Being able to choose your channels...

I have long believed that unbundling of cable and satellite channels would be a good thing.

The model for years has been for subscribers to pay a flat fee for a cable lineup that originally might have included a couple of dozen channels or so. As technology advanced, the cable industry was able to expand the number of channel offerings with a modest increase in cost.

When my wife and I were parents of young children, we would gladly have paid an additional fee to have the cable system filter out the burgeoning number of channels that contained content promoting violence, sex, and morbidity. While each of us has slightly different standards with regard to what's objectionable, there were ways that concerned parents and cable companies might have compromised.

Campbell Brown in action:
(see video below)

"Unworkable" was the basic response from the cable systems to proposals to unbundle channels, suggesting that the technology simply wasn't available to create a viable business model. That was back in the 1970's and '80's. Fast forward to 2013. Not only is the technology available to allow subscribers to pick and choose individual channels and pay only for those channels -- the need for doing so was never greater. It's often called "cherry picking."  The social cost of not offering subscribers this choice is potentially devastating. It's already left a mark on our society.

Nowhere is this clearer than in the current debate over gun control. Alas, the culpability of the media and entertainment businesses has been marginalized in the the national debate. Stepping up to focus on the issue is former NBC and CNN correspondent Campbell Brown. She was interviewed on MSNBC earlier this month (April 2013); while she didn't push hard on the "unbundling" of cable channels as a way to help parents -- and society -- she did have some cogent observations about the entertainment industry and some strategies that might work for reigning in an industry that displays little concern over the consequences of its product -- except the box office receipts.

Real dimension is better

As a 10-year-old kid, I was on the cutting edge of technology. I just didn’t know it.

Scrunched down in row #10 of the Pace Theater in Chadron – bedecked with nifty paper and plastic glasses made for the occasion – I ducked and yowled as a “House of Wax” barker slammed a rubber-ball from the movie screen straight for me and my friends.

The plot of that 1953 Vincent Price movie was a bit thin, but it was enough to satisfy me and my buddies. The highly-touted three-dimensional (3-D) technology was what really grabbed us and left indelible memories imprinted on our youthful minds. But 3-D movies didn’t succeed very well in the marketplace and were gone within a few years.

Fast-forward nearly 70 years and 3-D seems to be making a come-back.

Spurred by the notion of selling lots more new-fangled television sets, giant TV set manufacturers like Samsung, Sony, Vizio, and Panasonic say they’re going to really push 3-D television sales during the coming year. They enjoyed a big surge in the sales of high definition receivers over the past couple of years. They fear sales will soon slump and are looking for something to excite consumers.

Given the enormous strides made in television production technology in recent years, it’ll be fun to see what the set manufacturers can do.

Despite the fact that I worked around television most of my professional live – including the days before even rudimentary “chroma-key” or “green screen” techniques were used – I remain amazed at just how good these new technologies are. I’m still trying to figure out how those innovative rascals manage to show me the “1st and 10” line down on the football field, just like it’s really there….players running over it, obscuring it from sight, as if it were really a part of the field. Wow.

But I’m an early skeptic that 3-D will go far in the television world – at least so long as special eyeglasses are required. Some 3-D units will required battery-powered glasses.

I already have difficulty keeping track of where the various television remote controls are – the TV, the cable box, and the DVD player – so adding another device to the shelf might be a bit tricky. And batteries? Well, Triple-A would be good, since I keep them in stock, but I fear they’ll be using something smaller. Something lighter. Something that’s proprietary. Something costly! Pre-holiday reports indicate that the special glasses will likely cost at least $50.

Of course, making the TV receiver is only one part of the tricky 3-D equation. Local television stations are only now completing their conversion from analog to high definition local programming. Unless there is ample 3-D content available for broadcast, efforts to lure consumers to buy new sets – again -- will be doomed. After all, content is king.

But looking at most television programs these days, I’m not sure the television industry has quite figured that out.

