I don't know where or when you heard about the shootings in Tucson this past Saturday but it likely was prefaced by "News Bulletin" or "Breaking News." It sure brought memories for me as a field producer.
Flipping around the channels, both traditional and electronic the coverage has been pretty good. It's a difficult challenge with so much information flying at you and one initial report had Rep. Giffords dying from her wounds. The late Frank Reynolds of ABC could identify with that. Thankfully in both cases, neither Rep. Giffords or President Reagan died. But it shows that despite the time between the two incidents, the wrong news can get "out there" in a hurry. More so in today's online world. Instant misinformation.
The huge majority of news organizations, certainly the best ones, are always prepared for such incidents. It seems they always happen when you're least prepared to deal with them, in this case a Saturday morning. But main anchors were quickly on set and reporters on the scene to cover the story.
Breaking news is always a challenge because unlike a scheduled event like a political convention or a Super Bowl for example, you make it up as you go along. It starts when you head out the door with your hair on fire enroute to the airport. While you're on the way to the story, staff back at the office are gathering up resources like satellite trucks to help you get your story out. Networks depend heavily on local affiliates in the early hours of a breaking story to feed video or have their reporters on the air. The pressure on local newsrooms during such stories is enormous. It seems everyone in the world is calling you for help just as you're struggling to cover the story yourself.
Each story is different and you learn from each one. One of the memorable ones for me was covering a rare hurricane that made its way off the Gulf of California through Arizona. We had satellite trucks, reporters and photogs on the scene. The only thing we didn't have was a place to go to the bathroom. So I had to arrange porta-potties. It's the sort of thing they don't teach you in journalism school.
Often times, as was the case with the Oklahoma City Bombing, and certainly with the Tucson shootings, you come upon a horrific situation. Nothing prepares you for it and nothing ever hardens you against it. You also never forget them. Ever.
The hours are long, you're lucky to get a few hours of sleep if any, and when you do it's more than likely inside a production truck. Yet you have to be sharp both in front of, and behind the camera.
Ultimately you have to get the story right, not to speculate, deal with victims compassionately and show no bias other than reporting the facts. Reporters are human, and it's difficult to be dispassionate amidst carnage like Tucson.
The coverage I've seen has been quite well done, mistakes were made but quickly corrected. It's easy to not like the news media but they work very, very had to bring us the news. The fact there are so many news outlets competing for our attention means they're all working as hard as possible to provide the best coverage.
We as viewers, listeners and readers are well served.
Brian Olson
Conversation Starters Public Relations
"We start the conversation about you"
Tuesday, January 11, 2011
Monday, January 10, 2011
Where's the Electricity?
While there has been a lot of coverage about alternative energy cars, both electric and hybrid, only about one in five consumers are "very familiar" with the technology. That number is growing however.
It doesn't help when the boss of GM calls the Toyota Prius a "Geekmobile." A cheap shot that hurts the industry. My daughter has a Prius, she's had it five years and it runs great and sips gas in the range of 50MPG. We have a Ford Escape Hybrid at our house. It averages 32MPG.
I think one of the reasons, especially in areas of the west, that people aren't engaging this new technology is whether or not it can handle the weather and roads (or lack thereof) in this part of the world.
You have nothing to fear but fear itself.
Our previous car was a Volvo XC-70 AWD and to be blunt, it was awful in snow. The Escape is fabulous in the white stuff. It also negotiates roads like the one over Hermit Pass in the Sangre de Cristo Range. Actually to call that a road is overly charitable.
We're at least a generation if not more from weaning ourselves of gasoline engines. I'm not against them, but having worked in "Oil Patch" states like Wyoming and Texas I also know it's a finite resource. The less we use, the longer it can be available to us.
Being the son of an engineer, I like the hybrid best because of it's technology. Why run your engine when you're at a stoplight? You use the most gas when you first accelerate your car. Having an electric motor do the initial heavy lifting just makes sense.
The one irony with electric cars is, they'll need to be recharged with electricity coming mostly from coal-fired plants. Practical wind power is again, a generation away. So are the Nuke Plants we'll need. So those huge coal trains you see headed south through Denver we'll keep on rolling for years to come.
But hybrids can handle anything you toss at them. Think about one when it's time for your next car.
Brian Olson
Conversation Starters Public Relations
"We start the conversation about you"
It doesn't help when the boss of GM calls the Toyota Prius a "Geekmobile." A cheap shot that hurts the industry. My daughter has a Prius, she's had it five years and it runs great and sips gas in the range of 50MPG. We have a Ford Escape Hybrid at our house. It averages 32MPG.
