July 2017
SAN FRANCISCO BAY AREA
SACRAMENTO  FRESNO  RENO  HAWAII
SALINAS-MONTEREY  CHICO-REDDING  EUREKA  GUAM
2017 Emmy® Awards Gala Special Edition
 

"Off Camera" in July
Fred Van Amburg 1930-2017
EMMY 2017: KUVS, KDTV, KNTV Top Emmy Awards
EMMY 2017: Emmy Gala Reception Photos
EMMY 2017: Mitchell Receives Governors' Award
EMMY 2017: Emmy Gala Awards Presentation Photos
EMMY 2017: Emmy Gala Red Carpet Photos
Fred Van Amburg, 1930-2017
Gold & Silver Circle Profiles: Fred Van Amburg
McNamara Leaves KITV
Chapter Trustees Travel To Texas For Spring Trustees Meeting
"Justice For Josiah" Fuels Eureka Market
Longtime KXTV Anchor Team Leaves Air For Last Time
Regional Roundup
High School Awards Set Record In 2017
Our People: KNTV NBC Bay Area's Robert Wellington
David Louie Celebrates Big Milestone At KGO-TV
On The Move
Do You Remember?
Cinema Club Sign-Up Nets Free Movie Screenings
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Van Amburg Dies
Longtime Legendary KGO-TV Anchor
Was 86; A Bay Area "Institution"

By Kevin Wing
Editor, Off Camera

      Fred Van Amburg , Jr., arguably  the most renowned, most legendary newscaster to ever grace Bay Area television screens, has died at the age of 86.     
Fred Van Amburg
1930-2017
       Van Amburg -- who dropped his first name and became well-known on-air by using only his last name when he joined San Francisco's KGO-TV in 1969 -- was a Bay Area institution, a multiple Emmy ®  Award-honored anchor, reporter and managing editor, who dominated the airwaves through the mid-1980s.
      Inducted into the Silver Circle of the San Francisco/Northern California Chapter of The National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences in 1988, Van Amburg left KGO-TV in August 1986.
      His death, on June 22 at his longtime home in El Cerrito, was announced June 30.
      To read more about Van Amburg, his life and his career in television, please read the obituary and a special Gold & Silver Circle Profiles tribute in this issue of Off Camera, directly below our 2017 Emmy® Awards Gala coverage.
      A special tribute to Van Amburg is also posted on the Home page of our Chapter website, emmysf.tv.

EMMY® 2017
KUVS, KDTV, KNTV 
Top  2017 Emmy® Awards
Legendary Governors' Award Honorees
Co-Host  Gala Affair in San Francisco

Previous Governors' Award Honorees Co-Host Gala
Left to right: Fred LaCosse, Don Sanchez, 
Barbara Rodgers, David Louie

By Kevin Wing
Editor, Off Camera

     The 46th Northern California Area Emmy® Awards were presented Saturday evening, June 3 at the SFJAZZ Center in San Francisco. 
     A total of 947 entries were received, 735 English and 212 Spanish in 67 English Categories and 52 Spanish Emmy statuette
Categories. Nominations were announced on May 3 with 213 English and 95 Spanish.
    322 Emmy® statuettes were handed out to 238
individuals. Reporter Jairo Díaz-Pedraza and Photographer Editor José M. Estrella from KUVS Univision 19 in Sacramento and Luis Godínez, Executive Producer, KDTV Univision
14, San Francisco, each received five awards.
     The Emmy® statuette is awarded to individuals but there is a  lot of interest in the station counts:
KUVS Univision 19 received 15 statuettes; KDTV Univision 14 garnered 13; KNTV NBC Bay Area took home nine; and KPIX 5 and KTVU Fox 2 received seven each. KOVR CBS 13, KDTV Univision 14 and KSTS Telemundo 48  received the Overall Excellence/News Excellence Award. 
     Newscast recipients included: Larger Markets: KPIX 5,
Daytime and Evening; KDTV Univision 14, Evening; KSTS Telemundo 48, Daytime; Medium Markets: KGMB/KHNL-Hawaii News Now, Daytime and Evening; Smaller Markets: KSBW 8.
     Four previous Governors' Award recipients opened the envelopes and announced the Emmy® Award recipients:
Fred LaCosse, LaCosse Productions; David Louie, KGO ABC7, Barbara Rodgers, (retired) KPIX 5 and Don Sanchez, (retired) KGO ABC7.
 
Music for the Emmy Gala
Marcus Shelby Trio, with Tiffany Austin
    Marcus Shelby and his Marcus Shelby Trio with soloist  Tiffany Austin returned for the third year to provide music
throughout the evening. 
    While LaCosse, Louie, Rodgers and Sanchez handled the awards ceremony duties, Da Lin of KPIX 5, Kim Stephens of KMPH Fox 26 and Kevin Wing of KNTV NBC Bay Area co-hosted the Red Carpet show, while Noemi Zeigler Sanchez of Laney College hosted a Facebook LIVE broadcast throughout the evening. 
     The LIVE dual  webcast featuring the On-Stage Awards Presentation and Red Carpet Interviews, and the Recipients and Nominations lists, are available at  emmysf.tv/awards.
     New this year, Comcast provided the Xfinity X1 Lounge for guests to relax and preview the X1 system.

