Scholarships sponsored by the San Francisco/Northern California Chapter of the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences were awarded at the Gold & Silver Circle Induction Luncheon in San Francisco Oct. 19. 

         Before the induction of our local Chapter's 25- and 50- year television industry veterans into the Gold & Silver Circle, a brief ceremony recognized excellence in college video work. After some introductory comments, short clips of each student's work were shown. Part of the recognition was the presentation of a check and certificate to each student.

        This year's $2,000 scholarships went to Vincent Huergas, from Laney College of Oakland, recipient of the Shelly Fay Videography Scholarship; and Katherine Gorringe, from Stanford University, was the recipient of The "Miss Nancy" Besst Graduate Scholarship.

        For the third year, the Chapter awarded two scholarships generously funded by George Lang, president of The Big Picture Film & Video Arts and a newly-elected Chapter Governor. These two $3,000 scholarships are in remembrance of two KGO-TV journalists: Jerry Jensen, who co-anchored the station's News Scene broadcasts for 15 years before his death in 1984; and Steve Davis, an anchor and reporter at the station from 1971 to 1993. Davis died in 2005. 

       The Steve Davis Undergraduate Overall Excellence Scholarship was awarded to Talia Samelian, from San Francisco State University, and The Jerry Jensen Graduate Overall Excellence Scholarship went to Lauren DeFilipo, from Stanford University

       All four expressed appreciation for the recognition moments after receiving the award.

       "I am very grateful to the professional judges who viewed my work. Hard work seems to be paying off in all sorts of ways. It makes things seem real and relevant," says Huegas. 

       "It is rewarding for my first pieces to be recognized," Samelian says. I have never seen my work projected on a big screen before. This has been very special."

      As for the awards, both Stanford graduate students are thankful for the cash awards because they are each self-funding their master's thesis projects.

      "I like to tell meaningful human stories," says Gorringe. "Local television is a new frontier for indie filmmakers."

     DeFilipo is already planning her MFA thesis film.

     "I love the short form format and will be finishing my degree soon," she says.

      For Samelian, a senior undergraduate, the award will help to offset her San Francisco State tuition. She works part-time at the KPIX 5 assignment desk while completing her degree. 

      "I have dedicated myself to pursuing a career as a news reporter, and the city of San Francisco has provided me with the perfect stage in which to do this," she adds. 

      Huergas started his college studies at California State University, East Bay, took a couple of media classes from Laney College and is now enrolled in San Francisco State University's broadcast electronic and communication arts department. Huergas now teaches at the East Bay Asian Art Center, the very same program where he learned video production.      

      "While I believe he can be successful in any field he dedicates himself to, it has become quite clear that video production and broadcast media is where his passion and motivation lay," says Peter Kim, the center's program director. 

      Gorringe already has two college degrees (one each in music and history) from Northwestern University. She started her media career making a short documentary about a neighborhood installing sidewalk tiles to remember family members who disappeared during Argentina's bloody dictatorship in the 1970s.

      "The experience of telling a profound of these brave and unique people united my competing interests and inspired me to pursue a new life goal of creating documentaries," she says.

     DeFilipo has worked as an assistant editor and associate producer for Insignia Films, content generally distributed to PBS. 

     "For me, the most successful documentary work on television tells a fascinating story with compelling characters," DeFilippo says. Jan Krawitz, director of Stanford's MFA program, says DeFilipo's three films "are the result of diligent pre-production and a clarity of vision for the documentary she plans to create."

     The panel could have awarded seven scholarships this year. Keeping with the high standards set by our local Chapter, the Scholarship Committee decided to only award those individual entries that rose to the highest professional level. The $2,000 Peter Marino Production Scholarship, the $2,000 Rigo Chacon Reporting Scholarship, and the $2,000 Kenneth Sloat Langley Writing Scholarship had no recipients.

     For more information, go to: http://emmysf.tv/silver-circle.html

       He was a veteran radio and television commentator and the first "Voice of America" who eventually became an expert on international affairs. Later, during the early years of Bay Area television, he became known as San Francisco's "first anchorman" after he began appearing on KGO-TV and KPIX in San Francisco.

          His name was William Winter. He was not only a broadcasting big shot in the Bay Area, but he was known throughout the country and around the world. Winter had spent decades as a war correspondent and network news analyst, long before Bay Area viewers started to watch him on the evening news throughout the 1950s.

          Winter, who died in November 1999, was inducted into the Silver Circle of the San Francisco/Northern California Chapter of the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences in 1990.

