Watching TV

If you are in this business long enough then when you flip on the TV, you suddenly take a stroll down memory lane. So many faces bring back memories of my stops along the way.

Take for example the CBS Evening News. When Correspondent Mark Strassman appears on the air I think back to my time in Columbus Ohio. Mark worked at the ABC station there in the mid 80's. I worked at the CBS station WBNS. We worked night side chasing stories and trying desperately to beat one another.

When I watch the Early Show it takes me back to my time in St. Louis. I worked at KTVI. One of the guys who worked across the street at KMOV was Russ Mitchell. We tried desperately to beat one another on stories too.

Recently I was doing a little channel surfing and came across a guy on air that made think back to my time in Tampa. It was Glenn Beck. I was in Tampa when Glenn arrived. I was working at WFLA TV and he was at WFLA Radio. It was the late 90's. I ran into Glenn on his first day of work. It's a day I'll never forget.

I was working on the Brage Sassin story. Many of you might remember Brage. he had a tree house in his backyard that was his refuge. A place where he could go to play and forget about his leukemia. The 6 year old was battling the disease and his homes association. His father Omar and mother Tammy were fuming because the Home's association wanted the tree house torn down. It was a great story.

The only problem was Brage. Brage didn't want anything to do with the press. I ended up at the home and interviewed Tammy. But Brage didn't want to talk. His mother attempted to bribe him, but he kept violently shaking his head when she asked if he would answer a few of my questions. He simply refused to talk to me. He also refused to talk to the folks from Hard Copy, Inside Edition and all the others lined up at the home.

In fact he retreated from the home and went outside. Everyone lined up to talk to his mom, after all she was the only talking at this point. I decided to go outside. Not to hound the kid but to get a look at the tree house. But before I knew it I was playing Frisbee with him, hanging out and chatting. Finally I suggested leaving the photographer down on the ground, while the two of us climbed the ladder into his tree house. Before long he was willing to talk, and he was talking up a storm.

Since I'm a father I knew how to play with a little kid. Something the other reporters apparently did not. I made Brage the king of the fort, and I was his foot soldier. It was easy to see the little boy felt like he had n control. No control over the disease. No control over all of these strangers roaming around. No control over the Home's Association. I gave him some control and he gave me a great interview. We were pals now, and he was willing to talk. We had a great time and I had a great story. As we climbed down the ladder there was a mob of photographers and reporters waiting to do the same exact thing with Brage. He would have none of it. He went screaming into the home, entered his bedroom and sealed himself off from the outside world.

The parents were dealing with an angry son, and a swarm of journalists from television and print. They were at their wits end. That's when Glenn entered the scene. We were leaving this zoo when we ran into Glenn Beck. He asked me where Brage lived. We talked for a little bit. He had just arrived in town from Connecticut. He planned to move into the tree house and broadcast from there. He was defiant! "If they tear down this tree house, they'll take me with it!" The only problem was the Sassin's didn't know who he was, and didn't want him anywhere near their home. So he was banished to the sidewalk outside. Not nearly as dramatic.

But you have to hand it to him. He's moved from the sidewalk to CNN. He's broadcasting from a much larger tree house now.