Michael Fabac On the Beach

KXAN’s News Director Fired

With several days left in the May Sweeps, KXAN TV (NBC) news director Michael Fabac is gone.

Word is that he was shown the door Friday, May 18^th, but the staff was not informed until Monday, May 21^st. The staff email announcement was typical:

“Michael Fabac is no longer with KXAN, deciding to pursue other opportunities. We wish him the best in his future endeavors.

“My door is open if anyone has any questions.

“Best,

“ERIC LASSBERG | PRESIDENT & GENERAL MANAGER |
KXAN.KNVA.KBVO
LIN Media”

No further comment has been available from either Lassberg or LIN Media in Providence, Rhode Island.

Experience says that no personnel decisions are made without the nod of corporate officials in Providence. Certainly, approval of the firing of a news director would have come from LIN Media.

Yet, the time of Fabac’s departure is a head-scratcher. The important May Neilson Sweeps still have a day or so to go. No, KXAN reportedly isn’t doing as well as it has recently, but the station isn’t faltering badly either. As recently as February, KXAN News was a solid #2 overall and #1 in key time slots like 6 a.m. and 6 p.m. So, it wouldn’t seem that poor ratings resulted in a change.

This writer pointed out a month ago that KXAN has been slow to fill several staff positions. They still need a third weekend morning anchor, a meteorologist, and a sportscaster. Reporter positions may also remain vacant, although the station has made three recent hires.

Reporters equal content. Content is king. Without content, an audience has little reason for watching.

One online report indicated that newsroom staffers were rejoicing with the departure. That MediaBistro report is not accurate. Many staffers expressed great respect and now sympathy for Fabac.

“I am so sad to see you go. Know that I appreciated you at KXAN and hope wherever opportunities take you that you know you are a good person!

“Looking forward to working with you again someday friend,” said one true friend on Facebook.

“I have a lot of respect for him,” said another. “I’ve never seen him yell in the newsroom. I think he was a great manager, one of the more rational decision-makers around.”

Still the question of the time of his departure remains. The only answer from staffers contacted was that the corporate office might have been concerned about the flurry of fairly recent resignations. “They were leaving for other opportunities for their own reasons,” said one worker in a position to know their motives. Even so, why take action against Fabac so suddenly?

Fabac came to KXAN in January, 2007 having previously been a news director in Detroit and Little Rock. In Detroit he was named in a lawsuit filed by a fired employee. In Little Rock he was sometimes unpredictable. However, his track record in all markets was one of relative success.

Sources say for the time being, assistant news director Alicia Dean will handle day-to-day editorial decisions while general manager Eric Lassberg will deal with policy matters.

© Jim McNabb, 2012

Going ... Going ...

Gale Soon to be Gone

The “face” of KVUE-TV’s (ABC) “Daybreak” and midday news for some 14-years is about to change. Anchor Melissa Gale today emailed the morning crew that she is leaving.

Details posted on Culture Map Austin: http://austin.culturemap.com/newsdetail/05-16-12-17-12-melissa-gale-kvue-long-time-morning-anchor-resigns/

Austin Broadcast Journalism Has a Doctor

Dr. Kate

Kate Weidaw, KXAN TV (NBC) morning reporter can claim something separating herself from all other working broadcast journalists in the Austin market. As of May 19^th she will hold the official title of Dr. Kate Weidaw, having completed and defended her dissertation leading to a Doctorate of Philosophy in Broadcast Journalism.

Having not examined the resumes of all reporters and anchors in town, there may be somebody else with that advance degree, but I don’t think so.

When Dr. Weidaw and her husband Nathan West, came to Austin to interview for the morning job in April, 2004, she had higher education on her mind.

“My plan when I came to Austin was to pursue a master’s,” Weidaw says. Prior to moving here, I was in Harrisburg, PA and was accepted into Shippensburg University. However, I never planned to get a Ph.D. It’s thanks to my advisor Dr. Don Heider who suggested I continue on with my studies if I ever wanted to pursue a tenured track position at a university.”

It was Weidaw’s mother who promoted a future in education, Weidaw says. “Call it more of a backup plan. Since I was a kid, all I wanted to do was become a TV reporter. But because it is such a competitive field my mom told me to make sure I had a backup plan in life. Since I taught swimming lessons and liked teaching I decided to pick up a second bachelor’s degree at UMass in elementary education. But as soon as I started doing my student teaching I knew it was not for me.”

