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FALL 2011

Official publication of the Philadelphia Local of The American Federation of Television and Radio Artists.

AFTRA At The Labor Day Parade

Philadelphia’s annual Labor Day parade and picnic drew a large and mixed crowd — cel-ebrating the movement that gave the holiday

its name. Organizers say as many as 10,000 turned out — but whatever the actual number the event drew an enthusiastic crowd of union members and their families, decked out in a rainbow of tee shirts proclaiming union affiliation and local. One little girl was enveloped in a union tee-shirt that looked more like a full-length gown.

Wearing a more appropriately sized shirt, retired Police Dispatcher and District Council 33 member Reginald Thompson said without unions American’s work lives would be very different.

“That’s how most of the middle class got where they are, with the help of unions,” said Thompson. “Gave them the 40-hour week, wages, health care.”

Thompson said the way to get America back on its feet is for union members and supporters to get involved, and raise their voices in solidarity.

AFTRA Philadelphia local President Catherine Brown and Executive Director Stephen Leshinski were on hand, as were a number of AFTRA members including Helen and Tom McNutt, Sandee Clark Bengal, Frank Traynor, Michael Brooks, Mike Russo, Rocco Rosanio, Patty Farrell, Debra Connors Efré and John Wooten.

By Molly Daly

Tri-Union Seminar — Non-Union to Union: Negotiating 101

Sheldon Smith delivering his technique. An attendee with Smith’s advice.

Local members of AFTRA, the Screen Actors Guild and Actors Equity were somewhat surprised to learn that the best answer to the question “Will

you audition this non-union project?” is not necessarily “No.” That was the message Sheldon Smith delivered during his intriguing seminar, “How to Turn a Non-Union Job Offer into a Union Job,” presented Sept. 19 by the Philadelphia Tri-Union Committee.

Smith, a Washington-based voice-over artist and member of both AFTRA and SAG for more than 40 years, offered a lively discussion about the nuances of a member’s ability to work with producers to trans-form a non-union offer into a union job. He was quick to point out that the advice he was giving only applied to voiceover and on-camera principal work.

Union members are well aware of the state of the

business locally — particularly when it comes to the voice-over industry. “Today, in the Philadelphia market, 80 percent to 90 percent of the projects we’re getting are non-union, as compared with 10 to 20 percent that are union,” estimates Rick DiDonato, president and chief engineer of Baker Sound, a major Philadelphia pro-

Continued on page 6

By Carol Anne Mueller, AFTRA/SAG

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CAST & CREWEditor

Shelley FiguresContributing Editors

Stephen LeshinskiChuck Varesko

STAFFExecutive Director

Stephen LeshinskiAssociate Executive Director

Shelley FiguresContracts/Signatory Admin.

Lynn KoenigsbergBenefits & Membership Admin.

Michele Dooley

LOCAL BOARD OF DIRECTORSPresident

Catherine Brown1st Vice President

Chuck Varesko2nd Vice President

Dick Sheeran Secretary

Cyndy Drue Treasurer

Ed FischerBoard MembersRob Charry, Sam Clover, John Di Domenico, Paul Kurtz, Syl-via Kauders, Tom McNutt, Susan Moses, M.J. Myers, Bill Shusta, Christy Springfield, Volieda Webb

NATIONAL BOARD MEMBERBill Shusta

SESSIONSOfficial publication of the Philadelphia American Federation of Television and Radio Artists.

www.aftra.com/philadelphia.html

AFTRA PHILADELPHIA 230 South Broad St., Suite 500 Philadelphia, PA 19102215.732.0507Read Sessions Online at:www.aftraphiladelphia.com/sessions

NATIONAL BOARD REPORT

In Memorium — Jack O’RourkeJack O’Rourke, on the air for two decades at KYW Newsradio,

passed away on September 17. He was 80. Jack collapsed in the press box after covering the Phillies-Cardinals game on the16th.

Jack started working at KYW Newsradio in 1966 as a news anchor and the station’s City Hall bureau chief. He was one of the few staffers currently at KYW who were working there when the station went to its news format in the ‘60s.

In 1969, Jack moved to NBC Radio in New York where he held a variety of positions including executive producer of sports from 1983 to 1989.

