From before I “went blonde” (and was I ever really THAT thin?)
Recently-unearthed footage shot in the WTOP/Washington newsroom November 3, 1986. Step-into the time warp…
Beyond the antiques, and some DEAR-departed folks it was my privilege to manage, here’s what’s REALLY wistful about what-you-see: Unlike most-of-radio-today, we were actually able to DO local radio, unfettered by the crippling debt that prevents Clear Channel, Citadel, et al from the kind of meaningful local content creation you see as WTOP business-as-usual in this video.
Today, few industries exemplify what’s-wrong-with-the-economy better than radio. Talk about “toxic” mortgages!
And here’s the happy ending: WTOP’s current owner, Bonneville, might be the least-insane owner in radio. As busy as that 1986 operation looks today, 2009 WTOP is an even bigger, more-bustling operation. SOMETHING in radio is actually improving.
Happy 40th-anniversary-as-an-all-news-station!
3 responses so far ↓
Francis Rose // March 26, 2009 at 1:47 am
WOW, some of those folks are still there. Judy Taub still at the editor’s desk. Wendy Rieger now on Channel 4, Jamie McIntyre at CNN until recently, neat!
biggsuccess // April 3, 2009 at 3:53 am
This really brought back memories…the cart machines, reel-to-reels, the computers of the 80’s, the old AP wire and all the real live bodies in the newsroom! Oh yes, and your 80’s skinny tie!
This was fun – Mary-Lynn
John Lynker, Jr. // August 4, 2009 at 12:43 am
Thank you for that Holland! It was great to see one of the few on-camera cameos from Dear Ol’ Dad…
1986 does bring back some memories! Dad would bring me to the station – I remember so many faces and names from this video… and I even hear some of them from time to time.
But I took Dad’s advice and stayed out of Radio.
I went into computers and if you remember, those were NewsStar computers in the 1986 WTOP Newsroom! One day, I was searching a computer junk yard, found a few old NewsStar terminals and in the bottom of their cases under the keyboards were a whole bunch of old news stories, half written, …