My boss recently announced that I would be leaving CBS Atlanta. I am looking forward to a new opportunity in Indianapolis, but I will miss my CBS Atlanta family a great deal. Reporters often move around from city to city. I guess I’m one of those reporters. I came here from Richmond, Virginia. Before that I was in Miami. Before that, New York. Now I’m venturing to a new territory. I have a lot of winter shopping to do! I am really grateful for the time I spent here. I’ve learned so much– both personally and professionally. For a while, I thought I might settle in Atlanta. But there’s a different plan for me. Change can be scary, but it’s also inevitable. Today, I am choosing to embrace it. I am fortunate for the opportunities I have been given in this career. I will keep you posted!
Missing Weapons?
I’ve been working on a story about lost and stolen police service weapons. I was shocked to find out how many have been lost and stolen from Atlanta Police. 15 last year and 7 so far this year. Those guns could be used on the streets. I am in the process of getting more information about these weapons and stats from other departments. I think about the equipment I use as a reporter. I lose pens all the time. But guns? According to Atlanta Police, most of the lost/stolen weapons were taken during home and car break-ins. It begs the question, should there be a stricter policy in place to prevent these weapons from being stolen? There are enough illegal guns on the street without police guns being thrown into the mix.
So he’s not a rapist but…
Charges are not being filed against David Jansen, the guy who was accused of kidnapping the stripper and raping her in Tennessee. This does not absolve him of all his sins. Jansen’s wife is filing for divorce after learning the sordid details of her husband’s extracurricular activities. According to her attorney, he spend thousands on, ahem, adult entertainment. My heart goes out to Christy Jansen. What a horrible, horrible nightmare to live through. And to do it under the microscope of local media! She’s doing it with grace. I was impressed with her calm demeanor during our interview. I’m not sure I could be so calm. I might bash my husband every chance I could. Not Christy. A few sly comments amounted to the worst of it. We could not get Mr. Jansen’s side of the story from him directly, only from his attorney. Obviously, he’s pleased the charges were dropped. The ex-dancer is sticking to her story. She says she is getting help. Probably a good idea.
Broke and Bitter
According to the Southeast Regional Director of the Anti-Defamation League, the organization is seeing an increase in hostility geared toward particular groups. Recently in Metro Atlanta we’ve seen peoples’ homes vandalized with swastikas and vulgar graffitti. It’s a snapshot of what’s happening across the nation. ADL Regional director Bill Nigut blames the economy. He says people are angry about their financial situation so they try to pin it on a particular group. I guess that’s a plausible explanation but it’s still extremely disturbing. How far have we really come? Do we only accept all races and cultures when we are rich? I am all for free speech, obviously, I am a journalist. But hate speech makes me cringe. It sounds so ignorant. The victims of one of these latest crimes were so good-natured about it. They blame it on kids . They say it takes more than chalk drawings of “KKK” and a swastika to scare them. It scares me. It makes me angry. It’s not the kind of society I want to live in.
Who do you trust?
Tonight I’m working on a story about a caregiver who stole over one hundred forty thousand dollars from the 90 year old woman she took care of. The elderly woman trusted the thief. I guess the best thieves seem like really nice people, and the best liars seem honest. The victims in this case did not want to go on camera and share their story. While I wish they would have talked, I can understand the embarrassment. It’s horrible to feel taken. I’ve been taken before and it stinks. You would think in this business I would be cynical and suspicious after covering so many stories about so many different scum bags. Fortunately or unfortunately, I still tend to give people the benefit of the doubt. Maybe I’ll be a better cynic in a few more years.
Progress
“CBS Atlanta finished the May 2009 sweeps race with the largest rating increases during some of the most important local news time periods. CBS Atlanta News has the Atlanta market’s fastest growing late newscast and grew in every single major key demographic, year to year. ”
That’s from a memo put out by our station today. I must say it’s incredibly exciting to see our station grow. Ratings during sweeps periods determine how much a tv station can charge advertisers. It’s really important. Advertising is how news stations make their money. It’s how I get paid. In this economy, some people have made off-handed comments to me like, “Your job is secure, there’s always news.” That’s an inaccurate statement. Aside from my own work ethic and ability, my job security as a reporter depends on advertising dollars, not news. The more advertising money we can make, the more secure my job is. Therefore any increase in the ratings is a big deal to all of us. It’s a big deal to me anyway. It feels good to watch our product grow and improve.