EMMY® 2017
Official Emmy Gala Reception Photos 
Photographer: Kristie Krishnan
Click to view all Emmy ® Gala Photos
 and Video

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EMMY® 2017
Mitchell Receives Governors' Award
Chapter Honors Iacub, Stephens with Governors' Service Medallion, Recognizes Sanders for Presidential Achievements
2017 Governors' Award
Joyce Mitchell accepting her special honor June 3

By Kevin Wing
Editor, Off Camera

      
A 43-year veteran of journalism and a pillar in the northern California television community who has always modestly referred to herself as a "worker bee"was honored with the 2017 Governors' Award at the 46th Northern California Area Emmy Awards Gala June 3 in San Francisco.
     Joyce Mitchell, whose Emmy Award-honored career has spanned four decades and has encompassed key producing roles at television stations in Sacramento and with her own Sacramento-area-based production company, was the unanimous choice to be nominated for the distinguished honor by the Board of Governors of the San Francisco/Northern California Chapter of The National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences. 
     "The Governors' Award is a great honor," Mitchell says. "I hope that I am paving the way for future generations of women. Women remain under-represented in broadcasting, especially in management positions. I truly believe that television is a powerful tool and that I have a responsibility to give back.
      It's been a privilege to work in TV. I credit hard work - but even more - the courageous people willing to let me serve as a vehicle for telling their stories. I am encouraged by the recognition to continue serving my industry, community, and the National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences as a Governor.
I thank the Governors for believing in me and my 43-year career as a journalist."
      After working as a producer and executive producer at Sacramento stations KCRA, KOVR and KVIE, and at Capitol News Service, for three decades, Mitchell formed 4 U Productions,
2017 Governors' Service Medallion 
Pablo Iacub and Kim Stephens receive their honors from Chapter president Steve Shlisky  
which creates and produces social cause and health-related documentaries. 
     Mitchell, inducted into the Chapter's Silver Circle in 2010, currently serves on the Board of Governors. She is also the Chapter's alternate trustee to the national NATAS Board of Trustees.
    Two of northern California's broadcast veterans who have been involved with the Chapter for many years were also honored at the Emmys for their service to the NATAS community. Pablo Iacub, news director at KUVS Univision 19 in Sacramento, and Kim Stephens (SC 2014), news anchor at KMPH Fox 26 in Fresno, were recognized with the Governors' Service Medallion for their outstanding contributions to the Chapter.   
    "It was an honor to serve on the Board of Governors", Iacub says. "It was exciting to have shared with distinguished colleagues from different backgrounds, and I hope to have contributed to the organization to improve its understanding of the reality of the Hispanic community and the Spanish media, which continue to grow."
Presidential Achievement 
Keith Sanders, Chapter president from 2012-16, receives a special Emmy honor from his successor, Steve Shlisky 

    Iacub served a pair of two-year terms on the Chapter's Board of Governors. His term ended June 30.  
    "I am humbled and quite appreciative of the Board awarding me with the Governor's Service Medallion," Stephens says. "I proudly serve with this Board to help inspire my colleagues to continue to strive to do important work in our communities, and for our youth to strive to share important ethical stories as they build upon their experience in this field.
    Past Chapter president Keith Sanders, who led the Board of Governors from 2012 to 2016, was also recognized for his leadership as president.
    "I was honored to receive a miniature Emmy statuette from Chapter President Steve Shlisky ( SC 2014) during the show. It was awarded to me for serving as Chapter president, and is much smaller and more rare than the standard statuette!"
EMMY® 2017
Official Emmy Gala Ceremony Photos 
Photographer: Ken Newberry
 
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Thanks To Our 2017 Emmy® Awards Gala Sponsors
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EMMY® 2017
Official Emmy Gala Red Carpet Photos 
Photographer: Mike Moya

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Discounts for more, enter coupon code at checkout:
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2017 Emmy® Awards Gala Salutations






Fred Van Amburg 1930-2017
Legendary Bay Area Newscaster Dies At 86
Anchored KGO-TV Newscasts 1969-86; Worked At KPIX In 1960s

KGO-TV's "News Scene" Anchor Team
Jerry Jensen (left) and Fred Van Amburg pose for a quick photograph in the early 1970s before going on the air with their immensely popular evening newscast.

