CBC Edmonton

[electricsheep]

My close call lit up today while at work. The CBC Radio One Edmonton traffic reporter had parked their van outside my building and was giving his live reports...

450.8625, no tones.

 

[Jeffn8wb]

Was he beating his chest to make the chopper sounds?

 

[electricsheep]

Was he beating his chest to make the chopper sounds?

No, but the funniest thing to listen to was this guy REHEARSING his traffic spiel a couple of times before he went "live" to air... Rehearsing the traffic?! Then he called his voice mail OVER AND OVER again...

 

[SCPD]

No, but the funniest thing to listen to was this guy REHEARSING his traffic spiel a couple of times before he went "live" to air... Rehearsing the traffic?! Then he called his voice mail OVER AND OVER again...

Nothing wrong with that. Practice makes perfect. Perhaps he's not from Edmonton and recently rellocated and isn't familiar with the street names, etc.

Quite a few broadcasters rehearse their scripts before they go live or voice-track, especially for news. Do you have any idea how difficult some of those middle-eastern names can be? Other times, the nice people at BN are too rushed to proof-read their hourly newswatches before sending them out on a the wire. If the reporter were to go live-to-air with a script that hasn't been proofed, there's most likely always a grammatical error/anchor killer in there.

As for the voicemail, perhaps he was expecting someone important to call?

If you were to listen to a live mic inside a newsroom/studio, you'd hear much of the same going on.

 

[electricsheep]

What I don't get, is if there is any person in the newsroom who would benefit from having access to a scanner to listen in on what traffic accidents are CURRENT and causing problems, it is the guy giving the twice to three times hourly live traffic updates. This guy does not have one.

In the 25+ minutes he was sitting outside my building, he received ONE phone call on his traffic reporting line, and his spiel on the air never changed. According to this guy there were NO traffic problems except for a missing manhole cover. This is of course just plain wrong, as I was also listening to the scanner during this rush hour time period and there were accidents all over the place.

Someone at CBC needs to do a study...

 

[Jay911]

Down in Calgary the traffic reports are pretty abyssmal too. Even with the "new" helicopter, they still don't get it right. They report on construction, and say that "Police are attending a crash on x at y" but neglect to point out that police fire and EMS dealt with that 3 hours ago and now the only thing left is a tow truck trying to cart off the carnage.

 

[electricsheep]

Down in Calgary the traffic reports are pretty abyssmal too. Even with the "new" helicopter, they still don't get it right. They report on construction, and say that "Police are attending a crash on x at y" but neglect to point out that police fire and EMS dealt with that 3 hours ago and now the only thing left is a tow truck trying to cart off the carnage.

Our traffic helicopter that was supposed to launch February 6th I think has never appeared. Even after a big media release the thing never once took to the air...

 

[SCPD]

We have a chopper in Winnipeg, and it's funny---because Winnipeg doesn't have traffic problems. This is a large "town", not a "city". Winnpeg is pathetic. I almost had to do a double-take when I read about it in the paper.

It's an advertising/promotional gimmick, as it's ratings time right now.

What freq is the chopper on out your way? I found them on 455.295 here, although their licence shows 455.3. Maybe they're off freq a bit, .295 is what 3 scanners lock on, and it sounds distorted on .300 in my XTS.

 

[Jay911]

The CORUS machine here is using several talkgroups on the TAC Mobility trunk system, which I still find kind of odd for aircraft use and/or doing patches to radio studios. At least it's a single site system.

The Rogers machine (Lite96, etc) is using 450.3. I've never thought to check .295.

 

[jellotor]

What I don't get, is if there is any person in the newsroom who would benefit from having access to a scanner to listen in on what traffic accidents are CURRENT and causing problems, it is the guy giving the twice to three times hourly live traffic updates. This guy does not have one.

In the 25+ minutes he was sitting outside my building, he received ONE phone call on his traffic reporting line, and his spiel on the air never changed. According to this guy there were NO traffic problems except for a missing manhole cover. This is of course just plain wrong, as I was also listening to the scanner during this rush hour time period and there were accidents all over the place.

Someone at CBC needs to do a study...

