Unreal. If i was working at a station right now doing journalism, which i love, then i would be very frustrated and depressed. Were almost there. Were, like, ten minutes away, dude. If most of the people are relying on local Television News to inform them, um, then, you know, in a lot of cities in this country, i think democracys in trouble. So i guess if i had all the money in the world, i would put, you know, 40something reporters back to work in tv. Were now settling for tokenism when it comes to journalism, and i just couldnt do it anymore. I justwhats the point . To live the lie . Wow. Theres austin, tyler. Austin its just great to get here finally. Tyler, we made it. Schwanbeck Investigative ReporterDwayne Pullman left a sixfigure salary and a threeyear Contract Offer at wewstv in cleveland, ohio, to start over. We caught up with him a few exits before reaching austin, texas, where dwayne and his eightyearold son, tyler, were headed to help start a new online venture with no guarantees. How are you . Fine. How are you . Tired. Wow. Schwanbeck this is a story about two kinds of tv reporters who are in their 40s and 50s the ones who quit their jobs to see if they could do better journalism on their own terms and those who got out of the mainstream News Business altogether because they quit out of frustration or were forced out because they were too expensive. Im bill schwanbeck, and thats my wife, karin, in the green shirt. Were former tv reporters who decided to crisscross the country to bring you their stories. We noticed newsroom layoffs picked up speed in 2008 and 2009. Journalism has hit bottom. Many newspapers have only half as many journalists covering the town they used to cover. Tv stations, even less than half. Radio as well. And so, in a sense, americas in a postjournalism moment. Schwanbeck many reporters say they are fed up with the shallowness of local tv news. How about you . One dallas station did a story on, yep, selfstimulation. Thats rare, and when part of the pair becomes doityourself, guys, relationships can suffer. Youre only supposed to want to be with me. But the benefits of men going it alone are many, Health Experts say. High heelsthey can elongate a leg, make an outfit look more polished, or simply give a woman confidence. For sure. A spider monkey is on the loose in lake county. The monkey ran off into the woods near the north lake flea market in Fruitland Park this afternoon. We had been blessed with great journalists as news directors, and then the management of the place did a 180, and it was about flash and trash. It was about fashion tips and the most superficial stuff of almost this desperate of, how can we get them to watch . Because the numbers for all the local stations here, theyre going off a cliff. I mean, theres an exodus of people leaving, and i believe they drove them away. They just so dumbed it down that they made themselves irrelevant. Television new has made itself irrelevant to the public debate about major issues in this country. I do see akind of the best memories of growing up in east texas. But, you know, i wound up east and all and kind of fell away from it, and you forgot how much you loved horses. I wish i had started this earlier. Schwanbeck texas native robert riggs decided to replace news directors with horses, this after winning several top National Awards for his investigative reporting, primarily working at wfaatv in dallas for 19 years. His coverage ranged from corruption at Dallas City Hall to military conditions during the gulf war. The desert sand is as fine as talcum powder, and it grinds like sandpaper. The bradley carries a sixman infantry squadron into battle inside this small compartment. Schwanbeck his career ended after six years at ktvt, the cbs station in dallas, where the mindset was not why he got into journalism. We had a change of news management in which the news manager comes into the Investigative Unit and, you know, what are you working on . Well, we have ready to go an investigation based on some earlier things we did about mortgage fraud, but weve taken it a step further. Weve talked to underwriters who talk about the whole Mortgage Securities industry. The bottom can drop out because the underwriting was faulty. Everybody was fudging numbers because there was big money to be made, and there were commissions to be made. And weve got this piece ready to go. And the new news director looked at me and said, you know, robert, that sounds like an issue story. Thatswere not going to do issue stories here. Were not about issue stories. Thats a good boy. Hes a good boy. Schwanbeck we caught up with robert at an Equestrian Center in dallas two years after he got out of tv news for good. But robert still saddles up his journalistic instincts. He and his wife, beth, ride now, so theyre more informed about the Equestrian Training videos theyre producing. This takes another type of energy, maybe easier than the one robert needed in the newsroom. Yes yay, robert they were a giant speed bump. The management of the station was a giant speed bump. And this was stories about the war in iraq, stories about terrorism, stories about mortgage fraud, stories about Dallas City Hall corruption. We fought the management harder to get those stories on the air than we did the subjects of the stories. Schwanbeck he and his wife were in the middle of moving out of their house and downsizing to a condo, boxing up memories of a career loaded with awardwinning journalism. Im one of those older experienced reporters and so was my producer who had peabodys and duponts, and we were both shown the door, you know, for cutbacks. But it wasnt long after we left, suddenly young rookies who you would have never seen on the air years ago in a market this size were on the air. Nobody really understands the dynamics very well. Schwanbeck dr. Robert picard of boston teaches and