Photo Courtesy of: George Lang 
By Kevin Wing
Editor, Off Camera

       Fred Van Amburg, Jr., who shepherded what was considered the most-watched television newscast in the San Francisco Bay area at a time when local TV newscasts reigned supreme, died June 22 at his home in El Cerrito.
      The Emmy Award-honored television journalist was 86.
      Known on-air on KGO-TV as "Van Amburg", he and co-anchor Jerry Jensen led the station's News Scene newscasts to phenomenal ratings success from the late 1960s until the mid-1980s. Jensen died of pancreatic cancer in 1984 at the age of 49, and Van Amburg left KGO-TV in August 1986. But, during the 17 years that Van Amburg commanded the Bay Area's attention from his anchor desk, he was considered king of Bay Area television. In the years that followed, Van Amburg never anchored another newscast in the market. Many in the television industry and longtime Bay Area residents considered him legendary.
     Van Amburg was born in Fresno on Oct. 20, 1930. His family eventually moved to the Bay Area during World War II, settling in the East Bay, where he attended Berkeley High School. He was athletic as he was intelligent, becoming a standout athlete and going on to play baseball and football at Santa Rosa Junior College before joining the Air Force. He was stationed in Minneapolis during the Korean War.
     It was in Minnesota that he met the woman who would become his wife for the next 63 years. Van Amburg married Minnesota native Lois Jurgens in 1954.
Fred Van Amburg, Jr. 
1930-2017 
     The couple returned to the Bay Area, where Van Amburg worked nights operating cranes at Judson Steel in Emeryville while putting himself through San Francisco State University, where he studied broadcasting. It was during his years at the university that he had an opportunity, in 1956, to cover the Republican Convention held in San Francisco that year. From there, Van Amburg knew that broadcasting and journalism was for him.
      Prior to breaking into television in 1960, Van Amburg worked for small radio stations in Merced and Salinas, honing his craft along the way. Then, in 1960, KPIX in San Francisco hired him to be sports director. In those early years on the air there, Van Amburg was still using his first name.
      But, it was his work as a radio talk-show host at Oakland's KNEW that earned him serious name recognition. He became known as the "Militant Moderate" for opposing the Vietnam war but also violent protests. KNEW also gave him the opportunity to broadcast the early days of Oakland Raiders football in the mid-1960s, providing the color commentary to Bill King's play-by-play.
     In 1969, he left KPIX to join KGO-TV, where he reported and anchored the station's weekend news. It was during that same year that Jensen joined the station after working as an anchor at KBHK-TV and KRON. Station management, and news director Pat Polillo, put the two together as weeknight anchors, Van Amburg stopped using his first name on the air, and with meteorologist Pete Giddings and sports director John O'Reilly, the era of "happy talk" was born and the start of many years atop the Nielsen ratings.
     Beginning in the 1970s, Van Amburg covered a number of major Bay Area news stories, including the kidnapping of Patty Hearst in 1974, the rise of the Black Panthers, the Jonestown massacre and the assassinations, in 1978, of San Francisco Mayor George Moscone and Supervisor Harvey Milk. He was there, too, in the early 1980s when the AIDS epidemic began making worldwide headlines.
 For years, the man known simply as Van Amburg to his audience would begin each KGO-TV newscast with his trademark opening: "Good evening... here's what's happening." Throughout much of the 1970s and into the 1980s, Van Amburg's newscasts were seen in as much as 70 percent of Bay Area homes with TVs on at the time. Van Amburg was also the highest-paid anchor in the Bay Area, reportedly earning close to $1 million per year.
     Van Amburg left KGO in 1986, following a disagreement with station management. His final newscast came on Aug. 29, 1986, after which he never took another broadcasting job. In the ensuing years, he was known to be extremely reclusive, regularly turning down interview requests. In a rare on-camera interview in 1992 with friend and colleague Dave McElhatton of KPIX, Van Amburg said he was involved in creating and producing long-form documentaries.
     In 1988, the San Francisco/Northern California Chapter of The National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences inducted Van Amburg into the distinguished Silver Circle for his more than 25 years of contributions to the Bay Area and northern California television industry.  
     In a statement released by KGO-TV following Van Amburg's death, the station remembered him fondly.
     "KGO-TV is saddened to learn that a legendary member of the ABC7 News team passed away last week," the statement read. "Van Amburg was a local television icon and a respected journalist who Bay Area viewers trusted for decades. We extend our sympathy to his family during this difficult time."

Gold & Silver Circle Profiles

GSC Profile Header_new
    


Fred Van Amburg
Silver Circle Class of 1988

       I first watched Fred Van Amburg on the news on KGO-TV when I was 10 years old. It was the day my dear Mom kept me home from school because I had a bad cold. So far as I can remember, that day was the very first time I ever watched a television newscast. I only say that because I remember that day so well, as best as anyone can recall something when one is10 years old. Call it fate, perhaps. The day was Feb. 4, 1974. That was the day   Patty Hearst was kidnapped. Little did I realize how important that would have on my life, nor the kind of impact Van Amburg would have on my ultimate decision to pursue a career in television news.
      But, "Van" did have an impact on me in a great many number of ways when it came to my one day making a decision on what I wanted to do with my life. And, of course, like most people, I had no idea that "Fred" was Van Amburg's first name.
      It certainly helped that my Mom's favorite news station was Channel 7, or as it's called today, ABC7. But back then, it was Channel 7. They were the news team to watch, and in our house, it was "News Scene" all of the time. So, it seems only natural that Van Amburg was someone that I would idolize as a boy who loved to tell stories and write.
       And, once again, I think about fate because my parents knew Van Amburg's family in the years before I was born, when my family lived in El Cerrito, not far from where Van and his family lived. As my Mom used to tell the story, my parents and my older brother and sister often visited the coffee shop in El Cerrito that was owned by Van's family. My Mom used to say that Van's father would tell them to watch Fred on KPIX, where he was the sports director and did the nightly sports reports. Somehow, through it all, this soaked into my head as did the notion of growing up in front of the TV to watch him on Channel 7.
      I never worked with Van. I had always wanted to. My career began three months before he left KGO-TV, back in the summer of 1986. I would one day go to work for the station, but it would be two years later, after he left.
     Through the years, I became involved with the San Francisco/Northern California Chapter of The National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences, and in 2007, began penning this column, known today as "Gold & Silver Circle Profiles". To date. I've interviewed some 125 inductees. It has always been a tremendous honor for me to tell their stories. I truly mean that.
     Van was someone I always wanted to write about. But, as you either know or have read in these last couple of weeks since his death that he was a very private person, it was difficult to get Van to say yes. One day, back in 2007 or 2008, I called Van to ask if he'd be interested in my writing a profile about him. When he got on the phone, I was practically speechless. I was talking to my idol. I wanted the call to last forever. We had a nice chat, actually. I want to say our call lasted almost 30 minutes. The reason it did was because yours truly was doing my best to regale him with the fact that my parents knew his family from way back in the day. He loved hearing this, to the point that he started asking me questions. I suppose he could tell that I wasn't making anything up. We had a good laugh, and a nice conversation, and he said to call him back about the story idea. He wanted to think about it.
Early 1970s: On the set of "News Scene",
with co-anchor Jerry Jensen
Photo Courtesy of: George Lang

