The Voice that Launched the Vote

May 9 is the date for parliamentary elections in Maldives, and I wish my Maldivian friends a free and fair day at the polls, as well as excellent coverage by TVM and VOM. At the same time, I am remembering the excitement of being in the Maldives in the months leading up to the presidential election last fall. One of the memories that stands out is a beachfront concert intended to promote awareness of the importance of voting. That was where I heard Unoosha sing for the first time. The song, "Think Nation" was an extraordinary blend of rock and rap, with words by an 85-year-old poet. The lyrics sound like, "minivan, get a car," but actually are nothing to do with automotive choices. Minivan is the word for freedom in Dhivehi, the island language of Maldives. I couldn't get the catchy beat -- and Unoosha's voice -- out of my head. She definitely rocked the vote.

It was also astounding to see another side of the quiet, polite young lady who had come to my TV hosting class wearing nerdy glasses. She's on the far right in this picture.

I am proud to say that, since she received the training, she has hosted several popular programs on TV Maldives with her band, Kiddy. But when she sings, she is transformed, commanding attention and swinging a glorious mane of hair. (Head coverings for women are a personal choice in the Maldives, although it is a 100% Muslim country.)

It is obvious that Unoosha is ready for a much bigger stage. Here's the link to her latest collaboration with the Maldivian rock band Fasylive. Stay with it to the end, where you can hear Unoosha scatting to Fasy's guitar riffs. The song in Dhivehi is a cry for independence from a women who doesn't want to be taken for a ride.

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Unoosha/13235438239#/video/video.php?v=56207996859

Raw, world class talent, IMHO. She recently sang at Mariah Carey and Nick Cannon's anniversary party at a Maldivian resort, and you know that anyone who can hold her own in a duet with Mariah has got game.

A Maldivian rocker chick? Who knew?

The Maldives is traveling a difficult road to democracy in the Islamic world. It is easy to get discouraged by reports of irregularities at the polls. There will always be disagreements over policy, no matter who is serving as president or in parliament. As long as there are talented young voices like Unoosha to rock the vote, I'm confident about the future.

Here's hoping there is someone out there in the music world who can bring her talent to the world. Meanwhile, go to Facebook and become a fan of Unoosha, so you can say you knew her when.

Free Roxana Saberi, a personal connection

The eyes of the world are on a prison cell in Iran, where a young journalist named Roxana Saberi is on a hunger strike to win her freedom. She was convicted of espionage, after a one-day secret trial by an Iranian court. The Iranian-American dual citizen became a freelance reporter in Iran after participating in the RIAS German-American exchange program for broadcast journalists. Readers of this blog know that I have hosted German journalists in Los Angeles and West Palm, and went on the exchange myself in 2001, when I was still a professor at USC.
At the RIAS reunion in Las Vegas, Jon Ebinger of RTNDF gave an update on her situation. I also produced a video story in the one-person band seminar, interviewing John and RIAS program director Rainer Hasters. The video is posted at this link on the RTNDA convention website. http://rtnda.org/convention/?p=455

Many thanks to Regina McCombs of Poynter, reporter Kaci Christian and KPNX videojournalist Lynn French for the help.

Old Reporter, New Multimedia Tricks

I've been teaching students to research, report, shoot and edit their own video stories since 1991, but I've always had a technical assistant to teach the part about operating the camera and editing equipment. Now I'm ready to take on the world as a one-woman band. The Poynter Institute's hands-on workshop at RTNDA in Las Vegas was intended to teach old dogs, like me, a few new media tricks. However, I was the only seasoned reporter in attendance. The rest of the participants were fresh-faced college students, eager to show off the skills they had already learned! All of the participants were female, until three journalists from Ghana joined the group and two of them were men.

My assignment was to put together a story on RTNDA efforts to push for the release of journalist Roxana Saberi, wrongly condemned by an Iranian court to 8 years in prison on espionage charges, with no public trial. More on that in another post.

