Posts Tagged ‘David Bruce’

Erie mainstream media shines spotlight on pirate radio operator

Now that the FCC has identified Marshall Jones as operating a radio station without a license, he is telling his story to Erie’s mainstream media.

Last night on WJET/WFXP, John Treanor reported a package on Jones where they showed that he continues to operate the station with a computer, some microphones and a transmitter connected to a small mast at the top of a building in Erie’s Little Italy neighborhood. Despite the possiblity of major penalties, Treanor reports that Jones is determined to continue with 90.1 The Movement:

But Jones, a former Super Soul Saturday DJ, tells us he can’t stop – if he’s not on air, a whole genre would disappear in the city.

“The question always remained, why don’t we have this 24 hours a day, what do we have to do to do it and basically I went ahead and said let’s see what happens, you know what I mean,” says Jones…

…Jones is staying on air as long as he can before getting fined – his dream is to make the movement legal.

“I have to I have to go forward and see what it is that has to be done to make this happen,” Jones says.

This morning (Thursday), David Bruce continues his reporting on the pirate radio stations in the Times-News, complete with pictures of Jones’s operation. Bruce describes the chain of events leading to the sign-on:

A club disc jockey and former announcer at Gannon University’s WERG-FM, Jones said that he started broadcasting in October because there wasn’t enough urban music being played in Erie.
“Blacks, whites, Hispanics all had a major concern about the type of music played in Erie 24/7,” Jones said. “It was my mission to get this station up and running.”
Jones said that he started broadcasting at the low-frequency limits, then increased power.
“The response from people was so strong that I just turned it up,” Jones said. “Then someone ratted me out to the FCC.”
One problem was that Jones’ signal was intruding on the signals of other, licensed, radio stations, said A.J. Miceli, who oversees WERG as Gannon University’s chairman of theater, communications and fine arts.
What’s a little frightening to me is that the FCC doesn’t need any more incentive to fine these guys; once they find a unlicensed station and cite it, the breaking of Federal law has already occurred. If you happen to have  a kindly Enforcement Agent who will write you a warning first, it’s wise to take that as a blessing and not push the issue. We’ll keep watching this unfold.

Post columnist Dionne visits Erie

Due to a series of unfortunate events, I was not able to attend the concluding lecture at the Global Futures summit conducted by the Jefferson Educational Society last night.

E. J. Dionne

E. J. Dionne

Washington Post and syndicated columnist E.J. Dionne was the speaker on the topic “How Will American Politics Change in the Future?” I wanted the chance to hear Dionne as he came under fire from the right during last year’s campaign, being portrayed as an Obama-apologist.

The Erie Times-News’ David Bruce did make it to the lecture and in his report in Saturday’s paper, he quoted Dionne as making a comparison between the election of President Obama and that of Ronald Reagan some 28 years earlier.

Bruce wrote:

“In each case, the country was ready to move in a new direction,” said Dionne, the featured and final speaker of the inaugural Global Futures Summit at Congregation Brith Shalom, 3207 State St. “In 1980, Reagan stole optimism from the Democratic Party. … You could say he promised ‘Change you can believe in.’”

From the report I’m not sure how much Dionne talked about the political landscape for the future, other than giving warnings to both Democrats and Republicans for the 2010 mid-term elections regarding energizing their bases.

It had to be a little disappointing to the event organizers that only 170 people came out to see a name that appears on TV, radio and the newspapers daily. Perhaps for next year they should shoot for another Post standard-bearer: George Will.

Lilly to ETN: TV news staffs merge on June 1

Over the past five months, we have seen the continuum of this story run from vehement denial to matter-of-fact announcement, but in the end our hunch was true; the news staffs of WICU and WSEE will merge.

In an article by David Bruce in Saturday’s Erie Times-News, Brian Lilly confirmed that the stations will combine on June 1. However, each station will broadcast its own newscast.

“Nothing will change to the outside viewer, except they will perhaps see more content,” Lilly said. “The bottom line is that WICU and WSEE will each stand alone.”

WICU-12/Erie, PA at night-Dec. 2008Lilly is quoted to say that despite the consolidation of news personnel and resources, no layoffs are planned for the 28 on-air staffers. Meanwhile, the paper quotes Eric Seggi from the NABET union who said four part-time photographers were let go from WSEE Thursday, and WICU has reduced front office staff in the past several weeks. Add these moves to the attrition factor by folks like Shannon Solo who has left Erie to pursue his singing career in Nashville, and the staff will resize in short order.

The big remaining question is how you do multiple live broadcasts in such a small space as WICU’s studios. Some scheduling scenarios that have been suggested on The Press and Tower include (not including mornings):

  • Noon: WSEE
  • 5-6 PM: WICU
  • 6-6:30 PM: WSEE
  • 7- 7:30 PM: WICU (the return of Hotline News?!)
  • 10-10:35 PM: WSEE produces a Prime-time newscast on WBEP
  • 11-11:35 PM: WICU live cast, while WSEE plays the tape delayed cast that aired on WBEP

A creative solution will have to be developed to do simultaneous live shows in the morning including maybe trying to build an isolated green screen weather booth, or configuring the news room as a “flash cam” anchor point.

In the last part of this morning’s article, Brian Lilly issues a warning to consumers of news that times are very quickly changing:

“The markets will not exist as we know them today,” Lilly said. “In five years, newspapers, television and radio will all be under one owner.”

There are loads of questions, uncertainties, and deep emotional responses. But now we know that a new era for Erie television journalism is about to begin, and there is no going back now.