I think one of the reasons, especially in areas of the west, that people aren't engaging this new technology is whether or not it can handle the weather and roads (or lack thereof) in this part of the world.
You have nothing to fear but fear itself.
Our previous car was a Volvo XC-70 AWD and to be blunt, it was awful in snow. The Escape is fabulous in the white stuff. It also negotiates roads like the one over Hermit Pass in the Sangre de Cristo Range. Actually to call that a road is overly charitable.
We're at least a generation if not more from weaning ourselves of gasoline engines. I'm not against them, but having worked in "Oil Patch" states like Wyoming and Texas I also know it's a finite resource. The less we use, the longer it can be available to us.
Being the son of an engineer, I like the hybrid best because of it's technology. Why run your engine when you're at a stoplight? You use the most gas when you first accelerate your car. Having an electric motor do the initial heavy lifting just makes sense.
The one irony with electric cars is, they'll need to be recharged with electricity coming mostly from coal-fired plants. Practical wind power is again, a generation away. So are the Nuke Plants we'll need. So those huge coal trains you see headed south through Denver we'll keep on rolling for years to come.
But hybrids can handle anything you toss at them. Think about one when it's time for your next car.
Brian Olson
Conversation Starters Public Relations
"We start the conversation about you"
Friday, January 7, 2011
Endulge your inner "Top Gun"
Just in case you've never flown a fighter plane, the next best thing is sitting in one. If you'll be in the Denver area tomorrow, stop by Wings over the Rockies Air and Space Museum for the monthly "Open Cockpit Day."
At Wings over the Rockies, they don't keep the aircraft behind rope lines. You're encouraged to touch them, see them up close and once a month sit in many of them.
Among the planes you can sit in are the F-4 Phantom, B-58 Canberra and even a Lear Jet. Stop by cockpit alley and "Fly" the Wright Flyer or sit in the cockpits of a Boeing 727 or DC-10 Airliner.
Open cockpit hours run from 10am to 2pm. It's a great chance for all ages to sit in these terrific aircraft and also see the incredible variety of civil and military aircraft.
Get your wings on tomorrow at Wings over the Rockies. You can't miss it, there's a B-52 Bomber parked out front! (Don't forget your camera!)
Brian Olson
Conversation Starters Public Relations
"We start the conversation about you" (And a little hangar flying tomorrow)
At Wings over the Rockies, they don't keep the aircraft behind rope lines. You're encouraged to touch them, see them up close and once a month sit in many of them.
Among the planes you can sit in are the F-4 Phantom, B-58 Canberra and even a Lear Jet. Stop by cockpit alley and "Fly" the Wright Flyer or sit in the cockpits of a Boeing 727 or DC-10 Airliner.
Open cockpit hours run from 10am to 2pm. It's a great chance for all ages to sit in these terrific aircraft and also see the incredible variety of civil and military aircraft.
Get your wings on tomorrow at Wings over the Rockies. You can't miss it, there's a B-52 Bomber parked out front! (Don't forget your camera!)
Brian Olson
Conversation Starters Public Relations
"We start the conversation about you" (And a little hangar flying tomorrow)
Wednesday, January 5, 2011
All Those Zeros Add Up!
I heard my old friend, retired Senator Alan Simpson talking about the national debt. If Congress decides to raise it again, Simpson said our debt would be 14 Trillion, 600 Billion Dollars!
"I don't even know what that is" he exclaimed. Neither do I other than it must have a lot of zeros. I still think we need to officially designate Gazillion as the next measurement because if things don't stop it's where we'll crash.
Above all Simpson made an excellent point. Regardless of your political bent, ask your elected representatives exactly what they plan on doing to cut the budget. Substantive cuts. The real deal. Not vague posturing. Simpson predicts most if not all, will simply dance around the answer. Sadly he's right.
14 Trillion, 600 Billion Dollars. Think on that.
Brian Olson
Conversation Starters Public Relations
"We start the conversation about you"
"I don't even know what that is" he exclaimed. Neither do I other than it must have a lot of zeros. I still think we need to officially designate Gazillion as the next measurement because if things don't stop it's where we'll crash.
Above all Simpson made an excellent point. Regardless of your political bent, ask your elected representatives exactly what they plan on doing to cut the budget. Substantive cuts. The real deal. Not vague posturing. Simpson predicts most if not all, will simply dance around the answer. Sadly he's right.