Jack was involved with every major sports story in recent memory including the Olympic Games in Seoul, Korea and Calgary, Canada (1988), Sarajevo and Los Angeles (1984), Lake Placid (1980) and Montreal (1976), World Track and Field championships in Rome (1987) and Helsinki (1983), Super Bowls XIII through XXII, and the controversial 1976 Ali-Norton fight at Yankee Stadium.

While at NBC, Jack won a coveted George Foster Peabody award for his exceptional work.Jack grew up in the Boston area. He attended high school in Beverly, Ma. and went on to

Emerson College in Boston. Later, he was awarded a Ford Foundation grant to study the changing southern United States at Duke University.

Jack lived in Secane (Delaware County), Pa., and was a member of the Philadelphia Sportswriters’ Association. He is survived by four children, seven grandchildren, and two great grandchildren.

The AFTRA National Board has held its fall meeting with President Roberta Reardon providing a state of the union update. There’s a tremendous amount of work underway on

the new union initiative and elsewhere, not only in AFTRA but throughout the union world. The public sector workers remain under attack. Because there’s so little labor density in the United States, people don’t understand what labor unions are all about. The A.F.L.-C.I.O. has a campaign in the works to address this problem and AFTRA is in-volved. Reardon said that considering the state of the economy it’s a wonder people aren’t banging on labor’s door shouting LET ME IN. She said the crisis in this country is a lack of jobs, and the A.F.L.-C.I.O. focus is on creating not only union jobs but all jobs.

The effort involving the Screen Actors Guild to form a new union continues. The joint committee charged with bringing us a proposal, called G1, met in August with another meeting scheduled in the near future. Meanwhile, there are six working groups tackling every conceivable issue and most have sub-groups to further scrutinize those issues. There’s a full spectrum of AFTRA members comprising each working group. Philadelphia Local President Catherine Brown is a member of the G1. President Reardon said this is a bigger union we are building in scope and ambition. It’s about the future of this industry and how we remain a viable union in this industry. She said we want to be sure that anyplace we go to earn a living, it will be union.

While this new union effort is underway, AFTRA continues its everyday work. Negotia-tions proceed on AFTRA’s second largest contract, the Sound Recordings pact. Early next month, talks begin for our largest contract, the Network Code. In the meantime, local broadcast contracts are being negotiated across the country. Dancers are pushing for a music video contract. Audio books organizing moves forward. There’s also the Creative America campaign to prevent content theft around the world. It is NOT o.k. to download our work for free. As if all this isn’t enough, AFTRA members have participated in union rallies around the United States as this is a critical time for union labor.

The next National Board meeting is scheduled in January.

By Bill Shusta

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THE DIRECTOR’S CHAIR By Stephen Leshinski AFTRA Philadelphia Executive Director

Hurricanes, earthquakes, the Phillies clinching the NL East — and that’s all just in the last month! Every day, news hap-pens in this City and AFTRA members are out covering it.

Or are they? We all know there’s been tremendous consolidation in the news and entertainment industry, to the point where seven companies control just about the entire industry. So what does this mean for local news?

This fall, AFTRA plans to find out.That’s because we’re launching our Local Broadcast Quality Jour-

nalism campaign, in an effort to highlight what’s positive and not so positive about our local news operations and what we, as AFTRA, can do to change it. This is just one of many examples of “secondary” campaigns we’re involved with as the union of radio and television artists. For while most people think of the union as a way to get healthcare or who to talk to to file a grievance, the fact is that we need to be more than that and we are.

Whether it’s participating in the National Association of Black

Journalists convention that was recently held in Philadelphia, or sponsoring the Tri-Union Professional Development workshop series, or the lobbying we do in Harrisburg over child actors, Perfor-mance Rights, and non-compete legisla-tion, a union is more than just an em-ployment contract.

If you’re not already involved in one of these many activities, now’s the time to jump in. And if there is an issue you’re concerned about that may not be getting addressed, start something! Being “union” is not the end of the journey, it’s the beginning.

And please look out for our Quality Journalism Campaign survey and events. If you or someone you know is or has been involved in local journalism, we want to hear from you. At AFTRA, we don’t just cover the news, often times we make it as well.

