November 1999
RUN(A)WAY START TO A COLORFUL CAREER:
BRUCE NEAL, 1935-1999
It was the mid-'60s, Bill Hix recalls, and he and Bruce Neal were at Carswell Air Force Base one night awaiting the arrival of a commercial airliner in trouble. Hix, KXOL's overnight reporter, was sitting behind the wheel of the mobile unit, a Ford station wagon. Assistant news director Neal perched on a front fender for a better view.
Suddenly, as the plane started to come down, Neal shouted, "Let's go! Let's go!" Hix floorboarded it, and off they sped down the foamed runway, Neal describing the emergency landing live from the hood.
"We were probably going 50 or 60 (miles per hour), but it seemed like 100," Hix says now. "Hanging on with one hand and holding a walkie-talkie in the other, I don't see how in the world the poor guy kept from falling off."
Neal didn't fall off that night or, later, as the longtime public relations "voice of Six Flags Over Texas." He didn't fall off as 1968-69 SPJ chapter president or producer-director of the Gridiron Show.
Neal died Oct. 19 while on business in Austin. The TCU Journalism Department has established a scholarship in his name.
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STRAIGHT STUFF
Next PRSA meeting ...
The Future's Bright: National PRSA Director to Share Strategic Plan
In the past 50 years, PRSA has become the world's largest organization for public relations practitioners, with almost 20,000 members. Now that the 1999 International Conference is over, PRSA is moving forward with a five-year plan that focuses on three core areas: building value, building demand and building global understanding.
Deanna Pelfrey, APR, Fellow PRSA and a member of the National PRSA Board of Directors, will discuss the strategic plan at the Nov. 10 luncheon meeting, which will also serve as the annual meeting for the Greater Fort Worth chapter. Electing officers for 2000 will be the only official item of business.
Pelfrey is president of Pelfrey Associates, Inc., a Louisville-based, internationally known public relations/marketing firm. Founded in 1976, the company represents clients in healthcare, beverage/spirits, the environment, publishing, retailing, higher education, utilities and finance as well as CPAs, attorneys and physicians. Her work currently takes her to Scotland, England, Ireland, France and South Africa, as well as throughout the United States and Canada.
A '97 inductee into the PRSA College of Fellows, Pelfrey serves on the Board of Directors of the PRSA Bluegrass chapter and on the executive committees of the Counselors Academy and the International Section of the PRSA national organization. She chaired the 1994 International Section's "PR Brain Trust: International."
Nominees for the 2000 GFW/PRSA Board of Directors are, for president, Kim Speairs, APR; president-elect/membership, Mary Dulle; vice president/programs, Roger Partridge; secretary, Kristie Aylett, APR; treasurer, Hope Caldwell; treasurer-elect, Jerrod Resweber; and directors, Julie Hatch, APR; Laura Squires, APR; and Carolyn Hodge, APR.
* Date: Wednesday, Nov. 10
* Time: lunch 11:45 a.m., program 12:30 p.m.
* Place: Colonial Country Club
* Cost: members $18, students $16.50, nonmembers $20
* RSVP: 347-8649 by noon Monday, Nov. 8
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Next SPJ meeting ...
Tracy Rowlett: News from 8 to 11
Channel 11 anchor-in-exile Tracy Rowlett, for 25 years Channel 8's news prince and now a determined rival, will elaborate on life after Belo at the Nov. 16 SPJ meeting. It will be Rowlett's first public discussion of his leaving the news operation he helped propel to critical acclaim for a cross-county competitor.
The elements would make a novel: a non-compete clause; WFAA's saying the issue was always money; Rowlett's strong denial and insistence that the station was compromising its journalistic integrity with decisions such as the sales manager helping choose the news series for sweeps week. November's D Magazine stirs the pot with assertions via internal memos and e-mails that Channel 8 at best merely blundered big time and at worst showed complacency, arrogance and, at the end, spite.
Rowlett knows the media are invited to his SPJ talk. Bring questions worthy of his lawyer, Steve Malouf. He'll be there, too.
* Date: Tuesday, Nov. 16
* Time: mingling 6:30 p.m., food 7, program 7:45
* Time: mingling 6:30 p.m., food 7, program 7:45
* Place: University of North Texas Health Science Center, 3500 Camp Bowie Blvd. (then north on Clifton Street, parking lot A)
* Cost: free for the program; to eat, $20 SPJ members, $25 nonmembers, $10 students and professionals with two years or less experience
* Menu: ribs, chicken, sausage and all the trimmings from West Texas Barbecue King and SPJ legend Ronnie Holcomb; tea, soft drinks, open bar
* RSVP for dinner: (817) 877-1171 or doti1@aol.com
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And coming in December (Dec. 8, to be exact) ...