Teaching is for Weidaw now. In addition to a full-time job at KXAN, finishing her PhD, and being a mother, Weidaw has been teaching a Broadcast Journalism course at St. Edward’s University this year.

“St. Edward’s is an amazing school with bright, energetic students. I am beyond thankful for Dr. Marilyn Schultz,” Weidaw says. A few months before she passed away she asked me if I would like to teach the class, a class she started at the university. It has been an amazing experience.”

What’s amazing, perhaps, is how did she did it all—Teach, work full-time at KXAN, work on her doctorate, and be a mom and wife.

“Being in news you become good at time management, so this was carried over to working full time and going to school part time. Prior to having my son two years ago I took classes in the afternoon and studied after getting off work. However, once my little boy came along quiet afternoon hours to study at home were out, so I started using the overnight hours on the weekend to get my work done. Since I get up at 2 a.m. Monday thru Friday for the morning show on KXAN, I decided to do that on both Saturday and Sunday, that way I didn’t miss spending time with my family.”

“I also have to give a TON of credit to my husband,” Weidaw continues. “He has been my biggest supporter and has been the one at home taking care of everything while I work overnight, come home quickly after work, and then head off to St. Edward’s to teach some afternoons or head off to class at UT.

“It’s been a long seven years between my Masters and Ph.D. but well worth every minute.”

So, you may wonder, what were the focuses of her master’s and PhD? They are scary subjects in tender territory. The master’s thesis might make some tremble.

“I looked at the use of consultants in the newsroom. This paper is now published in the Journal of Broadcasting and Electronic Media. (http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/08838151.2011.546249) I’ve been fascinated by the uses of consultants in conjunction with news decisions,” she says.

Almost all Austin TV stations do audience research on their strengths and weaknesses, including the anchors on the air. Sometimes the findings are useful. Sometimes is a waste, in this writer’s experience.

For her PhD, she tackled a controversial practice that has cropped up in local markets within the past few years where stations are looking for ways to do more with less. “My dissertation concerns the local news pool. That’s where television stations within a single market like Austin, Texas, form a cooperative agreement with the competition to share content such as video and interviews. I analyzed not only Austin but also the Tampa, Florida, and Denver, Colorado, markets.”

In this writer’s opinion this sort of homogeneity is seen as lazy at best and dangerous at worst to journalism purists. Most of the stories covered with a pool camera are fluff or news conferences where every medium might get the same material anyway. Arguably, however, a good reporter, not working as part of the pool, can make much more of these stories than just filler. I have not seen Weidaw’s findings, but I would like to read it.

So, what does the future hold for Dr. Kate Weidaw?

“I am now looking forward to sleeping-in on my weekends, spending more time with my family, and having a few date nights with my husband Nathan. I have given up any type of social life for the past two years,” she says.

What about her professional future? Does it include getting up at 2 a.m.?

“As far as the future is concerned I really admire and look up to Dr. Melissa Harris-Perry. She is not only a professor at Tulane University but also does a show on MSNBC. I think it would be very rewarding to not only teach at a prestigious university but also continue working in the profession that I love.”

© Jim McNabb, 2012

Subtle Changes for Sweeps

Subtle Changes for Summer Sweeps

Sharp-eye, savvy viewers already notice the changes at KXAN TV (NBC).

Just in time for the relatively unimportant July “sweeps”, KXAN trotted out a new look—new graphics for everything—from the weather, to the background on the set, to the front of the set, to the “supers” or identifiers on the screen, to the sports.

[“Supers” are the old-school term for the identifiers that viewers see over someone speaking during a story. The words were literally superimposed. Two pictures, one with the person talking, and another with the letters on a card, were mixed for a moment. A little TV trivia.]

Anyway, back to KXAN’s new graphics: It’s a clean, uncluttered look. It’s an attempt to repackage their news product.

And, oh, there is one other significant change in the KXAN identity. No longer do reporters say, “Live from wherever, Tina Great-Tan, for KXAN Austin News.” Now, they simply say, “…Tina Great-Tan, KXAN News.” Why is that significant? While KEYE TV (CBS) uses the phrase, “We are Austin”, KXAN wanted viewers to hear that KXAN New IS Austin news. It was the battle for the best slogans.