Philadelphia Convention Delegates in Seattle

The Philadelphia Delegation’s Official Photo. Top, L. to R.; Bill Shusta, Susan Moses, Cyndy Drue, Sylvia Kauders, Sam Clover. Bottom: Stephen Leshinski, Catherine Brown, Chuck Varesko.

Delegates pose in front of a “Fat Cat” dur-ing the Local 8 labor demonstration.

The AFTRA 2011 National Convention took place in Seattle, Washington July 22 — 23. The Philadelphia Local sent Local President Catherine Brown (who arrived early in the week for

her duties as National Board VP), Local Secretary Cyndy Drue, Local and National Board members Susan Moses and Bill Shusta, plus Local Board members Sylvia Kauders and Sam Clover, Local Executive Di-rector Stephen Leshinski and myself as the Philadelphia Delegation.

My previous convention experience was limited to attending the two conventions hosted by our Local so I was interested in seeing how they did it in Seattle. And, in the light of the work going on to form a new union, I felt that it was possible that the 2011 convention might be the last AFTRA convention. That made it an historic must-attend.

Being a freelancer, early mornings are not how I enjoy starting my day, but the early mornings commenced on my travel day as I had to catch a morning flight. After arrival in Seattle, convention sessions be-gan promptly every morning. Or at least as soon as President Reardon could get everyone to stop gabbing and sit down.

The Seattle and Portland Locals did a great job with the Thursday evening Social at the Seattle Aquarium. The venue and entertainment were top notch.

A highlight of the convention was the break we took from pro-ceedings to march through the hotel and out to the street where we demonstrated with the hotel workers UNITE HERE Local 8 to demand a new contract for them from the hotel.

The Convention voted on nine convention resolutions and attended to the election of officers. Members were honored and awards were bestowed. If we do another AFTRA convention, consider being a del-egate. It’s a once in a lifetime experience. Unless you do it again.

By Chuck Varesko, Local 1st VP Freelance

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BROADCAST BEAT — News From Our Shop StewardsKYW-TV NewsBy Neil Rattigan

CBS 3 has started training its staffers to shoot stories. Many already know how to edit them. Reporters and producers at-

tended a two-day seminar to turn them into multimedia journalists. Thirty years ago, they were called one man bands, and confined to the small markets.

A change of seasons coincides with changes in CBS 3’s Weather staff. Meteorologist Kathy Orr is cutting back on her schedule to spend more time with her family. She’s now forecasting the weather on the 10 and 11 p.m. newscasts. So CBS 3 has moved Meteo-rologist Kate Bilo from mornings to the 5 & 6 p.m. newscasts. To forecast the weather from 4:30 to 9 a.m., Meteorologist Katie Fehlinger comes to us from sister station WCBS New York. You can still see Meteorologists Carol Erickson and Justin Drab-ick on the weekends.

Eyewitness News Anchor Chris May made some news when he was invited to the White House for a one-on-one interview with President Obama in July. In June, his co-anchor Susan Barnett co-hosted The Talk on CBS. At deadline, Susan is on maternity leave as she and husband Dr. Greg Persichetti await the birth of their third child. Ditto for Anchor/Reporter Valerie Levesque, who is celebrating first time motherhood with husband Chris Watson. Wedding bells rang for 5 p.m. Producer Christine Hagegeorge and husband Chris Russell-Jones.

Also at deadline, we await the outcome of the MidAtlantic Emmy Awards. This year, CBS 3 and the CW Philly are up for 48 statues.

WPHTBy Clinton Petty

Mike Viso completed a week long tour of the Midwest earlier this summer with The Dom Giordano Show.

Greg Stocker and T.C. Scornavacchi traveled to the Flight 93 Memorial in Shanksville, Pa. on September 11.

Clinton Petty and Michael Cerio are preparing for a Satur-day night show that will air on 1210 WPHT beginning later this fall.

All of the WPHT producers extend our best wishes to everyone at the former 94 WYSP and good luck in wherever the future takes you.

NBC10/WCAUBy Catherine Brown

In TV news, nothing is as constant as change, so that’s the theme going into the fall. Program-ming changes mean an earlier start for NBC10

News Today at 4:30 a.m., news at 11:00 a.m., fol-lowed by The 10! Show at 11:30 a.m. and format changes at 5 p.m. Social graces: Check out the NBC10 Reporters who are Tweeting; and Vince Lattanzio, tech and social media guide, is creating his

own buzz on-air and online. Goodnight Irene: also Hurricane/Tropical Storms Lee; Katia; Maria;

and the (unnamed) eastern earthquake that kept the news staff on overtime for days at a time as the summer wound to a close.