I felt confident of my ability to seek out interesting interviews and video, but the problem was HOW to do it. I fumbled with the multiple cables and the unwieldy tripod, accidently kept hitting the Canon camera's on-off button, and had trouble ingesting my footage into the Final Cut Pro editing system because of video frame drops. It's probably unrealistic to expect even the most technical geek to learn an editing program in an hour or so, but I got it almost all done by the time I had to leave the session to catch my plance home. Many thanks to my longtime colleague, CBS photog Les Rose, and new friend Lynn French from KPNX for guiding me through it.

With a little more practice, I'm confident I'd become an expert. I think back to my early days on the streets with an ENG crew of up to four people: a camera man, audio box operator, truck operator and me as the reporter and mother hen. I used to long for my newspaper reporting days of covering a story with just a pen and a notebook. Now, armed with some new skills, I'm even more prepared to coach my students and clients to take on the multimedia world!

For sale: Maldives Media

Regular readers of this blog know that I spent several months training newscasters at Television Maldives and Voice of Maldives last year. I was the lead consultant on a highly successful training program that prepared young broadcast journalists to provide free and fair coverage of the Islamic republic's first democratic election, including a candidates' debate. Although we made more dramatic progress in TV than in radio, the program brought a positive change to state-run media that previously had broadcast little more than propaganda and had never granted airtime to the opposition. Voters went to the polls and elected a former opposition leader to replace the president who had ruled for decades.
However, the election result appears to have derailed media reform. Although I cannot view TV Maldives newscasts from the US, some Maldivians have told me that the programs have reverted to reading government press releases with less emphasis on independent journalism. The state-run TV and radio stations are now run by a board of the new president's appointees and the BBC is reporting that Anni, as he is popularly known, is visiting the UK to seek private investment in the public channels. Here's the link: http://tinyurl.com/d3rnxj. There is no longer talk of a broadcasting bill that would create a true public service broadcaster, such as PBS and NPR in the United States or the BBC in the UK.
I am not Maldivian, so I can't say what the people want. From an American perspective, President Nasheed doesn't seem to have an idea of what to do with TVM except to control it or to sell it. I can only hope that the people who got our training will someday rise to the top or the next government will be more aware of the role of the press in educating the voters. It may be difficult for Anni to find investors. A public service station cannot be profit making and will always require some kind of funding from the government, such as the public broadcasting we have in the US or UK. Private stations can make money by running Hindi music videos or whatever, but there should be a state broadcaster to provide quality cultural programs and independent news in Dhivehi. I doubt any private investors will be interested, because TVM doesn't make money and I am guessing they would be required to provide programs in Dhivehi, which cost money to make. An investor would want to buy cheap programs from other countries and sell lots of ads. But the potential audience is only about 300,000 men, women and children. Rich tourists provide the country's major revenue, and would be an attractive target for advertisers, but tourists don't go to resorts in an island paradise to watch TV in a language they don't understand.
The DRP, the party of the former legal reform minister and the losing side in the election, had the foresight to fund journalism education for the young TV and radio reporters whose skills are needed to inform the voters in this emerging Islamic democracy. I'd welcome the opportunity to work with the new government in requesting US support for additional journalism training to strengthen the TV and radio newsrooms of both public and private stations. Here's hoping that the party now in power won't lose sight of the importance of broadcasting that truly serves the public interest as Maldives defines its future.
I invite and welcome ALL comments! And sign up for my Twitter feed (on the right side of the screen) to be informed of new posts.
Update: Read an excellent post on this issue at: http://www.mnasheed.com/2009/04/on-the-maldives-national-broadcasting-corporation/

