of the mainstream News Business altogether because they quit out of frustration or were forced out because they were too expensive. Im bill schwanbeck, and thats my wife, karin, in the green shirt. Were former tv reporters who decided to crisscross the country to bring you their stories. We noticed newsroom layoffs picked up speed in 2008 and 2009. Journalism has hit bottom. Many newspapers have only half as many journalists covering the town they used to cover. Tv stations, even less than half. Radio as well. And so, in a sense, americas in a postjournalism moment. Schwanbeck many reporters say they are fed up with the shallowness of local tv news. How about you . One dallas station did a story on, yep, selfstimulation. Thats rare, and when part of the pair becomes doityourself, guys, relationships can suffer. Youre only supposed to want to be with me. But the benefits of men going it alone are many, Health Experts say. High heelsthey can elongate a leg, make an outfit look more polished, or simply give a woman confidence. For sure. A spider monkey is on the loose in lake county. The monkey ran off into the woods near the north lake flea market in Fruitland Park this afternoon. We had been blessed with great journalists as news directors, and then the management of the place did a 180, and it was about flash and trash. It was about fashion tips and the most superficial stuff of almost this desperate of, how can we get them to watch . Because the numbers for all the local stations here, theyre going off a cliff. I mean, theres an exodus of people leaving, and i believe they drove them away. They just so dumbed it down that they made themselves irrelevant. Television new has made itself irrelevant to the public debate about major issues in this country. I do see akind of the best memories of growing up in east texas. But, you know, i wound up east and all and kind of fell away from it, and you forgot how much you loved horses. I wish i had started this earlier. Schwanbeck texas native robert riggs decided to replace news directors with horses, this after winning several top National Awards for his investigative reporting, primarily working at wfaatv in dallas for 19 years. His coverage ranged from corruption at Dallas City Hall to military conditions during the gulf war. The desert sand is as fine as talcum powder, and it grinds like sandpaper. The bradley carries a sixman infantry squadron into battle inside this small compartment. Schwanbeck his career ended after six years at ktvt, the cbs station in dallas, where the mindset was not why he got into journalism. We had a change of news management in which the news manager comes into the Investigative Unit and, you know, what are you working on . Well, we have ready to go an investigation based on some earlier things we did about mortgage fraud, but weve taken it a step further. Weve talked to underwriters who talk about the whole Mortgage Securities industry. The bottom can drop out because the underwriting was faulty. Everybody was fudging numbers because there was big money to be made, and there were commissions to be made. And weve got this piece ready to go. And the new news director looked at me and said, you know, robert, that sounds like an issue story. Thatswere not going to do issue stories here. Were not about issue stories. Thats a good boy. Hes a good boy. Schwanbeck we caught up with robert at an Equestrian Center in dallas two years after he got out of tv news for good. But robert still saddles up his journalistic instincts. He and his wife, beth, ride now, so theyre more informed about the Equestrian Training videos theyre producing. This takes another type of energy, maybe easier than the one robert needed in the newsroom. Yes yay, robert they were a giant speed bump. The management of the station was a giant speed bump. And this was stories about the war in iraq, stories about terrorism, stories about mortgage fraud, stories about Dallas City Hall corruption. We fought the management harder to get those stories on the air than we did the subjects of the stories. Schwanbeck he and his wife were in the middle of moving out of their house and downsizing to a condo, boxing up memories of a career loaded with awardwinning journalism. Im one of those older experienced reporters and so was my producer who had peabodys and duponts, and we were both shown the door, you know, for cutbacks. But it wasnt long after we left, suddenly young rookies who you would have never seen on the air years ago in a market this size were on the air. Nobody really understands the dynamics very well. Schwanbeck dr. Robert picard of boston teaches and writes about journalism. What weve seen happening in the last decade or so has been that, very often, those people, because theyre now 20 and 30 years into their careers, are very expensive people to maintain. They want to do journalism in a different way than many people want to Fund Journalism to be done today, and so theyve kind of let those people go. Schwanbeck riggs says thats not the only reason. We were like, theyre going to get rid of us. They dont like us. They dont understand what we do. They do not want to do what we do, because it risks lawsuits, which are costly. They didnt care if you were right. It was like, oh, please. We just dont want to get sued. Just do something here that doesnt get us sued, cause we dont want the expense of the legal fees. And then god forbid you offend an advertiser. O master, grant that i may never seek so much to be consoled as to console schwanbeck leslie olsen uses her voice to inspire now, not inform. She spent 28 years as the weekday education reporter at wishtv in indianapolis. At danville high school, there are currently 6 girls pregnant out of 400. Thats 1. 