Perhaps we’ll just take a simple stroll outside to enjoy a beautiful sunset – without 3-D glasses.

Something about The Six

I’m glad that KEVN (Fox-7) has moved its suppertime newscast on weeknights to 6:00 p.m. The Six, as they call it, gives many of us an opportunity to get a different take on the latest happenings throughout the Black Hills. And if they were going to change anything, the time of the cast was probably most important, but they tinkered with a few other things, too.

Having talent stand rather than sit behind a desk is one of those changes at The Six. It’s a technique intended to provide a sense of energy and involvement that many news consultants have recommended over the years. I don’t object to it, but it’s largely a cosmetic tool – one you can employ when other things (like staff size and other resources) don’t seem to help in the ratings race.

We’re still talking about a measly amount of time – less than 20 minutes nightly for news, sports, markets and weather, after you extract the commercials. Of course, if you’re really looking for depth, you’re probably over at KBHE-TV (PBS, Ch. 9) watching the NewsHour with Jim Lehrer (or turning to the Rapid City Journal for local content with more meat).

KCLO-TV (CBS-15) airs its local news at 5 p.m., but repeats it again at 6 o’clock. However, since it originates in Sioux Falls, there’s not much that’s “local” for Black Hills viewers. Like public broadcasting, they lay claim to a statewide audience and sell advertising statewide, so their “local” news is largely Sioux Falls with tidbits from the Black Hills and the rest of the state.

KOTA (ABC-3) outclasses KNBN (NBC-21) at 5:30 p.m. and seems to have an edge on all of the stations because of its seasoned experience in the market. Simply put, Duhamels have been in the market a long time, and they know the market.

While I still occasionally hear about Nielsen ratings -- even among public television folks -- I’ve never put much stock in them, particularly here in sparsely populated South Dakota. I consider it a blessing NOT to have to deal with them or pay much attention to them. Our personal taste for local broadcast news/weather/sports gravitates toward KOTA, probably because it has a great lead-in with ABC’s Charlie Gibson. But KOTA Territory’s local presentation is rock solid – if not original.

I plan to watch The Six a bit more in coming days – and NewsCenter1, too -- in an effort to get better acquainted with their talent and how they go about their business. I’ll probably spend some time with KELO-land, too.

The best change for The Six is its new time slot.

Turned off by the TV turn off

There was a time when I thought participating in a national “Turn Off the TV” campaign was a pretty cool thing to do. No longer.

Part of my disillusionment with letting the tube go dark has to do with its effectiveness, or lack thereof. It fits right in with the notion that – if we all don’t buy gasoline on a certain day – we can change the behavior of the big oil companies. Pardon me if I play the skeptic.

Expecting that a one-week TV turnoff may “prime the pump” to a lifetime of reduced television watching is, to my mind, disingenuous.

All of this is not to say I’m opposed to the concept. Spending 29-34 hours a week plopped in front of the tube – as the average American does – is a bit much. And it detracts from doing more productive things, especially if the viewer is consumed by reality shows and “shock” television. That's the cheaper fare that helps television production companies and the networks turn a better profit. Quality costs. Junk is cheaper.

Better, I think, for us to focus on the quality of television that is produced and watched. That’s a tougher row to hoe, but its outcome would have far greater impact.

It’s easy to be absolutely cynical about the prospects of television transforming itself and offering better quality programs. I suspect there’ll always be a market for shock television and pornography. I must confess that even until very recently, I didn’t believe there was any way to stem the decline of television programming into an abyss of self-absorbing muck.

But my cynicism has given way to a flicker of optimism for the future. It has been fueled mostly by the high quality programs of public television and a handful of cable channels (History Channel, C-SPAN, and a few others).

But the real clincher was to see veteran smut peddler HBO launch its seven-part historical series on John Adams. A superb series that stands head and shoulders above an earlier tripe-cast called Deadwood (with apologies to a few of my South Dakota friends who believe that distorted history is better than no story at all).