Missing the Mark

Today I'm going to rant. I go a little crazy when someone, under the banner of the esteemed Nieman Journalism lab, gives out really bad advice. Here's the link, http://tinyurl.com/dy2p3d, but let me save you some time. This guy's thesis is that online journalism doesn't need conventional video storytelling, chiefly the techniques that are familiar to all of us from television newscasts, including standups. I checked out the source on the internet, and it turns out that Richard Koci Hernandez is a former still photographer from the San Jose Mercury news, who now seems chiefly involved with posting artsy videos online. I suspect he doesn't think standups are necessary because he probably couldn't do one himself if his life depended on it.
The fact is that technology has changed but human nature hasn't. We still want stories that have a beginning, middle and end. We still want to know our storytellers, look them in the eye and judge their credibility. There is much more to online journalism than the tag words in a search engine. Just like the early days of TV news, when newscasts were little more than glorified radio in front of a camera, online storytelling will evolve. But let's hope for something better than what this guy is envisioning.

The Daily's Big Day

First there was the Shack. Then the Storke Publications Building. But now Stanford's independent student newspaper has a new home: the Lorry Lokey Stanford Daily Building, right in the heart of campus behind Old Union. The dedication ceremonies on April 2 kicked off with a keynote from New York Times Executive Editor Bill Keller, who likened the event to a ribbon-cutting at a Pontiac dealership, but went on to predict that newspapers will survive in some form because the internet will create a new appetite for real journalism. The ceremony brought together the past and present, from the 1930s to today.

There was a great turnout of 1970s staffers. Kudos to Christy Wise, Charlie Hoffman and Harry Press for devoting their time and energy to the Friends of the Daily and making this wonderful event possible. The Daily launched many distinguished careers in print journalism and it's an honor to be part of this amazing group. Check out the complete photo album on Facebook!

Stewart vs Cramer vs the Economy

The much ballyhooed showdown between fake journalist Jon Stewart and fake investment advisor Jim Cramer only confirms what I've been saying for years about business reporting. It's useless.
The format of objective journalism reduces most business reports to some version of, "The market could go up or it could go down, we'll just have to wait and see." Viewers are presented with both possibilities as equally likely outcomes and are left to decide for themselves. Some commentators, such as Cramer, present definite points of view that are motivated by self-interest or just plain wrong. I have shown tapes of Cramer's on-air antics to students as an example of riveting talent performance. Sound investment advice? Not so much.
Critics have questioned why business journalists didn't "see it coming." As an investigative reporter who tried to expose the downside of the real estate bubble, I can tell you that inquiries were met with dismissive responses from bankers who assured us that the number of toxic mortgages was small, when compared with the number of Americans who make their payments on time. At that point, it was hard to convince my assignment editor that this was a story worth my time, as opposed to looking for cockroaches at local eateries for the "Dirty Dining" series.
So, the field of business reporting was pretty much left to the CNBC crowd, which approches financial interviews with the deferential smarm usually reserved for showbiz reporters on a movie junket, gushing over a celebrity's latest film. The writers at the Daily Show brilliantly exposed that by showing hard hitting questions from CNBC reporters like, "Is it fun to be a billionaire?" Go to the show's website to see more at: http://www.thedailyshow.com/
What is the future of business reporting? Well, it could be good or bad. We'll just have to wait and see.

Strange Opera

My son, Andrew is a huge opera fan and the Los Angeles Opera's production of "Das Rheingold" did not disappoint, at least musically. What I found strange was the staging. The oversized costumes were in keeping with the larger-than-life plot of the first installment of Wagner's ring, but in terms of talent performance, the designs did a great disservice to the world class artists performing at the Dorothy Chandler pavilion. Several characters performed the entire work with their heads encased in masks or cages. Imagine reading the news with a bag over your head and you get the idea: the emotional aspect of their facial expressions was lost. Instead of sweeping across the stage, the actors were required to stand in place most of the time while the music soared. I'm sure there is an explanation for why this was done, but I left the music center thoroughly baffled.

