I'm a San Diego native and started my broadcast career at a hometown radio station, KFMB way back in 1980. It was great fun, because we were an absolute news leader and I learned under a fabulous News Director named Cliff Albert, who is an on-air force there to this day. The great thing about radio is that it's just you, in a car with a recorder -- you get to stories quickly, you get on the air quickly. That's fun. Another important aspect is that you develop your voice quite rapidly. That's your principle tool and there is a world of creative expression to have with words, interviews, and natural sounds you capture. (A fun story my boss told me then involved how he and some colleagues laughed when a veteran radio man wondered the scene of a story recording all the various sounds associated with it. When they heard his story later they realized they missed all the richness of the event by concentrating primarily on the interview subject. Lesson learned.)
Professional life merged with scholastic endeavors for me. My entrée into broadcasting came from a class at San Diego City College. I immediately knew news was my calling from my very first news writing class. I transferred to U.C.S.D., continued working professionally and earned a degree in Political Science. I decided I wanted to learn more about the profession so I left work, left San Diego and attended graduate school at U.S.C. Scholarships, a Teaching Assistant job and a return to weekend work on the radio in San Diego paid for the Master's Degree I earned after a two year run there. Fortune was with me because one of my professors knew a San Diego television News Director, who gave me a shot at a reporting job.
Ever the glutton for punishment, I enrolled once again in graduate school after a few years at KGTV, the ABC affiliate, but this time I was able to continue working while I pursued my M.B.A. at U.C. Irvine. What a challenge that was, because the program was quantitative -- lots of statistics, finance and other hard stuff that you need a fancy calculator to figure out. It forced me to develop aspects of my brain that were dormant and gave me an advanced understanding of money and management.
My eight career at KGTV continued until the station changed News Directors. The new one was not as fond of me as the old one, so I found myself searching for work. A twist of fate enabled me to find an agent, who received my tape from an Arizona News Director who liked my resume tape, but who had no openings. He sent it to the agent, who contacted me. The next thing I knew, I was flying all over the country for interviews. I settled on a network reporting at CBS. It was hard to pass on an opportunity when you tour the headquarters, the News President introduces you to Mike Wallace, buys you bottles of Dom Perignon and drops thousands of dollars on dinners to get you on board.
The next thing I knew, I was leaving San Diego to shop for apartments in Chicago during the month of December. What an eye opener. I hit the ground running though. My apartment served as the bureau headquarters for Newspath Chicago. (My first business cards listed my home address and the headquarters!) My bosses even pressed me to cover an assignment before my start date. I said yes. That was the beginning of an exhausting, fulfilling and monumental two and a half year run involving the Oklahoma City bombing, both O. J. Simpson trials, the TWA jetliner crash off Long Island and another in the Everglades as well as six -- count 'em -- six hurricanes. It all finally ended when -- guess what -- a different News President came on board. That's the news business.
Fortune smiled on me once again when the weekend anchor job opened at WFLD. It seemed the perfect fit. I can be -- shall we say, a bit edgy on the air and that's exactly what FOX wanted. I was lucky enough to be paired with an outstanding co-anchor, Nancy Pender. We're a pair of California natives and two lefties. Interesting. She's an excellent anchor and reporter and it is an absolute pleasure to work with her. Our focus on the weekend is to cover news with a focused intensity, but also have fun when it's appropriate. It's made for a run that's made us one of the longest running anchor teams in Chicago.
I always tell anyone who will listen that reporters should always have a hobby, because the news business is a highly demanding profession. My alter ego is rock star. I play the electric and upright bass as well as the mandolin and limited -- and I mean limited guitar. You can catch some of our music on the "My Space" web site. Just look up The Certain Someones. We're playing at some Chicago night spots and are available for bookings. (O.K., it's a shameless plug. What do you want?) I also believe in fitness. I'm a veteran
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