writes about journalism. What weve seen happening in the last decade or so has been that, very often, those people, because theyre now 20 and 30 years into their careers, are very expensive people to maintain. They want to do journalism in a different way than many people want to Fund Journalism to be done today, and so theyve kind of let those people go. Schwanbeck riggs says thats not the only reason. We were like, theyre going to get rid of us. They dont like us. They dont understand what we do. They do not want to do what we do, because it risks lawsuits, which are costly. They didnt care if you were right. It was like, oh, please. We just dont want to get sued. Just do something here that doesnt get us sued, cause we dont want the expense of the legal fees. And then god forbid you offend an advertiser. O master, grant that i may never seek so much to be consoled as to console schwanbeck leslie olsen uses her voice to inspire now, not inform. She spent 28 years as the weekday education reporter at wishtv in indianapolis. At danville high school, there are currently 6 girls pregnant out of 400. Thats 1. 5 . Schwanbeck then she was assigned to weekend general assignment reporting. So at the age of 52, with a young daughter to care for, leslie quit. Hi, giselle. Send request. Cool. He has the same name as me. See . Alex. I also felt like, im 52 years old. I am wellpaid, and how long really are they going to let me continue to do this . What it does mean is, yes, they can hire two or three new people right out of college to come in and do the job that i was doing, except that i dont think any of them can really do the job that i was doing, because they dont have the experience or the contacts and resources that i have. Are you . Uhhuh. Cool. I can do it for you. I hope its a nice picture. It is. Youre in your, like, green suit that you like. Yeah . And then you have, like, a black gown, and youre going like this. Oh, im sure thats beautiful. And the good thing about being there for 28 years was that what goes around comes around, and i could show a program and the kickoff to it, and then i could come back, and i did that so many times several years later and take a look at how it was succeeding or not succeeding. St. Vincent Vice President and medical doctor robert lovitz is in charge of hospital emergency preparedness. He says his staff is ready for h1n1. I think that we are cheating parents and the community when were not analyzing information, were not investigating more information, were not following through with the stories we start. Im getting ready to put some video on it, but its not on there yet. Im meeting with my video guy to do that this week. Schwanbeck leslie went on to run her own Consulting Company out of her home. But before she left her tv station, leslie offered to train her young replacement. When i left, i asked the general manager if he knew who was going to replace me because i wanted to give them a headsup and give them some of my Contact Information and things like that, and he was very nice about it. He said, i cant really say that well replace you in that beat. You did a great job with it, and had you stayed, we would have continued with it, but otherwise i dont really see a need to continue with that beat. Schwanbeck tom cochrun was leslies news director when he was at wishtv, but he left before he could fight for her. Its a travesty. She did not need to be let go. They could have found a way to keep her on. There would have been a way to sort of explain and justify. I think that there was probably a new bookkeeper news director who was in place who thought, well, this is a way to recover some expenses, because leslie had been there 28 years, and her salary had reached a level that was decent, and this is a way to make a big savings on the bottom line. But not to replace the beat and not to allow her to train someone, at least to hand over her rolodex or introduce her to some of her sources, is idiocy. Its just idiocy. Schwanbeck tom is now out of tv news after 42 years. In the spring of 2010, tom was inducted into the indiana journalism hall of fame. It is his friendship that many of those colleagues in so many newsrooms will remember the most. So, ladies and gentlemen, it is my privilege to introduce halloffamer tom cochrun. [applause] does american journalism have a role in challenging some of the distortions and fully fabricated lies that come from some of the political and media windbags of the day, lies that get believed as gospel . How can we stand before god and our fellow man and call ourselves journalists if we offer news with a particular hue or leaning or tilt . Schwanbeck tom remembers the days when he fought for his newsroom staffers, days when he had to steel himself for the fight with the folks upstairs. Its almost a hopeless battle. Ive been in budget presentations, sitting across the table from the ceo and the cfo, and i am defending my news budget. That was the term we used. Defending why i wanted this kind of money for a helicopter or helicopter repair, for example, or why i wanted to add staff or why i wanted some additional edit equipment, whatever whatever the issues were. Youre defending that. Now, theres a point at which you can been emphatic, and theres a point at which you can cross the line, where you now are sort of making the ceo or the cfo uncomfortable. I think theres absolutely nothing wrong with making the point, and if that makes a ceo or the cfo uncomfortable, so be it, because, to a certain extent, you have god on your side im being, you know, silly about thatbut youre on the side of right, because youre talking about a product that affects human beings. Youre not just talking about a product that is only numbers on a page that is a profit line, a revenue line. All right. Here we go. [shutter clicks] do we just leave our future of journalism on the whim and