          Born in Newark, New Jersey, the Bay Area was a faraway place for Winter at that time. He grew up in North Carolina and studied law privately while working in a law office. Several months before he turned 21, Winter passed the state bar exam, becoming the youngest attorney in the United States at that time.

          He worked as a trial lawyer for an insurance company in New York, then returned to North Carolina, where one of his clients was a radio network. Because of his grasp of international law and current events, he was asked to become a radio news analyst. In 1935, he gave up law and took on the radio airwaves.

          In 1941, CBS Radio transferred Winter to San Francisco, where he would offer a daily network news analysis, focusing on the United States' international relations. After the director of the Malaya Broadcasting Corporation of Singapore asked to relay Winter's commentaries throughout Asia via shortwave radio, the United States decided in September of that year - only months before the bombing of Pearl Harbor brought the United States into World War II - to make Winter its first State Department-sponsored "Voice of America".

          In Winter's daily broadcasts, he assured Asians that the United States, although not in the war at that time, was concerned about protecting Asians. Winter also offered even-handed explanations of democracy and freedom of expression, supporting his comments with quotations from American interventionists and isolationists alike.

          During the final two years of World War II, when Winter would accompany Gen. Douglas MacArthur, Winter became so reviled by Japan's Radio Tokyo that it aired a play featuring three men barred from Heaven because of their wickedness - President Franklin D. Roosevelt, Winston Churchill, and Winter.

          Winter, in 1945, covered the United Nations Charter Conference in San Francisco for the State Department. He then covered the Korean War for the United Nations.

          Winter anchored KGO-TV's news in the 1950s, then went to work for KPIX, where he anchored William Winter & The News, from 1955 to 1960.

          In 1955, Winter was also a television news analyst for ABC.

          In his later years, Winter became a sought-after speaker on international affairs at university campuses and conferences around the world. He also taught extension courses at the University of California, Los Angeles.

          He also organized the William Winter Study Tours, leading various groups to far-flung venues from Africa and the Soviet Union to India and the Philippines.

          Winter and his wife, Peggy, eventually relocated to southern California.  

          Winter died Nov. 3, 1999, in Woodland Hills, leaving behind a legacy that remains here in the Bay Area.

By Kevin Wing

Vice President, San Francisco

      A son who worked in television news. A father who worked for the FBI. And Patty Hearst.

      It could be said that it has been classified information all of these years. Nearly four decades, to be exact.

      Or, perhaps, it was information that needed to be considered top secret for a reason.

After all, the Federal Bureau of Investigation was involved, and the information came from the No. 2 man in the FBI's San Francisco office.

      But now, it can be revealed how information from the FBI's No. 2 man in San Francisco reached Oakland television station KTVU back in September of 1975.

      The Bay Area was a different place back then. The region had survived the political and societal turbulence of the 1960s, from the protests at Berkeley to the "free love" ways of the Haight Ashbury, only to enter a period of anti-establishment upheaval in the 1970s. The Vietnam conflict finally came to a close by the middle part of the decade. Here in the Bay Area, in 1973, Oakland schools superintendent Marcus A. Foster had been assassinated by members of the Symbionese Liberation Army. He was the first African-American superintendent of the Oakland Unified School District.

     What happened in September of 1975 that was so classified until now?

It was the day newspaper heiress Patricia Hearst was captured in San Francisco and arrested. She had become a member of the Symbionese Liberation Army, the left-wing urban guerrilla group which abducted her from her Berkeley apartment 19 months earlier, on Feb. 4, 1974. Hearst, the granddaughter of publishing magnate William Randolph Hearst, gained notoriety after her kidnapping, and her eventual recruitment into the SLA.

     In September of 1975, Hearst was arrested by the FBI and San Francisco Police in a San Francisco apartment. At that time, speculation about Hearst's whereabouts since her kidnapping kept her name in the headlines and at the top of local newscasts during that era.

     How KTVU got the scoop about Hearst's arrest had everything to do with Daniel Grayson MacDonald, the FBI's No. 2 man in its San Francisco bureau. MacDonald was the beloved stepfather of longtime Bay Area television photographer, George Lang. Lang, his career just a few years out of the starting gate at that point, had been a freelance cameraman for KTVU as well as for KPIX. That day, Lang was working at KTVU.

    "I covered everything that was going on with the SLA," says Lang, who, after more than 25 years as a veteran TV cameraman primarily for KGO-TV, started his own Marin County-based production company, The Big Picture Film and Video Arts. "As a freelancer and stringer at the time, I would go out and cover all the remnants of what was happening with the SLA and Patty Hearst at that time.

