Mistaken identity

When you break it down, Mike Walter is a pretty unremarkable name. It's just two first names. Yet so many people have trouble with it. They always want to put an s on the end of my name to make me plural. Could you imagine two of me? At any rate I remember years ago when Braniff was going belly up I was interviewing stranded travelers when I stumbled across Hugh Downs.

This was back when he was the co-host of 20-20 on Friday evenings. His co-host at the time was Barbara Walters. He needed to get back to New York in a hurry, and the clock was ticking, and the planes were grounded. I immediately introduced myself to him. He couldn't get over my name. The conversation went a little like this.

Downs: "Walters?"

Me: "No it's Walter!"

Downs: "So Walters did you say?"

Me: "No, it's Walter."

Downs: "Oh are you related to Barbara?"

Me: "No it's Walter, not Walters, I'm not related to Barbara!"

(Downs puzzled expression)

Downs: "Oh."

Hugh Downs eventually got on a TWA flight and that was that. I hadn't had a bout of mistaken identity until recently. I'm not quite sure why it's happening. But it has happened a couple of times in the last couple of weeks.

Janet Terry who basically runs rough shod over the 9 a.m. broadcast here at the station called me one afternoon. There was a sense of alarm in her voice.

Janet: "Where are you?"

Me: "What do you mean, where am I?"

Janet: "There is a guy here, in the lobby, and he says he has an appointment with you, and he's waiting, and he's getting mad."

I was stunned. I was also at home and had no interest in coming back to the station. I had no recollection of ever scheduling an appointment with anyone.

Me: "Can you go ask him why he's here? I really have no memory of anyone coming, and it's not on my calendar."

Janet: "Okay I'll call you back."

Quite a bit of time passed, and there was no phone call. So I called Janet. The visitor wasn't there to see me at all. He was here to see our News Director Mike Ward. Now it's pretty amazing that anyone could get us confused. To the right is a picture of our news director. Okay I'm kidding of course. He's not really Shaggy from Scooby Doo. But I couldn't find a likeness of him anywhere. This is the closest thing I could find. He is thin, has hair sort of like this guy, and a beard, so hey what the heck right?

Next up, comes this call from a very high powered agent in Los Angeles. She represents some of the top people in the profession. She leaves me this message, she wants to help me with my needs. Well I don't have an agent right now, so why not call her back, what do I have to lose.

This call was completely unsolicited, so naturally I'm curious why she called me, and flattered that she wants to talk to me.

So the calls go back and forth. I leave a message, she leaves a message. It's a game of phone chess. I make a move, she makes a move, until yesterday finally phone checkmate. She reaches me. As phone conversations go this one is beyond bizarre. She's asking me all these questions, and I respond. But there is an unnatural tone to the conversation. It's like two people passing one another but not connecting. I'm talking in one direction, she's talking in another. Until finally she says, "You know I'm sorry I was under the mistaken belief that you were a news director." So I'm thinking pretty soon maybe I'll just start hiring people, and I'll get the last laugh. If you are reading this Mike, that was a joke, and the picture, forget about it, I really think you look like this guy. So the ultimate lesson to this story is this. Who needs an agent if you know how to suck up right?

Footprints

It's a quote that has guided him. "Footprints in history are never made by someone sitting behind a desk." So it shouldn't be a surprise that my friend is back on the move again. My friend talks about the quote and what it means to him. We are sitting in a restaurant. It will be our last dinner together. Kate had made the phone call to arrange this last supper. With boxes stacked in their home he's sitting next to me talking. His wife is on the other end of the table deep in conversation with my wife. Their two children are nibbling on peanuts and chiming in on occasion.

My friend didn't come to Washington to make history, but he did come to be a part of it. He's a federal worker who is fed up. "When I look back on my career, my 8 years in Washington will be a black hole." There is a real sense of sadness as he says it. "I believe in the role of advice and advocacy. Now it's all about command and control. Everything is the P.MA.." PMA is short for the President's Management Agenda. It guides everything he says. I checked the White House website this morning to read more about it. You can to, here's a link. http://www.whitehouse.gov/omb/budintegration/pma_index.html

According to my friend everything is color coded. All decisions end up within a red box or green box. If it makes sense financially it's in the green box, if it doesn't, it ends up in the red box. Some feel as though New Orleans is in the red box, and Southern California is in the green box. If you question the boxes or bosses you'll end up being boxed out. My friend asks the question, and he knows the answer, "Name one company or country that has benefited by just employing yes men?!" That's what we are becoming he fears, a government of yes men. No questioning, no discussion, and no debate. We talk about the fake FEMA news conference that has blown up in the face of administrators there. This is what happens when there is no dissent, debate or discussion.