hope that there will be others who will have that attitude or share it . Or do we try to inspire it . Do we try to teach it . Do we sort of applaud it when we see it . And do we condemn it when we see it going the other way . Well, as long as you have a little bit of, you know, voice, as long as you have a little bit of stature, as long as you have a little bit of a set of ears listening to you, then i think you can fight those fights. Was ever such. Ultimately the guy with the biggest stick is going to win. In this day and ageand i really didnt think this would ever come to this. In this day and age, particularly in a recession, the advertiser has the big stick, and youve got people in management that are more concerned about their next bonus and their Stock Options than they are journalism. I found there was a cheapening of journalism. There were nights with the last company i was with that, you know, i would be on set waiting for them to come to me, and id be embarrassed about what i was surrounded by. It was like being in a junkyard. And Tracy Rowlett was the anchorman there, and i felt sorry for tracy. He had this sterling reputation. I was like, how is he reading this . How can he gut it up to read this is awful. This is not news. It shouldnt be on the air. Its hair care tips. Its fashion tips. It is the lowest common denominator of what a group of executives in new york think will sell. Its not journalism. Schwanbeck granite broadcasting is a tv group headquartered in new york city. Like many broadcast groups, it joined the trend of buying and selling stations. Granite bought wtvh, channel 5 in syracuse, from Meredith Corporation in 1993. Dave bullard had been a reporter at channel 5 for nine years. When granite took over, dave said he saw the handwriting on the wall and left. Five years later, he started a webbased news publication in oswego county, new york, in 1999. As owner, editor, and reporter, he now gets the chance to do Hyperlocal News coverage. Its not profitable, but hes meeting expenses. I will say that, you know, under meredith, i saw myself being able to retire from there, and i knew that would not be possible under granite. I knew that they were going to have to make changes, were making changes, and that they did not keep the best interests of their employees in mind. I knew they werent going to. They couldnt. They were under such a crushing load of debt that they had to do things that were not in the interest of keeping longterm employees. Understood it; im in business myself; i get it. Schwanbeck bullard worked with legendary anchor ron curtis at channel 5. Here, curtis hosts a show commemorating the stations 50th anniversary in 1998. The technology has changed over 50 years and continues to evolve, but one thing will never change our commitment to you. Schwanbeck but in 2009, changes were in the offing for wtvh. Red Services Agreement with barrington broadcasting, which owns channel 3 in syracuse. That meant more than 40 employees here at wtvh were let go. The facility was put up for sale, and the employees at the competitor down the street, wstm channel 3, would now do newscasts for both stations. How does that work . Well, it means viewers who watch wtvh news are really watching news produced at wstm, although they dont come out and say so. Good evening. Im michael benny. Youre watching the only local newscast to give you the biggest stories of the day and the forecast right off the top. Schwanbeck the news anchors and weathercasters are different, but the reporters and the sports guy are the same. Check it out. The Syracuse School district is ready to sign a 28 million lease with a private developer for the use of this complex. There are two open missing persons cases here in oneida, one from 1981, one from 1993. One thing else we should at least get a chance to see, the highly touted pitcher stephen strasburg. Schwanbeck we tried three times to get former granite ceo don cornwell to explain why wtvh merged with a competitor in syracuse. But he declined, as noted in this email from cornwell. He did issue, though, a published statement when he stepped down as ceo in 2009. Your reaction to don . What exactly did he accomplish . I cant point to a single great accomplishment by a granite television station in syracuse, other than running the place into the ground. I dont mean to be harsh, but, you know, to make a laudatory statement when you are basically waving the white flag is not just tonedeaf; its infuriating to the people who really, really put their hearts and their souls and their blood and their guts into trying to build something, you know. We knew we had a good operation at channel 5. We knew we had longtime journalists, longtime photographers photographers you could send out as journalists and theyd come back with a story because they knew what they were talking about. Great photographers, awardwinning photographers. We won the first emmy ever in central new york. I mean, you know, we had a good shop. Great anchors, great management in the newsroom. All of that worked, and it was slowly and inexorably dismantled by don cornwell and his partner in the service of investment bankers, whoall they wanted was their money back. Dont blame them for that. They gave the money. They deserve to have it back. But syracuse lost, and to, you know, raise your hand in celebration like that, it strikes me as tonedeaf and insensitive. And, don, i hope you see this, because youre wrong. You didnt build a thing. Youve managed to tear it all down. And, scott, whats transped since last you spoke with us . Something that i never thought id see, ron. Lee alexander walked out of the federal courthouse less than. Schwanbeck Scott Atkinson was a News Reporter at channel 5 in syracuse for 17 years. He left market 82 and moved on to become news director here at wwnytv in watertown, new york, market size 176. How do