Life goes on

For me working in local news always meant developing a fierce attachment to a community and it's stories. I remember driving though Calumet County and looking at all the antennas on farm houses and imagining that my newscast might be on sometime.
It's always a little bittersweet, that "your" stories will continue to develop without you.
Often the new developments mean the producer might just crank up your old file tape. Minnesota now has the suburban rail line that was just being designed when I worked there.
On Long Island, the Marcelo Lucero case has had several guilty pleas. Probably a good thing since the criminal complaints in that case were exceptionally complex.
The Taconic crash also still produces headlines.
The video from one story I covered, the death of U.S. Marine Ryan Jerabek, even ended up in a documentary, that was part of the Tribeca Film Festival.
But in the end you have to let your "news babies" grow up without you. Most stories fade from view, some have dramatic twists.
When I left Wisconsin, Steven Avery was free after being wrongly jailed for rape. In the end he would be found guilty of a murder in an unconnected case.
Like doctors, reporters have to learn to disconnect their emotions. But I can't help but wonder for example how Marcelo's brother and mother are doing.
Not every reporter feels this way, some are happy to say good-bye to a market and move on to a new town without looking back. But for me a little part of my heart will always live in Minnsota, Wisconsin, Maine, and Long Island.

Do you know where you're going to?

Sorry for so much "radio silence" here in blogville. It's been an interesting,challenging,and exciting time in my life. I miss tv news and my viewers so much, but I am getting to try new things and learn.
Here is my bio from the SPJ website. It's always so tough to write these!

Just in time to cover the millennium, Suzanne Goldkang began her journalism career in the Twin Cities at Northwest Community Television's Cable 12 where she was an anchor and reporter for three and a half years.

She then crossed the Mississippi and headed to Wisconsin as morning anchor at WGBA-TV in Green Bay, Wisconsin.

Next stop was Bangor, Maine where she was an anchor at WVII and WFVX,

finally the NYU grad returned to the Big Apple as a reporter and anchor at WLNY.

In 2000 she received a Minnesota Emmy Award for a news special comparing the experiences of different generations of veterans.

Suzanne's life was changed at RTNDA's 2006 conference in Las Vegas when she met Ethan Harp, a reporter from San Francisco.

The couple was married 2 years later, just hours before the start of the 2008 convention.

he's got the whole world in his hands

So with a few days between gigs, I decided to see what I could accomplish as a freelancer at the Clinton Global Initiative. On the one hand there are countless small and large organizations doing inspiring things around the world. Give FPOTUS Bill Clinton credit for shining some light on the world of philanthropy and making doing good "cool".
On the other hand it's been a puzzling place to do journalism. Questions from reporters at panels are forbidden, media has to be "escorted" at all times, there are long waiting lists to attend any of the sessions so you can hear about all that good work.
One place that is not off limits is the bar at the Sheraton. While you won't meet all the celebrities here or get to meet FPOTUS Bill, you do encounter people who are promoting green technology, helping women in Africa, developing Northern Ireland, and working on many other good projects.
The CGI seems to view the media as a necessary evil, let them in to get their Obama sound bite, their photo op of Matt Damon with Bill Clinton, then round them up and get them away from the people they are here to cover. It's too bad with so many compelling stories and so many journalists, the goal seems to be to keep us apart.

picture this

PCLI member Suzanne Goldklang a... on Twitpic" height="150" width="150">
PCLI's chapter award is a very nice honor, for which people other than myself worked very hard. It was nice to be in Indy to see Pres. John O'Connell accept the recognition.
It was a good convention, I was glad to be able to support my old friend Dave Aeikens, the outgoing president, and hear from new president Kevin Smith.
Kevin hopes to be a leader for SPJ members and the entire industry. I found his comments encouraging, motivating, and empowering. I also attended a energetic meeting of the national ethics comittee, and I look forward to contributing to their work.
Another highlight was meeting some of the nation's best local investigative journalists, and getting inspired by what they are accomplishing.
Finally, I was able to spend some time with my role model, KARE-11 reporter extraordinaire Boyd Huppert who was in town to pick up an award.
Just seeing him reminded me about the things I love about tv news, and the type of work still possible.
I know the link about is a little sloppy, I will work on cleaning it up after I get some rest!

say hello to my little friend

Here at SPJ twitter is all the rage...you can check out everything with #SPJ100.
Kinda makes me a little sad, are blogs so 2008? I don't quite get it, here at newsysuzy online I try to give posts the same sort of thought I would give to a broadcast story, even if the audience is a lot smaller.
The tweets seem so...superficial.
Not to mention, instead of interacting, networking, and socializing, we are all fixated on our handhelds.
Still, it's what all the cool, and not so cool kids are doing so I will give it a try.
So my tweet handle is...newsysuzy. Feel free to check it out, or follow me.
But I can't promise anything profound.