Personally, I always thought that it was silly saying, “In Georgetown, I’m Tina Great-Tan for KXAN AUSTIN News.” Or my all-time favorite: “In the studio, Tina Great-Tan for KXAN Austin News. It’s TV. Viewers can see where you are, especially if you were just talking to the anchors.

The theme music seems to be the same as it was before. It’s important to keep some things constant. Otherwise, viewers wonder what’s going on behind the scenes.

What’s going on behind the scenes is this: KVUE TV (ABC) remains the dominate station for news in the Austin market. KXAN had chipped into KVUE’s weekday morning ratings for a while, but KVUE won them back, even though KXAN got the Texas Associated Press Broadcasters’ award for best morning news team. Now, both stations are starting their day at 4:30 a.m., pushed back from 5 p.m.

Noteworthy too in the morning TV wars, KEYE-TV (CBS) pulled the plug on their radio-on-TV morning experiment. They’re back with a two person morning team promising to be “different from anything else” on the air in the mornings. KEYE hopes to pull itself out of last place. It’s going to be tough.

In the all-important May ratings, KVUE won almost every hour of the broadcast day.

There was one glimmer of glory, tinged with a bit of irony. KXAN News was #1 at 6 and 10 p.m. on Saturday nights. The irony is that those newscasts are anchored by David Scott. Scott was the weekday 6 and 10 anchor in the 1990s when KXAN News was “perennial number three” in the words of former Austin American-Statesman TV writer Diane Holloway.

We’ll see if the repackaging changes anything.

© Jim McNabb, 2011

You May Have Noticed ...

URL:http://austin.culturemap.com/newsdetail/07-13-11-17-01-subtle-changes-for-summer-sweeps/

NewsMcNabb is now posting to CultureMap Austin.

McHenry--The New KXAN TV Weekend Morning Anchor

Welcome Back

Catenya McHenry is now KXAN TV’s (NBC) new weekend morning anchor. She blurted out the announcement this past weekend on her Facebook page. “I’m so excited and thrilled to say I’m the new weekend morning anchor. I’m ecstatic about the opportunity!” She replaces Jenny Hoff who was awarded a fellowship to study in Germany.

For months, Ms. McHenry has been on the air at KTBC as a reporter. No one would say anything about her presence or future. Management described her status as “temporary”. Her picture and bio were not included on the staff page with all of the rest of newsroom, but McHenry is a familiar face. She reported on KXAN in the late 1990s.

Then, she stepped away from broadcast news for several years. Here, she worked for a while in the public information office of the Austin Independent School District. She was also a TV reporter in Universal Pictures “Miss Congeniality” starring Sandra Bullock. While dabbling in acting, she did freelance work.

Now, she’s back where she belongs: Austin TV news. When Catenya McHenry smiles, you know she’s happy, and she’s smiling most of the time.

There is another familiar face back on the air in Austin. Chris Coffey is reporting for KEYE TV (CBS). Coffey was the award-winning investigative reporter for “7 On Your Side” on KTBC TV (Fox) from 2004 through mid-summer 2009 when Fox failed to renew his contract. Coffey was laid-off with six other news employees in a cost-cutting move. Coffey went to work for KEYE in March. (I’m just catching up.)

KXAN wins the award for the most new reporters, in addition to Ms. McHenry.

Jerrod Wise started work May 12^th as a “multi-platform journalist” (AKA “one-man-band”). He’s in constant fear: He’s an University of Oklahoma Sooner and a native of Oklahoma.

Chris Sadeghi is a native Texan and a Longhorn. He joined KXAN in April, 2010.

Jacqueline Ingles is a native of Chicago covering “The Hill Country” for KXAN. She been on board since last November, but it’s worth noting that she graduated summa cum laude from Loyola before earning her master’s at the Medill School of Journalism at Northwestern.

KXAN reporter Josh Hinkle also has a MA. His master’s is from Missouri. His undergraduate degree is from Oklahoma State.

It appears that the staffs at KVUE, KTBC, and News 8 have been rather stable—very little change lately. It comes in cycles, however once one gets to Austin, they often stay even if they leave the news business. If they do leave, they often come back. Funny how that works out.

© Jim McNabb, 2010

Too Much Crime Coverage by Austin TV?