you feel about the afternoon of the 22nd for taping . Schwanbeck the small familyowned station is a step back sizewise, but its a comfort for scott, as he looks back on how his old station, wtvh, changed under granite. [sighs] what do you say to people without being really, really unkind to them . You know, i dont have anything against don cornwell personally. If he were standing here, hed go, well, it was just business. And hes right, and im wrong. It really was just business. But for any of us who loved this stuff, who felt some special whatever to it, thats an obscenity. I mean, thats just wrong. Channel 5 is gone. Theres an empty building sitting on james street. Theyve got, like, three employees now. And im sure theres somebody somewhere who will be watching this going, ha well, its like the buggy whip factory, is thats gone as we venture out into the brandnew future. No. Its gone because of a failure, a moral failure, a failure to do the right thing, a failure to see what your obligations in this world are correctly, a failure to live up to the promises you make. [dramatic music] schwanbeck Investigative ReporterJoe Bergantino doesnt worry about a corporate boss anymore. Being the cynical Investigative Reporter that i am, i dont expect a lot from people who are looking solely at the bottom line. I completely understand where theyre coming from. I dont agree with them. I dont want to work for them. But i completely understand them. Schwanbeck after 22 years, Joe Bergantino left wbztv in boston, where he helped create an awardwinning Investigative Unit. One of his top stories uncovered sexual abuse cases by catholic priests. But he was feeling the pressure to produce indepth pieces on a weekly basis. Investigative reporting takes more time. We showed dr. Robert picard one of joes tv stories. A School Superintendent is accused of ignoring complaints about a teacher allegedly sexually abusing a student. When authorities charged Maynard High School teacher joe magno with raping a student multiple times, the question in this town was did anyone have any inkling. You have to be talking to advocates. You got to be talking to victims. You got to be talking to police authorities. Youve got to be talking to School Authorities about, what are the responsibilities . And what he has shown in this story is particularly that the district did not respond, even though they had inklings that something was going on and had been told by somebody that something was going on. And this is the kind of journalism thats more important than the latest car crash or the latest shooting, or, you know, the latest visit to the city by a movie star. Yeah, we couldnt have done that story in one week. Wouldnt have been possible. These stories unfortunately, or fortunately, you know, require a lot of time. They require a lot of time, especially you have to do for television, because its much easier to do for newspapers, because now we do it for everybody, so we know its much easier to write a print story than it is to actually get the interviews, get the pictures, and do all of what else needs to be done for an investigative story. Its just much more difficult. Line, that might be right. Crank it up. Byebye. Schwanbeck so in january 2009, joe decided the time was right to leave Mainstream Media with the financial help of the nonprofit Knight Foundation. [dramatic music] joe runs the New England Center for investigative reporting here at boston university, where he and his partner do investigative stories for various news outlets in the boston area, from newspapers and tv stations to websites. Fastforward a year and a half later, and joe wasnt digging for stories but for more fundg. Is there a nonprofit arm of your industry . Is there athat actually ever gives money away . Schwanbeck so for now, the investigating is left to partner maggie mulvihill. This is a 24 7, you know, commitment that involves doing all sorts of things, which probably a lot of journalists wouldnt want to have to do. If you look at this and are thinking about trying to figure out a way to make money off of this, its not doable. I think that conclusion has been reached. This is not likely to succeed as a forprofit business what were creating here, here and elsewhere. Schwanbeck and then theres the tall order of leaving the number five tv market, dallas, for the unknown. Paul adrian is trying to find a way to make money, but its not easy. He quit his reporting job at kdfwtv in dallas after spending 19 years in the business and headed for the Kennedy School of government at harvard, hoping a masters degree in Public Administration would help him find the solution. Your social network is an excellent spam filter because people you dont know cant send you messages. Schwanbeck professor nicco mele helped a president ial candidate in 2004 use the internet to raise funds. If it worked for politics, can it work for journalism . How do you create an organization that does the journalism that we think is so important but also exist in an organization that can generate enough revenue that it can be selfsustaining into the future . Okay, so we can see. Hey, now thats a good model. Yeah. Schwanbeck pauls wife, jade, also a former journalist, helps brainstorm ideas for revenue sources, confront legal issues, and spot roadblocks. Were both very dedicated to this project and have lots of sleepless nights trying to figure out where its headed and how to get it there and how to get investors to believe in it and how to get the public to believe in it, because what i asked myself is, what would happen if the journalists all went away . [upbeat music] schwanbeck a year and a half later, from boston back home to boerne, texas, paul and jade continue to live their sparse lifestyle and moved into his parents house. They spend hours every day in the sunroom with daughter, lark, often at their side. They