the story behind the story

Interesting article in Minnpost about how the Favre story was broken by WCCO.
I really like Minnpost, and I hope it represents a new trend in journalism. It is a member supported news website. Kind of like PBS but on the internet.
Minnesota has been fertile ground for cutting edge journalism, where you can find some of the best video photojournalists and reporters in the nation, a giant in public broadcasting, and home of (in my humble opinion) one of the country's best community tv news departments, where this little blogger got her start.
As we sit and wonder how we will continue to make a living in the media, Minnpost has an interesting business model.
Let's see if it's copied in other markets.

the four factor

Over the past 10 years I have lived in New York City, Green Bay, and the Twin Cities. It appears soon Brett Favre will be able to make the same claim.
While my stint as a news anchor in Northeast Wisconsin has probably been long forgotten, #4's legacy is a different story.
In Green Bay, Brett was a god, and nearly everyone who lived on the frozen tundra was his follower. I personally never met the man, but his wife was a memorably gracious guest on my NBC 26 morning show, gamely modeling fashions for charity at 5:30 A.M.
My time in Titletown came as Brett's golden touch was beginning to fade, but he was still a king. I remember sharing a meal with a lovely couple who regarded him as the son they never had.
It was bittersweet for me when he came here to NY to play for the Jets, a little bit of my beloved Wisconsin, just in a different shade of green.
While many fans were sad to see him go, few seemed truly embittered. I think many Wisconsinites could not begrudge him the chance to enjoy big city stardom while he still could.
For a time he appeared poised to be the new Joe Namath, a gift to New Yorkers from the heartland. Even though Brett was a Jet you could still see hundreds of #4 jerseys on little boys at Lambeau field.
This Vikings thing... is another story.
I lived in Minnesota for six years, and had a good life there, but the Land of 10,000 Lakes and the Dairy State have a bitter sibling rivalry.
In Minneapolis, sports radio hosts regard Packer fans as paint-thinner sniffing rubes.
But no one knows how to love a team like a cheesehead.
Through freezing winters and boiling summers Packer backers love their team like a parent loves a child. They may get mad or disappointed, but the bond is always there.
Now the cherished golden boy has left again, not for big city lights, but for the fancier folks just around the corner. It's a bitter pill to swallow.
But I suspect while many Packer fans may stomp and shout, in their hearts they wish Brett and his family well.
Favre may be wearing purple this fall but he'll always be Green Bay's favorite son.

Journalist or Blogger?

Interesting article about a blogger breaking a big story in the NY Times today. Made me wonder, when a journalist writes for a blog does a different set of rules apply? Even the Times writer points to a difference.
It seems as if blogging is closer to writing a column than a news article, but it's a murky area.
Unlike writing in a newsroom, most independent bloggers don't have an editor. It's both a curse and a blessing. Editors and reporters have a relationship that resembles parents and children, a push and pull that can be frustrating but also provides a safety net.
The internet hands us freedom and responsibility all wrapped up in a puzzling package.
For now my philosophy is to try to be more personal while staying objective.
What do you think?
Oh and a shoutout to LaTonya, author of my first real comment!
Thanks for stopping by my little corner of cyberspace.

Omar's legacy

There is something about the death of Officer Omar Edwards that I find haunting.
Last week, a grand jury cleared the fellow officer who shot him to death in East Harlem, to the understandable consternation of the Edwards family.
I don't know the case well enough to comment on the grand jury's decision, but of all the stories I covered the past few years, this is the one I think about a lot. I remember his funeral so well, the graciousness of his friends with the media, and the underlying sense of anger in the crowd. We reporters toss around the word community a lot, but his loss truly was a blow to his Brooklyn neighborhood.
Edwards was a guy who did everything right. He loved police work with a single hearted devotion from the time he was a child. He had a lovely family and adorable kids. And he was in the wrong place at the wrong time. East Harlem, not so far from where I live.
Maybe time will show that the policeman who shot him was reckless, or maybe the grand jury got it right. But Officer Edwards was a treasure, and it is heartbreaking it took his tragic death for the world to get to know him.

the more things change....the more they stay the same

check out this vintage gem from the NY times about reporting on Long Island

Defending Diane

We like answers.
Quincy,Law and Order, CSI, they all offer the soothing formula of a mystery solved.
When we can't figure out why something happened, it chews at us. We would rather assume an answer than live with an uncomfortable question.
I understand why conspiracy theorists conspire. It feels good to explain the inexplicable. The impulse has been there since man first watched the sun come up.