I would include his name in this blog, but I don't want to put him in an awkward position. He hasn't left his position just yet. So he will remain nameless. But he's not alone, the PMA has been greeted by the KMA. So many of his superiors have walked, and said in the process "Kiss my @#$@.'

As he finishes dinner he fights back tears. It's not bitterness, but sadness that will send him on his way to a new job in a new city. "I put every ounce of my being, my passion into my work, I cared." He shakes his head. As he walks out, I know I will miss him as a friend, but both you and I will miss him as a public servant in Washington. I wonder how many other good people like him are leaving Washington. I also wonder what kind of a box we will all be in if all the good people get fed up and leave. I don't know about you, but if I was to give it a color it would be red.

Bad News& Some Good News

I'm going to admit to something, and I really shouldn't admit to it. In fact I should spend the rest of the day denying it. But I'm man enough to admit when I make a big mistake. Yes I said it, I said the Redskins would surprise people this weekend. Of course they did. But I meant that they could defeat the Patriots. What was I smoking? I wasn't just wrong, I was delusional.

I that isn't enough, I also went on to predict that the Colts would lose, and the Rams would win.

Now when you nail predictions like that you look like a genius. When you are way off the mark as I was you look like the Village idiot. But that's okay, I admit it. As I said on the air at 9 am my thought was the Redskins play to the level of the competition.

If they are playing a crummy team, they look crummy. But I was wrong. When they play a really good team like the Pats, they look really, really crummy. But here goes I'm going out on the limb, I predict that either the Colts or Pats will lose this weekend. I think it will be the Colts, so if you are anywhere near Vegas put your money on the Colts.

As for the good news, I did get word that all of the relatives in California are just fine. No one lost their home, but their neighbors were not so lucky. That's all for today. I've got to go I think ESPN is calling to offer me a job as an NFL analyst.

Fire Update

I got some good news in the inbox. It came from Jeff Weidner, and it dealt with his brother. This is what he wrote.

"Hey Uncle Mike, I wanted to give you an update on my brother's house, everything is fine, his house was spared in the fire. Also, my mom says she is sorry that she is always in a chipper mood but that's how she has always been, she really doesn't know how to tell people about bad news, trust me I know. Anyway hope all is well in the east coast and I love reading your blogs. Peace and Love,

Your nephew Jeff"

That's not everything in his e-mail. I did a little editing. But hopefully Jeff will enjoy reading today's blog since he's a part of it. By the way I think it's fine, in fact it's great that my sister Janet is always in a good mood. Of course now that the fire has passed she has reason to be.

Right now the biggest concern is my niece who lives in the San Diego area. I'm still not sure if her home is okay. But hopefully there will be another update in the inbox with some good news.

Thanks to everyone who has read my blogs about the fires and expressed concern. I have one viewer who even e-mailed one of the blogs to family members in Southern California. Yesterday on the 9am show I spoke with my sister in Santa Clarita. Patty Bloomfield is a school teacher. Her home was threatened by one of the fires. On the air she pointed out that five family members were at risk of losing everything. Patty actually loaded up her car with all of the important documents and she was preparing to leave. The winds shifted, and the fire went in another direction.

Patty is one of the lucky ones, but there is so much misery in the state in which I was born. I think about how many family members I have who were threatened and I think of how many people in California are going through the same thing. Hopefully firefighters will turn the corner on all the fires today, and tomorrow people can begin to think about rebuilding.

Close Call?

So here is the question as I write this. Is it a close call? Well I know it is for my younger sister Patty. I was on the phone again yesterday to California. I decided I would rather call Patty to get the latest on the fires. I figured she could give me the low down on everyone. I didn't think that she was threatened. Boy was I wrong. She woke up the other day to spot a wall of orange on the ridge across the way. It was racing in her direction. Actually her home was wedged in between two of the fires. Her husband Jim went out on the sidewalk to take this pictures.

As I pointed out the other day in my blog it looked like my nephew James had lost his home in the fire. We still don't know if that is the case. He was under one of the mandatory evacuations. At last check he had not returned to his home to see if it was still standing. Patty seemed to think his home was spared. She's hopeful. But the fact of the matter is a lot of the people in her community will have to literally rise from the ashes.

