Wednesday, September 12, 2007

Patriotism, safety and one school’s decision to ban flags

We have been flooded with calls, e-mails and comments today about a principal’s decision to ban students from wearing flags on a high school campus. Opinions are as varied as the locations of the writers…some as far away as troops fighting in Iraq. We first aired the story Tuesday night and only minutes later my mother-in-law was on the phone enraged at what she had just heard. The comments haven’t stopped since and probably won’t for a few more days.

Many of the comments we received said the American flag is a symbol of freedom and to ban it was unpatriotic. While others cited rules saying the flag should never be printed on a shirt or other items.

Tonight I had the chance to talk to the Superintendent, Dr. Stewart Hobbs, who told me the principal was acting in good faith to protect students. The school system has worked very hard to keep gangs and gang violence out of schools. Information from law enforcement said gang members were wearing flags from foreign countries as gang symbols. Since gang symbols are banned under the county dress code the principal banned all flags to protect students. To the principal the ban of flags was not an act of patriotism or the lack of it…simply safety. (Late this afternoon the School Board rescinded the ban and say they could come back with new policy and will be looking at ways to maintain order.)

We ask our schools to keep our children safe. We also ask them to instill a sense American pride and patriotism by flying the flag over the school, saying the pledge every morning. Teaching our laws and our freedoms guaranteed to us in the Bill of Rights. This week the balance of patriotism, freedom and safety collide. The question we all must ask of our selves is who should win? is there a balance? how do you decide?

To read more about this story click here.

Friday, July 13, 2007

Large Market Small Market

More of that pesky terminology we use in the business but what does it mean?

Television stations are in towns across the country and each station is given a number based on how many homes have televisions. A market 1 would be any New York station, 2 is Los Angeles, 26 Charlotte, 29 Raleigh Durham, 100 Charleston, SC, and so it goes into the 200’s. So large market and small market are little more clear. But what does it all mean?

It affects things like advertising, broadcasting rules and such. For an employee it can mean a lot of different things. Some people like to climb the ladder at get as close to 1 as possible while others like a good job somewhere in the middle. I guess it is like most other jobs in that respect.

The challenge is all the competition in this business. This is not a job you just fill out the application on-line and hope somebody calls you one day. Being a good journalist is asking a question when nobody else does, making the phone call no one else thought of. It is a job of challenges and creative thinking so proving your self up front is required. Moving from a small market to a large market takes work and patients. Competition is most fierce at the top and bottom of the list. College graduates abound and so do those trying to break into news. Those that get in are usually trying to move up and the closer to the top the better you have to be…at least in theory.

Getting in the business early and working with as many people as possible will help when you are ready to go from a small to large market. Staying in touch with people along the way will also help. I can’t tell you how many times a new employee comes in and we have worked with somebody you know or worked with along the way. No matter what size market the business itself is its own little world.

Erin Worrell
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Tuesday, April 24, 2007

Suicide Attacks, Debates & Primaries

The worst attack on American ground forces in Iraq in over a year—killing nine and injuring approximately 20 soldiers—hit close to home today because all of the soldiers were from the Army’s 82nd Airborne Division, an N.C. unit based at Fort Bragg.

The attack is casting a shadow over the first Democratic Presidential candidate debate scheduled for this Thursday in South Carolina.

All eight of the Democratic hopefuls that have formally announced their Presidential intentions will converge on South Carolina State University for their first group discussions with one another. Click here for a full breakdown of the contenders.

With the possibility that 23 or more states will hold their primary elections in January and early February, political experts are predicting that the party nominations could be decided as early as “Super-Duper” Tuesday, February 5, 2008—almost ten months before November’s elections—and that this new process favors candidates with large war chests and does not allow the nation to hear from lesser-known candidates.

So what does all this have to do with local news coverage? The accelerated schedule has caused a ripple effect for news rooms across the country. Today, I found myself building a special Decision 2008 election section for our Web site almost 20 months before the actual election is held. I can’t be the only person who finds this odd.

Look for the launch of our new Election 2008 section this Thursday on our Web site, just in time for the first debate.

The debate begins at 7 p.m. on Thursday and will be aired live on MSNBC. NBC17.com will also provide streaming Web coverage.

Thursday, April 19, 2007

VT Massacre Video: NBC17’s Statement

There has been a lot of discussion about the use of the VT Massacre pictures and video, by NBC News. 

As a local news organization, we have a responsibility to report the news. I want to take a moment and explain to you what we have decided, as it relates to NBC17’s use of the massacre video and images.

Below is a statement from NBC17 News Director, Nannette Wilson.
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The decision to air the video and statements from Cho Seung-Hui was not made lightly by NBC 17 News.

Like NBC News, careful consideration was, and continues, to be given to all aspects of this very difficult story.  We recognize the sensitive nature of this particular material for the families of the victims, the Virginia Tech community and all of our viewers who are undoubtedly affected by this story. 

We agree with NBC News that Cho’s statements and videos may offer some insight into the critical question of why a person would commit such a horrible act.  We want to give our viewers an opportunity to see and judge for themselves.  We also want to give viewers the option of not watching the video by warning them about the nature of this content before it airs. 

There will be limited use of the video going forward, and we will continue to warn viewers if and when we do. 

As always, we encourage feedback from our viewers and find their input invaluable in our quest to serve our community better, every day.