End of an Era in Chicago

As I watch the TV news industry -- and journalism in general -- crumble into dust, this article from Chicago http://cbs2chicago.com/topstories/mcclurg.court.demolition.2.937072.html

brought back memories of "the good old days" when THE Ten O'Clock News at WBBM-TV in Chicago was arguably the best local TV newscast in the country. Those were the golden days of Bill Kurtis and Walter Jacobsen at the anchor desk, with an all-star cast of reporters that included me from 1981 to 1984. I had signed on from WSB-TV in Atlanta, hoping to become their next female news anchor, once I had spent a couple of years paying my dues as a street reporter.

Now they are tearing down the building where Kennedy debated Nixon, and where Phil Donahue taped the show that paved the way for Oprah. It's also the building where I met my husband, won an Emmy and a Lisagor and earned the nickname "the Loomer." One day future CBS News president Eric Ober was walking through master control and one of my live shots was on a monitor. A tech overheard him commenting, "That girl really knows how to LOOM," and the nickname has followed me around ever since.

Every day, as I walked past the row of portraits in the entrance lobby at 630 McClurg Court, I counted myself lucky to be there. Legend has it that one former reporter learned of being fired by coming into work and seeing that his or her picture had been removed.

The building was a former ice rink, where investigative reporter Pam Zekman had once skated, and whenever they adjusted the lighting, we got a shower of snowflakes that were, in all liklihood, asbestos. However, the building had the advantage of being within a block or two of all our favorite watering holes.

And then there was the set, a plain desk plopped down in the middle of a working newsroom. It remains my favorite news set of all time because it was so real. The background was the assignment desk and if the feature reporter walked by showing the ladies and laddies what was under the kilt he was wearing (nothing!) it made for an interesting background. One day, as I banged out a script on an old typewriter, a giant rat ran across my foot and my scream served as punctuation for whatever story was being read on the air at the time. Underneath one of the desks, someone had taken the time to post a history of the reporters who had once sat there and moved on to the network. On slow nights, the great Bill Kurtis could be pursuaded to join in a game of "wadball," which involved a homemade sphere of gaffers tape and a large plastic trash bin.

Three news directors and a couple of general managers later, the promise of anchoring never materialized for me. Far from promoting someone who had paid her dues on Chicago streets, the management settled on a newcomer from Canada, telling me I was so valuable looming live that they couldn't put me on the desk. I often wonder "what if" I had swallowed my pride and continued looming on the streets of in Chicago, instead of moving on. But the experience I gained at 'BBM has proven invaluable, and I will treasure the lifelong friendships even more. I always hope my students will have the thrill of working for a news organization that shows up to kick butt and take names on every story like we did.

So here's a toast to 630 North McClurg Court and everything it stood for. Rest in Peace.

America's Talking: Back to the Future

A few days ago I joined a Facebook group for alumni of America's Talking. It has 58 members... and counting.

AT was a startup network in 1994 which grew out of the retransmission consent controversy. Networks wanted to charge the cable companies for carrying their signals. Instead of paying, cable operators cut a deal with NBC to carry a new channel, based in Fort Lee NJ. Under the leadership of Roger Ailes, the channel was launched on July 4, promising to be an interactive conversation about the hot topics of the day. Hard to believe now, but 14 years ago only a handful of people were capable of being on the internet and watching TV at the same time, so the interactivity was limited to phone calls and an occasional email read on the air. Our constant tagline, "Join the conversation at 1-800-988 TALK," is permanently tattooed on my brain.

Ailes had 24 hours of programming to fill on a low budget and he put some edgy ideas out there. "Pork" was a show devoted to exposing government pork barrel spending, "Bugged" invited viewers to tell what bugged them, and "Am I Nuts?" allowed you to get an answer to that question from a couple of real psychologists. They held a contest to pick one of the hosts and the winner, an advertising writer named Bill McCuddy, still covers entertainment for the Fox News network.

I hosted a two-hour Monday through Friday show from 4-6 p.m. EST with Chris Matthews. "In Depth" was a daily conversation about the top news stories. We covered a couple of big breaking stories like the Oklahoma City bombing and the OJ trials, but politics was the meat and potatoes of the show. I was honored with a national cable ace nomination as best newscaster, and this didn't sit well with Chris, who wanted his own show. When he got his wish, John Gibson joined me as the co-anchor, and I got my wish to anchor my half of the show from the Los Angeles.