     Since that day, I spoke with him, perhaps, two or three more times, and we exchanged emails several times. I can say this now, but I almost got close. It was last year. I thought, "Oh, God, please let this happen. How I would love to meet Van and tell him in person how much influence he had on my career." It was during the spring of 2016, and he said, "Let's get back in touch, and maybe we can meet up this summer". I was so encouraged. I kept my fingers crossed. I kept praying.
     Sadly for me, it never happened. We never got together. But, I will always remember Van, and I will always remember what he wrote to me in his last email: "Keep up the great work." He was a big fan of "Off Camera" and my "Gold & Silver Circle Profiles" column. I will always be grateful and thankful that Van -- the man I grew up watching on Channel 7 -- told me that I was doing a "great job".
    So, I know that I have been blabbering on here for awhile about Van, and how he really made a great impression on me to want to be a television reporter and anchor. I know he was a very private person, a humble man, and truly modest. But, I wanted to figure out a way to dedicate this month's column to him. I am certainly going to respect his wishes for privacy and write about what most of us may already know. All I want to say is that Fred Van Amburg was one of the greats in our business. In our day and age now, we use the word "legend" very loosely. Van was definitely a true legend. A Bay Area television legend. And, some have also said that he was an institution. I would like to say that he was definitely a legend AND an institution.
    There is a very good likelihood that we will not see the likes of Fred Van Amburg ever again. He was one of a kind. This Emmy Award-honored journalist, anchor and reporter was just the very best.
     Born Oct.  20, 1930, in Fresno, he was the first of three sons to  Fred and Jessie Van Amburg and grew up in a close-knit family of aunts, uncles and cousins who often lived together to take care of each other and make their way through the Great Depression. This strong sense of family, of supporting others in need and taking on issues together would define his life and his unique approach to new s.    
     A stellar athlete in baseball at Berkeley High School when the family moved north during World War II, he played baseball and football at Santa Rosa Junior College before joining the Air Force during the Korean War. Stationed in Minneapolis, where he also played on semi-pro and Air Force baseball teams, he met and fell in love with Lois Jurgens, a native Minnesotan and flight attendant for Northwest Orient Airlines. When talking of his own life, he most wanted to be remembered for his love of "Loey", his wife of 63 years, his children and grandchildren.
     He played third base in the Air Force World Series in 1953. but a chance at a professional career was cut short by injury. After marrying in 1954, he and Lois moved to California where Fred attended San Francisco State University by day and worked at Judson Steel in Emeryville by night. He learned the craft of broadcasting at school, but got his taste for journalism when school brought a chance to cover the 1956 Republican Convention in San Francisco in support of legendary radio commentator
H.V. Kaltenborn.
     And, a professional journalist was born.
     After radio stints in Merced and Salinas, Fred landed his first TV job at KPIX in San Francisco. The year was 1960. He was hired to be the station's sports director and anchor.
     But, it was his 17 years at KGO-TV -- from 1969 to 1986 -- that solidified Van as a legend of Bay Area television news. His unique personal style and visceral concern for the people behind the headlines made him and the team of Jerry Jenson, Pete Giddings and John O'Reilly nightly touchstones for people in the Bay Area of that era. His trademark nightly introduction, "Here's what's happening," is still widely used in the industry. In this age of streaming video and 500 channels, it is hard to understand the impact of a single
With ABC's Peter Jennings, in 1984
nightly newscast that often attracted a 70 share - in broadcast lingo, 70 percent of all the televisions in the region turned on at that time. His championing of people in need or being wronged served as a community conscience and united viewers in common cause. While memories of his work often focus on the relaxed comradery of the team, he was most proud of work to unmask the dark world of local cults, organize and carry Bay Area drought relief supplies to Somalia and bring Bay Area quake relief supplies to Guatemala. With his family, he produced documentaries on the Berlin Wall before it came down, on the on-going legacies of the Hiroshima and Nagasaki atomic bombs and on the forgotten plight of U.S. citizens made victims by living "downwind" of nuclear testing.
     Van's final broadcast came on Aug. 29, 1986, after a disagreement with management over the direction of TV news. He was honored multiple times for his work over the course of his long career, including being inducted into the Silver Circle in 1988. However, while multiple offers came to return to the air, he chose to spend the next 30 years serving and spending happy time with his family, including working with his wife, Loey, to maintain her family farm in Minnesota.
    When news of Van's death on June 22 made headlines around the Bay Area when it was announced June 30, I was, like so many others, shocked and saddened. I had always hoped there would be a day that I could take Van to lunch, sit down with him for a couple of hours to speak with him about his life and career. It wasn't meant to be. But, I am so glad that I had a chance to speak with him, to make a connection with him. That, through it all, the man I grew up watching, the one who inspired me, and the one who, in later years, would tell me to "keep up the great work", well, I am so grateful for the opportunity to get to know him, if only for a little while.
    Thank you very much, Van. Without a doubt, I know that you inspired many of us to want to be like you someday, to follow in your footsteps, to do the great work that you did. The truth is, no one can ever be like you. And no one ever will be. You were one of a kind. And your kind is going to be missed. Tremendously, and forever.
    May you rest in peace, sir, and may your family and all of your many friends find comfort in remembering you, and your wonderful life.
           
