Tag: newseum

Brooklyn Boy’s Life in Broadcasting

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(L to R) Leon Harris and Larry King

(L to R) Leon Harris and Larry King

Having the curious mind of a journalist, I was excited to be invited to a private event at the Newseum featuring legendary broadcaster Larry King and hearing his view of decades in the industry. Leon Harris, a news anchor for ABC-7/WJLA-TV, was the moderator for the evening. The event began with a video retrospective of King’s career and footage from some of his most famous interviews. King walked on stage and as he sat down and took off his jacket the first thing you noticed were a pair of suspenders synonymous with him and a RCA Type 77 series microphone in the center of the table. King told us a story about how as a little boy he would attend baseball games and as he sat way up in the stands he would broadcast play-by-plays of the games to himself. He’s known of course as a seasoned and respected interviewer, but I was surprised to discover that King’s also a master storyteller and comedian. He shared about his journey as a radio talk show host in Miami Beach, then as a talk show host in television (his show ‘Larry King Live’ became the first international TV call-in show) and now his current job as host of the online show ‘Larry King Now’ on Hulu. It’s a challenge to remain relevant and survive in the business in just one of those forms of media — to have successfully transitioned through all of them and still be going strong is amazing. King showed us the flip phone that he won’t part with and said that he keeps up with social media dictating his Tweets. He has become an icon in broadcasting, but to himself, King will always be a Brooklyn boy grounded by his humble roots.

Advance Screening … Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues

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I received a notice about an event at the Newseum that I RSVP’d to right away — an advance screening of ‘Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues’. The cherry on the sundae was a special guest appearance by actor David Koechner, who stars as Champ Kind in both ‘Anchorman’ movies. CNN’s Jake Tapper conducted the entertaining interview and as soon as it was over, David took off in a flash and the movie started. HYSTERICAL! My abs are still sore from laughing so much. There are tons of one-liners like “bats … chicken of the cave” and cameos o’plenty at the end.

The movie event coincided with “Anchorman: The Exhibit”, which is on display at the Newseum until August 31, 2014. I was bummed that the exhibit was closed when we got out of the movie, but one of the heads of the Newseum was super cool and let my friend Sofia and I take a private tour. The exhibit includes fun things like costumes and props from ‘Anchorman 2’, broadcasting factoids, video clips and interactive elements like having your photo taken behind a replica of the Channel 4 news desk and posing with life-size replicas of the main characters.

Machine-Driven Future

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Newseum

(L to R): John Huey, Martin Baron, Ted Leonsis, Vivian Schiller and Julius Genachowski

I attended an intriguing program on the topic of “Inside Media: What’s Happening to the News Business?” at the Newseum. The inspiration for the discussion was ‘Riptide,’ an oral history project that chronicles the epic collision between journalism and digital technology from 1980 to the present. Check out the video interviews — they are very insightful!

Distinguished panelists included: Martin Baron, Washington Post executive editor, Ted Leonsis, former AOL senior executive, Vivian Schiller, NBC News chief digital officer, Julius Genachowski, former FCC chairman, and panel moderator John Huey, former editor-in-chief of Time Inc. Presentation highlights I walked away with …

  • Ted talked about how the industry blew it years ago by not believing in the new medium. Publications like Sports Illustrated missing the boat by not creating a product like ESPN or Rolling Stone magazine not developing a product like MTV. Ted said the next phenomenon is where mobile, local and social all come together. Microtargeting audiences (ex. Groupon) and re-imagining delivery and advertising. Being machine-driven, not human centered. Understanding how the machines work and how to feed them.
  • Martin discussed the importance of sourcing news with speed and great reporting being essential to the brand.
  • Vivian spoke about televisions being everywhere, the need for multiple revenue streams, and not tricking the audience or letting advertisers influence them.
  • Julius said it’s important that we ask not is news valuable, but rather what is the new business model for delivery?

Once again, another positive event experience at the Newseum.