AT quickly grew to 40 million households and became a victim of its own success. NBC combined with Microsoft to relaunch the channel as MSNBC in 1996, leaving Ailes to move over to Fox and start the Fox News channel. Some of AT's male hosts, such as Gibson, McCuddy, Steve Doocy and Mike Jerrick, also moved over to Fox. I've always thought it odd that none of the women from AT were given the same opportunity despite the fact that some, including Carol Martin and E. Jean Carroll, had extraordinary talent.

Looking over the list of AT group tembers on Facebook, it is also noteworthy that the little startup network launched the careers of dozens of people behind the scenes, people who are still influencing the national conversation every day. AT was an exhilerating place to work, fueled by the energy of young producers and bookers fresh out of college and more experienced show runners and talent. We all sensed that we were part of something way ahead of its time and it ended much too soon.

I was asked the other day if I would like to audition for a political talk show. Sign me up! At this critical time in history, I'd love to be part of the interactive conversation that is now possible with new internet tools. I still hear from AT fans who stumble across my blog or web site and ask me if I will be back on the air. Stay tuned.

My Biggest Fan and Best PR Man

Most of the posts on this blog are about journalism. Today I am writing about the man who made me want to become a journalist and gave me the guts and curiosity to become a good one.

My dad, Ed Anzur, passed away last Friday. It was not a surprise. About a year ago he was diagnosed as having an aneurism that could kill him at any time. We didn't know if he had 10 minutes or ten years left to live. Because of various health problems he was basically confined to a bed that my mom had set up in the family room of their house and she made a heroic effort to keep him from ever going to a nursing home. Throughout the entire ordeal "Ed in the Bed" kept us all laughing with his unforgettable sense of humor. He was sharp as a tack right up until the end, reading several sports pages every day and always ready to kick our butts in a card game. Here's a picture I took of him on last Christmas. He was always the first to notice if I left a person's age out of a story so I had better tell you he was 85.
Ed Anzur was born in the front bedroom of the house his Austrian immigrant father built in Shamokin, Pennsylvania. It was and is a hardscrabble Appalachian coal mining town. His father died when he was only 3, so his father figures were his two older brothers, John and Gus. Of the five siblings in his family, Ed was the only one who managed to marry and have kids. He was the local tennis champion on the public courts and tooted his $20 coronet from the Sears catalog in the Coal Township High School Band. He might have been a great radio sports announcer, but World War II had other plans. Ed served with honor as the quartermaster on the destroyer escort USS Manning in the Pacific. At every port of call, Ed would spring off the boat and yell, "Is there anybody here from Shamokin?" There was usually someone from the area and this began our family tradition known as "making buddies," or finding instant friends wherever you happen to be in the world.


After the war Ed became the first person in his family to go to college, graduating from Villanova University on the GI Bill and joining the DuPont company in Wilmington, Delaware. He also returned to his hometown and married a young beauty who had been just a kid when he left for the war: my mom. They moved to California in the early 1960s with me and my two younger brothers in tow. Ed would pull the Dodge Dart into Anytown USA and ask a total stranger, "Where's a good family place to eat?" We'd find the local busy bee and have a great meal. My dad was a real people person who enjoyed selling DuPont Freon to clients all over California. He was also the world's greatest sports fan, especially when one of his beloved Philadelphia teams was involved. I am so glad he lived to see the Phillies win the World Series. One of the big regrets of my life is that I didn't take him seriously when he tried to teach me golf and tennis when I was 6. (I was only interested in ballet.) He signed me up as the scorekeeper when he coached my brothers' little league teams. By playing father-daughter tennis with him, I learned a lot about teamwork. We had a tradition of father-daughter "date night," which exposed me to opera, ballet, tennis tournaments and box seats at Dodger Stadium.


