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WGSR-TV Talk Show Interrupted by Profanity-Spouting Trespasser

Wow. That is some small operation there. Fascinating how he can just walk in a glass door off the street. I don't think he really threatened though. He just said he wouldn't be a friend. :)
 
It sounds like some door locks need to be installed there.

I didn't think that convicted felons were allowed to run for public office. It looked the situation was handled properly, and I give kudos to the staff there.
 
The story has made the newspapers... http://www.news-record.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070818/NRSTAFF/70818002

Naturally, I'm concerned for the safety of my staff. We are a small facility, and don't have the budget (or space) for security personnel. Also, part of our formula for success here is accessability to the public. We do more live remotes than the other stations in the market, plus as you see in the video our studio is in a glass storefront. Anyone can walk into our lobby, watch us on-air, and interact with the show hosts if they wish. The only "security" we have used to this point is a sign on the door between the lobby and the main studio floor asking people to remain in our lobby when we are live on the air.

All of this makes our staff vulnerable to the kind of stuff you see in the video. This is the first time something like this has happened in the 3 1/2 years that we have been doing local news/talk. For the time being, we're locking the lobby door, but that's a hassle during newscasts, because of our frequent in-studio guests who must come through that door to get in. I have to send the master control tech across the main floor to unlock that door when someone needs to enter. I didn't design it this way, but I have to work with what I have. Changes in our building arrangement will probably happen.

My biggest challenge for now is staff attitude. This invasion of our working space has brought our greatest fears to the forefront. Our on-camera personalities have become (in the eyes of our viewers) community leaders. People model their behaviors after the behaviors we do in front of them. Any sort of uncontrolled fear in our on-camera folks will be communicated (consciously or unconsciously) to our viewers who may model it in their lives to their own detriment.

Anyway, that's where we are with this situation right now. I doubt that we as a TV station have seen the last of Mr. Sykes.

Later....
Matt Smith
WGSR-TV
 
Matt Smith said:
For the time being, we're locking the lobby door, but that's a hassle during newscasts, because of our frequent in-studio guests who must come through that door to get in. I have to send the master control tech across the main floor to unlock that door when someone needs to enter. I didn't design it this way, but I have to work with what I have. Changes in our building arrangement will probably happen.
Click to expand...

That's a big shame. I like the operation you describe and wish there was something similar in my town. Now I think even less of that guy who interupted, he had to ruin it for everyone else.
 
I just watched the complete clip. This format reminds me of what WATL Channel 36 was when it re-signed on in the late 70s. Don Kennedy owned the station then. It signed on at 5 PM everyday the first year. It was a pioneer with "talk tv". The second year the station added some live afternoon children's programming and started to pick up some of the network shows that the local affils did not carry.

I would love to see something like WGSR in more smaller markets. Atlanta has a lot of outlets for coverage. Mid to smaller markets usually have small news operations that tend to be very gentle because they do not want to offend anyone. Whether you agree with the opinions on WGSR or not, I applaud LOCAL programming in a med-small market.

EDIT: I forgot that I am posting to the national board. WATL is a local station in Atlanta, GA. It is now a My Network affil. Don Kennedy was a name in Atlanta local broadcasting as he owned the now defunct Georgia Network (radio) and he played the part of Officer Don on the locally produced Popeye Club. The Popeye Club aired for many years on WSB-TV in Atlanta. It would be Atlanta's version of Bozo the clown.
 
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