Jim also captured a picture of a local strip mall parking lot. A trailer has been set up by one of the insurance companies to help homeowners with their insurance claims. The fact that it is already positioned here speaks volumes of how much traffic they expect to see.

But now the concern is over the home owned by my niece. She lives in the San Diego area and she too has been evacuated. All of this is pretty tough on another sister Ann Henry. She's on vacation in Washington State. She called to find out if her home was okay. But she also wanted to know about her children. She has a daughter in the San Diego area, another that lives in Castaic. That's the site of two of the big fires.

Like so many, my sister Ann wants answers, but they are to find. The hope of course is that the winds will die down and the firefighters will gain the upper hand. Not enough can be said about the aerial attacks on the flames, or the firefighters on the ground who aren't getting any rest. Many of them have homes that are threatened as well. I know my sister can't thank them enough for all they did to save her home. But we know that so many people will be returning to their neighborhoods once the flames are extinguished. They'll be holding their breath and praying that their homes will still be standing. For now they hope for a close call, but for so many there are no answers.

THE PHONE CALL

I hit the contact button on my cell phone. Then I began typing in the name. J-A-N it was when I got to E that her name appeared. I took a deep breath and hit the green button. Soon the phone was ringing. It's one of those calls you have to make, but don't want to. I knew the questions I would ask, but I was afraid of the answers I would hear.

My sister Janet answered the phone. I love my sister dearly, but she's always cheery on the phone even when it's glum news. So the way she answered didn't give me any clue to how things were going out west. So many of my family members live in and around Canyon Country. Their fire a footnote in the coverage dominated by fires in Malibu, and San Diego.

Me: " Are you guys okay, is the fire near you?"

Janet: "Well Mom spent the night here last night, we didn't want to take any chances."

I knew exactly where the fire was when she said that, I was able to pinpoint it further when she continued.

Janet: "It looks like James and Rajida may have lost their house. They were forced out of their home. It was a mandatory evacuation. James tried to get back up to the house to see if it was okay, but the roads are all blocked. Fire trucks are everywhere, they won't let him back in."

James is my nephew, he and his new bride just bought their town home. They are first time home buyers. They've only lived there such a short time, and now it might be ashes. Like I said I knew the questions I had to ask, and I wasn't looking forward to the answers.

The fact of the matter is if you live in Southern California you get used to the threat of Earthquakes, and fires fueled by the Santa Ana winds. If you read my blog yesterday then hopefully I've given you a taste of what it's like to be threatened by mother nature.

Last night it was the talk at our dinner table. My wife Kate wanted to know if James had a plan. Did he have enough insurance? Did he get out the important pictures and documents? Of course I am a journalist, paid to ask questions. But I didn't ask those questions. I didn't want to. Kate asks because she knows how important the answers are. As a kid her home burned to the ground in San Mateo, California. She was able to safely shepherd her little brothers and sisters out of the home. They survived the fire, but soon learned afterwards that no was the answer to most of the important questions. Hopefully soon the winds will slacken, the firefighters will do their jobs, and reporters will move on to the next big story. But the sad fact of the matter is fire will always be a part of the fire victims life story. Eventually the reporters will be gone, but the pain and suffering will remain.

The Fires

I heard it on the way into work and I caught my breath. It's one of those things you come to expect on a yearly basis. But it still makes you nervous. The news anchor on the radio mentions the laundry list of fires in Southern California. She mentions Canyon Country and that's when it happened. My mother who is in her 90's lives near Canyon Country. My sister Janet lives there, and three other sisters are also in the area. So obviously I'm nervous and will be calling out west a little later.

The fear of fires in California is real! The picture to the right is where I grew up. Sunland-Tujunga is in the San Fernando Valley. As a teen I'll never forget staying home while my family went away. I couldn't go on the trip because I had to work. What stands out is the phone ringing at about 2 in the morning. I staggered out to the dining room, and picked up the receiver. I was still thinking this was all a bad dream. It took me a little while to comprehend what the person on the other end of the phone was saying. It wasn't a friend or family member on the phone it was a neighbor I hardly knew. It really was a bad dream, in fact it was a nightmare.

Neighbor: "You need to get out of your house now, there's a fire and it's coming our way."

I could hear the winds howling outside. Our enemy the Santa Ana winds were at it again. I opened the shudders and looked out the window. It was as if someone had painted an orange mural on the window. It was orange for as far as the eyes could see. The wind was fueling the fire as it licked away at the dry scrub brush on the hills across the way. It looked like it would race down the canyon and then up the other side of the hill right to our doorstep.