The PRSA-SPJ-IABC-Ad Club Christmas party/John Peter Smith Hospital book benefit at the Miller Brew Kettle Museum. Silent auction items are needed. Contact Arden Dufilho (adufilho@fortworthchamber.com).
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SPJ President, Chapter Honored at Convention
Mike Cochran received the Howard S. Dubin Outstanding Professional Chapter Member Award and Fort Worth was named the '98-'99 Region 8 top large pro chapter at the national convention last month. Cochran's just-completed year as president featured a 57 percent membership increase (from 108 to around 170); creation of an $18,000 endowed scholarship honoring Lina Davis, an acclaimed Arlington high school teacher who died in the spring; and programs with Dale Hansen, Randy Galloway, Dan Jenkins, the ghost of JFK, a dozen anecdotal authors, Texas-class songbird Annie Golightly, several hundred tamales and the occasional beer.
"Cochran has one speed: fast," ex-chapter chief Dorothy Estes wrote headquarters. "He wasn't an easy president to work with because his energy, vision and ambition pushed the board and the chapter to think and act faster than we were accustomed, but he left his mark."
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'A Frenzy to be First' and Lessons for a Lifetime
-- Wedgwood Tragedy Left Indelible Mark
on Both Sides of News-gathering Fence
By Larry Roquemore
A gunman's rampage Sept. 15 through the aisles of Wedgwood Baptist Church brought out the best and the worst in local and national reporting, six media pros involved with the coverage told the Fort Worth SPJ meeting in October.
"There was a frenzy by the media to be first," Drenda Witt, public relations director with the JPS Health Network, said of the hours immediately following the incident in Southwest Fort Worth that left eight dead and six wounded. Some broadcasters "were putting anyone on the air who was able to walk up to a mike."
Although updates were faxed regularly to the media, requests kept coming "for the same information from seven or eight people in the same organization." And in the scramble for information, a TV network sought a hospital interview, canceled, then called to reschedule. "This happened more than 15 times," Witt said.
Soon John Peter Smith Hospital overflowed with prospective blood donors. They had heard of a need on the radio. "We never requested that. We had no way to handle that," Witt said. "We had to turn them away." Even "Larry King Live" called, wanting access to the victims' family members, who had said they did not want to talk to the media. JPS respected their wishes. "One caller said no one says no to Larry King," said Witt's office partner, Debbie Young, "not even the president."
Meanwhile, Fort Worth public information officer Pat Svacina was marshaling communication lines among fire and police units, as well as city leaders. On the panel, he criticized running information before it could be confirmed. "There is no need for live coverage except for the first few minutes," he said. "From our perspective, being responsible is more important."
Channel 5 executive producer Kim Spangler, who covered the Oklahoma City Federal Building bombing, was at the station when the story broke. "I never thought I would experience anything like this in Texas. We didn't want to run anything that was too graphic."
Concerning the continuous coverage, "we actually went off the air for about an hour," she said. "People started calling. ... We went back live on the air. It was a tough call, but viewers wanted new information."
At the Star-Telegram, director of photography (and SPJ director) Max Faulkner remembers the first night as chaotic. "All of a sudden, you've got something like this happening in your own city. You go into autopilot, sending in your first line of photographers who are at the paper, then calling photographers at home, all of this going on at deadline."
Photographers met with mixed reactions. "One guy kept pulling the camera away from the face of one of our photographers. We had a lot of people [news organizations] wanting our photos, offering us money for them." The paper declined, Faulkner said.
A big marker board in the S-T newsroom helped track assignments and facts as they emerged. Managing editor/news Kathy Vetter coordinated it all. "I believe we covered this in the right way," she said. "The families were very positive -- they had no problems with the pictures we published. I was proud to watch journalists do their job in a compassionate manner."
Panel members questioned the approach of reporters from around the world who knew nothing of Fort Worth and didn't take the time to learn. It's a lesson local journalists said they will take with them, next time they're called to places like Littleton, Colo.
"We all learned something," JPS's Witt said. "I just hope and pray we never have to go through anything like this again."
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PEOPLE & PLACES
The margaritas and complementary munchies helped, but mostly it was the great company that made the PRSA Connections meeting Oct. 14 at Blue Mesa Grill on University Drive so successful. More than 10 people spent a couple of hours getting to know each other better, seeking and giving advice and even conducting an impromptu job interview. Connections tentatively plans another happy hour for 5:30 p.m. Nov. 11, again at Blue Mesa. Stay tuned.
Mark Woolsey on Bruce Neal: "Bruce was a great guy personally. Professionally, speaking as a radio reporter with hourly deadlines, we need more folks like him. Easy to work with, good-natured, always called back promptly with the information you needed. We'll miss him."