14 Trillion, 600 Billion Dollars. Think on that.
Brian Olson
Conversation Starters Public Relations
"We start the conversation about you"
iPad + 99
According to Computer World it's raining tablets at this year's Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas. They predict almost a hundred tablet devices on display. A good number of them won't survive beyond the show.
For those not familiar with CES, it's about 88 football fields full of tech toys. Words can't describe the enormity of it all, although I just tried.
All these tablets are designed to take on the iPad and many have stuff the iPad doesn't like inputs and cameras. The iPad is expected to have these things when the rumored next generation iPad debuts in April.
We have an iPad at our house, and use it for work and play. We'll be among the first in line when the next generation model is on store shelves.
Many of the new tablets debuting at CES may indeed be better than the iPad. But consumers are a funny breed (I'm one of them) and need a compelling reason to switch to something new. Bells and whistles usually don't pass the "compelling" test. "Cool" does and the iPad is cool My daughter commented when she got hers and was at the airport, people kept on coming up to her and asking about the device. I experience the same thing when I pull it out at a meeting.
Back in the day when home video tape was the big thing (way back in the day) the competition was between two emerging technologies--Betamax and VHS. Technically Betamax was a far better format, But VHS won the day. It simply was better marketed and frankly, VHS rolled off the tongue better than its erstwhile competition.
So while you may need an umbrella at CES look for the iPad to remain the cool tablet device for 2011.
Brian Olson
Conversation Starters Public Relations
"We start the conversation about you"
For those not familiar with CES, it's about 88 football fields full of tech toys. Words can't describe the enormity of it all, although I just tried.
All these tablets are designed to take on the iPad and many have stuff the iPad doesn't like inputs and cameras. The iPad is expected to have these things when the rumored next generation iPad debuts in April.
We have an iPad at our house, and use it for work and play. We'll be among the first in line when the next generation model is on store shelves.
Many of the new tablets debuting at CES may indeed be better than the iPad. But consumers are a funny breed (I'm one of them) and need a compelling reason to switch to something new. Bells and whistles usually don't pass the "compelling" test. "Cool" does and the iPad is cool My daughter commented when she got hers and was at the airport, people kept on coming up to her and asking about the device. I experience the same thing when I pull it out at a meeting.
Back in the day when home video tape was the big thing (way back in the day) the competition was between two emerging technologies--Betamax and VHS. Technically Betamax was a far better format, But VHS won the day. It simply was better marketed and frankly, VHS rolled off the tongue better than its erstwhile competition.
So while you may need an umbrella at CES look for the iPad to remain the cool tablet device for 2011.
Brian Olson
Conversation Starters Public Relations
"We start the conversation about you"
Tuesday, January 4, 2011
CVN 65-TV bad case of "Enterprise" Television
The Navy has relieved Captain Owen Honors from command aboard the Aircraft Carrier USS Enterprise. He was at the center of a series of what are described as "raunchy" videos shown over the ship's television system. You can click on the story link to get full details.
My post here is just how surprised I was this ever happened and that Captain Honors was involved.
As a reporter I was embedded on three different aircraft carriers--the USS Kennedy, USS Constellation and USS Ranger. These huge ships are like huge floating cities with today's ships of the line carrying upwards of 6-thousand plus crew members. Like any city, the ships have post offices, recreation, education, hospitals and even television studios. Programming ranges from great camera shots from the flight deck to educational, entertainment and sports programming. A normal deployment is 6 months, and while the crew work 12 hours a day, 7 days a week, there is some downtime and television is a great way to relax.
Life aboard a combat ship is highly regimented. Officers and enlisted crew members are essentially segregated from each other except while working. "Officer's County" lines are clearly marked. It has to be.
On the Kennedy for example, the Skipper used the television facilities to communicate with the crew and again using the city metaphor, reporting to the citizens of the ship. One of the chaplains aboard the Kennedy even had his own talk show!
I'm not sure what motivated Captain Honors to do what he did, but he clearly crossed a line of command and good taste. Honors is an Annapolis graduate and taught at Top Gun. A highly accomplished officer.
It's sad that some ill-advised videos will sink his career. Many may think, "What's the harm?" But when you are charged with leading thousands of crew members in an extremely dangerous work environment, there's a good reason for solid lines of discipline and conduct.
Ironically, while the men and women of our armed forces defend our right of free speech, it doesn't actually apply to them. It's part of the sacrifice they know they make when they swear the oath.
Brian Olson
Conversation Starters Public Relations
"We start the conversation about you"
My post here is just how surprised I was this ever happened and that Captain Honors was involved.