While the evidence in the Taconic crash seems to indicate a pretty clear cause, drugs and alcohol, when you look at a photo of Diane Schuler, it is hard to understand.
She could be in the dictionary next to next-door-neighbor. We hope somehow something outside her control caused her to consume alcohol and pot. Even as those explanations sound more and more fantabulous.

Some experts believe her husband's statements are a classic example of denial. But he's not alone in his beliefs. On the internet, where things seem to get hashed out these days, people are running every theory possible up the flagpole.

We want to believe that people are readable. That the smiling lady blowing bubbles with her kids in the yard was the person she seemed to be.

Maybe someday something will give us an answer...but the disturbing part is we may never understand.

The wrong way

I spent much of my week covering the story of the Taconic wrong-way crash tragedy. What started as a news item about a car wreck has turned into an agonizing drama as Diane Schuler's survivors struggle to come to grips with the evidence that she appears to have been intoxicated.
Another story, from another market, what seems a life time ago has been on my mind.
Malik Sealy of the Minnesota Timberwolves died in a similar crash on Highway 100 in the Twin Cities back on May 20, 2000.
I met Sealy just one time on a story when he was visiting the school of a young heart transplant patient. He talked to the kids about staying healthy for a long life.
I was also a T-wolves season ticket holder. Sealy had a cool, stylish, maturity to his game, a silky jump shot, and a swagger that reminded me of the 1970's NBA.
The wrong way crash was equally hard to understand. It seems so incongruous that the driver, a Hmong immigrant with an almost unpronounceable name and the NBA player would cross paths this way.
I remember listening to KFAN and hearing "we lost Malik". At first I thought he had been traded.
It was so sad and so confusing and so ....wrong.
A drunk driver, a mistake on the road, and so much lost.
The wrong way, indeed.

Newsysuzy on stage?

Oh this made me smile!
Ethan better watch out for "Scoop Sancho"!
This appears to be a real school play for younger kids.
Just think, all those little Newsy Suzys on stage.

See You At the Fair is a musical fun way to meet other children from other lands and enhance global awareness.
Cast: 4 News narrators, Newsy Suzy, Headline Hal, Ray Reporter, Scoop Sancho and a lot of Multiculture Kids. The simple mini play kit contains parts for many students. Self-contained, easy to do. Song lyrics are sung to familiar tunes for easy-learning. Part 1: You listen to the whole play. Part 2: Has sound effects and music only - so you can act out what you hear. Everything you need to produce your own play.

crashing down

I must admit, the number of car crash stories the past week has been overwhelming.
2 triple fatals plus the collision that killed 8.
Even tonight as I headed home from work I passed an accident, and I had my own close call with a driver who decided to drive straight across three lanes of traffic last week on the LIE.
We live in a car society, and this is the price we pay. It's just hard when the bill gets collected all at once.
I try so hard to look at each fatality as a person. This week it's been a challenge.

latest demo reel

I guess it's really time to stop calling these tapes.
This "demo reel" is a bit different from past editions, featuring more hard news and fewer features.
Enjoy!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7VUAfOMuYTI

sorrow and sno-cones

Compared to some reporters, I am usually pretty comfortable dealing with bereaved people. If individuals find satisfaction in having a chance to express their loss, I am glad to be there.
The moments can be illuminating and inspiring.
I personally find it a learning experience to observe how different personalities try to find peace and acceptance.
And then there is "this story".
The follow-ups to the shocking car crash that killed 8 people in Westchester.
Some families are public in their mourning, so far the Long Islanders who lost their loved ones are not.
So we reporters do our best to be respectful, while trying to "move the story forward."
It is a delicate dance, and sometimes not a pretty one.
As I stood at a police barricade watching people headed to pay their respects, I really wondered was I helping or hurting?
However, I was transported by one sight, three young girls selling sno-cones to raise money for the family of their dead playmates.
Ironically most of their customers were sweltering reporters.
I think most of us were never so happy to buy a snocone, to somehow in some tiny way be helpful.
While I always fear compounding somebody's grief, the site of those three little girls holding up signs and yelling "sno-cones" gave me hope in a situation that for so many is hopeless.

