Travels with Anne

Hosting a German journalist in Los Angeles is always fun, but this visit turned out to be more eventful than usual.

Anne Allmeling is a radio and TV reporter based in Cologne. She spent three days with KPCC-FM reporter Susan Valot in Orange County before meeting up with me in Pasadena. You have to give her an A+ for courage because, even though she doesn't even own a car in Germany, she navigated the LA freeways by herself in a rental car.

After visiting my office to talk about tv and radio talent coaching, we planned to drop off her car at her hotel and then I would drive us to the studios of KNX-AM all-news radio. I thought it would be interesting for Ann to hear Frank Mottek's coverage of the dramatic downturn in the economy. Too bad we never got there.

Just two blocks away from the hotel, Ann's foot slipped off the brake at an intersection, and her rented car lurched forward, tapping the bumper of the car ahead of her. Two things became clear immediately: the driver of the car was a Mexican immigrant with no drivers' license and her 14-year-old daughter was holding her neck and asking to go to the hospital. The mother spoke no English and called her two teenaged sons to the scene. Anne had paid for insurance, but had to file a police report to make a claim.

The boys did not want us to call the police and demanded cash on the spot to fix the car, which looked to me as if it had been dented by something else before the accident. As you can see in the pictures, there was virtually no damage to the rental car. And it was hard to understand how such a minor fender tap could have caused a serious injury. But that's for the doctors to decide.

We called the cops. Paramedics also arrived to examine the girl. Pasadena police explained to the mother that they would have to cite her for driving without a license and confiscate her car. But if there were no injuries or damage involved, the officers would not have to write a report and she was free to go. Given the choice, the mother opted to face the citation and go to the hospital with her daughter. The boys looked on sadly as the cops towed the car. The police said it would cost the family nearly $1,000 to get the car out of impound. I shared Anne's disbelief that a police officer would allow an unlicensed driver to continue driving under any circumstances. Apparently, the huge number of undocumented drivers has led to an epidemic of "hit and run" accidents because the unlicensed people don't stick around to exchange information. The police don't want to punish those who do the right thing and stop.

This was a classic LA melting pot experience that could almost be a sequel to the movie "Crash": A visitor from Germany involved in an accident with immigrants from Mexico, with multiethnic police officers, paramedics and bytanders on the scene. Anne got a personal lesson in the issues raised by illegal immigration, such as undocumented people driving without a license or insurance. Three hours later,, we headed into Hollywood for some sightseeing. We finally met up with Frank at the Beverly Hilton, at a celebrity-studded benefit for the Big Brothers/Big Sisters organization. Frank is a classy guy who always makes time in his schedule to welcome Germans participating in the RIAS/RTNDF journalist exchange program. Both Frank and I have visited Germany as RIAS fellows. As I have said before on this blog, the free trip to Germany is one of the best kept secrets in broadcasting!

I wish Anne the best of luck in her travels and in her career. I hope our paths will cross again under circumstances where we don't have to drive!

Maldives Election

Just want to congratulate my Maldivian friends on their first multiparty presidential election. I only wish I could watch the coverage on TVM from here.

Talent Coaching at Cal State Northridge

The broadcasting program at Cal State Northridge has turned out some fine journalists over the years and I've been proud to call some of them my colleagues. The next batch has some promising newcomers in the RTNDA student chapter, headed by Mazen Hafez (center in the Cal State T-shirt). They invited me to put on a talent performance workshop, and after discussing and reviewing some of their stories we continued the q and a session over dinner. Although there's a lot of passion for sports reporting here, everyone seems to understand the need to be flexible in the tight job market. If you'd like to schedule a talent performance workshop at your school, go to www.terryanzur.com.

Seeing Sarah Palin

I often feel like the last independent voter in America and I don't have to venture outside my immediate family to feel pressure from both sides. My mother and son are staunch Republicans backing McCain-Palin, while my oldest brother lives in Nancy Pelosi's liberal San Francisco district and backs Obama-Biden.

Last weekend I had an opportunity to see one of the candidates up close. My mom and my son received tickets to a Sarah Palin rally and these were VIP passes to be in the front section of the tennis stadium where she was speaking. It was more like a political mosh pit, with people and cell phone cameras jostling for the best view. The kids allowed my 75-year-old mom to move to the front where she got Palin's autograph!

Observations:

-As a talent performance coach, I have to give Palin an A+ for her speech. When someone tried to heckle her, she responded with a smooth and witty adlib: "My son is in Irag fighting for the freedom that guy is exercising right now!" It was hard to believe she was the same person who stammered in response to interview questions from Katie Couric.

-She is knock dead gorgeous in person. TV doesn't do her justice.

-I can see why the rightwingers are so pissed off at the media. Of the entire speech, the only line that made the news was Palin's attack on Obama's past association with a Chicago radical. The coverage didn't remotely resemble the event that I experienced, the enthusiastic overflow Republican crowd in a state that is viewed by the media as already in the Obama victory column. What happened to the idea that the media is supposed to be your front row seat for what actually happens? On CNN, they simply referred to Palin's comments accusing Obama of associating with "terrorists" and said that Obama was demanding an apology while talking about "real issues" like health care. Well, Palin talked about plenty of issues, but I guess CNN didn't think any of it was newsworthy.

Don't get me wrong, I still haven't made up my mind because I think either ticket would be better than the current administration, and both tickets bring unique qualities to the table. However, I am disappointed in the obvious lack of impartiality in the coverage and continuing damage done to the image of professional journalism in the US.

-I can definitely see why Palin is compared to Ronald Reagan in a dress. She has that quality that is hard to define, but you know it when you see it. The people who are trying to pass her off as a Klondike Barbie doll are seriously underestimating her communication skills in front of a crowd. Although I will agree that she needs to bring more of that charisma and confidence to one-on-one interviews.

Election Day in Maldives

October 8 will go down in history as the first multi-party election day in Maldives. My friends at TVM are providing wall to wall coverage, and CEO Ali Khalid says they have won praise for providing coverage that is more fair and balanced than that of the competing private stations. Well done!
One reporter last night told me optimistically that they would know the results shortly after the polls closed. But it's not going to be that easy. There are numerous allegations of fraud and irregularities with the voting lists, particularly on the atolls where island chiefs have discarded the official list and substituted their own. Others have complained that the ink marks used to identify those who have voted can be easily washed off.
At this moment, it looks like a close race between incumbent President Gayoom and opposition leader Anni, with independent candidate Hassan Saeed in 3rd place. However, no one has a majority in the early returns. It's anybody's guess at this point how it will all turn out. It is frustrating not to be able to watch the election coverage, but my thoughts and prayers are with the journalists that they will stick to their responsibility to tell the truth, no matter what happens.

Thanking our Troops

Whenever I get the chance to do some freelance writing, I am reminded of how much fun it is to try and learn everything you can about a topic of current interest and then share it with others. In this case, I am writing an article on how the economic downturn is affecting America's troops and their families. Bottom line: the needs have never been greater, but at the same time donations are dwindling as the financial crisis pushes Afghanistan and Iraq off the front page and people have less money to donate. Did you know that our troops have to buy their own underwear? The least we can do for those risking their lives in combat is to make sure they have clean boxers and socks! (And a few cookies wouldn't hurt.) I'll let you know where you can find the full article when it is finished. And then please DONATE! The photo is courtesy of http://www.adoptaplatoon.org/.