Kevin Wing authors "Gold & Silver Circle Profiles" each month for "Off Camera" and has been penning the feature series since 2007. A two-time Emmy® Award-honored assignment editor, reporter, writer and producer and a 2013 Silver Circle inductee, Wing is a journalist with KNTV NBC Bay Area. He is also principal of Kevin Wing Media Communications, a Bay Area production company specializing in public sector and corporate video documentaries. He also serves on the Board of Governors of the San Francisco/Northern California Chapter of The National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences.
McNamara Steps Down as KITV General Manager
KITV General Manager Joe McNamara, in the KITV studio.
By Pamela Young
Chapter Governor, Hawaii 
     From Hawaii, word arrives about a most significant management change at KITV.  General Manager Joe McNamara has announced his resignation to focus on medical issues.
     McNamara  took a three-month hiatus in 2016 for treatment at the MD Anderson Cancer Center for Multiple Myeloma. He returned  in May 2016 to oversee the transition of KITV from Hearst Broadcasting to SJL Broadcasting.
     "Everyone at the station has been extremely supportive of my battle, never wavering even once despite the obvious challenges," McNamara says.  "What I am looking forward to most is spending some quality time with my family, including our seven grandkids."

S.F./NorCal Chapter National Trustees 
Travel To Fort Worth For Spring 2017 Meeting

 
By Steve Shlisky
Chapter President 

      Bi-annually, The National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences trustees meet somewhere in the United States. The Spring 2017 outing found the 45 National Trustees in the heat of Fort Worth, Texas.
      According to our National Bylaws, "The Trustees shall represent the chapters of NATAS, and shall act on behalf of their local chapters and their local chapter members."
      Each chapter elects at least one trustee (our Chapter is one of the 19 chapters represented). For every 300 local members, a chapter may elect one trustee. The San Francisco/Northern California Chapter recently recorded 1,221 members, so we are allowed four trustees (along with Suncoast and Lonestar Chapters, San Francisco / Northern California support the most trustees). Trustees John Odell, Linda Giannecchini, Cynthia Zeiden and myself represent our chapter.
      Like how our NATAS Chapter is governed by a Board of Governors, trustees govern the National organization. Trustees create a two-way conduit between the local chapters and the larger national organization for information. These meetings determine the future direction at the national level and provide continuity through to the local chapters.

         The meeting began with introductions around the table. Each trustee, officer and national academy executive briefly told where they were from and shared their NATAS function. A handful of chapters, like ours, have their local presidents also serving as a trustee office.
     The eight-hour agenda follows the standard Parliamentary procedure known as the "Roberts Rules of Order." There were opening comments, introductions, approval of minutes from the previous meeting, and several committee reports and overviews. Some items need a vote by the attending trustees to change the direction or policy of the Academy. One vote increased the dues local members pay to the National office from three dollars to six dollars (the dues have not been raised in decades). Among the many items discussed were how the national budget and finances are doing, consistency of award judging among the chapters, the News and Documentary Awards record number of entries, and the continuing updates to Emmy® Express, our web-based connection for awards, membership, and information.
      Finishing his third year as the National Chair, Chuck Dages spoke on where he thinks the industry is going. Recently he has seen increased interest in the upfront meetings, where the broadcast networks pre-sell their programs to major advertisers. According to Dages, the upfronts received nine billion dollars of advertiser money which includes the new program makers Amazon and Netflix. 
     Dages also spoke on the value of the Emmy® brand, reminding trustees of their responsibility of watching over the brand. He pointed to the sometime confusion between the national and local uses of the brand. The chairman closed with comments on the high integrity of the Emmy® Award. Dages stressed the avoidance of a high-profile flub which occurred in the announcement of this year's Academy Awards for best picture (where the wrong Picture was announced). Degas also pointed out that the Tony Awards are voted in secrecy where the Emmy® Award process is more open and transparent.
     The meeting continued with reports from all the committees, three of which are chaired by our local chapter members: Alison Gibson is the Finance Chair, Linda Giannachinni is the National Awards Chair, and Cynthia Zydein is the Program Chair.
     Before breaking for lunch, the meeting was treated to a presentation from National Emmy® Award recipient Carolyn Hennessey (for her supporting role of Karen Blackwell in the web series "The Bay"). Hennessey served as this year's Daytime Awards Red Carpet host. The trustees were treated to a short highlight video of the event and Hennessey answered questions about the value and prestige of the brand from the actor's perspective.
     After lunch, much of the discussion centered around the Daytime Emmy Awards show. President and CEO Bob Mauro spoke on the recent history of the Daytime Award show. In 2008 the Daytime show lost its licensing deal with the networks and started to fund the show through other sources. In 2014 the show could not find a broadcast partner so they streamed the show to mixed reviews. Over the next few years the National office evolved the show to mixed results. There was no broadcast of the 2016 show and the recent 2017 show was back to live streaming and critically acclaimed. Still the National office would like to see the Daytime Awards back on a television broadcast and profitable after three straight years of losing money.
     Degas challenged: "The people of Daytime deserve a show; I don't think we can afford it." The production of the Daytime Emmy® Awards are looking at several options including, scaling down the production, finding a non-union venue, collaborating with corporate strategic partners, and working with the production company to hold down expenses.
     All in all, it was an exhausting but interesting process. Observing my fellow National Trustees at this meeting, I realized that these people are volunteering, away from their jobs, family, and everyday life to come to this single purpose: Make sure that this academy functions smoothly and effectively. The next trustees meeting will be in the fall in Philadelphia.