Covering Cops

“Isn’t there more crime coverage in Austin now than before,” a friend asked me a few weeks ago. I too harbored the same suspicions. It seemed like the top of every TV newscast led with crime scene video, and mug shot, and more. The Austin American-Statesman’s page 2, B-section has a box filled with a digest of death and criminal deeds. I fear that we are desensitized by all the entertainment crime shows which come close to reality. Having covered cops, I watch few crime shows. I don’t need to watch when I’ve seen the real thing.

In this age of doing more with less, crime coverage is fast and easy, down and dirty. All of the available facts are fed to you. The video is often compelling. Fires also fit into this category. It is ironic; however, that the green reporters are given the cop shop/crime beat. “Covering crime should not be easy, rather it should be one of the most difficult stories we take on,” says Kevin Benz, News Director of News 8.

Covering cops and crime is fraught with danger. Yes, my life was threatened several times. Indeed, after an inmate in the Travis County Jail called me at home at 2 a.m. after I covered his murder arrest the previous day, I had my home address erased from the phone book. More, crime reporters need to know applicable laws and answers to numerous ethical questions.

It was this perceived increase in crime coverage that lead to my recent content analysis of Austin TV stations. Is it real or perceived? The snap-shot analysis was for the newscasts Friday, August 28th and Monday, August 31st looking only at the 6 and 10 O’clock newscasts. I cannot compare crime coverage to another bench mark. I can only draw conclusions from these two days newscasts. Of course, there isn’t major crime and/or catastrophe every day, thank goodness.

Crime or mayhem, such as an apartment fire led the newscasts seven times out of 17 newscasts viewed. Another story of that type was often the second story.

By far, the station with the most crime coverage was KXAN TV (NBC) with 23 stories, often with live shots or full stories with a reporter’s voice track along with sound and video, commonly called packages. Coming in second for crime coverage these days was KEYE (CBS) with 12. KVUE TV (ABC) had ten, and News 8 (Time-Warner) had only one. It is noteworthy that in Friday’s 6 O’clock KXAN’s David Scott covered a community meeting where residents were working to reduce crime. That did not count as a “crime” story per se.

So, if it seems to you that there is more crime coverage nowadays, you may be watching KXAN. They definitely had the most these two days. In the Friday, August 28th 10 O’clock, their first seven stories were about crime or fire—almost all of the first segment. There were only two short stories before the first break at 10:10 p.m. The first five stories were also about crime or catastrophe on KEYE. One KVUE the first three were about the three-alarm fire that evening or crime. All, of course, led with the three-alarmer. “Flamage” is always compelling video. Who will turn away from a raging fire?

Now, a little history:

When I came back to TV news in 1983, I wanted to cover politics, but Carole Kneeland was covering the Capitol for both WFAA and KVUE. So, I picked the copy shop, knowing one could always find a story there. In the mid-80s Austin had a record year for traffic fatalities and homicides. We decided not to air video of all of them, not wanting to have bodies on the air almost every night.

By 1989, I was at KXAN and Ms. Kneeland was now news director at KVUE and later vice president for news. She enacted a five-point policy on crime coverage that received national attention. KVUE news managers must measure coverage by the answers to five questions: Is the crime a threat to public safety? Is the crime a threat to children? Does the viewer need to take action? Will it have significant community impact? Does the story lend itself to a crime-fighting or prevention effort? Critics said that such a policy would filter the news. Kneeland, on the other hand, sought to move away from what she saw as gratuitous or sensational coverage that glorified the crooks instead of providing useful information to viewers.

Kneeland lost her battle with breast cancer at 50 in 1998. After Kneeland’s death, friends and husband Dave McNeely, created the Carole Kneeland Project for Responsible Journalism to train news managers in ethics and leadership. News 8’s Kevin Benz is a trainer for the Carole Kneeland Project.

Benz broadened Kneeland’s crime questions to more than four pages of guidelines given to his staff. There is little wonder that News 8 had the least crime coverage in the content analysis. “Too often when it comes to crime coverage, newsrooms work on gut reaction. We tend to report first and discuss second,” Benz says. His guidelines require reporters to “dig deeper, ask more questions, and reflect on what we are saying to our viewers.