Turn off the TV this week? I don’t think so. But it would be a good idea to start pushing the industry for better programming and supporting those offerings with our viewership. Admittedly, really good television programs are few and far between – but they can be found. They and their sponsors should be supported.

Memories of Biography

I became a Mike Wallace fan back in the early 1960s when I was Program Manager of WGBY-TV, the Armed Forces Radio & Television outlet on the U.S. Naval Base at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.

Those were the days before satellite broadcasts. Each week, we’d received air shipments of kinescopes from the mainland, including a wide variety of popular programs from all of the broadcast networks.

That’s when I was first exposed to a documentary film series entitled Biography, produced by David Wolper -- pictured here -- and hosted by Mike Wallace. Documentaries in those days were few and far between, and I was impressed with Wolper’s effective use of archival film footage and still photographs. These were well before the days of documentary filmmaker Ken Burns (who would have still been in elementary school). Of course, Mike’s narration added significantly to the authoritativeness of the Biography programs.

While I can’t offer up a link to the old Biography series, I can steer you to a rich collection interviews done even earlier in a series called The Mike Wallace Interview. This series ended up at ABC, and the University of Texas has managed to persuade the 89-year-old Wallace – who owns the copyright – to allow UT to make 65 of the programs available on the internet. Another nice touch: transcripts of the programs are also on the site at the Harry Ransom Center on the UT campus in Austin.

Enjoy!

Couric to Leave CBS Evening News....Soon?

The media business is abuzz with much talk about Katie Couric possibly leaving her anchor job at CBS Evening News -- perhaps sooner rather than later. The New York Times offered up the story yesterday. It'll be interesting to see if the speculation of an early departure becomes reality. A key part of the Today show at NBC for many years, she's been unable to help CBS navigate its way out of third place in the evening network news competition.

Millage Goes Back to School

Long-time news executive Mark Millage is leaving broadcasting to head Kilian Community College in Sioux Falls. Millage has been with the KELO-land stations, based in Sioux Falls, for some 25 years, most of them as News Director.

KELO-TV is the flagship station for a network of transmitters that cover most of South Dakota. Millage was tapped from among more than 40 applicants to become President of the two-year school.

I don’t know a lot about Kilian Community College – or Mark Millage – but they both have good reputations. According to the news release posted by the college, the school was formed as a “joint venture” by Augustana College and two other institutions that used to be known as Sioux Falls College and the North American Baptist Seminary.

I met Tom Kilian in the 1980s when I was with South Dakota Public Broadcasting. He’s the long-time South Dakota educator for whom the institution is named. He is a class act.

Good luck to Mark Millage and Kilian Community College.

The Six to premiere Monday

We see KEVN is moving its 5:30 p.m. weekday newscast to 6:00 p.m. starting next Monday, March 31st. I’m glad to see that, since it’ll give me – and presumably many other folks – an opportunity to see what the Fox affiliate can do in that time slot.

It gives them a clean shot at “news junkies” and others who must choose among competing broadcasts between 5 – 6 p.m. Of course, a few folks are home earlier and able to watch KCLO’s “KELO-land News,” at 4:30 MDT, but I’m not among them. I also have a little disdain for them, since they claim a local service presence statewide, but they have a decidedly “east river” flavor to their Sioux Falls broadcasts, which emanate in the Central Daylight Time zone. There is no or little concern over the time difference.

As one who relies upon ABC’s Charlie Gibson and PBS’s Jim Lehrer to provide a television window on the world, I seldom watch Fox, CBS, or NBC at suppertime. Consequently, I know little about the kind of work these stations do during the supper hour.

The Rapid City Journal this morning reported some “big changes” at KEVN starting Monday. General Manager Cindy McNeill is quoted as saying that “more people are watching at 6 p.m.” KEVN is re-labeling the broadcast “The Six.” They’re touting a new set and a new pace. Whether that’ll translate into a new and bigger audience remains to be seen.