5 . Schwanbeck then she was assigned to weekend general assignment reporting. So at the age of 52, with a young daughter to care for, leslie quit. Hi, giselle. Send request. Cool. He has the same name as me. See . Alex. I also felt like, im 52 years old. I am wellpaid, and how long really are they going to let me continue to do this . What it does mean is, yes, they can hire two or three new people right out of college to come in and do the job that i was doing, except that i dont think any of them can really do the job that i was doing, because they dont have the experience or the contacts and resources that i have. Are you . Uhhuh. Cool. I can do it for you. I hope its a nice picture. It is. Youre in your, like, green suit that you like. Yeah . And then you have, like, a black gown, and youre going like this. Oh, im sure thats beautiful. And the good thing about being there for 28 years was that what goes around comes around, and i could show a program and the kickoff to it, and then i could come back, and i did that so many times several years later and take a look at how it was succeeding or not succeeding. St. Vincent Vice President and medical doctor robert lovitz is in charge of hospital emergency preparedness. He says his staff is ready for h1n1. I think that we are cheating parents and the community when were not analyzing information, were not investigating more information, were not following through with the stories we start. Im getting ready to put some video on it, but its not on there yet. Im meeting with my video guy to do that this week. Schwanbeck leslie went on to run her own Consulting Company out of her home. But before she left her tv station, leslie offered to train her young replacement. When i left, i asked the general manager if he knew who was going to replace me because i wanted to give them a headsup and give them some of my Contact Information and things like that, and he was very nice about it. He said, i cant really say that well replace you in that beat. You did a great job with it, and had you stayed, we would have continued with it, but otherwise i dont really see a need to continue with that beat. Schwanbeck tom cochrun was leslies news director when he was at wishtv, but he left before he could fight for her. Its a travesty. She did not need to be let go. They could have found a way to keep her on. There would have been a way to sort of explain and justify. I think that there was probably a new bookkeeper news director who was in place who thought, well, this is a way to recover some expenses, because leslie had been there 28 years, and her salary had reached a level that was decent, and this is a way to make a big savings on the bottom line. But not to replace the beat and not to allow her to train someone, at least to hand over her rolodex or introduce her to some of her sources, is idiocy. Its just idiocy. Schwanbeck tom is now out of tv news after 42 years. In the spring of 2010, tom was inducted into the indiana journalism hall of fame. It is his friendship that many of those colleagues in so many newsrooms will remember the most. So, ladies and gentlemen, it is my privilege to introduce halloffamer tom cochrun. [applause] does american journalism have a role in challenging some of the distortions and fully fabricated lies that come from some of the political and media windbags of the day, lies that get believed as gospel . How can we stand before god and our fellow man and call ourselves journalists if we offer news with a particular hue or leaning or tilt . Schwanbeck tom remembers the days when he fought for his newsroom staffers, days when he had to steel himself for the fight with the folks upstairs. Its almost a hopeless battle. Ive been in budget presentations, sitting across the table from the ceo and the cfo, and i am defending my news budget. That was the term we used. Defending why i wanted this kind of money for a helicopter or helicopter repair, for example, or why i wanted to add staff or why i wanted some additional edit equipment, whatever whatever the issues were. Youre defending that. Now, theres a point at which you can been emphatic, and theres a point at which you can cross the line, where you now are sort of making the ceo or the cfo uncomfortable. I think theres absolutely nothing wrong with making the point, and if that makes a ceo or the cfo uncomfortable, so be it, because, to a certain extent, you have god on your side im being, you know, silly about thatbut youre on the side of right, because youre talking about a product that affects human beings. Youre not just talking about a product that is only numbers on a page that is a profit line, a revenue line. All right. Here we go. [shutter clicks] do we just leave our future of journalism on the whim and hope that there will be others who will have that attitude or share it . Or do we try to inspire it . Do we try to teach it . Do we sort of applaud it when we see it . And do we condemn it when we see it going the other way . Well, as long as you have a little bit of, you know, voice, as long as you have a little bit of stature, as long as you have a little bit of a set of ears listening to you, then i think you can fight those fights. Was ever such. Ultimately the guy with the biggest stick is going to win. In this day and ageand i really didnt think this would ever come to this. In this day and age, particularly in a recession, the advertiser has the big stick, and youve got people in management that are more concerned about their next bonus and their Stock Options than they are journalism. I found there was a cheapening of journalism. There were nights with the last company i was with that, you know, i