were putting the knowledge paul gained in school to create an internetbased business. And i want all of you to be comfortable with this, and, you know, there is going to be some risk, and that cannot be denied. Schwanbeck but paul and jades focus shifted from their harvard days. Instead of doing their own journalism with their initial Website Press for the people, they put it on the backburner and decided to help others distribute their journalism online. Like Joe Bergantino, paul had to put business first. We do know that there is a substantial market for this initial product. Schwanbeck that product is a website called latakoo. It offers Compression Technology that allows customers, from freelance reporters to tv stations, to upload highdefinition video online. They claim this video transport service can be more efficient for freelancers and cheaper and faster for tv stations that use live trucks in the field. My vision is that television stations will keep their key people that are fundamentally their identity, which tend to be their anchors and one or two highprofile reporters. I think theyll keephose, but i think that ultimately what happens is, they begin buying content from businesses like ours. Schwanbeck longtime journalist jim moore is a partner in pauls venture. His job is finding investors. If you want to write us a check, you can write us a check, but were not going to toss out the people who got us up and running. Absolutely. Schwanbeck paul and jade hire a law firm, then find an internet guru, and they bring in three more initial partners to do what they did invest their retirement money, 250,000 total, to form the hopeful moneymaking website. So then you have what Warren Buffett calls skin in the game. We cannot fail, because we have bet everything on this. Its not a gift, you know, from the Knight Foundation or from a philanthropist that we could spend and walk away from. It is our futures. And let me tell you, that focuses you like a laser on coming up with a mechanism that will work, that will grow those investments, that will make money, and that will also do what we want to do, which is improve the level of journalism in our country. So jim introduced me to paul. He said, i saw your business plan. Schwanbeck the deal was sealed during dinner near san antonio with this man, greg nakagawa, one of the brains behind the design of the latakoo website. Within a year of this dinner, though, greg dropped out. Thank you, guys. Look whos here. Look whos here. Yes. Hey there he is. This is paul. How you doing, brother . Hey, man. How you doing . Hi, sweetheart. Hi. How you doing . Schwanbeck remember dwayne, the frustrated but passionate reporter who left his cleveland tv job . He also quit latakoo after three months. Dwayne said the fluctuations of a startup became too challenging for him. Trying to sell a product still being developed was hard and added to family and financial pressures. So dwayne ended up getting back into investigative reporting at a tv affiliate in louisville, kentucky, a move he said he was fortunate to make as a 40something reporter. So paul found replacements and forged ahead. But i feel like if we didnt take the risk, i couldnt possibly be happy, you know, doing the same thing that i was doing and seeing where the industry was going. Once focuses on a goal, he figures out a way to get there, and he may vary his course from time to time, but the ultimate goal always remains in the gps, or so to speak, that hell figure out a way to get there. Whoa schwanbeck one way is to know how to deal with stress. Moments with family can take the edge off at the end of the day. You know what i enjoy . I enjoy going to laverne petersons house and swimming with lark and being able to do that every day and not coming home late from work every day. I enjoy working here, in the sense that we get up, we work; i dont lose any time battling traffic in dallas, texas. We are not going to get out of this mess by waiting for Rupert Murdoch to tell us how he can make more money in the 21st century than he did in the 20th. Schwanbeck john nichols is a media critic who writes and lectures nationwide about journalism. Here he brought his message to new haven, connecticut. A trained orangutan could make money with a television license. Schwanbeck but what about new startups . Can we rely on paul adrians and Joe Bergantinos to save journalism . At this point we have to rely on these folks who are trying new experiments, trying to find alternative ways to get information to the people, but i think that the word rely is one we have to define carefully. We are relying on them to create models, not to fill the void. What theyre doing, in my opinion, will not be sufficient to fill the void, not because of their lack of commitment, not because of any lack of journalistic quality in what they do, but it is the resource issue. Well, its certainly not enough. I mean, no question. If there is a way to create 300 centers like ours, maybe that would be enough, maybe not. But i think itsyou know, we dont see this as filling the whole void. I think that would be a delusion. You know, were filling a niche piece of whats missing, and an important niche piece, which is investigative reporting. Schwanbeck so what can the public do to strengthen journalism . Its a frustrating question because there are no clearcut answers. Everythings on the table support existing nonprofit news websites, radio, and tv stations; turn to Mainstream Media outlets that offer quality journalism; start a public fund for journalism; and then theres the hotbutton idea of federal subsidies, using your tax dollars to support struggling media outlets. When we sustain diverse, independent, competitive, speaktruthtopower journalism, we make the whole of our democracy better. Thats a public good. And just as we Like National parks and roads that are wellrepaired, we