The fabulous 4th

I have always loved Independence Day. Over the years I've been lucky enough to enjoy some memorable celebrations. I remember how pretty my mother looked in red,white, and blue and how much fun it was to sit on the front lawn of the U.S Capitol and watch the symphony and the fireworks over the Washington Monument.
In Bangor, Maine I served the M.C. for the big parade.
My favorite moment came when the W.W. II veterans would came by, some with special canes, others waving from a school bus.
In Wisconsin there was a fish boil on Washington island.
My most memorable 4th was probably the boat parade on Big Pine Lake in Finalyson, MN.
Everybody would gussy up their watercraft and parade around the lake. I "costumed" my "vintage" pontoon as the Boston Tea Party, with stenciled tea crates and such, I was deluded my clever historical reference would guarantee victory.
Not so much. We lost to a boat with an Uncle Sam dummy.
I think I love the Holiday because it is truly communal. Thanksgiving is about family, New Year's Eve is about friends, but the 4th is about celebrating the remarkable story of America's beginnings. It's true heart lies in events that bring people together for some old fashioned fun.
I loved this story in this morning's New York Times (page A 18) about Dorothy Davis' neighborhood cookout in Harlem. I can't think of a better example of what makes the day special.

My Mays memory and more

A trip to California that started with Micheal Jackson's death ended with another "celebrity" death....tv pitchman Billy Mays.
I met Billy once in 1998 while I was on a job interview at HSN. I remembered how nice he was, and how our chat calmed my nerves before my audition. He came across as a genuinely fun person, the sort of guy who you meet once and consider a friend.
I was happy to see that he had created a show about the art of pitching on tv, not a whole lot of home shopping personalities get the chance to "cross-over".
Speaking of crossing over I am watching the BET awards at the moment. It's a good show, with a lot of fun music, and tributes to MJ.
Anybody who knows me well, knows my love of Jackson 5 music. Back in my morning show days the best way to pick up my energy was to bump me to break with one of those songs.
saying "Still more news to come for the rest of Northeast Wisconsin" was a lot more fun with "ABC " or "I want you back" under it.

The age of information

While air travel can be a trial these days, I still enjoy the peaceful feeling of being in the skies. I try to take the time to read, to think, and to clean out my inbox.
If something huge happened, or a big playoff game was going on, the captain might play news anchor and break in with an announcement or a score.
Those days are over.
Yesterday's news of Michael Jackson's death came while I was on American Airlines flight 117 from NY to LA...which was equipped with wifi.
My husband, king of breaking news, got to do the informing this time, letting the captain and crew in on what he learned from the control room he created with my laptop and his I-Phone.
Putting aside the fact that airline seats don't really give you enough elbow room to use a computer, it was a watershed moment in media history.
While as a broadcast journalist, I should have been happy to have the chance to see how a big story was being covered, as a person who always enjoyed the isolation of the air, it made me a little sad.

flying the flag

My husband, Ethan Harp, loves mic flags. He owns a lot of them. A whole lot.
At first I thought this was a pretty nerdy hobby, until he explained why he loves them. That they make him think of all the stories they were at and the journalists who used them.
So to my sweet hubby, I offer this photo courtesy of City Hall, in which my mike former flag is center stage.

All we have is the news

Speaking with crime victims or their survivors is a typical part of the job for reporters, and I actually find it satisfying...usually there is something to be learned from their story and how they cope.
The other day I was speaking to a mom who found herself in what appeared to be a terrible situation, and she said something I have been thinking about.
"All we have is the news"
Of course that is not strictly true, there are law enforcement agencies and other charities that can help, but the bottom line is the press is a safety net of sorts, although not a perfect one.
Still, it was nice to hear, so much of the talk about the media these days deals with the recession and the sea change in how information is being delivered.
Yes, it's true, the traditional business model is in peril, and only time will tell if we are entering the dark ages or a renaissance....but all that aside, to this woman, on this day, we reporters were a life preserver.

a small world

Photo courtesy Newsday

You never know where a story will go or where it will end up!
Last week I was covering a story in Mastic Beach when I made a "quick stop" at William Floyd Elementary school to cover a reunion between some veterans and their school age pen pals.
I was preoccupied with my other "bigger" story, but I ended up being quite pleased with the script for my story about one of the soldiers and her pen pal.
As a CNN affiliate we can place stories on the feed("Pathfire") for other affiliates...I've done this a few other times. While that does not mean the story is on CNN, it is likely used by other local stations with newscasts to fill.
However much to my surprise, a staffer at CNN chose it as one of their highlights of the day, and a short version of it appeared on Headline News on Saturday.
Technically this was my "network news" debut!

strawberry shortcake

I don't get a lot of photos of myself in the field, so when I get one it's a treat. This was a fun day, I got to ask a lot of pro athletes about their golf tips and got some funny answers. I know basketball a whole lot better than baseball, so I was really excited to see John Starks.
I don't know how excited he was to see me, but he gave me a nice smile and wave as he rolled away on his golf cart.

you tube update link

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fPTiiZVf5sg