Just by being himself, Ed taught me the importance of asking questions about other people. He could never sit down in a restaurant without finding out where the waitress was born and where she went to high school. If you were his friend, he would make it his business to find out your birthday and your wedding anniversary and send you a card. Every year. It is sad to think those cards won't be arriving any more. He also made it a point to let his entire grapevine know if I won an award or tackled a particularly dangerous story assignment. He was a great PR man.


A child of the Great Depression, Ed had a hard time throwing anything away, especially newspapers. He would cut them up and sort the clippings into envelopes to be mailed to the various people on his list, always editing for what might interest each person the most. I can't tell you how many broadcast story ideas I got from Ed's clipping pile over the years. Everybody thought Ed was great guy because he wanted to talk about them and not about himself. Because I am Ed's daughter, I can ask anybody a question about anything. Ed took a lot of pride in my accomplishments and always had career advice like, "If you want to get ahead in the business world, read the sports page so you will always have something to talk about."


I want to thank everyone who has sent their condolences to my family. He didn't have much of a life at the end, and I am sure that he is better off in heaven, where the card game is in full swing and he has already asked St. Peter where he went to high school.

Update: Claudia Palma from the San Gabriel Valley Tribune devoted her Sunday Tribute feature to Ed. Here's the link: http://www.sgvtribune.com/ci_11598658

Power Women from Afghanistan

As Hillary Rodham Clinton was pledging to address worldwide women's issues as secretary of state, I was driving to Riverside CA to meet a group of women who may hold the key to lasting peace and reform in one of the world's most troubled countries: Afghanistan. The 14 judges, prosecutors and attorneys, with three translators, are visiting the US as part of the State Department's Public-Private Partnership for Justice Reform. Leading law firms donate time and money for exchanges between legal experts in Afghanistan and the US. Here's the link for more information: http://www.state.gov/p/inl/narc/partnership/index.htm

Several of the American participants, including former Massachusetts Lt. Gov. Kerry Healy, had just returned from Afghanistan, where venturing outside of the US Embassy compound required Blackwater armed guards and nerves of steel. But risk is part of everyday life for the Afghan women lawyers, especially those who prosecute Afghan drug lords or preside over the trials of drug dealers and terrorists. They must also battle religious extremists who oppose education for women. "If the Taliban comes back to power, these women are certain to be killed," one organizer told me. "They have to move forward with democracy because they don't have an alternative. They're all in."

The group is staying at the historic Mission Inn, a recently restored Old California landmark hotel that has been hosting presidents and peacemakers since the early 1900s. I sat in on a session regarding the treatment of youthful offenders who are mentally ill. The Afghan women made the point that their system already insists on treating the mental illness before prosecuting a suspect, but they were confused by the concept of "depression." Their language has no word for it. A Pepperdine University researcher presented findings on the incidence of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder affecting American youth who have been shot at or watched their friends die in gang violence, not so different from Afghan youth caught in the middle of a complicated war zone.
The women listened attentively to my presentation on media reform in Islamic Republic of Maldives, as I credited the former Minister of Legal Reform, Information and Arts for realizing that independent news coverage is an essential piece of sustainable democracy. They told me they already have a free press in Afghanistan, at least on paper. The problem is that it is often too dangerous to venture out into the street to do any reporting.

Several of the women were educated in the Soviet bloc during Russia's losing battle to win hearts and minds in Afghanistan. Now they are learning our system. It was easy to see the intelligence in their eyes and the warmth of their smiles. About half of the group wore head coverings and they all observed regular prayer breaks. We bonded when we realized that we had both been in the movies. Several of the Afghan women were featured in an award-winning documentary about a famous trial. I hope the situation in Afghanistan will stabilize to the point that I can do media training there someday.

Breaking News: A Book Deal!