Taking on the media big guys...again!

It’s lost in the fray of presidential politicking, but there’s another less visible struggle taking place in Washington, D.C. – but it has far-reaching consequences.

Senator Byron Dorgan of North Dakota has introduced Senate Joint Resolution 28, “disapproving the rule submitted by the Federal Communications Commission with respect to broadcast media ownership.”

You may recall the de-regulatory chicanery foisted upon the commission in December by the media giants, who want dearly to super-size themselves even more with new rules promulgated by the FCC. Chairman Kevin Martin unwittingly led the charge on behalf of the media big boys, approving rules that relax media ownership restrictions and allow cross-ownership of newspapers and television stations. Thanks to Dorgan, there is a bi-partisan push in the 110th Congress to once again reel in the burgeoning power of big media.

It's time for folks of all political persuasions to notify their congressional delegation to support S.J. Res. 28. Read more about the hazards of media consolidation as compiled by the good people at Common Cause!

Ed Murrow would be proud

Living virtually “over the hill” from historic Deadwood, South Dakota, Karen and I have visited that colorful community many times. Its scenic setting in the northern Black Hills makes the town a popular tourist destination, as does its raucous gold rush history. Of course, Deadwood also heavily promotes its present-day casino entertainment, too.

Nonetheless, I’ve never watched a full episode of HBO’s much-heralded TV series, Deadwood.

I must confess, I couldn’t get beyond the filthy language used gratuitously throughout the single episode to which I was exposed. How unfortunate that many folks like myself missed the series; on the other hand, knowing that liberal license was taken with authentic language of the period, I fear the whole series strayed quite far from reality. A friend suggested that perhaps I should be less prudish. After more than 24 years of exposure to "salty language" in the Navy, I've never thought of myself as a prude. Perhaps HBO could produce a good historical drama without incessant gutter language? Except for PBS, there aren’t a lot of folks doing that kind of quality programming anymore.

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Well, now they’ve gone and done it! HBO this month unveiled what appears to be a great series, John Adams, chronicling the lives of our second U.S. president, John Adams, and his remarkable wife, Abigail. The seven-part story is based upon the Pulitzer-prize winning book authored by David McCullough. The series premiered March 16th and subsequent episodes will air Sunday evenings during the rest of March and into April. I’ve watched the first two episodes, and I’m hooked.

The story is well told, finely acted, and leaves you wanting more. I’ve just visited the HBO John Adams web site, and before the day is over, I’ll visit our local library and hope that they have a copy of McCullough’s book.

Some reviewers have been critical of actor Paul Giamatti, who portrays Adams, but I found his character very credible. Laura Linney as Abigail Adams was superb. I was quite inspired by the first two episodes of John Adams. I want to revisit colonial history and the founding of our country. I want to know more about the Adams family. My curiosity has been aroused!

Programs like HBO’s John Adams series demonstrate the power of television. And it it comes like a breath of fresh air.

Legendary broadcaster Edward R. Murrow once said about television, “This instrument can teach, it can illuminate; yes, and it can even inspire. But it can do so only to the extent that humans are determined to use it to those ends. Otherwise it is merely wires and lights in a box.”

Congratulations to HBO for bringing us this outstanding series. I think Murrow would be proud of what they’ve done. I know I am.

Zombies in a handbasket

When I first scanned the column by Stephen Moore in the Wall Street Journal last weekend, I thought it was meant to be a bit of satire. After reading it more closely, I discovered it wasn’t satire – it was desperation!

“Teenage Zombies” looked like a lead for a bit of tongue-in-cheek, good-natured observations about how our youth are two steps ahead of us luddites in understanding the “new order” of technology. As I pored over the piece, it was clear that Mr. Moore was joining me and millions of other American parents and grandparents who fear for the next generation.