As a reporter I was embedded on three different aircraft carriers--the USS Kennedy, USS Constellation and USS Ranger. These huge ships are like huge floating cities with today's ships of the line carrying upwards of 6-thousand plus crew members. Like any city, the ships have post offices, recreation, education, hospitals and even television studios. Programming ranges from great camera shots from the flight deck to educational, entertainment and sports programming. A normal deployment is 6 months, and while the crew work 12 hours a day, 7 days a week, there is some downtime and television is a great way to relax.
Life aboard a combat ship is highly regimented. Officers and enlisted crew members are essentially segregated from each other except while working. "Officer's County" lines are clearly marked. It has to be.
On the Kennedy for example, the Skipper used the television facilities to communicate with the crew and again using the city metaphor, reporting to the citizens of the ship. One of the chaplains aboard the Kennedy even had his own talk show!
I'm not sure what motivated Captain Honors to do what he did, but he clearly crossed a line of command and good taste. Honors is an Annapolis graduate and taught at Top Gun. A highly accomplished officer.
It's sad that some ill-advised videos will sink his career. Many may think, "What's the harm?" But when you are charged with leading thousands of crew members in an extremely dangerous work environment, there's a good reason for solid lines of discipline and conduct.
Ironically, while the men and women of our armed forces defend our right of free speech, it doesn't actually apply to them. It's part of the sacrifice they know they make when they swear the oath.
Brian Olson
Conversation Starters Public Relations
"We start the conversation about you"
Monday, January 3, 2011
Text should enhance talk, not replace it.
I read several articles over the weekend about how today's Facebook and Twitter environment is changing the way we communicate. It seems hardly anyone writes or worse yet, talks anymore. Far easier to just make a post on your PDA or Computer.
It's all great stuff--a fun and ultra-fast way to share quips, stories, information, pictures and video. But it changes the way we communicate because the technology detaches us from each other. We're not machines--we're humans who should use machines to enhance interaction with each other, but not replace it.
Back in the early 90's my newsroom became one of the first to put away the typewriters and computerize our news gathering. It made us more efficient and able to do more in less time. But a strange thing happened as the news department started to use the e-mail functions to communicate with each other.
It's a high stress environment and very competitive. I started to notice small little arguments blossom into full blown e-conflicts. Things were written that normally no one would say face to face. It was something I quickly had to get a handle on. The next newsroom I led through the process also went through the same "adjustment."
Two decades later I'm working with a team on a major project set for this spring. The core team are all very e-savvy and we do most of our communications electronically as we plan and execute strategies. At a recent face to face meeting of the team however, we all agreed that all the e-mails flying back and forth tended to confuse rather than illuminate. We've made it policy to meet as a group in person along with routine e-mail communications. Meeting which are set-up electronically via Meetup.
You can have it both ways, and we should.
Social Media allows us to communicate and market like never before and I'm an enthusiastic ambassador for it. Ultimately though, let's not forget that it's hard to beat talking one-on-one to truly communicate. It's important we never stop looking each other in the eye once in a while and communicate what hopefully what won't be an old-fashioned way. Face to face.
Brian Olson
Conversation Starters Public Relations
"We start the conversation about you"
It's all great stuff--a fun and ultra-fast way to share quips, stories, information, pictures and video. But it changes the way we communicate because the technology detaches us from each other. We're not machines--we're humans who should use machines to enhance interaction with each other, but not replace it.
Back in the early 90's my newsroom became one of the first to put away the typewriters and computerize our news gathering. It made us more efficient and able to do more in less time. But a strange thing happened as the news department started to use the e-mail functions to communicate with each other.
It's a high stress environment and very competitive. I started to notice small little arguments blossom into full blown e-conflicts. Things were written that normally no one would say face to face. It was something I quickly had to get a handle on. The next newsroom I led through the process also went through the same "adjustment."
Two decades later I'm working with a team on a major project set for this spring. The core team are all very e-savvy and we do most of our communications electronically as we plan and execute strategies. At a recent face to face meeting of the team however, we all agreed that all the e-mails flying back and forth tended to confuse rather than illuminate. We've made it policy to meet as a group in person along with routine e-mail communications. Meeting which are set-up electronically via Meetup.
You can have it both ways, and we should.
Social Media allows us to communicate and market like never before and I'm an enthusiastic ambassador for it. Ultimately though, let's not forget that it's hard to beat talking one-on-one to truly communicate. It's important we never stop looking each other in the eye once in a while and communicate what hopefully what won't be an old-fashioned way. Face to face.
Brian Olson
Conversation Starters Public Relations
"We start the conversation about you"
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)