Autumn arrival: WCAU welcomes Courtney Mimidis to the NBC News Associates Program for a year’s stay (in partnership with AFTRA), getting hands-on newsroom experience, developing research skills and news stories.

Coming & Going: Aditi Roy is back from duties for NBC News; Attiyah Blair has left the Content Center ; and the Shop Stew-ard duties will soon be changing hands.

WIPBy Rob Charry

Historical happenings at WIP over the summer. WIP was the first radio sta-tion in Philadelphia, first broadcasting

in 1922. On Labor Day weekend, WIP went FM, taking over the 94.1 FM frequency. The plan is to simulcast pro-gramming on 610AM. The transition from AM to FM went smoothly, Friday September 2nd at 3 p.m., coinciding with Howard Eskin’s last afternoon drive show on WIP. It was preceded on FM by WYSP’s last show, which was anchored by Howard’s son Spike.

WYSP’s final weeks were most tastefully done, with tributes com-ing in from coast to coast, and visits from former WYSP DJ’s in per-son and on the phone. WYSP legends Denny Somach, Anita Gevinson, Pam Merle, Sonny Fox, Bob Leonard, Steve Sutton, Jackie Martling, Couzin Ed, Tommy Conwell, Bill Fantini, Sean McKay, Jerry Abear and the coup de grace, Howard Stern, who spent 30 minutes on the phone with Spike on WYSP’s final day. You can still listen to the podcasts of WYSP’s final days on their website 94WYSP.com

New to 94WIP’s lineup this fall, former Temple Owl, Philadelphia Eagle, New England Patriot, Indianapolis Colt, Dan Klecko, who is working on the Eagles pregame show, in addition to other airshifts. Dan is the son of former Temple and Jets great Joe Klecko, and Dan is quick to show off his three Super Bowl rings.

METROBy Sam Clover

Everything is on hold here at Metro following our sale on April 2011 to Clear Channel. The transition has gone well regarding payroll and

H & R, however a U.S. Dept. of Justice investigation into the sale con-tinues. Our contract expired September 30th and we were anxious to have negotiations well underway by this time (several preparatory meetings occurred and a negotiation team is in place). However C.C. requested a six month extension, which the shop reluctantly voted to approve, as the D.O.J. investigation essentially prohibits C.C. from talking money anyway. Negotiations should be started by the first of the year. We’re optimistic that the investigation will be over by then and we’ll have something hammered out by the new expiration date, March 30, 2012. Meantime, we’re still officially “Metro.”

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GOODBYE WYSPBy Cyndy Drue

After nearly 40 years of playing rock ‘n roll in Philadelphia, 94 WYSP stopped at 3 p.m., Friday, September 2, 2011. It changed its format to all sports talk and will be known as

SportsRadio 94 WIP. The station will simulcast programs already heard on WIP (610-AM), says CBS Radio, the company that owns both stations.

For hundreds of thousands of rock fans, it is the end of an era.AFTRA represents both stations; therefore, the approximately 12

members from WYSP who lost their jobs will get full severance pay allotted by the AFTRA contract. Had they not been protected by AFTRA, do you think CBS would have given the employees any-thing?

WYSP was the radio station in Philadelphia that introduced us to “quad.” Their signal was broadcast onto a special quad radio that had four speakers, not two. However, the idea never took off and was eventually discontinued.

It was the first time listeners heard wind chimes playing whenever a DJ opened the microphone.

It was also the first rock station to give WMMR a run for its money. WMMR (93.3 FM) had been making an impact playing rock ‘n roll music as early as 1969. Throughout the years, especially the ‘80s and ‘90s, the two stations have been competitors.

WYSP pioneered the album-oriented-rock format or AOR in the early seventies and later became one of the country’s very first Classic Rock stations in the spring of 1981.

It was the last station in the country where Howard Stern became number one in the ratings after some four years of trying to bring down the Morning Zoo led by John DeBella.