Fear that they’re becoming flabby in front of the tube.

Fear that their interest in the outside world has ebbed to near zero.

Fear that their perspective of reality is becoming distorted beyond belief.

Fear that there minds are – just as Moore posited – turning to silly putty.

I’d like to think there was a bit of jocularity in the article, and I truly believe there was. There must have been. What else can we do when we feel the earth falling out from under our feet?

There’s small solace in knowing that we’re joining the long ranks of elders from previous generations who thought their kids were going to hell in a handbasket.

The only difference is……we seem to be giving kids the handbaskets.

Teens in the ‘60s rebelled. They "dropped out," but at least they communed with nature. Now they vegetate in the field of lost Game Boy souls. In a final fatalistic rationalization, I find only minor comfort in knowing that those of us who grew up with the evils of television somehow survived.

…or did we? We’ll be back, right after this commercial message.

Global Events -- Our Neighborhood, too

How regrettable that it took the death of a charismatic Pakistani leader today to get the U.S. media to pay attention to world events. Beyond coverage of our involvement in the war in Iraq and early campaigning for the U.S. presidency, there really is another world out there.

Continuing strife in Darfur, the growing military might – and pollution – that symbolizes an emerging world power in China, severe human rights violations in much of Latin America…. The list of significant world events seems beyond the reach of American media. Not because they lack the technology, but because the corporate entities that own much of the media lack the will to support coverage beyond their “sales market.” The bottom line reigns supreme.

The circumstances surrounding the suicide bombing that claimed the life of former Pakistani Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto, 54, will be explored heavily today – and maybe tomorrow – by mainstream U.S. media. Then, short of all-out revolution in Pakistan, the topic will ebb away from media consciousness like the tide rolling back out to sea.

Only with Reuters, Deutsche Welle, BBC, and a few other web sites can we expect much meaningful world news. A few print media in our country – the New York Times and the Wall Street Journal among them – help keep us peripherally informed. Alone among domestic broadcasters, NPR and PBS do a good job of covering the globe. In our neck of the woods, we're thankful for South Dakota Public Broadcasting and Wyoming Public Radio. Their stations provide not only excellent coverage of world events -- they also do the best job of broadcasting state/regional news and features.

Would that we could get others to recognize that we’re a part of global community.

Newspaper Videos Blossom

We received a most welcome e-mail from our niece in Texas today. It provided an internet link to a video produced by the Lubbock (TX) Avalanche-Journal, telling the story of our grandnephew, Sergeant Shawn Walton, who was seriously wounded earlier this year in Iraq. We posted the video on the Galey Archives family web site.

Shawn has spent most of the past four months recuperating at the Brooke Army Medical Center in San Antonio. He’s been going through some aggressive physical therapy, and this video provided some good news for family members far and wide. The production quality of the video won’t win any awards, but it was still good news.

And these kinds of videos may also be good news for the newspaper industry. As the Fifth Estate becomes more adept at using video, perhaps they’ll also land upon a business model that will allow them to continue and expand creative uses of video and other internet tools.

Last week, the Chairman of the Federal Communications Commission, Kevin Martin, pushed through a new media ownership rule. It will allow newspapers to own television stations in the largest markets of the country. It’s a dumb idea. There already is too much concentration of power within the media.

Chairman Martin waxed eloquent about the plight of newspapers, citing significant declines in subscriptions to many well-known dailies. He neglected to mention that despite such declines, profits within the newspaper industry remain quite high, thank you very much!

While I’m opposed to the kind of increased concentration promoted by the cross-ownership rule, I fully support the blossoming video activities being pursued by newspapers and reported extensively in a recent article in the American Journalism Review.

Even the Rapid City Journal has been getting into the game of late. I find their video offerings -- categorized under "Multimedia" to the right side of their on-line news page -- a bit sparse. The interface is a bit awkward, but I suspect that they’re still taking baby steps with the new technology. Look for them to improve over time.

