Gary Wordlaw is a very experienced TV pro, and is now the Vice President of News and Programming at the Black News Channel, which can be viewed throughout the country, including Chicago. He talks about how he got into TV; what the South and Chattanooga, Tennessee were like when he was growing up; working in TV in the 1960s as the first African American hired at the Chattanooga TV station (after Martin Luther King Jr. was killed); how his family, the community, and God helped him get through challenges; the NAACP and what the 1960s were like; what he thinks about how the news biz covers stories about African Americans; why he is glad and proud to be part of the Black News Channel and how he chose the broadcasters; why the channel is located in Tallahassee, Florida and what that city is like; what it’s like to work in different parts of the country (from Chattanooga to Bellingham, Washington, Baltimore, Maryland, Washington D.C., Syracuse, New York, Seattle, Washington, New Orleans and Baton Rouge in Louisiana, and Tallahassee a couple of times) and how moving around has affected him; what being a Southerner means and his family background; what “it” is; why he thinks TV covers certain stories; the importance of telling the deeper story of individuals; important stories for the African American community; why he went into management; what he thinks of social media; how to effectively fact check; how to stay objective in news; advice for working in news, and more.
Click the link below to play, or download it by right-clicking (on a PC) or holding down the CTRL key and clicking on it (for Mac). http://radiogirl.us/audio/RG173.mp3
p.s. My novel, Wicker Park Wishes, will be published by Eckhartz Press, owned by longtime radio pro Rick Kaempfer (who I interviewed for this podcast in the early days). Pre-order here.