ought to want a journalism that is strong and vibrant and operates as a public good, not merely a forprofit entity. The way to sustain journalism is to make money on it. Oh, i hate that. I hate that. Thats not who we are. Thats not who we are. Thats not who americans are. I mean, if there is to be such a thing as journalism, if there is to be such a thing as a Media Business or a media company, the product has to be quality and valuable, and it has to be demanded over here, and somebody has to make money in the middle off of producing it. I think its kind of an unlikely scenario. You know, maybe it would a spurt of money short term, but long term, as they would look at what we were doing, i would doubt whether a government would want to basically fund anybody or anything thats calling them to task, calling it to task on a regular basis. This is the emmy. Schwanbeck yeah . Which is exactly what paul used to do in dallas hold government officials feet to the fire. Pauls mother, gwen, has all of his emmys and katie awards boxed up. It says outstanding specialty assignment report the man from stinky river. This is a story where i think that this man was dumping sewage into the creek. What are you dumping into the creek here . [air compressor whirring] sir . Looks like youre dumping human waste into the creek. Why are you doing that . Lashley suddenly focused on another task getting away. Very, very proud of him, and it was an interesting story to watch. It was. [sniffles] schwanbeck journalistic efforts like pauls seem to be harder to find in Mainstream Media. In the summer of 2010, we surveyed 40 network tv affiliates in the top ten markets in the u. S. And found that only four stations actually gave reporters time to do indepth stories without the pressure to produce on a weekly basis. They are khou and ktrk in houston and pauls old station kdfw and wfaa in dallas. 22 stations said they do indepth stories but theyre committed to producing stories weekly or biweekly. And 14 stations in the top ten markets had no fulltime Investigative Reporter. Some of the things that get passed off as investigations that, a, are on local televisions all across the country are things like exploding picnic tables. You know, there was a series of storiesi think one ran in boston; others ran across the countryabout picnic tables that were exploding, glass picnic tables exploding. I suppose, you know, if that truly is a danger for people, its a legitimate story. I dont know about you, but i dont know anybody whose picnic table exploded. One big expense is the photographer, and tonight some brides want to warn others about one local photographer. [dramatic music] what parents may not know is that some types of batteries can actually kill a child if its swallowed. News 4 woai troubleshooter jaie avila has more. And our engine was not harmed. Action 9 can work for you too. Send your Consumer Complaint to wftv. Com. Just click on action 9. To avoid mistakes, you end up doing more and more generic stories, you know . I mean. Rather than doing, like, investigations involving local folks or something, you end up doing high heel hell or, you know, whats on your bedsheets . The doctor says if you do wear heels regularly, like myself, get some gel insoles, and itll cut back on some of the problems. Schwanbeck dave bullard says some types of stories are easier for young inexperienced reporters to cover. I think the brain drain on newsrooms was significant and severe and everlasting. I mean, theres a reason we stopped doing issuerelated stories and were telling people now ten ways not to blow yourself up with a barbecue grill this summer, because thats something a child can understand, a young reporter can figure out how to do. These juggling clubs you see flying by my face right now are the actual clubs that ryan and steve used in their americas got talent audition. Schwanbeck crime stories are also easier for young reporters. And a rash of robberies. Shes live tonight with our top story. Karen . Sarah and jeff, good evening to both of you. Well, go ahead and take a good look at the surveillance video. Here on saturday and demanded money and then ended up shooting him in the stomach. Now deputies are looking for a man who wore a dark hoodie and bandanna covering his face. All they will say at this point is that they know that Scott Campbell was shot twice. He was actually hit twice. Schwanbeck the murder of a yale medical student in 2009 had the news media showing up in full force the day the key suspect was charged. Can you tell us, do you think that he disposed of her body unaided . Yeah, why dont we just if they want cut a bite for us to throw to. Okay. Television news as a whole has come to rely basically on eventcentered news reporting, and much of what we really need to know in society is not eventcentered news. Its deeper trends and issues. Whats happening in our School System . Whats happening in our libraries . Whats going on with the Police Department and Fire Department . And those dont lend themselves to that kind of event coverage that television has put so much emphasis on. Any comment on how you feel its going so far . Schwanbeck the first trial involving the cheshire, connecticut, triple murder also drew its share of media attention. The latest is jurors are getting instructions not to talk to anyone or discuss this case. Also charges have been read to steven hayes, 17 charges in total read aloud including. I honestly cant imagine if the death penaltys not sought in this, when it would ever be used. I just cannot believe that they would maliciously cull that one document, but its so incriminating. Its the smoking gun. Its the smoking gun, and they left it out. Schwanbeck as you saw on the u. S. Map, dallas is an exception in Mainstream Media. Viewers here have two stations that give reporters time to do investigations. Wfaa has two top reporters