For years, clients have been asking when I will write a book that incorporates my coaching techniques. Mark your calendar for Fall 2010, when "Power Performance: Reporting for Multimedia Journalists" will be published by Wiley-Blackwell. I'll be co-authoring with Tony Silvia of the University of South Florida, who shares my global outlook as well as the belief that first-rate, on-camera storytelling will continue to be in demand as journalism increasingly moves from traditional broadcast media to the internet. The book will be the outline for a college-level reporting class that incorporates writing, researching AND talent performance.
I'll still be available for coaching sessions while working with Tony on the book next year.

Reflections on 2008

Here's a scene from my final coaching trip of the year to Calgary. It's a town that takes hard news seriously and there's plenty of it. Somewhere in the back of this snowy shot you can see the skyline.

What a year for Terry Anzur Coaching Services, from wintry Canada to sunny Spain and the island paradise of Maldives! On Christmas Eve I'm grateful for all the fantastic people I've met on my travels, new clients and longtime friends alike. Former USC students came of age, buying houses or finally landing that dream job in their hometown. Meantime, the economy has been tough on friends who lost their jobs, despite years of experience. It's definitely a mixed bag.

The new year will bring a new relationship for me and Smith Geiger. While I will continue to freelance as a talent coach for their client stations, I will have a lot more freedom to provide custom coaching packages for other stations as well.

The big challenge for everyone is to work smarter in this tough economy and do more with the resources that we have. It's easy to get started on your custom coaching package at www.terryanzur.com to make your talent the best in the business. With our competitive rates and 2009 discounts it's more affordable than you think.

Obama Fever!

I don't blog about some of my coaching clients because there are confidentiality agreements involved, which I take very seriously. However, my travels give me an opportunity to make some fun observations along the way.On the streets of Washington DC, it feels like Barack Obama is already the president, even though the inauguration is more than a month away. This cardboard cutout was at Reagan National Airport. No Bush t-shirts to be had anywhere and the only souvenirs bearing the current president's image were packages of "Dum Gum" and "Embarrass-mints." The Obama t-shirts didn't seem to be selling very briskly, but I am sure that will change as we get closer to the big day. However, only a few shirts were left with the slogan "Don't blame me, I voted for McCain-Palin." I guess the Republicans are stocking up as they turn over most of the power to the Democrats. After my experiences in an emerging democracy, it was especially exciting to be in the capital city during this peaceful transfer of power. There is an almost electric energy in the air, mixed with concern about how the nation will ride out the economic downturn.

State Department Visit

While coaching a client in the Washington DC area, I had time to visit the US State Department to talk about Maldives. I'm hopeful that the incoming administration will continue to support media training projects as a way to win the hearts and minds of democracy-loving people all over the world. Topics of discussion: the Maldives Media Training project and other countries in which that type of training might be needed. I also met with a savvy program development officer in the Bureau of International Information programs. It will take some time for the new administration to get settled in and approve budgets, but I am hopeful that some opportunities will develop in the new year. Maldives was right in the middle of the lineup of world flags, the mostly red one in the center of the picture.

Holiday Help for Our Troops

Pick up the December issue of Newsmax magazine to find out how you can help American troops and their families, hard hit during the holidays by tough economic times.
My article, "Comfort Zone" begins on page 56. There are sidebars pointing you to various charities that will put your donation to good use, including Operation Baghdad Pups, which brings home the sad stray dogs that Americans adopt during their tours of duty in Iraq.
Cultural note: These canine morale-boosters face a grim fate if left behind in a Muslim country, where dogs are not kept as pets and considered to be unclean.
I love doing freelance writing whenever a good assignment comes along. If you'd like me to research and write a story for your publication, please go to http://www.terryanzur.com/ and send me an email.

Hollywood Power Women

The Hollywood Reporter's Top 100 Women in Hollywood event was a lot of fun. I had the pleasure of being the offstage voice announcing such stars as Glenn Close and Sigourney Weaver.
Here's a look at the technical team on the balcony of the ballroom at the Beverly Hills hotel, with me as the "voice of goddess." The celebrity participants didn't exactly follow the script but everyone improvised and the program came off quite well.