would be on set waiting for them to come to me, and id be embarrassed about what i was surrounded by. It was like being in a junkyard. And Tracy Rowlett was the anchorman there, and i felt sorry for tracy. He had this sterling reputation. I was like, how is he reading this . How can he gut it up to read this is awful. This is not news. It shouldnt be on the air. Its hair care tips. Its fashion tips. It is the lowest common denominator of what a group of executives in new york think will sell. Its not journalism. Schwanbeck granite broadcasting is a tv group headquartered in new york city. Like many broadcast groups, it joined the trend of buying and selling stations. Granite bought wtvh, channel 5 in syracuse, from Meredith Corporation in 1993. Dave bullard had been a reporter at channel 5 for nine years. When granite took over, dave said he saw the handwriting on the wall and left. Five years later, he started a webbased news publication in oswego county, new york, in 1999. As owner, editor, and reporter, he now gets the chance to do Hyperlocal News coverage. Its not profitable, but hes meeting expenses. I will say that, you know, under meredith, i saw myself being able to retire from there, and i knew that would not be possible under granite. I knew that they were going to have to make changes, were making changes, and that they did not keep the best interests of their employees in mind. I knew they werent going to. They couldnt. They were under such a crushing load of debt that they had to do things that were not in the interest of keeping longterm employees. Understood it; im in business myself; i get it. Schwanbeck bullard worked with legendary anchor ron curtis at channel 5. Here, curtis hosts a show commemorating the stations 50th anniversary in 1998. The technology has changed over 50 years and continues to evolve, but one thing will never change our commitment to you. Schwanbeck but in 2009, changes were in the offing for wtvh. Red Services Agreement with barrington broadcasting, which owns channel 3 in syracuse. That meant more than 40 employees here at wtvh were let go. The facility was put up for sale, and the employees at the competitor down the street, wstm channel 3, would now do newscasts for both stations. How does that work . Well, it means viewers who watch wtvh news are really watching news produced at wstm, although they dont come out and say so. Good evening. Im michael benny. Youre watching the only local newscast to give you the biggest stories of the day and the forecast right off the top. Schwanbeck the news anchors and weathercasters are different, but the reporters and the sports guy are the same. Check it out. The Syracuse School district is ready to sign a 28 million lease with a private developer for the use of this complex. There are two open missing persons cases here in oneida, one from 1981, one from 1993. One thing else we should at least get a chance to see, the highly touted pitcher stephen strasburg. Schwanbeck we tried three times to get former granite ceo don cornwell to explain why wtvh merged with a competitor in syracuse. But he declined, as noted in this email from cornwell. He did issue, though, a published statement when he stepped down as ceo in 2009. Your reaction to don . What exactly did he accomplish . I cant point to a single great accomplishment by a granite television station in syracuse, other than running the place into the ground. I dont mean to be harsh, but, you know, to make a laudatory statement when you are basically waving the white flag is not just tonedeaf; its infuriating to the people who really, really put their hearts and their souls and their blood and their guts into trying to build something, you know. We knew we had a good operation at channel 5. We knew we had longtime journalists, longtime photographers photographers you could send out as journalists and theyd come back with a story because they knew what they were talking about. Great photographers, awardwinning photographers. We won the first emmy ever in central new york. I mean, you know, we had a good shop. Great anchors, great management in the newsroom. All of that worked, and it was slowly and inexorably dismantled by don cornwell and his partner in the service of investment bankers, whoall they wanted was their money back. Dont blame them for that. They gave the money. They deserve to have it back. But syracuse lost, and to, you know, raise your hand in celebration like that, it strikes me as tonedeaf and insensitive. And, don, i hope you see this, because youre wrong. You didnt build a thing. Youve managed to tear it all down. And, scott, whats transped since last you spoke with us . Something that i never thought id see, ron. Lee alexander walked out of the federal courthouse less than. Schwanbeck Scott Atkinson was a News Reporter at channel 5 in syracuse for 17 years. He left market 82 and moved on to become news director here at wwnytv in watertown, new york, market size 176. How do you feel about the afternoon of the 22nd for taping . Schwanbeck the small familyowned station is a step back sizewise, but its a comfort for scott, as he looks back on how his old station, wtvh, changed under granite. [sighs] what do you say to people without being really, really unkind to them . You know, i dont have anything against don cornwell personally. If he were standing here, hed go, well, it was just business. And hes right, and im wrong. It really was just business. But for any of us who loved this stuff, who felt some special whatever to it, thats an obscenity. I mean, thats just wrong. Channel 5 is gone. Theres an empty building sitting on james street. Theyve got, like, t

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