Other DJs that graced the airwaves of WYSP as a rock station include Anita, Danny Bonaduce, Denny Somach, Fox and Leonard, Gary Bridges, Matt and Huggy, Couzin Ed, Tommy Conwell, Debbi Calton, Pam Merly, Cyndy Drue (yours truly), Sean McKay, Jerry Abear, Bill Fantini, Randy Kotz, Trip Reeb, Maureen Fla-herty, Dick Hungate, Opie and Anthony, Don and Mike, Lisa Rich-ards, Jacky Bam Bam, John Stevens (“Bubba John”), Barsky, Kidd Chris, Scott Carr, Ed Sciaky, Spike, Andre Gardner, John Russell, Ray Koob,

Steve Trevelise, Steveski, Michael Picozzi, Mark DiDia, Ed Green, Ken Sharp, Rick Allen, Art Houston, Leslie Patten, T Morgan, Steve Fein-stein, Dave Newman, Gil Bratcher, Mel Toxic, Gary Lee Horn, Jennifer Reed, Gordon, Rob Charry, Greaseman, Scruff Connors, Michael

Tearson (albeit brief), Scotty and Alex, John and Jeff, Vinnie the Crumb, and Kim Douglas. (This list may be incomplete.)

Some of those names appeared on air in the final week as the alumni took over the station to wish it a farewell. Podcasts of those shows are on WYSP’s website,

www.94WYSP.com.CBS head Marc Rayfield told the Main Line Times that

WYSP’s ratings had been increasing, making the decision more difficult.

“The ratings for WYSP have been on the rise for about a year now,” Rayfield said. “They are the best they have been in the post-Howard Stern era. But in looking at the radio landscape, there is an insatiable appetite for sports.”

Cyndy Drue at the WYSP controls circa 1981. Remember those Gates control boards? And look — turntables!

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During an average year, 50 journalists die around the world while covering news events, 38 so far this year. There’s an effort underway to instruct journalists on ways to complete

assignments with safety in mind. The International News Safety Institute is well known overseas and is being relaunched in this country on October 14th with AFTRA’s help.

A journalism instructor at Columbia University with 30 years experience in the field, Judith Matloff, is spearheading that effort and talked to the Na-tional Board recently about the dangers journalists face and how INSI can help. IN-SEE stresses prepa-ration before leaving on an assignment. Matloff says journalists have become targets and must go under the radar. She feels the death of a journalist can be prevented with training. The focus pertaining to U.S. journalists will be coverage of stories requiring travel to Central

America and Mexico, which she calls a crisis place and a major prob-lem. She says journalists working the Mexican border are in danger, and she seeks solidarity among those working south of the border.

The training emphasis will be placed on rape prevention (think Laura Logan in Egypt), cyber security, general risk assessment, trauma, crises, natural disasters and combat medical aid. Matloff talked about one case in which a journalist was injured and died because no one around that person knew how to place pressure on an artery and stop the bleeding.

She stressed the importance of promoting IN-SEE in the United States where there will be fund raising to help in that effort. Individual donations can be made through AFTRA.

Visit http://www.newssafety.org for more information on INSI.

AFTRA Works to Keep Journalists Safe By Bill Shusta

“Matloff talked about one case in which a journalist was in-jured and died because no one around that person knew how to place pressure on an artery and stop the bleeding.”

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It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia returned to the City in June and shut down Sansom Street, in the heart of Jeweler’s Row, for a wacky street scene.

On June 20, member Cecil Parker gave reading from a teleprompter a shot under the direction of the Teleprompter Seminar presenter Temple University Professor Paul Gluck.

June 9 was AFTRA Night Out at the Camden River Shark’s game. About 20 AFTRA members, friends, and family, enjoyed the game — till it was rained out. (L-R) Doc Medek-WXTU and a friend, Skip Fisher-KYW and his wife, and Christie Springfield.-WXTU.

Every Picture Tells A Story

duction studio since the 1970s. One of the keys on which Smith focused was that a union mem-

ber’s discussions with a producer must take place person-to-person, over the phone, and not via e-mail. He called on performers to take charge of their business by becoming knowledgeable about our unions’ contracts and being well-prepared before talking with a pro-ducer about a potential job.