I was just 17 years old, and now I had to figure out what to salvage from our house. What important documents do you grab? What photo albums? What about clothes? Think about that, just having minutes to collect the most important things in your life. The clock is ticking and you have such a short time to cram stuff into your car. You don't have the luxury of time. You have to react, and act!

I was lucky though. My neighbor across the street was a fire captain with the L.A. Fire Department. I ran across the street and sought him out. I wasn't alone. I had to wait in line. I asked him how much time I had to get stuff into the car. He informed me I didn't have to worry. The winds had shifted and that the fire would now likely chew through the homes across the way. He was right. But that shows you how unpredictable, dangerous and deadly these Santa Ana winds that fuel these fires can be. I went to work through the smoke to Shop Easy market the next day. The planes kept dumping the fire retardant on the blaze as it ran up the hillside across the way. The danger had passed for me. The fire would bring misery to someone else. I just hope that my family is okay, but I know what that means. It means that someone else will suffer.

20 YEARS AGO TODAY

I still remember it like it was yesterday. It was 20 years ago today. I was an anchor/reporter at the CBS station in Columbus Ohio. I didn't have a lot of friends with tons of money in the market, but I did know a lot of people who looked at their 401K's differently after this day 20 years ago. It will always be remembered as Black Monday. I worked an evening shift at WBNS at the time. I reported to work and watched the wires as Wall Street continued its meltdown.

The Dow Jones took it's biggest single day hit ever. The market fell 508 points. That may sound like a lot, but back then it was a huge hit, the Dow lost 22 percent. To put things in perspective the equivalent today would be a drop of over 3 thousand points. People who invested in the market were bleeding, it looked bad, very bad.

I was assigned to do a story on the dramatic drop. I remember as I was heading out the door to talk to a local broker an assignment editor asked bleakly "Has anyone heard of a guy named Louis Rook-e-lie-ser." It took me about 2 seconds to translate what she was saying, she meant Louis Rukeyser.

I was the first to say yes I knew who he was, "Why?" She responded, "Well he's in town and is willing to talk to reporters and has scheduled a press conference for a half hour from now."

Since I knew who he was I got the chance to race out of the building to go to the news conference. It was a hastily called news conference. Louis looked a little preoccupied. I don't remember a lot of the details about the news conference, other than Rukeyser leaving periodically to jump on the pay phone to see how much money he was losing. This of course was before cell phones. The real reason the day stands out is because of one question and one response. I'd like to say that I asked the question, but I didn't.

Reporter: If you don't mind me asking, how much have you lost today?"

Louis smiled broadly, and then answered.

Louis: "Plenty!"

That was followed by laughter, which ended when he continued his response.

Louis: "But there are real values out there! The only difference between me and lots of people today is this, I will get back in and buy some undervalued stocks, others will get out for good. A couple weeks from now I'll make back what I lost and then some."

He silenced the laughter. It was the most important economics lesson I have ever learned. He was right of course. A lot of people got out, spooked by what had happened on Wall Street. I remember friends of mine tried to play games with their 401K's to try to recover their losses in a hurry. But it was apparent to me after that news conference that Wall Street is a place for people who know what they are doing.

That day made me remember a dinner party that my wife and I attended in Carmel California. My wife worked for a brokerage firm in Monterrey and we were at the home of one of the brokers. I remember talking to him about how horrifying it was to watch the Challenger disaster. He looked at me and told me how right after the disaster he was able to make a killing by short selling. Don't ask me how it works, but I assure you the man knew what he was talking about. It made me think, man I don't think I could even think like that. While the rest of America was aching and crying he was grabbing his phone, placing orders, and figuring out a way to capitalize on what happened. I never could look at the man the same way after that conversation.

Those were my first economics lessons, I got my graduate degree at the Legg Mason tennis tournament a few months back. Trevor and I went to the tourney and sat next to a friend who is a broker. He summed up the markets this way.

Broker: "The middle class and the poor will always stay that way, and the rich will always get richer. The markets are designed for them. When the market goes down they'll figure out a way to make money, when it goes up they'll figure out a way to make money. That's because they always have someone working to make sure their money makes money." He felt strongly that the middle class are like mice in treadmills, the poor are just hoping to get on the treadmill some day.

Louis Rukeyser died in 2006, but I know he and others who had an understanding of the market cried just a little on this day 20 years ago. Then they set about figuring a way to make back their money and then some. There is little doubt they did.