How do you feel?
I was at the gas station last night , doing a story about gas prices. I interviewed a woman about the recent jump in prices and how it’s affecting her in this economy. At CBS Atlanta, we ask the tough questions. But I must admit, sometimes the way to get people to talk about their feelings is to ask the stupid questions. The woman I interviewed happens to be a dog walker. Her business is down due to clients losing their jobs. She talked about how higher gas prices hurt her even more. All obvious stuff, but important content for my story because we can all relate to this woman’s situation. As she walked away from the camera, a driver asked her what the story was about. She said, “They’re asking how we feel about gas prices going up? What do they think?” I cringed. I know, I know, I know. I ask stupid questions sometimes. I want you to talk about your feelings, even though I can probably tell you what they are. This is a fairly benign example. The crueler version involves the same idea but different circumstances. The grieving family for example, or the couple who just got robbed. As I tell their story, I want to illustrate what they are going through. They can say it better than I can, so I need to encourage them to discuss their feelings. I do this by asking the dumb questions. I try to get around it by saying, “Talk about how you’re feeling, blah, blah.” But it’s the same idea—they know it, I know it and I’m not sure there’s much I can do about it.
Knock, knock, no knock
Have you ever heard a police officer banging on your door? It’s a special kind of sound…a powerful, intimidating, disruptive, angry noise. Officers knocked like that on my door once. I was living alone in Richmond, Virginia. It was late at night. I was sleeping. They thought I had called police. I hadn’t, it was the neighbors. Once I convinced them there was no domestic going on behind my door , they were cordial. I went back to bed, in a bit of a huff that I was so rudely disrupted. Now that was just a knock. I can’t imagine my door being knocked down. That’s what happened to one family in Gwinnett this morning. Police thought a drug dealer lived in their apartment. He didn’t. They were yelled at, had guns pointed at them, got handcuffed and thrown on the floor. The FBI supposedly had their drug cartel targets under surveillance for months. It’s surprising that they would go to the wrong apartment, assuming they had studied the layout for so long. It’s easy to point fingers when public agencies make such public mistakes. I am interested in learning just how this one happened. The FBI told us it’s under investigation.
91 Year Old Carjacked
Today I interviewed a 91 year old carjacking victim. She’s less upset about it than her neighbors. She’s taking it very well. It’s outrageous that someone would take advantage of someone so vulnerable. But when I learned the age of the suspect, it made more sense. Who else but a fifteen year old would be so thoughtless? Why do the most ruthless criminals always seem to be so young? I also interviewed the teen suspect’s mother. I felt sorry for her too. She thinks he’s innocent. I think back to when I was 15. I never stole a car, but I was no picnic. I don’t have children, but frankly, if and when I do, I’m afraid of the teenage years. It just seems like kids turn into monsters. Maybe I don’t do enough positive stories about teenagers. I know there are good ones out there. Young adults who would never dream of robbing poor 91 year old Kate Baldwin. Somehow most of those kids just don’t seem to make the news. I guess that’s a good thing. I hope my kids are never on the news.
You try not to dwell…
You try not to dwell on the horror we hear about every day. At least I don’t. People often say to me, “I don’t watch the news, it’s too depressing.” I certainly don’t fault them for it. Sometimes it IS depressing. I’m working on an awful story right now. It’s about a car accident. Four people are dead. One of them is a child, her mother is in the hospital, not doing all that well. Apparently the father was driving in a seperate car. He looked in his rearview and saw a car heading toward his wife and child. They collided…burst into flames. He pulled over, in shock. Overloaded by what he saw. It’s Easter Sunday. We don’t know where they were going or coming from. I can’t fathom that. It’s too horrendous to imagine, but it’s this poor father’s reality. I will spend 6 more hours contemplating this man’s horror. The viewers will spend less than 2 minutes hearing about it, then the anchor will move on to the next story. Yes, it’s too depressing, but it’s the truth. My heart aches for that family.
**Now it’s 5 people dead. The Medical Examiner found an infant in the other car— a burned-out Mercedes. There were three other people dead in that car. Police are now at the hospital to talk to the mother and father of the older child who died in the VW.
