Monthly Archives: October 2018

A panel discussion on Wednesday talked about the safety of broadcasters and journalists in light of new threats.

The panel discussion titled “Personal Safety in Today’s Broadcasting Environment” was led by WLUK-TV News Director and WBA Board member Juli Buehler. The panel included RTDNA Executive Director Dan Shelley, Quincy Media Regional Vice President Tom Allen, WORT-FM Board President David Devereaux-Weber, attorney David Oxenford, and Madison Police Chief Mike Koval. The discussion was a session during the WBA Broadcasters Clinic in Madison.

The panelists talked about recent incidents of violence in broadcast facilities and against journalists, including a recent shooting at WORT-FM, a community radio station in Madison. The panel discussed ways that engineers and managers can work to plan for crisis situations and train employees to react appropriately.

Shelley spoke to the new threats facing journalists. Chief Koval talked about what stations can expect from police departments when planning for a shooting or reacting to one. Devereaux-Weber talked about the shooting at WORT-FM and how it’s changed how he views security at his station. Oxenford discussed the liability concerns being raised by employers facing the threat of workplace violence.

The panel agreed that broadcasters should be planning for the possibility of workplace violence and taking all threats seriously.

The moderator and five panelists taking part in the WBA Foundation’s U.S. Senate debate met on Friday to prepare for Saturday’s debate in Wausau.

Moderator Jill Geisler spent the afternoon with local journalists Holly Chilsen, Chris Conley, Melissa Langbehn, Ben Meyer, and Jeff Thelen talking about topics and questions for the debate which is set to air at 7 p.m. Saturday. The debate will be carried on these stations.

The station was also working on production for Saturday night’s broadcast.

Don’t miss this debate and also don’t forget to catch the gubernatorial debate on Oct. 19 at 8 p.m. The debate will be carried on these stations.

An anchor at a Green Bay TV station is retiring after 50 years in TV news.

Tom Milbourn started as a rookie radio announced at age 15. He’s been in Wisconsin for more than 40 years, and in the Green Bay area for more than 30 years. He served as news director and anchor in Madison, Lansing Michigan, and Champaign, Illinois before coming to Green Bay in 1987. He joined WLUK-TV in 1994.

“It has been a real pleasure working with Tom over the past 20 years. He has been a trusted and passionate journalist, but even more than that he has been a terrific community and newsroom leader,” general manager Jay Zollar said.

Milbourn received the 2009 Carol Brewer Award recognizing a career of service to Wisconsin broadcast journalism. In Madison, he served on the committee that established the rules for cameras in Wisconsin courtrooms.

“It was a bittersweet decision to make, but I’m excited about new challenges and opportunities,” Milbourn said. “Our lives in northeast Wisconsin have been more rewarding than I could have imagined. Friends and opportunities helped make this our home and we plan to continue to be part of the community.”

Milbourn is an adjunct instructor at St. Norbert College and press box announcer for the Green Bay Packers. Also an Air Force veteran, he is a retired lieutenant colonel in the Wisconsin Air National Guard.

Milbourn’s final newscasts will be Nov. 20.

NAB President and CEO Sen. Gordon Smith wrote a guest blog today for Broadcasting and Cable defending press freedoms established by the Founding Fathers.

“Raucous voices on social media and commentary-based cable programming may pervade and dominate our daily discourse,” Smith writes. “But viewers and listeners should try, always, to distinguish between fact-based reporting and editorial commentary.”

“That our founding fathers grudgingly accepted withering press criticism and sustained journalism attacks, there can be little doubt. They did so because they understood that government efforts to delegitimize the role of the journalist constituted an attack on democracy itself.”

You can read the full column here.

Anchor and reporter Kathy Mykleby will retire after 38 years at WISN-TV. Shewill deliver her final news broadcast in late November.

Mykleby is a renowned journalist, receiving awards and recognitions from numerous organizations, including the Wisconsin Broadcasters Association, the Milwaukee Press Club, the Associated Press (AP), and the United Press International (UPI). She was inducted into Milwaukee’s Silver Circle by the Chicago/Midwest Chapter of the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences, served as 2010/2011 president of the Milwaukee Press Club, and won a regional Emmy Award for storytelling about Alzheimer’s Disease. In 2017, Mykleby co-anchored the newscast that earned WISN 12 News an Edward R. Murrow Award for “Best Large Market Newscast.”

“It seems impossible to adequately describe the significance of Kathy’s influence on local news and the viewers who rely on it,” said Jan Wade, president and general manager of WISN 12. “Her tireless work for more than four decades is a lasting tribute to the very best our profession strives to deliver.”

“It has been a blessing and an honor to work in this field for so long. I’m so proud of the stories I’ve shared, but I’m also excited to take a step back and now focus on my own adventures.” said Mykleby.

Mykleby has also been involved in national and international events, including the Iran hostage crisis, the impeachment of President Bill Clinton, massive food drops in Somalia, and American rebuilding efforts in Afghanistan.

A year-long discussion about law enforcement and the media in the Wausau area continued Wednesday night with a panel discussion about race.

The panel included Chris Conley, Operations Manager at Midwest Communications in Wausau and representatives from the Wausau Police Department, a local school, clergy, a women’s group, and the local newspaper.

The panel discussed race relations with police in the Wausau area and how those relations are covered by local media. The event started out with focus groups that gave feedback to the panel.

The event is one in a series of events that’s part of the Behind the Headlines project supported by the Wisconsin Humanities Council.

Chris Conley

A free member-only WBA webinar coming up next week will teach journalists strategies for defending themselves against accusations of fake news, including what to ask yourself when evaluating information and methods for identifying fake content on social media.

Al Tompkins from the Poynter Institute will host the webinar Oct. 11 at 1 p.m. CT.

Registration information can be found here.