who work on indepth pieces byron harris and brett shipp, whos been here since 1995. Its an honor to work, you know, with byron, you know, somebody who, you know, absolutely invented local tv investigative reporting. Well. And the latitude that they give us to do what we do, it may be unprecedented. Youre looking at, you know, hopefully not a dinosaur, but youre looking at probably the quintessential investigative news operation in the country. Schwanbeck brett shipp is the first local tv reporter in the country to ever win a platinum dupont award. Makes the news director happy. Its in his office. Brett found problems with unsafe natural gas couplings in peoples homes throughout texas, resulting in explosions that killed and maimed residents. Four years later, a million couplings will be replaced. A coupling installed back in the 60s and 70s that pipeline technicians knew at that time was prone to leak. [phone beeping] schwanbeck his desk is surrounded by files with information he compiles, often working on several stories at the same time. Ill look at that later. I justi dont know what theyre talking about there. Are you kidding me . A kid cant play football in oklahoma. Schwanbeck this day, the focus was on a family who purposefully moved from oklahoma to the dallas area so the son could play high school football. Thats against state athletic rules. Brett and his photographer billy bryant head for Southlake Carroll high to confront the coach. Brett knows that reporting takes time. [lips popping] yeah, i think they may be onto us. There was a trainer yeah, theyre looking at us. They know were here. Okay, whatever. Ill deal with it. Okay, go get your camera. Hurry, hurry. You know your quarterback still lives in oklahoma . Did you know the protocol of checking in before did you know your quarterback still lives in oklahoma . Schwanbeck after brett confronts the coach, the Athletic Director steps in. Okay, then lets sit down and talk about it. Sure, absolutely. Well give you a call. All right. If youre living in southlake, your house in oklahoma has to be on the market. Well, its not. Not only is it on the market, but daddys got a huge brandnew business in oklahoma city. And by the way he responded to usi. E. , throwing a bag of ice at my headtells me that he may be doing something he shouldt be doing, which hes already been busted for. Schwanbeck look for brett on the lower left behind the boat. Things turn ugly when we persist. Why do you still live in brookings, sir . Why do you still live and work here . Schwanbeck after shipps story ran, the quarterback was ruled ineligible, and he later lost his appeal for reinstatement. Yeah, this is mecca. This is mount olympus. You know, the Belo Corporation is right there. Thats the belo building. Thats the best media Ownership Group on the planet. We do our share of junk. Id be the first to admit. But sometimes a story about the kitty cat caught in a tree is interesting. And sometimes thats fun to watch. And thats part of a diet. But also quality meaningful journalism is the biggest part. Thats the protein. Thats another red bite, because if he wasnt numbed on the bottom, why would he chew his jaw . Schwanbeck the same day brett worked on his football story, byron harris worked on a followup about a Dental Clinic that allegedly overtreated patients for more money, often state money. Here a child had four teeth worked on, not just two. All of this was done, a, without my consent, and, b, that he was in pain. And he was hurt. And he was bruised. Schwanbeck byron has been reporting at wfaa since 1972 and has won his share of national and regional awards. Five years ago, i did a story about a young man who died after being operated on at a chain Dental Clinic in texas. They have clinics all over texas. He was overanesthetized, and he died at home following having four wisdom teeth pulled. So weve discovered all kinds of things about this Dental Clinic in the process of investigating his death. Schwanbeck thats called institutional knowledge. The loss of senior experience and cultural memory due to reductions, layoffs, and buyouts seriously weakens our output. It is important to know and remember where the bodies are buried or who said what back when. Too much of what passes for reporting is now opinion, speculation, rumor, personal involvement, unchallenged handouts or statements, and often a waste of time. Didnt have a lot of time to read through this because i was writing that story that came in late. Schwanbeck someone who knows where to look for a story is mike donahue in portland, oregon. Hes another exception in local tv news. Mike has been an anchor and reporter at kointv since 1973. At age 63, he signed a threeyear contract with the station. You know, weve met about 30. Its been that long ago . I dont want to say how many years ago. [laughing] when i was in high school you had a show. You been with koin all these years . Oh, yes, thats me. You had a show. It was called getting it straight. Oh, i remember. What are you essentially saying . Why should he nullify the verdict . Well, there are two primary reasons. A lot of people today get into this business because theyre very good on their feet. You know, they can speak well, think fast, and theyll look good in standing in front of piece of police tape, you know, reporting on some crime thats happened back there. Thats a tool. Thats a gift too. But you have to have the other gifts of writing and some kind of context that youve learned in order to bring the story together and make it meaningful to the viewer. Probably, were not getting the most out of our state as oregonians. Schwanbeck on this day, mike puts together a story on the state of black residents in oregon. [machine whirring] okay. This is the thing ill be doing later. Right now, were just doing a short piece on this for the noon newscast. I was here back in 