And from SPJ director Verlie Edwards: "Who are you? Where do you live and work? Fort Worth SPJ is updating its directory; if you haven't completed an info sheet, please e-mail (vjedward@flash.net) or fax to my attention (870-2863): name, employer, title, home address/city/zip, phone (office and home), fax, e-mail. While you're here, have you won an award recently? Been promoted? Gotten married? Had a baby? E-mail or fax me the news. Help us spotlight our members."
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COMINGS & GOINGS
all but one at the Star-Telegram ...
Promotions ... eight-year S-T veterans Ian McVea to senior staff photographer, NE office, and Steve Smith to deputy sports editor over high schools ... Cody Bailey, lead designer on the Nolan Ryan Hall of Fame section and the 106-page football preview, to assistant sports editor ... Robbie Morganfield, NE assistant metro editor, now also staff development editor (the paper's first); he will lead recruiting activities, working with recruiting coordinator D'Juana Gibson ... Randall Perry, part-timer, to sports copy editor.
Shiftings ... Todd Overman, leaving the NE Hometown Star for NE sports desk ... Marisa Taylor, from NE Southlake reporter to federal courts reporter downtown ... Katie Fairbanks, from the Associated Press to The Dallas Morning News business news staff.
Additions ... Tracey Meyers, previously with the Alton (IL) Telegraph (where she helped cover the St. Louis Rams and St. Louis Cardinals); Arlington Sports Zone, reporter ... recent U. of Oklahoma grad Austin Gilley, previously with the Plano Star Courier; Arlington Sports Zone, copy editor ... Kelly Cannon, formerly a designer/copy editor at the San Antonio Express-News; sports copy desk ... Melody McDonald, for two years a Philadelphia Inquirer suburban correspondent; police reporting team ... Bechetta Jackson, who just completed a one-year residency at the Chicago Tribune; community diversity reporter ... Morgan State U. grad Deborah Overton, previously a designer/copy editor at the Daily Press in Newport, VA; business design desk ... Chicago native and Missouri j-school grad Jeanine M. Davis, copy editor intern ... Rice U. grad Angelique Siy, Arlington intern.
Debut ... Madison Lauren Towle, Oct. 5, 8 pounds 9 ounces. Parents are Mike and Lisa Towle. Mike writes out of the Washington, D.C., bureau.
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PRESIDENT'S COLUMN Paul Sturiale / PRSA
Doing an electronic newsletter with our SPJ friends is exciting, but it's not the only move the board has made to improve the ways we communicate with members.
This newsletter may be the most cost-effective, work-efficient decision we've made in a long time. It gives us a less labor-intensive way to share the good news about the chapter, as well as a vehicle for reaching communications professionals who otherwise might never hear from PRSA. Plus, it should cut production costs as much as 40 percent. A gigantic savings for the chapter!
We supply copy to SPJ, which adds its own news and sends out the final product. No printing, folding, stamping or cursing (on our part, at least). For those who are cyber-deprived, we will fax a copy. For those who are fax- and cyber-deprived, we'll send it snail mail.
After the November and December issues, Kim Speairs and her hearty band of board members will evaluate. Your thoughts could play a big part in the 2000 board's decisions, so please contact us with feedback on this (or anything else that affects the chapter).
As promising as the newsletter scenario is, it is only one of several communications systems the chapter has instituted this year, beginning with our Web site (www.prsafortworth.homepage.com). Marc Flake and crew have created a simple, easily accessible resource for information about chapter doings and dones.
Kim has instituted a blast e-mail system to provide chapter news updates. Perhaps more importantly, it can be a convenient way to send timely reminders about the monthly meetings and special events such as professional development seminars, Connections Committee social events and the upcoming Health Care SIG media seminar.
Last, but far from least, Wendy Dunn has arranged a blast fax system with the good folks at Alliance Voice Mail Service for a quick, hard-copy distribution of information about chapter happenings.
With these systems, we will be able to disseminate information (such as last-minute schedule changes) in a more timely, efficient manner. I'm not sure I'm going to miss the good old days of telephone trees all that much.
At the start of the year, I challenged the board to perform its day-to-day committee operations as well as possible and to come up with at least one good way to perform its responsibilities better. This just goes to show what can happen when talented people use their talents.
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OVER & OUT John Dycus / SPJ
You didn't see O.K. Carter and chapter director Larry Lutz, both of the Arlington S-T, at the October meeting because they're teaching the SPJ/Barnes & Noble Teen Newswriting Workshop at B&N north in Arlington. "We've settled with a class of about 12," Lutz says. "During the hour we can get everyone involved. We even had one shopper who sat down for a few minutes, he was so 'intrigued.' " This is SPJ outreach at its finest, sharing what we know with the next generation. Good work, guys.
Region 8 director Todd Gillman filed a 1,000-word report on the convention in Indiana, which I'll gladly forward. Former FW president Kay Pirtle represented the chapter. ... Hope everyone got to meet national prez Kyle Niederpruem while she was in town. She's funny, knowledgeable -- and welcome at our table any time.