"Justice For Josiah" Fuels Eureka TV Market

By Joyce Mitchell
Chapter Governor, Sacramento 

         A 19-year-old Humboldt State University student stabbed to death at a house party April 15 is drawing conflict, sadness, grief, and outrage in Arcata and surrounding cities. Along a highway near Eureka, graffiti tagged on a wall reads, "Justice for Josiah." Television coverage has kept the memory of Josiah Lawson alive.
         Eureka ABC Affiliate KAEF News Director/Anchor Scott Rates said that his station is staying ahead of the story, covering court hearings, demonstrations, and exclusively interviewing Lawson's mother.                      "We've been the only ones to get his mother on camera," said Rates. "This is very sad that nobody has been brought to justice in this murder. The people are upset and it's created a racial problem here in Humboldt County." 
        On May 5, a Humboldt County Superior Court judge declared there was insufficient evidence to hold a suspect to stand trial in the Lawson killing. Friends and family of the Humboldt State University sophomore wept in the hallway afterwards. Protesters converged on the courthouse. Later, yet more controversy ensued when a truck plowed through the crowd. Social media comments reportedly have exploded into a viral great divide. 
       "We're seeing comments from one extreme to the other," said Rates. "It's so divided that there is no middle ground. What we're experiencing here in Humboldt is so reflective of situations across the country. Yet because we're such a small place, it's not always noticed. Still, it's very serious and of great concern."
       Members of Black Lives Matter are among protesters demanding justice for Lawson. Rates credits his station for not letting Lawson's death go unnoticed. "Had our station not sent life into this story by covering it, it would have gone by the wayside," said Rates. "Journalism has made a difference by bringing awareness." 
       Protesters claim the investigation into Lawson's murder was mishandled. They are demanding justice and Rates is committed to overseeing fair coverage of both sides of the story. "There are truly rich and important stories happening here that often get ignored because the market is so small." 
       Rates is determined to change that.

Longtime Sacramento Anchor Team Off The Air
Schornack Says He's Leaving The Industry After 40-Year Career

By Joyce Mitchell
Chapter Governor, Sacramento 

        "Been a great ride but this is my exit," writes former Sacramento ABC10 News Anchor/Reporter Dale Schornack. A social media post on his Facebook page said that after forty-years in TV, he's leaving the industry. 
       However, once a journalist, always a journalist. It's in the blood. Schornack continues to document and tell stories almost everywhere he goes. Only the medium is different. Having started a job as public information officer with the California Department of Public Health, Schornack recorded his public transit commute to work. And it included a standup. 
Dale Schornack and Cristina Mendonsa

       For about two decades, Schornack sat in the anchor chair next to former ABC10 News Anchor/Reporter Cristina Mendonsa. Word broke last month that the two would be leaving the station but did not say when.
       On June 8, Schornack bid farewell to viewers. The next day, Mendonsa said goodbye. "I expected to be sad but just kept getting happier as I watched that part of my career get smaller in my rear view mirror," said Mendonsa. 
      Working together for so many years, Schornack and Mendonsa have become good friends. Texting one another recently, the exchange said that they miss their news colleagues but, "color us both happy." 
     "A week after leaving, I was happier than I've been in a long time," said Mendonsa. "I didn't expect that. I now just think of it like my time at KUSA or KRCR, a good memory but I don't feel tethered to the place."
     For a year, Mendonsa has been blogging on her website about what it's like sitting in the anchor chair, viewer comments, and the life of a broadcast journalist. She's an Emmy/Murrow award recipient and her website is  cristinamendonsa.com .
    Mendonsa recently completed an MA degree and is taking a few minutes to breathe. Meanwhile, she's pursuing other broadcast opportunities in and outside of the Sacramento market. 
    "Like most of us in this business, I am a storyteller at heart and I already know how that one ends," said Mendonsa. "I'm much more interested in the next story I'll write in the next chapter of my career."

Regional Roundup: Monthly  Tidbits From  Our Chapter's Markets 

By Joyce Mitchell
Chapter Governor, Sacramento

       Salinas-Monterey's KSBW - an NBC affiliate - is honored to have received an Emmy® for coverage of the Soberanes wildfire in July of 2016. An illegal campfire erupted into a blaze that blackened 130,000 acres along the Big Sur coast in Monterey County. News Director Lawton Dodd said that the station's focus is to provide the best coverage of local stories that matter to Central Coast news viewers. "We have a passionate and professional team and we're proud to see them recognized for their efforts," said Dodd.
      Sacramento's Call Kurtis, an ongoing consumer affairs segment on KOVR CBS13, received two Emmy Awards this year, making that 11 statuettes for reporter Kurtis Ming. He has a team of 13 people including a photographer, producer, and 10 volunteers. "They directly connect with our viewers, investigating issues that matter," said Ming. "I'm passionate about that and proud of CBS for supporting a program that has changed laws and empowered viewers over the past 12 years."
      From Honolulu, Hawaii News Now: Sunrise took a look back at a very dark day in history and received an Emmy Award for Best Daytime Newscast in a Medium Market for its coverage of the 75th commemoration ceremony of the attack on Pearl Harbor. The special was broadcast live from Joint Base Pearl Harbor Hickam. Dec. 7 marks the 76th anniversary of the deadly attack.
      Oakland celebrated the Golden State Warriors' latest NBA title championship with a huge victory parade June 15. Bay Area TV stations closely worked together to deliver spectacular coverage to viewers. KNTV NBC Bay Area and KGO-TV ABC7 alternated helicopter live shots while Fox affiliate KTVU designated its helicopter for cooperative breaking news. Comcast Sports Bay Area coordinated with the Warriors and local Bay Area TV stations KTVU, KPIX, KRON, KNTV, and KGO. In all, ten pool cameras were used. "Fun to watch all the puzzle pieces come together, said Don Thompson, engineering operations manager. Everything looked wonderful."
        Reno's KOLO newsroom has grown by a few pounds, and that has staffers and viewers smiling. Morning anchor David Lawrence met evening anchor Sarah Johns while working at the ABC affiliate. They fell in love, got married, and a few weeks ago had a baby boy. Little  Zachary  was premature but is now home and doing well. "Our station always takes care of its people," said News Director Stanton Tang. "We are thrilled they are now parents. It will help them understand the audience in a whole different way."
      In  Eureka, Chapter Vice President of Smaller Markets Scott Rates is about to celebrate a one-year job anniversary working in management. He left San Francisco's KRON as a reporter in 2016, bound for the beautiful Humboldt County area. He's now news director/anchor of ABC affiliate KAEF. "It's been a big transition, going from a reporter in San Francisco to a small market news manager, but I am now at a point that I absolutely love it," said Rates. "I like hiring journalists with a lot of potential and watching them grow. I wouldn't want to do anything else."
       In Fresno, KMPH Fox 26 anchor/reporter Kim Stephens is on break -- not from TV -- but from teaching it. She's on summer vacation from Fresno State University where she is adjunct faculty, teaching news writing, and broadcast news reporting and production. As a morning anchor, Stephens gets in to work at 4 AM, works until noon, and then scrambles off to her students. Now, she gets to go home and see her family. "I feel so free," said Stephens. Yet, come August, it's back to the daily grind that she loves. Stephens is a NATAS governor representing the Fresno market. 
        Guam's KUAM News has announced that Sabrina Salas Matanane is shifting from news director to managing director overseeing news and local productions and the station's digital production operation. Matanane has been with the station almost 20 years. "Technology has forced us to evolve," said Matanane. "People are watching KUAM all around the world and one of my responsibilities will be to enhance their viewing experience by providing engaging and interactive content." Nick Delgado, who returned to KUAM in January after reporting gigs in New Jersey and Texas, will become news director.