19. Well, 1968 when we had riots in the streets of portland and in the area of albina, and i can remember that. So when i talko someone about the report, we can discuss that. In fact, what was able to differentiate, they were saying that this was the [clears throat] that this was the first report in 17 years. Well, it really wasnt; it was the first time theyve ever done a statewide report. The one they did in 1968 was a portland report right after those riots, and i remembered that. Well, black oregonians are at or near the bottom of every meaningful social and economic category, so reports the urban league of oregon. Its a study that found that compared with whites, africanamericans have higher infant mortality rates. Schwanbeck the koin newsroom also feels mikes presence every day in the form of roses. They come from his meticulously manicured rose garden at home. Its like anything, what you put into it, you get out of it. And these roses, they take a lot of care. Theyre kind of like children. The more that you show appreciation, care for them, the better they produce. Mike donahue is our tv dad. Schwanbeck how so . Because he sets the example. Schwanbeck how so . In journalism, in life, in how he conducts himself, here and on television. I think a little bit of all of us strive to be like mike. Well, im concerned about the future of journalism because it seems to be the constraints are being put on us from above. Less time, less resources to work with, and yet the demand for more and more product causes us stress and causes people to burn out. And so we see a young, you know, budding professional whos got the talent and the drive, and then after a period of a few years is quitting because you just cant take the pressure anymore. A pair of shoesback me up on this. A pair of shoes in canada could be 80, and they can come down here with their dollar thats stronger and it could be 50, 45 bucks. So its cheaper anyway for them to come down here. Its cheaper gas and whatever. Schwanbeck here in watertown, new york, young reporters dont feel as much of the pressure, thanks in part to some nurturing veterans. If you do end up going, just know well help you. Yep. Thats all i need. Schwanbeck anne richter has been here at wwny since 1980. She produces and anchors along with her husband, brian ashley. He works the assignment desk during the day. I think it would be strange if there werent older people working in our newsroom. I think we wouldnt have anyone to learn anything from, anyone to tell us that were wrong. [laughs] which sometimes you need. Anyone to tell you that you made a mistake. I have mentored dozens of young people through the years, and i hear from them frequently and they say, when theyre out on assignment, they think, what would anne do . How would anne write this . And so, you know, im always sitting on their shoulder, i guess. Between the two of them, that frees up the kids to learn, you know . I mean, one of the things is that weve got this backstop of knowledge in the newsroom so that, you know, the kids cant make too many stupid mistakes. Schwanbeck some media critics would argue a key mistake has already been made letting experienced reporters go. The last seven years of my investigative reporting career were like being in a bad car wreck every day. I feel so beat up from it. You began to feel that certainly the management didnt care. They didnt believe in it. And then after a while, you really kind of wondered, does the publicdo they really appreciate this . Do they really care . Theyre off watching fluff. You know, theyre tuning in all this fluff. And these things, theyre hard on your family too. And after a while, you just kind of feel tired and beat down, and youre ready to move on. So i made a decision that im going in a different direction. [upbeat music] many tourists come to italy because of its past. But milano is todays italy, and no italian trip is complete without visiting this city. While overlooked by many, milano has plenty to see and its a joy to visit. Fashionistas love milans worldclass shopping zone, a neighborhood called the quadrilateral. This elegant highfashion district was the original Beverly Hills of milan. Overseeing the shopping action are the exclusive and elusive penthouse apartments with their plush roof gardens. Since the 1920s, this has been the place for designer labels. In this scene, the peoplewatching is as entertaining as the windowshopping. Another favorite place for the milanese is an hour away by train. Lombardys seductively beautiful lakes district, where italy meets the alps, seems heavensent for communing with nature. In this land of so many popular lakes, the millioneuro question is which one . While all the lakes have their charms, lake como is my favorite. It offers the best mix of accessibility, scenery, and offbeatness with a heady whiff of aristocraticolddays romance. Lake como is lined with elegant 19thcentury villas, crowned by snowcapped mountains and busy with fleets of little ferries. Its a good place to take a break from the intensity of urban turnstile sightseeing. It seems half the travelers youll meet have tossed their itineraries into the lake and are actually relaxing. Today the hazy, lazy lakes only serious industry is tourism. Lake comos isolation and flat economy have left it pretty much the way 19thcentury romantic poets first described it. Production funding for this program is provided in part by and by viewers like you. Narrator monolithic works of art dot the american landscape, often soaring to heights as great as a tenstory building. Powerful in stature, yet graceful in execution, they are the creations of a single man who has captured the attention of art experts for many years. He handles this enormous scale with a kind of lightness that is very impressive. Its just astonishing to many people how big his work is, and how bold it is, and how