Current KVUE News Director Frank Volpicella also has a passion for the correct way to cover crime. “The Crime Project was a very noble initiative. It came about after careful consideration and concern that crime coverage was taking up too much of KVUE’s air time. I didn’t agree with the entire policy when I arrived at KVUE nine years ago. I still don’t,” Volpicella says. “While noble in creation, it also created a culture of laziness. If the story didn’t meet the guidelines, it likely was automatically dismissed. No one made a call. No one asked the tough questions. “

“The KVUE staff discusses crime coverage on a daily basis, like it does economic or education stories,” Volpicella continues. “If the crime is stranger-upon-stranger, or if it exposes a deep social ill, like domestic violence, then it will likely will get air time and reporter treatment. If it lacks those elements, it may be ignored completely, or reduced to a short word or video story of :15 seconds.

“KVUE is very sensitive to airing graphic images. We do not air video of covered or uncovered bodies. We don’t air body bags. We don’t show blood or gruesome images. While I don’t want to sanitize the news, I also don’t want to offend our viewers, or the victims of crime, either. Certainly there are exceptions to this rule. If the images are relevant to the story, we’ll take that into consideration. 9/11 for example.

Benz also has a list of disturbing things that will not be on News 8, but “if you feel a graphic image is critical to your story, it must be approved by a news manager.” News 8 was the only Austin TV news department that didn’t show the full, graphic police dash-cam video of the shooting of Nathaniel Sanders II. Benz says they decided to use it up to the second of the shooting and then they edited still frames to tell the story. He says he might have chosen different had the story been only for the late news, by News 8 airs in 24-hour cycles.

One time I covered the death of a toddler who drowned in a mop bucket while his mother was smoking crack on the front porch. As a part of my 10 O’clock package I used (with permission) a :19-second uncut clip of the medical examiner carrying something in a very small blanket to the truck. An appalled viewer called immediately after the story aired. “That was outrageous,” she screamed! “Yes, yes it was. That is precisely why I chose to use the video,” I answered. She understood.

This post cannot capture all of the elements of crime coverage. Books have been written on the subject. Further, I cannot include the comments from all news directors in town. I chose to talk with Volpicella and Benz because of their connections to Carole Kneeland and/or KVUE. Viewers can judge for themselves. Viewers have agency. They make decisions every day on whether they or their children should watch certain content.

© Jim McNabb, 2009

Unreported Stories

Reporters


Needed




One of the better reporters in Austin asked me, what are some of the under reported stories in Austin? Under reported in Austin? I'm shaking my head. Staffs have been cut, and the "beat" system may be dying in all media. KXAN TV (NBC), News 8, and KVUE TV (ABC) seem to have a beat system still. It takes a budget commitment. I'm a great believer in the beat system. Yeah, it's "old school", but it still works. It works if the report is on the right beat. Sometimes, management will think it is filling that slot only to find out that the reporter really wanted to do features.


Jim Swift (KXAN) is one of the last feature reporters standing. It's a dying breed nationwide. Make no mistake; however, Jim can cover hard news.


There is only one (1) health reporter in traditional media to my knowledge. She's at the Austin American-Statesman newspaper. What is, perhaps, the most reported issue at the national level right now? Health Care. Further, I'm aware of several health developments in Austin, but it is reporting via news release. That's not even a niche beat. Health used to be far more important. Perhaps it doesn't research well right now, but Austin never conforms to research elsewhere.


There are few, true education reporters. If a medium wants to grow an audience, produce compelling content about schools, not just the obvious ones like the closure of Pearce Middle School. There are few better pictures on TV than those of little kids. People always ask, why don't you show us some good news? There are many of these "good news" stories.


This leads me to say again and again that it IS legal to take pictures of students in the course of telling a story related to education. It's state law. SB 521 took effect more than a decade ago with the 1997-98 school year. It was signed into law by then governor George Bush. According to the bill, school districts are not required to get written parental consent before recording video or pictures, including a student's voice, if the recording is to be used only for media coverage of the school. If there are children in custody battles, etc., they can be identified easily, and removed from the setting.


The law allows wiggle-room for individual districts and campuses. Some, such as Eanes ISD, deny access to students. That means that Eanes does not the coverage that it once did. One thing I do find interesting--Eanes student athletes seem to get on TV a lot. Do we have our priorities right.


Another sadly under reported area is as they used to say “Under the Dome”. There are fewer and fewer members of the Capitol Press Corps. This is another area where, for many, is journalism by news release. Again, KXAN and KVUE have capitol reporters. This deserves more than a paragraph in a future post.