       To be included in the Regional Roundup, please email Joyce Mitchell at joycem2@surewest.net.

R ecord Number of High School Excellence Honors Awarded for 2016-17 School Year

      The San Francisco/Northern California Chapter of NATAS handed out a record 10 Pillars for Excellence and 20 Certificates for Merit in the 2016-17 Regional High School Student Television Awards for Excellence contest. Entries were submitted by schools with media programs in the chapter's region, from Visalia to the Oregon border and also including Reno, Nevada, Hawaii and Guam. The "Award for Excellence" is an engraved glass pillar plus a certificate.   The "Award for Merit" is a certificate. A total of 107 entries  from  18 high schools were received.
NATAS Governor Randy Forsman and Award of Excellence winner Nicholas Conklin of 
Franklin High School
       There was a 75% increase in entries and a 14% increase in participating schools this year.
Six High Schools received two Pillars each: Buchanan High School, Clovis; Franklin High School, Elk Grove; Moanalua High School, Honolulu; and Whitney High School, Rocklin. Single Pillars were awarded to San Francisco School of the Arts, the Academy of Integrated Humanities, and New Media, Tamalpais High School, Mill Valley.  
       Additional schools receiving Merit Awards include: Maui High School, Kahului, HI; McLane High School, Fresno; and Sheldon High School, Sacramento.  
       Again this year, Pillar "Award of Excellence" recipients will move forward to the national competition between all 19 chapters of NATAS.
      Two NATAS board members handed out awards in person to four high schools last month. 
       Governor  Kim Stephens and KMPH reporter  Wendi Lane presented awards live on GreatDay at Buchanan High School in Fresno.  Pillar Awards of Excellence were given for "BNN-Buchanan News Network" in the Newscast category and "You Can Make a Difference Suicide Prevention" in the Public Service (PSAs) category. Awards of Merit were given to "Grace Kane Anywhere" in the Music Video category, and for "Defying the Odds, The Madeline Greenler Story," in the Short Form Non-Fiction category.  
       Stephens also presented awards including one for McLane High School during a Fresno Unified School District board meeting. She honored McLane High School with an  Award of Merit for "Ground Water Zero" in the Long Form - Non-Fiction category.      
NATAS Vice President  Kim Stephens, an instructor and McLane High School award winners at Fresno County School Board meeting
       NATAS Chapter Secretary
Randy Forsman presented awards at Franklin High School in Elk Grove.  "Caged Bird" won a Pillar Award of Excellence in the Animation/Graphics/Special Effects category .   "Nicholas Conklin Cinematography Reel" won the Award of Excellence in the Photography category.  "What to Do With FOG" won an Award of Merit in the Animation/Graphics.Special Effects category. 
         "After the awards were presented, I talked with the class for a few minutes about what I do professionally and answered a few questions," said Forsman. 
       He a lso handed out awards to enthusiastic students at Whitney High School (WCTV)  in Rocklin.  Randy  gave out Awards of Excellence for "Music as Medicine" in the News: General Assignment - Light News   category and for " Sarah Murphy Talent Reel" in the Talent category. He handed out Awards of Merit for   "More Than a Diagnosis" in the News: General Assignment - Serious News category, and for "Antelope at Whitney" in the  Sports - Live Event category. 
       Check out the Students page on our website where you can see this year's outstanding work.

Our People
  
 


Robert Wellington
Photojournalist
KNTV NBC Bay Area
 
 
Photo by: Wayne Freedman/NATAS
Big Milestone For KGO-TV's David Louie
Longtime ABC7 Reporter Receives Honor For 45 Years Of Service 

Celebrating 45 Years at KGO-TV
Hardly anyone can say they have worked for the same television station, like David Louie. David began working for KGO-TV in San Francisco in, yes, that's right, 1972! Recently, we was honored by Disney/ABC executives with a very special honor depicting Walt Disney with Mickey Mouse perched on his lap to recognize his 45 years with KGO-TV. Congratulations, David!! We are very proud of you!!

On the Move
 
          Katie Nielsen joins KPIX in San Francisco as a reporter. Prior to joining KPIX, she was with Comcast
Katie Nielsen
KPIX
Sports Net Bay Area.