    "I was working at Channel 2 the day Bill and Emily Harris were arrested," Lang says. The Harrises were also SLA members. "They were captured in San Francisco. In the newsroom, we were all scurrying around, trying to make sense of what happened."

    Lang says it was around 2:30 p.m. when the phone rang in the newsroom. The call was for him, and it was urgent. His stepfather was calling him.

    "When I got on the phone, he was excited, almost giddy in a childish kind of way," Lang recalls. "He wasn't a bubbly guy, but he was really excited. My dad always called me "Scoops"."

    "So, my dad says, 'They got Patty. I'm looking at her. I know I've never been able to give you any scoops before, but now, I'm giving you a scoop!"

    Lang looked around the newsroom, but couldn't find anyone to tell right away. Then, in walks Fred Zehnder, who was assignment editor in the newsroom at that time.

    "There was my loyalty," Lang says. "He's the first one who hired me. I stood up and said, 'They've got Patty!'"

    Zehnder, who was aware that Lang's stepfather was with the FBI, asked him for the source of the information. Lang simply had to say, "you know", to convince Zehnder to break the story to the Bay Area. Soon, anchor Claud Mann went into the studio to break into regular programming with the announcement.

    By then, Lang was dispatched to head to the Federal Building in San Francisco to get a shot of Hearst.

    Ironically, Lang drove into San Francisco behind the wheel of a KPIX camera car. He'd worked for Channel 5 the day before, but still had their car when he went to work that day at Channel 2.

    Lang arrived at the Federal Building, parked the car on the Turk Street side, then with camera and gear in hand, ran down to the basement of the building where the garage was. He was going to look for a place to hide until Hearst was whisked in via a patrol car.

    "There was no place to hide," Lang says. "Then, I saw a green door with a long handle on it. I opened it, and went inside. There was a gangway, and by leaving the green door partially opened, I could see right across the garage where the cars would come in. I was hiding for 20 minutes. During that time, I thought about a lot of things, even thinking how a shot of Patty would make my career."

    Suddenly, Lang heard a loud, whirring sound. He realized he was hiding in a maintenance utility room. A large draft came through and basically slammed the green door shut. Lang tried to push the door, but the suction from the strong draft was keeping it shut.

    "Finally, I heard the sound of cars coming into the garage," Lang says. "I managed to fling the door open. And then I went down. My cheek is on the ground. The marshals had me on the ground. I saw Patty being taken in. This was supposed to be the shot of my lifetime. I watched her as I was pinned on the ground. Then, they let me up, lectured me that I could've been shot, and allowed me to leave."

    Lang says he walked up the ramp out of the garage. In front of him were photographers from other stations, all thinking he'd gotten the shot. But, he didn't. Walking away, feeling dejected, he headed for his camera car. But, he couldn't find it.

    It had been towed.

    "I went home and told my dad about it," he says. "He felt bad for me, but we had a good laugh about it. The next day, I got a call from the U.S. Marshal, who said he felt bad about what happened. So, they assigned me to Patty to be the cameraman during her court appearances and trial. It was me and Al Bullock, doing duty."

    Lang covered Hearst's trial from beginning to end.

    Why is Lang, who is a member of the Board of Governors of the San Francisco/Northern California Chapter of the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences, able to tell the story now, after all these years?

    "My dad died in February at the age of 87. Out of respect for him, and the work he did with the FBI, I could never say anything. But now, I want people to know what he did for me. That he was the one who helped me to break the story."

I AM AN ARMY BRAT. MY DAD WAS IN THE MILITARY AND WE TRAVELED ALL OVER THE WORLD. WE MOVED EVERY TWO TO THREE YEARS. I THINK I MUST HAVE GONE TO 15 DIFFERENT SCHOOLS BEFORE WE ARRIVED AT THE PRESIDIO OF SAN FRANCISCO.  I WAS BORN AT FT. BENNING, GEORGIA.

Do you have siblings? If so, are you the oldest? Youngest?

I AM THE ELDEST DAUGHTER OF SEVEN CHILDREN: 5 GIRLS, TWO BOYS. ONE BROTHER, SADLY, PASSED AWAY FROM HEALTH PROBLEMS.

When did you first realize that you wanted to be in television news?

I KNEW I WANTED TO BE IN BROADCASTING AFTER I DID A COLLEGE PAPER FOR A WOMEN'S STUDIES CLASS.  I INTERVIEWED FOUR WOMEN IN BROADCASTING BECAUSE IT WAS SUCH A RARE THING IN THE MID 70S: KARNA SMALL, MARCIA BRANDWYNNE, ROXANNE RUSSELL, GERI LANGE.