Kicking it into gear!

When Andrea dances on the 9 am show she looks elegant and graceful. When I do it I look well anything but elegant and graceful. But the producers still keep giving me segments where I have to dance. I did it with the folks from River Dance this summer. Yesterday it was me and the Rockettes. I am flanked by two of them. They were in town to promote the 75th anniversary of the show that has rocketed them to prominence. The Radio City Christmas Spectacular runs from November 9th through December 30th. Tickets are already on sale. http://christmas.radiocity.com/ The Rockettes tell me it will be spectacular. It should be since spectacular is what it's named. I am sure it will be, because let's face it, I won't be performing with them.

I started my day with the stars of the Radio City Christmas Spectacular and ended the day with movie stars. Ben and Casey Affleck were in town last night for the Washington Premier of "Gone baby Gone." http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0452623/ Here's my review, it's a really great film. Ben does a stellar job in his directorial debut, and his brother Casey is terrific in the lead role. They were on hand before the screening in Georgetown. Ben spoke about the Washington connection to the film. The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children. They helped Affleck with a lot of the technical questions, and even helped with some plot lines. A representative from NCMEC said that he felt the movie would do the same or more to draw attention to this issue than the Adam Walsh Story. The funny thing about Ben's speaking style, he is articulate, thoughtful, but he likes to use two words to punctuate everything. I swear he must have said "you know" at least a dozen times. Then he turned to his brother and said, "Cas you have anything to say?" Casey: "No I think you summed it up pretty good, I just want to say thanks for what you do." That was an obvious reference to the NCMEC, not me personally. After the film there was an after party hosted by Capitol File. Our good friend Jayne Sandman had the job of trying to keep all of those crazed fans from mobbing Ben.

Ben was a trooper he stuck around for a long time for pictures. His brother the star of the film wasn't hounded nearly as much as Ben. After this performance I'm afraid his time will come. If you get a chance catch the film it opens in theaters next week. My only complaint he does take a couple of shots at my business. But who hasn't taken a shot at the news media? Unlike most Hollywood movies that are black and white this one is definitely gray and it will leave you thinking when you walk out of the theater. What a novel concept.

Oh by the way I'll end with one final image of the dancing machine himself. I'll see you back here on Monday.

So much Heart!

I read the story on the air this morning, more than once, but I still had trouble believing it. How can a guy with so much heart have heart trouble. Of course I'm talking about Etan Thomas. Most of you know him from his exploits on the court. Perhaps you know him for his fisticuffs with Brendon Hayward. But I know a different Etan Thomas. I met him a couple of years ago at an event in the district. I will never forget how much heart this young man has.

Let me take a step back before I tell you my story about Etan. You need to know that I've had the pleasure of being an emcee and a judge for the "Do the Write Thing" essay contest here in the district for the last few years. http://www.dtwt.org/ I like to tell people the kids don't write their essays with their hands they write them with their heart. There is no way you can read these papers without being moved. They are stories of kids growing up on the mean streets of America. Confronted with drugs and violence, they are making a pledge to turn their backs on both. Soon you'll be able to hear the stories behind the essays and the essays themselves. It's a radio production, you can learn more about it at this site.

http://www.treehouseproductions.org/doTheWriteThing.html

I'll never forget reading one of the essays this year. This teen wrote vividly about his first encounter with violence. He was a little boy fiddling with the TV, changing the channel. His grandmother got up and changed the channel back to the one she was watching. She admonished him. She went back to her seat, by the time she sat down he had changed the channel again. It's the kind of playful, yet annoying thing kids do every day. This game of up and down went on a couple of times, before the grandmother slapped his hand and told him to stop it. What followed was a verbal altercation between his grandmother and father. It ended when the father fired a gun at point blank range killing his grandmother. The story was gut wrenching, and I've only told you a fraction of his story.

I've told you that story to help frame the event two years ago when I met Thomas. It was an evening bringing together the winners of the "Do the Write Thing" essay contest from throughout the country.

Tommy Davidson, the actor-comedian got up and told a story about his childhood that really connected with the kids. He was followed by the gentle giant Etan Thomas. You may or may not know that Etan is a poet.

He read one of his poems. Wait a minute, he didn't read it, he delivered it. The kids were spellbound, so were the rest of us. It was so important for these kids to see this athlete showing them that reading, writing and poetry are just as important as layups, rebounds, and three pointers.