I'm a former crime reporter, and I think there is FAR too much crime coverage. We get enough violence in prime time. At one time KXAN did VO/Bites (voice-over/sound bites) on the crime and PKGs on some more meaty, related issue.

Under reported? Why does TV news leave it to the printed media to cover the music and entertainment industry in Austin. The moniker "Live Music Capital of the World" is wearing a little thin. City Hall reporters have done stories on the noise ordinance enforcement, most recently at the Unplugged at Shady Grove series. There have been other stories about a city Music Office. There are other under reported stories. Right now during the national debate about health care, maybe it's time for another story about health care for musicians? The minimum wage rose this past week as Austin musicians and singer/songwriters try to scratch out an existence. There isn't a reporter on that beat, and management apparently doesn't see it as an ongoing source of stories. It is, but, of course, I'm prejudiced.

Whenever someone moves on in a newsroom, that reporter's knowledge, contacts, and goodwill go too. Ideally, those beat positions should be filled with some overlapping allowing the new reporter a chance for some introductions.


Sure, there may be under reported niches. I think the media is straining to cover the basics right now.


© Jim McNabb, 2009

Where In the World Is George Howell???

Some

Like

It

Hot!

George Howell, native Austinite and Texas ex, was the crime reporter at KXAN TV (NBC) who blossomed into a go-to anchor from January, 2001 through July, 2004. Then, he headed to the northwest and disappeared from Austin screens, but not out of mind. Some at the TV station joked that George was McNabb’s other son. I considered that a nice compliment. I think my son did too.

In Seattle Howell’s life took several turns. He married and settled some. He was a reporter/anchor for KOMO TV (ABC), and later did freelance work for KIRO TV and KCTS TV (PBS). He also started George Howell Media. Where’s George Howell now? Not in Seattle.

About three weeks ago He and wife Khristian climbed in the car and drove diagonally across the country where Howell had accepted a position at Atlanta powerhouse WSB-TV (ABC) doing day-to-day big market news again. “We are really excited about being in Atlanta; we've been here for about two weeks now,” Howell said.

“I started work this week,” he continued. “I am absolutely loving WSB!” Knowing George I easily see why he loves the station. “The station is great! WSB remains the 800 pound gorilla of the Atlanta market, and I believe it's because the people here know what they're all about. The focus is on 'hard news', and enterprise stories - no gimmicks, or self-promotional stunts masqueraded as news, like some other places. Hard news, plain and simple, and that's what I'm all about!”

It’s exciting to know that there are still stations still doing “Big J” journalism—hard news and enterprise stories. And, yes, that’s Howell’s profile.

“Hot-lanta” is a good fit for another reason other than TV too. It is Howell’s spouse Khristian’s home town. One aspect, however, is taking some getting used to. “We're still getting used to the weather... as you can imagine, Atlanta is a bit warmer than Seattle! We're really happy about the move!” I asked George what was the temperature in Atlanta at that moment? “About 90,” he said.

It was 103-degrees here, but as the American-Statesman’s John Kelso said in the Sunday (July 5th) newspaper, “100 is the new 90.”

© Jim McNabb, 2009

Iran--A Flashback for Silva Harapetian

Been There.

Seen That.

“Watching the images out of Iran takes me back to 1979 when I witnessed it all in person,” said Silva Harapetian, former KXAN TV (NBC) reporter on Facebook today. “With no political connection being caught in the middle of all of that was very difficult to understand,” she continued. “It is really hard to watch. I feel like a child in fear again.”

Harapetian reported for KXAN from August, 2005 to November, 2006. She joined WDIV TV (NBC) in Detroit, Michigan as a reporter in December, 2006.

She was born in Iran and spent the first 12 years of her life there. “For the most part I had a normal life within the four walls of our home. My parents tried very hard to make sure we were not affected and didn’t see too much of the turmoil on the streets. But there was no escaping it,” Harapetian recalls in an interview with NewsMcNabb. “I remember … anxiety in my parents’ voices talking about curfews and threats. We were never a political family as we are Armenian and for the most part felt caught in the cross fire of the revolution and eventually the war between Iran and Iraq.”

The family (Right) picture was taken at her second b-day party in 1977 just two years before the revolution. “After that year, she says, “Nothing was ever the same.”