When did the CBC start covering breaking news?!? Seriously, though, I've been in some newsrooms with some hideously outdated equipment (scanner and non-scanner) and it's not that unbelievable that you wouldn't find the appropriate gear given to the appropriate people.

I know of one radio newsroom, for example, where an old-timer won't give up his electric typewriter. I believe they had to hire an intern to put all of his scripts into a computer for archival purposes. Talk about a fun summer job...

 

[radiolalaland]

How do scanner geeks such as ourselves get jobs working for the news? And read the news, and report it the right way?

 

[SCPD]

How do scanner geeks such as ourselves get jobs working for the news? And read the news, and report it the right way?

Go to school and do a broadcasting diploma, or get a degree in communications. No one will hire you unless you have the papers.

You'll also need to put together a demo tape with airchecks (recordings of yourself reading news, on a real station) before the news director or program director will even consider you for an interview.

The funny thing about radio; you work your ass off to get into it, and you'll make about $10/hour in the end. What a joke. Who can live on that kind of money?

 

[richster]

The funny thing about radio; you work your ass off to get into it, and you'll make about $10/hour in the end. What a joke. Who can live on that kind of money?

Oh that is so damn true!

A friend of mine was working on a communications degree in the '80's, when he started started volenteering his time as a DJ at the local university radio station. He liked it so much, he embarked on a diploma at some broadcasting school. After that he was the "graveyard" DJ at some obscure radio station in Brooks Alberta, making just above minimum wage. He worked two years there when he scored the afternoon spot at another radio station making almost $8/hr, that was back in '87. He quit that and started delivering pizzas. He said there was more money in it. Absoulutley sad!!

$10/hour now-a-days, hell that doesn't suprise me at all.

Regards,
Richster.

 

[jellotor]

Go to school and do a broadcasting diploma, or get a degree in communications. No one will hire you unless you have the papers.

You'll also need to put together a demo tape with airchecks (recordings of yourself reading news, on a real station) before the news director or program director will even consider you for an interview.

The funny thing about radio; you work your ass off to get into it, and you'll make about $10/hour in the end. What a joke. Who can live on that kind of money?

Either that or walk into the news director's office with a nice suit on and tell him you'll man the assignment desk for 15 hours a day for 25% less money than the cheapest guy they've got on there right now. Papers my ass. The only thing that really matters is how much money you want to do the job...the less the better.

A side note, being an assignment editor ain't no glamorous job...unless you like being a glorified secretary who can never leave his/her desk.

 

[SCPD]

Either way, if you want to work in TV or radio, chances are you'll need a second job on the side to pay your rent/expenses. A media job, for the most part, is just some extra cash to play with--it's hardly sufficient to support yourself on.

I've met some VERY talanted people over the years who deserve way more money than what they make. Some personalities (in TV especially) have a magical quality about them, and attract viewers just like a magnet. With those extra viewers, the ratings obviously increase. Increased ratings means the station can charge more for commercial slots to potential advertisers. That means more profit. The talant should get a cut of that, but they don't. Sometimes there are bonuses, but not always.

To make things worse, there are a lot of clueless people coming out of "journalism schools" who have no idea how to work a scanner, how to make police contacts, or even how to treat police. The result is missed coverage of major events, and a bad relationship with police because the newbies are constantly screwing them over contributing to the distrust.

OK, I'm done

 

[jellotor]

To make things worse, there are a lot of clueless people coming out of "journalism schools" who have no idea how to work a scanner, how to make police contacts, or even how to treat police. The result is missed coverage of major events, and a bad relationship with police because the newbies are constantly screwing them over contributing to the distrust.

OK, I'm done

Me too...almost.

J-school isn't the place to learn about scanners. J-school isn't the place to learn about anything in the real world. J-school is the place to learn how not to be sued doing your job and the difference between 'arrest' and 'charge.' (On a side note, one of my colleagues used the term 'citizen's arrest' a few months ago...)

To flip this back on my first comment, TV news can always use people who are curious about things (scanners, cameras, editing...the list goes on) but it seems that camera kiddies and especially wannabe-journo-VJs coming out of school these days think they're graduated fully-formed and ready to parachute into their dream job at CFTO in Toronto. Gimme a break.