For kids who had written heartfelt essays in order to be here, it was such a big moment. But it was more than that. After he was done speaking, after the event was over, I remember him spending so much time with those kids. The adults who wanted to come up and meet him would have to wait. He made each kid feel so special. That night Etan did something so many athletes aren't doing these days, that night Etan Thomas was a role model in a big way. So this morning I'm hoping for the best for Etan. I know his heart is damaged, but I also know he has a big, big heart!

Why we do what we do

When the alarm sounds every morning at 2:30 a.m. I don't jump out of bed and scream at the top of my lungs, "I can't wait to tell the world what's going on with Brittney & Paris." I don't grumble when I see their slugs, I know that there are people out there who care. But it's not why we get into this business. Why do we do what we do? We do it because we know we can make a difference.
I remember years ago I was working at KSBW in Central California. For one week I was assigned to work in the Santa Cruz bureau because our bureau chief was going on vacation. The bureau chief Tom Manheim showed me the ropes before he hit the road. One of the bits of advice he gave me was to check my box after lunch. He said that's when the county would slip in news releases. His advice was prescient. I found a news release one afternoon after lunch. It was a three sentence release about a toxic chemical spill that had been re mediated. It wasn't a huge spill, it was small, but there was something that didn't add up.

The discrepancy was the amount of time it took to clean it up. The spill had occurred weeks before, but had only been cleaned up the day before. I called the county official who left the release and asked if I could interview him, he said sure. First though I would have to go get video of the site. When I pulled up to the address I noticed it was an elementary school. I checked with neighbors and found out from them that kids had been playing in the area for the last few weeks leading up to the cleanup.

When I sat down for the interview I'm sure the county official thought I was just going to ask about the length of time between the spill and cleanup. I don't think he ever expected me to go to the site. So when I started firing tough questions, he was taken aback. The bottom line was the county thought the EPA would clean it up, the EPA felt it was a county issue. They argued about it for weeks until the county finally cleaned it up. It became a lead story and the next day our local congressman called a news conference to introduce legislation so that this would never happen again.

That one episode showed me how what we do can have a major impact. I was reminded of that this week when I got this e-mail from Miles Moffeit.

Friends: I couldn't wait to share this with all of you. In the last couple days we've learned that two of the prisoners we featured in our DNA-destruction series - Floyd Brown of North Carolina and Donald Odoms of Texas - will be released. Floyd, will walk into the arms of his family sometime tomorrow for the first time in a dozen years. My co-writer Susan Greene championed his cause. A few minutes ago she called me in tears from North Carolina saying, ``They're letting him out!'' Our other guy, Donald, has been granted parole and will walk out sometime next year after 23 long years in prison.

Miles sent me information on his DNA series a while back. He is a masterful, brilliant journalist, who has been a finalist for a Pulitzer. He's also down to earth and has that ah shucks John Denver quality about him. Miles reminded me this week why we do what we do. I summed up my feelings in this e-mail to him.

Miles, When we first talked about your series and you sent me it I knew then that you would win awards for your incredible work. But this is the real award and reward. It's easy to get discouraged in this business with cutbacks and changes coming at us at such a rapid pace. But then every once in a while we get a note like yours and we realize why we all do what we do. I can't agree with Penny more! I'm truly proud to know you as a friend and a colleague. Your series was brilliant and it made an enormous difference. I know years from now Donald's grand kids will be talking about Miles Moffeit the man who helped to set their innocent grandfather free. That's pretty heady stuff! Congratulations!Mike

What a weekend!

It all started Friday. I was the moderator at an event sponsored by the SPJ. This is an excerpt from their press release sent out on Friday.

Panel debates need for federal shield law that would protect journalists, sources
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Since 1984, 17 U.S. journalists have been incarcerated for failing to hand over information to the courts. One of them was Jim Taricani, a reporter at WJAR who was held in contempt for refusing to name a confidential source.
On Friday, Taricani, along with Randall Eliason, a professor from American University; Eve Burton, general counsel for Hearst Corp; and Bruce Sanford, an attorney for Baker Hostetler; debated the need for a federal law. The session, which was moderated by Mike Walter of WUSA, took place during the 2007 SPJ Convention & National Journalism Conference.
“When you are an investigative reporter…you’re going to come across a story that needs confidential sources,” Taricani said. “And when you are facing jail time, it’s so daunting.
“Journalists in American shouldn't’ face jail time for simply doing their jobs. They simply shouldn’t,” he said.