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Happily, Journal Editor Mikel LeForte told me some time back that the paper plans to continue its emphasis upon print reporting. They view video as merely complementing their print effort. And that’s the way it should be.

But for those of us who’ve advocated converging technologies to maximize journalistic efforts, this is a move in the right direction.

Merry Christmas, Rupert

Yup. They went ahead and did it. The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) yesterday voted 3-2 to overturn the newspaper/television cross-ownership rule in major markets across the country. Read the summary in the New York Times.

That should make Rupert Murdoch and other media barons very happy. It lets them off the hook in markets where they've been operating under waivers allowing such cross-ownership, and it's sure to open the floodgates of cross-ownership all across America.

It's a sad day for local journalism. But the battle isn't over. A move is afoot in the United States Senate to nail the FCC for its transgression. There aren't many things I get excited about having Congress get its nose into -- but this is one of them. The public airwaves are too important to be left to corporate bean counters trying to squeeze even greater profits out of every market at the expense of the public.

Read the revealing remarks of FCC Commissioners Jonathan Adelstein and Michael Copps. Their two minority votes just couldn't do the job. As you read their comments, it's apparent that much skullduggery has been going on behind the scenes; the Commission has demonstrated institutional ineptness, and I'm still dumbfounded as to why Chairman Kevin Martin launched this death march upon local services. It reached a new low for doing the public's business clandestinely and at the 11th hour....and later.

Kudos to Senator Byron Dorgan of North Dakota and Trent Lott of Mississippi for leading the charge to bring the FCC back to their senses. We're hopeful that South Dakota Senators Tim Johnson and John Thune will join the bi-partisan effort to pass S.2332, the Media Ownership Act of 2007. Among other things, it will correct the sloppy and irresponsible way the FCC conducted their hearings on media ownership. It will also breathe new life into efforts to examine the impact the media consolidation has on local services, and it'll finally give attention to the problem of under-represented minority ownership of broadcasting stations.

Local journalism, a bedrock of our democracy, is in peril. We need to find ways to engender an expansion of local broadcast services, and further media consolidation is not the way to achieve it.

Stay tuned.

Who Wants Bigger Media?

The Federal Communications Commission is scheduled to vote tomorrow on rules that would allow even greater consolidation of media in this country. Specifically, it would allow newspapers in major markets to acquire television stations in those same markets.

FCC Chairman Kevin Martin -- who has some good ideas about giving consumers greater choices by "unbundling" cable television packages -- is way off base on the issue of newspaper/television cross-ownership. I can't fathom whence came the perceived urgency of such rules, but it's not hard to imagine the long and powerful reach of media moguls like Rupert Murdoch.

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I've contacted Senators Johnson and Thune in South Dakota. While I doubt there is much that can be done at this late date to persuade Chairman Martin and the FCC to delay the vote tomorrow, the Senate can and should come together in support of S.2332, the Media Ownership Act of 2007. Among other things, it would require 90 days be provided for the public to comment on any proposed media ownership rules put forward by the FCC. It would also require a separate FCC proceeding to examine the impact media consolidation is having on localism. It's no surprise to anyone that truly good local service by commercial broadcasting stations has been diminishing over the past decade -- badly!

Hopefully, more citizens will contact their U.S. Senators to urge support of S.2332. It's an important piece of legislation that can have a positive impact on media services in this country. Learn more about media consolidation at my earlier postings about the FCC.

Amnesia Perhaps?

Although I guess it shouldn’t have surprised me, I was taken aback that Chairman Kevin Martin of the Federal Communications Commission has such bad short-term memory. Martin apparently doesn’t remember the thrashing that then Chairman Michael Powell took just three years ago when he tried to update FCC ownership rules for broadcast stations.

“Update” in this case is a euphemism for tossing out ownership rules that are already skewed against the public interest and offer giant media conglomerates a continuing opportunity to stuff their pockets with profits. This, at the expense of many genuinely local radio and television stations that historically really have operated in the public “interest, convenience, and necessity."