Who has inspired you in your career?

THOSE WOMEN INSPIRED ME. MY FIRST OFFICIAL MENTOR WAS JANE MORRISON WITH KNBR RADIO, WHO ALLOWED ME TO WORK FOR FREE FOR 50 HOURS A WEEK AS AN INTERN.  I DID THAT FOR FIVE MONTHS, BEFORE I FINALLY GOT A PAYING JOB ANSWERING PHONES, WHILE I WAS IN COLLEGE.

Who has inspired you as a person?

MY PARENTS.  THEY HAD AN INCREDIBLE WORK ETHIC, A COMMITMENT TO CHARITY AND THEY NEVER GAVE UP ON SITUATIONS, NO MATTER HOW DIFFICULT.

Before ABC7, where did you work before?

I STARTED AT KNBR AS AN INTERN, EVENTUALLY BECAME A NEWS SECRETARY FOR KNBR AND KNAI (ALL NEWS FM RADIO STATION-NOW GONE). THEN I WAS ALLOWED ON THE FRIDAY NIGHT OVERNIGHT SHIFT, AFTER MY SECRETARY JOB WAS DONE IN THE DAYTIME.  THEN, I WENT TO KNBR RADIO. KPIX WAS HIRING AND LOOKING FOR A WOMAN FOR THEIR AFFIRMATIVE PROGRAM.  I GOT THE JOB AND CONTINUED TO WORK FOR K101 AND KPIX AT THE SAME TIME FOR A YEAR...MONDAY THROUGH FRIDAY, FROM 9:30 AM TO 5:30PM AT K101, THEN KPIX FROM 6PM TO 11:30PM.  THEN, I CAME TO KGO AS THE NIGHT REPORTER AND WORKED MY WAY UP FROM THERE.

As an anchor, every day at work is different from the one before it. Can you describe a "day in the life of Cheryl Jennings"?

THERE IS NO TYPICAL DAY.  I DO A LOT OF CHARITY WORK IN ADDITION TO MY ANCHORING, REPORTING AND SHOW HOSTING DUTIES. SO I MAY HOST A BREAKFAST FOR THE RED CROSS AT 7:30AM, COME TO WORK, HOST A LUNCHEON OR EVENING EVENT AFTER WORK.

You're an anchor at one of the best stations in the country and certainly in one of the world's best cities. And, you've worked at the same station for nearly 35 years. What is the secret?

I WORK AT A GREAT STATION AND I LOVE WHAT I DO.  I GET A LOT OF JOY WORKING AT A STATION THAT UNDERSTANDS WE PROVIDE A PUBLIC SERVICE.

Do you like ice cream? Okay, that's a loaded question. Of course, you do! What's your favorite flavor?

CHOCOLATE WOULD BE AT THE TOP OF MY LIST, WITH FUDGE ON TOP!  BROWNIES OR FUDGE WOULD HIGHER ON THE LIST....I'M ALWAYS SEARCHING FOR THE PERFECT CHOCOLATE TREAT! (CHOCOHOLIC)

Tell us about your home life. How do you spend your weekends?

I DO A NUMBER OF CHARITY EVENTS ON WEEKENDS. AND THE WEEKENDS ARE SO BUSY, I HAVE TO SCHEDULE IN TIME FOR MY FAMILY AND MY HUSBAND!  WE LOVE TO HIKE WHENEVER POSSIBLE. WE ALSO LOVE TO WATCH MOVIES.

I know you support many charitable organizations. Please tell me about all of them.

I'LL JUST LIST SOME OF THEM, THERE ARE MANY!  PERFORMING STARS OF MARIN, TAYLOR FAMILY FOUNDATION, CAMP OKIZU, SAN FRANCISCO CHILD ABUSE PREVENTION CENTER. AMBASSADORS OF HOPE AND OPPORTUNITY, TENDERLOIN NEIGHBORHOOD DEVELOPMENT CORPORTATION AND THE TENDERLOIN AFTER SCHOOL PROGRAM. STAND FOR FAMILIES FREE OF VIOLENCE, BONNIE J. ADDARIO LUNG CANCER FOUNDATION, RONALD MCDONALD HOUSE OF SAN FRANCISCO AND PALO ALTO, OAKLAND BALLET.

Perfect meal for dinner?

SEARED AHI OR SUSHI

Have a guilty pleasure?

A FRIDAY NIGHT MARTINI

What do you enjoy most about your work?

EVERY DAY IS DIFFERENT AND I GET TO MEET NEW PEOPLE AND LEARN NEW THINGS CONSTANTLY.