During a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing Thursday, the proposed shield law legislation was passed by a 14-3 vote. The measure now moves to the Senate floor, where it is expected to face more challenges. A similar measure also awaits floor action in the House.
In the past year, The Society of Professional Journalists, the nation’s most broad-based journalism-advocacy organization, has raised more than $30,000 to support a campaign for the passage of a federal shield law. To learn more about the proposed legislation, and SPJ’s involvement, visit SPJ's Web site .

I had the chance to meet Jim and the reporters who covered the Balco case. Mark Fainaru-Wada and Lance Williams work at the San Francisco Chronicle. They have also been threatened with jail time for their work on that story. I got to share the stage with the attorney that has gone to bat for them. Eve Burton is fiery, energized and right on target in her efforts to get the law passed. She's pictured her with Lance on the far left, and Mark on the far right with the phone. I salute all of them for what they've had to endure and hope the shield law is passed!

Friday night I was the emcee and celebrity auctioneer at the Metro Dc Girls Incorporated Gala at the Four Seasons. It was a great time. I was pleased to help them raise some cash with a lively fun crowd in attendance.

Sunday I was out in Olney Maryland at the urging of Janet Terry. She has worked tirelessly in recent weeks to launch a farmer's market. The people there loved it, and they showed up in big numbers. After our time there we jumped in the car and headed to FedEx Field. The Skins looked incredible! The only downside spending all that time outside in the heat. Can you believe I'm complaining about the heat? Remind me of this blasphemy when the cold weather starts to roll in.

Freddie & Fritz

If you read my blogs then you know that I've written about my brothers and sisters. I even wrote about a couple of projects my brother Larry has worked on in Southern California. The project on the left is one he worked on years ago in Venice California. The one of the right is the Alexian project he just wrapped up work on it short while ago. So I recently sent a note to my brother Fritz in Mercer Island Washington. I told him in the interest of equal time he'd better give me an update on what he's doing since my blog readers are craving this information. So finally he got back to me by e-mail the other day and the news is good.

Fritz let me know that his Lincoln Square project is a finalist for the 2007 International Design and Development Award. This is a picture of the project. It's pretty impressive. It's in the Pacific Northwest in that other Washington. Congrats to my brother and all the people who worked on this project for a job well done.

It's pretty impressive don't you agree? A few minutes later I heard from my little sister Patty. Her school Wiley Canyon Elementary in Newhall California is one of the National Blue Ribbon recipients. So her principal and one teacher will make the trip to Washington for the event. Hopefully she'll be the teacher. http://www.newhall.k12.ca.us/wiley/


It's a winning time in the family, just a short while ago I found out that a project I worked on has won a Freddie award. http://www.thefreddies.com/Awards/Results.aspx?CategoryId=26&Year=2007 I worked as a producer, writer, and moderator for a project at Michigan State University with the Michigan Victim's alliance. http://www.mivictims.org/ It was a unique program where people who've dealt with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder talked about their issues in front of Medical students at the University. It was an opportunity for the students to ask questions and learn more about these hidden psychological wounds. I'll accept the award in Philadelphia with a member of the Michigan Victim's Alliance. If you'd like to see a clip of the project that won the Freddie you can find it here. http://www.giftfromwithin.org/

Going to Jail

It was my first job in television. I was in my twenties, and the sports director at KVIQ in Eureka California. There's actually a clip of me from back then on You Tube. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wii5u2hIeA8&mode=related&search=

Like most small markets I did other jobs too. I was the camera operator for our public affairs show. I also shot and edited all of the video used in my sportscasts. But I also got out to do news stories at times. One of those stories was about a couple of brothers spending Christmas together. The spin, they were spending Christmas together in jail. I can't remember the crimes they committed, but they weren't serious criminals. They were hapless sorts like the guys in "O Brother Where Art Thou" http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0190590/

I thought it was a pretty good story. But the authorities had another opinion. I came outside of my apartment the next day and jumped in my car. That's when I spotted the cruiser parked across the street. I didn't think anything of it. I turned right and proceeded down the road. The cruiser did a u turn and ended up right behind me. The lights came on shortly there after. I couldn't figure out what crime I had committed. Minutes later I was in cuffs and on my way to jail.

In case you are wondering I had neglected to pay a parking ticket in Riverside California some years earlier. There was an outstanding warrant for my arrest. Outstanding in the sense that the local authorities had found this ticket that I couldn't even remember. Now they were hauling me off to jail. On the ride to jail the man in uniform let me know that he and his colleagues didn't like my story. He pointed out that this way my lucky day! Since I liked people in jail so much now I was going to get my chance to join them.