Not surprisingly, the Wall Street Journal has weighed in supporting Martin’s plan. I took issue with their stance by writing this “Letter to the Editor” last week:

The Wall Street Journal’s assertion that media consolidation has “led not to monopolies but to a media landscape that is more diverse than ever” (Oct. 25, 2007) confuses variety with diversity. The growing media empire of Rupert Murdoch may offer a garden variety of pseudo-journalism and info-tainment, but it falls woefully short of truly diverse, local journalism.

Your suggestion that “free-market” consolidation might improve the media landscape ignores the declining, sorry state of local broadcasting in this country – almost as bad as network offerings. Your swipe at public broadcasting, which is often the only vibrant player in local radio and television, is unwarranted. Many of us pine for the days of locally-owned and operated stations that were a part of the fabric of the communities they served, producing content that genuinely strived to meet the needs and interests of the community – not just the corporate bottom line. There are still a few commercial properties that fulfill that role, but increasingly it is public broadcasters who have filled the void of local service.

Chairman Martin and the FCC would do well to further expand their efforts in encouraging more local broadcasting and abandon the numbskull notion that media consolidation will save the day.

Back when Michael Powell tried an end run to further "relax" ownership rules, even he might have been surprised to find media mogul Ted Turner opposed to the proposal. To his credit, Turner simply observed that further consolidation might have been good for big media – but it was bad public policy.

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"When you lose small businesses, you lose big ideas," wrote Turner in the Washinton Monthly in 2004. Admitting that he earlier had tried his own "clean sweep" of vertical media ownership, Turner observed that media companies have grown ever larger and more powerful, and that their dominance has become so detrimental to small, emerging companies, that there's just one alternative -- bust up the big conglomerates.

Let’s hope that efforts to quash the plan – and there are many – are successful. Among those leading the charge against further media consolidation is U.S. Senator Byron Dorgan of North Dakota. Killing this proposal won't bust up the big media barons -- not by a long shot -- but it'll be a step in the right direction.

Whitmore - Going Strong at 85!

As a few of us have drifted into active “retirement,” I am amazed at those of our elders – a generation older – who show no signs of slowing down.

Such is the case of actor James Whitmore, who – at 85 – has returned to his roots at a summer theatre in New Hampshire as Sheridan Whiteside in the vintage play “The Man Who Came to Dinner.” According to reviewer Terry Teachout of the Wall Street Journal, Whitmore did it like the “youthful trouper” he was when he made his acting debut there after serving in the Marines in World War II.

I am not surprised.

Three decades ago, when I was managing public radio station KOSU in Stillwater, Oklahoma, I was witness to the creativity and professionalism of James Whitmore. One afternoon, OSU colleague John Bissonette and I decided serendipitously to drop in on a campus convocation featuring Whitmore at the Seretean Performing Arts Center. We were disappointed that so few students, faculty, staff or community residents showed up for the event. There were probably 40 of us in the audience.

Did that make any difference to James Whitmore? Not a bit.

Coming on stage despite an injury that caused him to hobble a bit, the diminutive actor with a booming voice engaged the audience in a way I’d not seen before. He talked about acting. He talked about life. He shared anecdotes about his career. In the end, he revealed his “injury” to be nothing more than a grand case of spoofing the audience with body language. It was all make believe.

And nobody does it better than James Whitmore – a real professional.

I first remember him as a cop in the classic sci-fi film “Them!” But he’s appeared in dozens of other great movies like Oklahoma, Kiss Me Kate, and Battle Cry. Television credits run into the hundreds – including classic series like Playhouse 90 and The Twilight Zone.” His portrayals of presidents Theodore Roosevelt and Harry Truman in the 1970s were especially memorable, as was his rendition of humorist Will Rogers.