What do you do to relax? What hobbies and/or activities are you involved with?

I WOULD LIKE TO LEARN TO PLAY GOLF...NO TIME FOR HOBBIES RIGHT NOW

Where do you see yourself in the next 5 to 10 years?

TELLING GOOD STORIES AS LONG AS POSSIBLE, AND PLANNING TO TAKE AN EDITING AND PHOTOGRAPHY CLASS TO ENHANCE MY SKILLS.

Who is your favorite television journalist?

BARBARA WALTERS. SMART, STRONG, TALENTED SURVIVOR AND A GREAT ROLE MODEL

Do you have a favorite author?

KHALED HOSSEINI, PATRICIA CORNWELL, TOM CLANCY

San Francisco Chronicle, or USA Today?

SAN FRANCISCO CHRONICLE AND THE MARIN INDEPENDENT JOURNAL. 

If you could do it all over again, is there anything you would change about your life?

I WOULD FINISH MY BACHELOR'S DEGREE AT SAN FRANCISCO STATE.

Any words of wisdom for the next generation of television journalists?

LEARN MULTIMEDIA SKILLS AND HOW TO WRITE. WRITING IS EVERYTHING!

Favorite vacation destination?  

KONA, HAWAII

During your career, has there been a news story or stories that you've "owned" that, up to now, has defined who you are as a journalist?

1989 LOMA PRIETA EARTHQUAKE. I WAS THE FIRST LOCAL REPORTER ON THE AIR, COVE

What's the most favorite thing about your job? Least favorite thing, if anything?

LEAST FAVORITE PART OF THE JOB IS THE AMOUNT OF TIME IT TAKES AWAY FROM MY FAMILY.

Favorite music? What's in your iPod (if you have one) or collection of CDs?

NO TIME TO LISTEN TO MUSIC. I LISTEN TO NEWS RADIO.

Wine tasting, or a cold bottle of beer?

WINE TASTING!

What's the craziest thing you've ever done?

TRAVELED TO AFGHANISTAN FOR A STORY.

From a journalistic standpoint, how would you prefer viewers to see you?

SOMEONE THEY CAN TRUST TO DELIVER ACCURATE NEWS THAT WILL HELP IN SOME WAY.

Favorite spot in the Bay Area? Favorite vacation destination? Where have you yet to travel to?

NAPA VALLEY. I WANT TO VISIT CHINA, JAPAN, SINGAPORE, INDIA, RUSSIA, AUSTRALIA, NEW ZEALAND, AND MORE!

What do you like about social media, such as Facebook, Twitter and Google Plus? Does it help bring in new viewers?

I LIKE USING SOCIAL MEDIA TO KEEP ME IN DIRECT CONTACT WITH VIEWERS OR POTENTIAL VIEWERS. 

Stay tuned: In the December edition of Soundbites, find out more about Kopi Sotiropulos, morning news anchor and all-around funny guy at KMPH in Fresno. 

Today, I'm making up for lost time, watching everything and anything I can. I am up on every single new show and network that pops up. There are hundreds of new channels available today. And, of course, I have to check out every single one of them. So, I'm certainly the most annoying person to watch television with, as I'm constantly channel-surfing. There are so many choices, though, that I wonder how all of these networks are able to make money. Advertisers only want to be where the eyes are and they're more spread out than ever.

In comes Evox Television, a new network focusing on a healthy lifestyle and feel-good content. It's taking a different approach to making money. Founder/CEO Xav Dubois created a marketplace for products featured in the network's various series, such as celebrity environmentalist Ed Begley Jr.'s On Begley Street, a show documenting the construction of his second greenest home. Begley has his own page in the marketplace that features and sells all of the products he's chosen to use for his home.

For some of the other products in the overall Evox marketplace, content is created around them. That's where this network could walk a very fine line that, in many folks' eyes, could be seen as paid-for-content. But Dubois explains... it's just the opposite. Interested? 

      The 2014 James Beard Foundation Awards are now accepting entries for the Broadcast& New Media Awards. Entry forms are completed online and can be found at 

       For the Outstanding Personality/Host category, judges look for: the host's knowledge of content, presentation, communication skills, style and appeal.

      Fees are $100 per entry for members and $135 for non-members. (On the payment page, there is an option for non-members to become members for $29.)

      The Broadcast and New Media entry deadline is Jan. 9, 2014.  Nominees will be announced on March 18, 2014 and their submissions posted on the James Beard website.   

      The Book, Broadcast, and Journalism Awards Dinner will be on May 2, 2014 in New York City.