My girlfriend at the time saw me being hauled off to jail and followed. Inside the jail, the handcuffs were removed, along with my belt, and necktie. I was placed in the holding cell. When I asked why I had to take off the necktie and belt they told me they didn't want me committing suicide. By the way there's a happy ending to this story. It took a while, but my girlfriend was able to get the money to spring me from jail before I went into the general population.

So why am I writing about this? Two points really, the first is always pay your traffic tickets! The second is this, in that brief time I was in jail I learned I never wanted to go back. Yet throughout my career there have been times when I have promised sources that I would protect their identity, knowing full well what that meant.

In recent years other reporters who have made that pledge have landed in jail. Judith Miller spent 85 days behind bars protecting a source in the Valerie Plame identity leak case. Jim Tancani didn't get the headlines that Miller did, but he also spent time behind bars. This morning I'll be the moderator at a forum at the Capital Hyatt looking at the issue of a National Shield Law for journalists. Jim will tell his story, and we'll hear from the experts. It is all part of the Society of Professional Journalists session taking place here in Washington D.C.. So if you are in the area stop by. It starts at 11am. If you can't make it, don't worry about it, I'll blog about it on Monday.

Sadly Suiting up

Lots of college football players were spending Saturday morning suiting up. I was suiting up too. I buttoned the white shirt, cinched the black tie, and framed it all with a black suit. I was wearing the unofficial uniform of grief.

I'm not that good at funerals, but then again who is? I felt compelled to go to the funeral even though I was breaking the number one etiquette rule of funerals. I had read the rules on line.

Funeral Etiquette
Do's & Don'ts
Don't attend funerals of people you don't know.

So I sat next to my wife at a funeral where I really didn't know the woman who had passed away. She worked with my wife. She did make an impression on me though. I was at a party on August 24Th in Fairfax. I nibbled on the food all the while looking for the dessert table. I have no problem saying I have a gigantic sweet tooth.

The desserts were placed at a table in an adjacent room. I did some searching and found an empty seat at the table. I turned and smiled at the woman seated next to me. I engaged her in conversation.

Me: "You've got the best seat in the house. So which one do you recommend?'

I pointed at the array of desserts. She smiled.

The woman: "I don't know I haven't had any, why don't you try this one and tell me what you think?"

I didn't need much prodding. She gleefully pointed me from one dessert to another. I looked like a ball in a pinball machine. I was bouncing from one cake to the next, tasting each dessert.

We began to talk about real estate, journalism and everything in between. I remember leaving the party telling my wife how much I enjoyed my conversation with her. A few days later Kate told me the woman had told her that she enjoyed her chat with me too.

Less than a month later she was dead. I remember how shocked I was at the news. The bits of information Kate provided me shocked me further. She had taken her own life, there was a note left behind, but no one seemed to know the contents. The conversation we had played out in my mind. It foretold her actions. She had mentioned to me during our chat how lucky my wife was that she could rely on my salary to get by.

She was struggling in a down market trying to eek out a living as a real estate agent. She was obviously having a tough go of it financially. But I didn't think anything of it. Everyone in my wife's profession is unhappy with the state of affairs out there right now. I don't think anyone thought for a minute that she was suicidal. She had a glint in her eye and a smile on her face for most of our conversation.

I know why her death bothers me so much. She's the second person I've known in the last six months to commit suicide. John Winter was a colleague of mine when I worked at WFLA in Tampa. For three years we would sit next to each other on the set, mixing it up, joking around. Lots of times after the newscast I would sit in the weather center just shooting the breeze with him. He was young, appeared to be happy and on top of his game. When he took his own life back in April I was stunned. He too owned that glint in the eye and that infectious smile. Some times you can't see what's beneath that smile. I'm no different than anyone else who crossed his path. Just like the woman at the party, the people who knew her and John will forever be tortured by the questions. The what ifs! If only I had said something or done something differently. Perhaps I could have put down the piece of pie, and reached over and put my hand on that woman's arm and told her "Don't worry the market will turn around."

That's the problem with suicide. The person is gone, but the questions remain. Those left behind will be forever tormented. So if you are ever feeling low or know someone who is...make sure you give them this website. http://www.suicidepreventionlifeline.org/ or this number

1-800-273-TALK. There is help out there.