Bravo, James Whitmore! You’ve entertained millions of people the world over, and you continue to inspire those of us still stumbling around in early retirement.

You’ve demonstrated that keeping active and striving for excellence is a great formula for remaining “youthful troupers.” Well done!

If She's Missin'...She's Fishin!

Juni Fisher concedes that she's always adored Roy Rogers. And I reckon if Roy had come along a generation later and had never met Dale Evans, he'd have been smitten by Juni Fisher. She's pretty. She writes great music. And she has a voice to die for.

A packed house at the High Plains Western Heritage Center near Spearfish, South Dakota gave Juni a warm "welcome back" last night (June 27, 2007). For those of us in the audience, it was very easy to see why Juni Fisher was selected 2006 Western Music Association Female Vocalist of the Year. She's a terrific performer.

Her warm and charming vocal styling is surpassed only by an uncanny ability to mesmerize her audience with great stories. From Calamity Jane to Chinaman Jack, Juni Fisher brings to life a wide range of western characters using a rare blend of good yarns set to her own original music. She is a master lyricist and a great storyteller.

Although she grew up in the central San Joaquin Valley of California, Juni now hangs her hat in Tennessee. That is, when she's not on the road. In the past six months, she's performed at some 33 locations across the west. She's had little time to enjoy her Louis L'Amour books. But she does try to take along her fly rod and get a little stream time. Fishing has been a passion since she was seven years old, and she readily confesses that "if she's missin'......she's probably fishin'." Keep an eye on Spearfish Creek the next couple of days, you just might see her.

Juni and her husband (sorry, Roy, she's already spoken for) make their home at Franklin, Tennessee -- just outside Nashville, and she plays Bluegrass and old time music for the sheer fun of it! If you want to know more about this talented country gal, check out her web site or give a listen to the Wednesday (June 27, 2007) edition of the "Live With Jim Thompson" radio program on the web.

My old friend Terry Lickona at Austin City Limits should book this talented lady. I believe Ranger Doug of Riders in the Sky said it best. "Though she is one of Nashville's great undiscovered secrets, she won't be for long."

And Ranger Doug wouldn't lie. It's not the cowboy way.

Tomek anchors at OETA

I was pleasantly surprised this week to see that long-time friend George Tomek has signed on to do some work with the Oklahoma ETV network (OETA). A veteran television anchorman with WKY-TV (now KFOR) in Oklahoma City, I first knew George when he and I served together in the Naval Reserve back in the 1970s. I was a new Lieutenant (jg) and George was our unit Executive Officer.

Those were special years, and our small group (Office of Information 411) drilled together for several years, including a variety of "Special Active Duty for Training" assignments. Folks like Jack Raskopf, Gean Atkinson, Greg Slavonic, Bill Hickman, and Ed Klecka, were a talented group of Naval officers who came from a variety of backgrounds. I had been teaching and managing the public radio station at Oklahoma State University in Stillwater, but later went to work at OETA as Assistant Director and then Manager of KOED-TV/Channel 11 in Tulsa. In the 1980s, George and I served together in OI-1018 in Kansas City. Of course, all my old colleagues at OETA are retired, dead or working elsewhere. But it was good to see the photo of George's smiling face in OETA web photos. It brought back fond memories of a great group of shipmates -- and of some good years at OETA.

W$J wrong on FCC stance

Regrettably, the Wall Street Journal seems out of touch with much of America when it states that “a la carte pricing bears little relationship to the issue of violent television programming” (FCC TV, May 23, 2007). Suggesting that war scenes from a History Channel documentary or shark/lion feeding scenes in a Discovery Channel program come anywhere close to the gratuitous sex and violence that permeates commercial television today is disingenuous. The WSJ editorial further asserts that Federal Communications Commission recommendations for a la carte consumer choice would constitute an unwarranted attempt by the government to “dictate a private sector business model.” We ask our government to do that all the time. Have you noticed the seat belts and air bags in your car?