Once a performer has discussed a project well enough to under-stand the scope and basic terms a producer is offering, Smith said, it is time to consult with the freelance department at the union office — and it’s important for the performer to make that call herself, and not rely on someone else to call the union. Whether the project would fall under the auspices of AFTRA or SAG, the union staff is the most knowledgeable about the fine points of the various con-

tracts available. It is our job as union members to become familiar with our con-

tracts. When in doubt, he added, always call the union office.Finally, Smith reminded audience members that we are not violat-

ing union rules by submitting for non-union work. Union members may submit or audition for any non-union project they wish, but they may only take the job after turning it union.

NEGOTIATING 101. . .

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SAVE THE DATE!The AFTRA

Philadelphia Holiday Party is set for

December 14th! Mix and mingle with your fellow AFTRA members in a holiday at-mosphere from 4:30 to 7:30 p.m. Food! Refreshments! The loca-tion will be announced soon so watch your email for a Flash or contact the union office!

215.732.0507

On the afternoon of September 13th, the Director of News and Programming at KYW Newsradio gathered those in the newsroom together for an announcement. The word

layoff popped into one person’s mind, understandable in these rough economic times. However, the news from Steve Butler that day was more devastating, much more personal and heartbreak-ing. Community Affairs Reporter Karin Phillips had died unexpectedly. News and Sports Anchor Ron Corbin said he had never experienced the newsroom that qui-et. You could hear a pin drop.

Karin was a graduate of John F. Kennedy High School in Willingboro, New Jersey and Rutgers University where she majored in English and Spanish with a mi-nor in Journalism. She earned her Masters Degree from Rutgers in 1998. She also taught Broadcast Journalism at her alma mater.

Her Newsradio career began in 1979 as a production assistant, an entry level position. Prior to that, she had been a reporter for the Burlington County Times and an anchor and producer for Express Traffic Services. Before becoming the Community Affairs Reporter at Newsradio, Karin was a fixture at the editors desk. As such, News Anchor and Business Reporter Vince Hill said, with admiration and the highest regard, you could experience love and abuse at the same time;“She made sure I didn’t sound stupid on the air. To have an edi-tor like that protecting you is priceless.”

How is Karin remembered by colleagues at Newsradio? This in an e-mail from News Anchor and Reporter John Ostapkovich, “Flowers

sit on the desk next to mine as I write this. It’s a beautiful arrange-ment in memory of a woman so vital, self-confident and energetic that it seems impossible that she’s gone. Karin wore many hats at KYW. I worked under her when she was an editor and alongside her when she was a reporter. Her focus was always on doing the

job right and, but for that recent episode with trapeze lessons, never about her. The Community Affairs re-porter beat, in lesser hands, could have been nothing but who-cares thumb suckers but Karin believed in the cause. She brought light to good things in rough places where many might think nothing could grow. She was a self-starter, a self-editor and, I can tell you this for a fact, didn’t take any sh*t from anybody. Her loss shakes family, friends and colleagues as well as listeners with whom we all try to connect in our one-way electronic

conversation. Karin surely succeeded.”In 2004, Karin received the Outstanding Community Service

Award from the Philadelphia Council of Clergy, and in 2009, the Human Rights Award for Arts and Culture from the Philadelphia Commission on Human Rights.

News Anchor and Reporters Roundup host Steve Nikazy worked many years with Karin as his editor. He said she was a tough and re-lentless presence in a job that demanded both, yet was also caring and nurturing. “It’s been said that some people come into our lives and quickly go. Some stay for a while, leave footprints on our hearts and we are never, ever the same. That was the case with Karin.”

Karin Phillips left us much too early at age 53.

In Memorium — Karin Phillips By Bill Shusta

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Read Nat Wright’s History of AFTRA Philadelphia at www.aftraphiladelphia.com/convention/history.html

ContentsLabor Day Parade ..................................................................�Non-Union to Union: Negotiating 101 .....................�In Memorium — Jack O’Rourke ...................................2Convention Delegates in Seattle ..................................3Broadcast Beat .........................................................................4Goodbye ‘YSP ..........................................................................5Keeping Journalists Safe ......................................................5Every Picture Tells A Story ................................................6In Memorium — Karin Phillips .......................................7Holiday Party Date Set .......................................................7