We also got a sneak peak at "Prayers for Bobby," a new Lifetime movie starring Sigourney Weaver as a conservative mom who can't accept her gay son. Weaver gave an impassioned speech about Proposition 8, the recent decision by California voters to ban same sex marriage. Glenn Close was a class act as she accepted the Sherry Lansing award for leadership in the entertainment industry.
Oprah Winfrey joined studio chiefs Anne Sweeney and Amy Pascal for a panel discussion. Despite having the combined net worth of a medium-sized country, all of these women were authentic and down to earth.

Many thanks to my friend Jacquelin Sonderling for inviting me to participate. She produced the program for the Hollywood Reporter and its ace events coordinator Karen Smith.

I also got a chance to catch up with USC adjunct professor Gretchen Goldsmith, now the proud mother of twins along with her partner, Joann Alfant of Lifetime. Seeing all these accomplished women gives me hope that Hollywood will be more accepting of what we have to offer the industry.

Mumbai Terrorism Coverage: Why Journalists Should Care and Prepare

I watched the coverage of the terrorist siege in Mumbai from the perspective of just having written a booklet on emergency and disaster coverage for journalists in the Maldives, only a few hundred miles off the Indian Coast.

Many observers have noted the role of "new media" such as instant messaging, email, texting and Twitter. While these sources were often first with the breaking news, journalists know that being FIRST is no good unless you also get it RIGHT. The role of the journalist is to supply the public with the most up to date and confirmed information and the twittering of citizen journalists armed with new technology -- but few facts -- won't change that.

This brings me to the main point of my booklet on how TV journalists should prepare to cover emergency situtations,whether the disaster is manmade or caused by nature. The time to work out your relationship with the responders is BEFORE disaster strikes, not while the emergency is in progress. Previous hostage situations in the United States showed that live TV coverage can often tip off the hostage takers to the movements of law enforcement. Journalists should use common sense in withholding the details that could compromise the safety of the hostages or the responders. Journalists should have confidence that officials will give them access to the latest information and officials should in turn trust that some sensitive information will be withheld when necessary.

When there is no working relationship between officials and the press, officials are likely to react by pulling the plug, as the authorities did in India. Incompetent or unprepared authorities don't want their mistakes shown on live TV. A broadcaster who is not on the air cannot serve the public interest in an emergency. It is vital to have a plan that will enable you to STAY on the air with a direct pipeline to the most reliable information from a variety of official and unofficial sources.

When I left Maldives, my booklet was being translated into Dhivehi and the text is available for any public broadcaster to translate for use in their own language. If you're interested, visit my web site at http://www.terryanzur.com/ and send me an email.

California Fire Coverage

This picture was taken just a few miles from my house, over Diamond Bar, CA. For now, my house is safe, although my son's school has just opened an evacuation center for people whose homes are south of here. The air is thick with smoke and we are trying to figure out what is going on. Unfortunately, the coverage on LA TV stations is totally useless.
At 8 pm on Sunday evening only ONE station is on the air. The rest are showing the usual November network sweeps programming. The folks on KCAL seem obsessed with the Sylmar fire in north LA County and there is little information about what is going on here, except for the occasional "up close and personal" story about someone refusing to leave their house in Diamond Bar. The local TV cannot be relied upon for even the most basic information, such as school closings. Sharon Tay on KCAL chirped, "Just go to our website for the latest." Well, Sharon, I went there only to find that LAUSD and Pomona are open, but nothing about the schools in the threatened areas. Gee, thanks.
I have always believed that local disaster brings out the best in local TV news. But as a viewer, hungry for information about anything about this fire that could affect my community, I have never seen worse coverage. The strategy seems to be to zoom in on a picture of a flame, any flame, and allow the reporters to ramble on while we look at the scary pictures. No attribution, no interviews with fire officials. Hundreds of homes will be destroyed in this fire and any remaining confidence anyone had in TV news will die along with them.