“As a child I remember the demonstrations, the noise of the protesters, the throwing of the rocks, the sound of the motorcycles,” she tells me. “I remember my family turning off all the lights in the home and sitting in the middle of the living room with a radio and candle light, ready to run to the basement in case of an emergency. I remember falling asleep on the floor on many nights.”

According to www.click ondetroit.com, when she was 12 years old her family fled to Germany where they lived for two years awaiting news of passage to the United States. At 14 years old, Harapetian arrived in Los Angeles.

"I feel very blessed to be living in this country. I have had the chance to have an education and a career, something I as a woman may have never been able to pursue,” she says on the web site. She graduated from the University of Southern California with a communication degree. In the process she added English to her first three languages: Armenian, Farsi and German. She is now learning Spanish, the web site says.

All of these personal experiences, plus the stories she has covered, are contributing to a world-view, a broad perspective, Harapetian tells me. “As an adult I realized that I lived in historic times. I realized early on that my experience helps me relate to adversity. It helps me really understand what it’s like not having a voice. I am also able to relate to the human struggle for justice.”

Now, now the world is watching the “human struggle for justice” via Twitter, Facebook, and YouTube. Harapetian identifies with it all thousands of miles away.

© Jim McNabb, 2009

Who Says There Is No Good News?

Good News

for LIN TV

How about some good news for a change? LIN TV (NYSE-TVL) reported a gain in 2008 when compared to 2007. Net revenues were up 1-percent. Hey! A gain is good, even 1-percent. LIN TV is the parent company for KXAN TV (NBC), KNVA TV (CW), and KXAM TV (NBC in the Hill Country), plus their web sites.

Net revenues increased 1percent to $399.8 million, compared to $395.9 million in 2007. Political advertising last year made a big difference. Political revenues were $47 million, compared to $6.1 million in 2007. The Company achieved a 40 percent increase in political revenues over the 2004 presidential election cycle, according to a LIN news release.

Internet revenues greatly increased as well. Multi-platform communications a LIN emphasis. Digital revenues, including Internet advertising revenues and retransmission consent fees, increased 95 percent to $29.1 million, compared to $14.9 million in 2007, the release says.

Overall, political advertising made the difference. Local television advertising sales were down 11 percent. And performance fell further in the fourth quarter. LIN says, however, it kept its operating expenses under control.

“We are operating in a severe recessive economy and the financial distress on automakers, as well as the significant declines in consumer and business spending, are negatively impacting television advertising sales,” said Vincent L. Sadusky, Executive Officer. “In response, we have taken significant actions to improve our efficiency, as well as our balance sheet. Our plans to adjust our cost structure, re-engineer workflow throughout our TV stations, and execute an aggressive program to reduce our debt should positively impact our operating performance and financial condition.”

“Our leading news stations are focused on maximizing multi-platform advertising spending, new business development and digital revenue growth," Sadusky continues. “Digital revenues continue to differentiate our company and were a major factor in our ability to increase net revenues by 1percent in 2008. Compared to our peers, LIN TV delivered one of our industry’s strongest results.

“Despite the negative outlook on the economy, we remain positive. We are confident in the fundamentals of the TV broadcast business and our ability to expand digitally. We expect to operate a very healthy and cost efficient business now and well into the future," Sadusky says.

You may have wondered if LIN’s absence from Time-Warner cable during October, 2008 hurt their bottom line. No. Not really. “Following the expiration of the Company’s contract with Time Warner Cable, Inc., 15 of LIN TV’s stations were removed from Time Warner systems in 11 markets for nearly one month in the fourth quarter of 2008. Despite this disruption in carriage, 56 percent of LIN TV stations gained audience share with adults 18-49 and 25-54 in the Morning News day part time period, the fastest-growing time of the day in terms of viewers and advertising revenue, compared to the same time period in 2007. The Nielsen data also showed that the Company’s stations outperformed the national networks in the category of household share by an average of 30 percent. For the year ended December 31, 2008, LIN TV operated the #1 or #2 local news station in 81percent of its markets. On average LIN TV’s stations grew 25% across all local news day parts in
Household Ratings year-to-year,” LIN says.

These days, good news in the communications industry is hard to find. Even a 1 percent revenue improvement year to year is worth reporting.


© Jim McNabb, 2009