         Chloe Ortega
, assignment desk intern at KGO-TV in San Francisco, joins KRCR-TV in Redding as a general assignment reporter. 

         Kinsey Schofield, digital reporter at KNXV in Phoenix, joins KMAX in Sacramento as weekend anchor of the station's Good Day Sacramento
 
Write us!
Have a new job? Get a promotion? Retiring? We'd like to know about it, and you.  Please write to  On the Move  and  Off Camera  Editor 
Kevin Wing  at  kevin@emmysf.com .
Do You Remember?
 Another  Emmy® Flashback 
Who are the two individuals, what year and location, 
and what is the presentation?

Last month, we asked you to identify 
this group of Emmy® recipients...
The year was 1989 and the 18th Northern California Area Emmy ® Awards.  
The group is from KRON 4 (back row) Bob Jimenez, Mila Holt, Jim Joy, Wayne Freedman, Ron Johnson; (front row) Norman Leong, Jon Fromer, 
Dominique DiPrima, Emerald Yeh, Alex Zanini

Do You Remember?
 If you do, please write to 
Off Camera Editor  Kevin Wing at  kevin@emmysf.com.
If you guess correctly, we will mention you in next month's Off Camera

Membership News
Sign-Up for Free Bay Area Movie Screenings

        FREE   Bay Area Movie Screenings are being offered to NATAS members and a guest.
        Many are previews including a "Q & A" with the director and producer of the film following the screening.
        To receive invitations, please sign up on the Cinema Club mailing list. Send an  e-mail to office@emmysf.tv   and put "Cinema Club" and your name in the subject line. See you at the movies!

Write Us! 
Off Camera Wants to Hear From You!

        

     Off Camera wants to hear from you. Have a great story idea? Interested in writing a story for us? Want to tell us how we're doing? Whatever it may be, please drop us a line.  Write to  Off Camera Editor  Kevin Wing at kevin@emmysf.com
     Thank you!

NATAS Job Bank
 
The Board of Governors
THE NATIONAL ACADEMY OF TELEVISION ARTS & SCIENCES
SAN FRANCISCO/NORTHERN CALIFORNIA CHAPTER
OFFICERS
President: Steve Shlisky*, KTVU Fox 2/Laney College
Vice President- San Francisco: Don Sanchez *, KGO-TV ABC7 (Retired)
Vice President-Sacramento:  Cynthia Zeiden* Zeiden  Media/Sacramento State University   
Vice President- Fresno:  Kim Stephens* KMPH Fox 26/Fresno State University  
Vice President- Hawaii:  Pamela Young*, KHON 2
Vice President- Reno: Landon Miller, KTVN 2 
Vice President-Smaller Markets: Scott Rates, KAEF/KBVU
Secretary:  Randy Forsman KCRA 3
Treasurer:  Jim Spalding Spalding & Company
Past President: Keith Sanders , San Jose State University
 
NATIONAL TRUSTEES
Alison Gibson , Media Cool  (National Treasurer)
John Odell* CCSF Emeritus
Steve Shlisky*KTVU Fox 2/Laney College  
Cynthia Zeiden*, Zeiden Media/Sacramento State University (National Program Chair)
Joyce Mitchell* (alternate), 4U Productions
 
GOVERNORS
Kent Beichley, Pac 12 Networks
Mary Carreno , KSTS Telemunto 48
Wayne Freedman*, KGO-TV ABC 7
Alison Gibson, Media Cool (National Treasurer)
Luis Godinez KDTV Univision 14
Uilani Gray , Gray Event Management
Richard Harmelink KFSN ABC30  
Kathryn Herr, KGPE CBS 47
Brian Johnson KFSN ABC30
Melissa Mapes Mainz, Mainz Media
Tony Martenez, KUVS Univision 19
Joyce Mitchell* 4 U Productions
David Patterson, KGMB/KHNL Hawaii News Now
Scott Patterson , San Francisco State University
Luz Pena, KDTV Univision 14
Ross PerichProMotion Studios
Manny Ramos* Manny Ramos Communications/Academy of Art University
Alecia Reid, KRON 4
Terri Russell, KOLO 8
Juan Serna, San Jose State University
Julie Watts, KPIX 5
Kevin Wing*, KNTV NBC Bay Area/Kevin Wing Media Communications
Melanie Woodrow KGO-TV ABC7/Academy of Art Univeristy
Noemi Zeigler Sanchez, Laney College/Academy of Art University
 
COMMITTEE CHAIRS
Activities/Programs:  Cynthia Zeiden* Zeiden Media, Sacramento State University 
Archives/Museum:  John Catchings* Catchings & Associates
                               Linda Giannecchini* KQED 9  (National Awards Chair)
Awards:  Wayne Freedman* , KGO ABC 7
Education:  Keith Sanders , San Jose State University  
Finance:  Alison Gibson Media Cool  
Legal/Bylaws:  Mark Pearson ARC Law Group 
Marketing: Patty ZubovPlatonic TV
Membership:  Michael Moyafotografx/Laney College


EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR
Darryl R. Compton* NATAS

* Member of the Silver Circle

Contact Information:

The National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences
San Francisco/Northern California Chapter
Darryl Compton,
Executive Director
4317 Camden Avenue
San Mateo, CA 94403-5007
Phone: 650 341-7786 or 415 777-0212
darryl@emmysf.tv

 

The name "Emmy®" and the graphic image of the statuette, are registered trademarks of The National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences.

 

"GC" and "SC" references, immediately following an individual's name in a story, refers to that individual being an inductee of the Chapter's Gold Circle and/or Silver Circle, followed by the year, or years, of induction.