If you're interested in scanners, think you can hack the daily grind in the news beast's belly and want to give it a try, go nuts. Call your local news director and give him/her the lowdown. They'll tell you whether or not that diploma is worth anything more than tens of thousands of dollars of debt and you can make an informed decision. Maybe you'll get a job...but be prepared for the union guys to have a problem with that!

 

[SCPD]

Don't even get me started on the union BS. The union people can all go and F* themselves. I have zero respect for unions. It's organized bullying.

One thing I do have a problem with is young yuppies who will work for $8/hr fresh out of school. By doing so, you're basically saying "The job is worth $8/hr", and those wages become commonplace.

Let's face it; being on-air isn't rocket science, and neither is shooting, but it's certainly worth more than $8/hr, because it's a SKILLED trade/profession. You can't just take an indian off the streets of Edmonton or Winnipeg and throw them into a news-booth and have them read a cast. It takes quite a while to get good with your delivery and accustomed to producing (at some smaller stations, you're the producer too). $8/hr is a joke. It should be at least $15/hr to start. The stress level that comes with the job can also be quite huge, depending on much of an ass the ND/PD is.

Then you have these egomaniacs who've been in the biz way too long, and will take any opportunity they can get to slam the new people, or someone who likes asking questions--in particular, someone with talent.

Screw the unions

 

[jellotor]

Screw the unions

As I always say, the only person who looks out for me is me.

 

[Jeffn8wb]

As I always say, the only person who looks out for me is me.

I have to agree with that statement. Too many people say that they have your back but when you are under fire you turn and they are nowhere to be found.

I have seen cases with Unions where they really helped someone out in a crunch. But then there are people who are lazy, don't do their jobs that deserve to be tossed out on their keesters. But since the Union will protect them, they are able to do the minimum and keep their high paying job.

 

[radiolalaland]

It's pretty bad eh, when the assistant on the pressroom floor of a newpaper or a janitor at the local tv station knows more about programming scanners for the media they work for compared to the actual people that go out to look for the news when the news can be right there for them to hear then go get the right shot.

I know, I used to be one of those punks and helped the media program there scanners. And ya gotta laugh when you go to program there radio and it's only a 10 or 20 ch. scanner that has frequencies programmed in from 3 or 4 years back and maybe if they're lucky 3 or 4 frequencies actually still work. And they turn around and tell ya, ya, there's nothing out there to listen to anymore. We haven't heard anything on the radio in a long time.

Gee, I wonder why.

But yes, I do understand that there's more to the media than just sitting at the desk with the scanner going, but it does help.

I mean, c'mon, if you're gonna learn the tricks of the trade, it may also help to have some of the common tools of the trade to maybe help you along the way.

It's not like the frequencies aren't out there.

Just the other day, I was listening to a couple of yuppies on the CB radio talk about how they all got there scanners and there isn't much on them, and that they found the local taxi frequency. Yipppppeeeee. They even said they used the internet to help them program them in by finding there manuals. Well I'm sorry, but the manuals are only good for so much. But it gonna get you the frequencies. Maybe if they typed in the right search words in a search engine, they just might find what they're looking for. I know I have, and hell it's come up in the top 10.

I would've gotten in on there little chatter to help them out, but I'll be damned if my microphone isn't broken.

Me too...almost.

J-school isn't the place to learn about scanners. J-school isn't the place to learn about anything in the real world. J-school is the place to learn how not to be sued doing your job and the difference between 'arrest' and 'charge.' (On a side note, one of my colleagues used the term 'citizen's arrest' a few months ago...)

To flip this back on my first comment, TV news can always use people who are curious about things (scanners, cameras, editing...the list goes on) but it seems that camera kiddies and especially wannabe-journo-VJs coming out of school these days think they're graduated fully-formed and ready to parachute into their dream job at CFTO in Toronto. Gimme a break.

If you're interested in scanners, think you can hack the daily grind in the news beast's belly and want to give it a try, go nuts. Call your local news director and give him/her the lowdown. They'll tell you whether or not that diploma is worth anything more than tens of thousands of dollars of debt and you can make an informed decision. Maybe you'll get a job...but be prepared for the union guys to have a problem with that!