I.
WASHINGTON, D.C., November 13, 2007 Radio disc jockey Larry Lujack, "Lawrence of Chicago," will be inducted into the NAB Broadcasting Hall of Fame during the NAB-Show Radio Luncheon sponsored by ASCAP. The luncheon will be held on Tuesday, April 15, in Las Vegas.
"For decades, Larry Lujack entertained audiences with his sardonic wit, quirky characters and deadpan humor," said NAB President and CEO David K. Rehr. "NAB is proud to recognize him for his significant contributions to radio."
Known for his popular "Animal Stories" and "Klunk Letter of the Day" segments, Lujack began his Chicago radio career in 1967 at WCFL-AM. Four months later he went to WCFL’s Top 40 competitor, WLS-AM. It was here where Lujack honed his understated sarcasm and launched his well-known feature, "Animal Stories." Lujack returned to WCFL in 1972, and was there for four years before moving back to WLS, where Lujack teamed up with Tommy Edwards for their widely popular segment, "Uncle Lar and Li’l Tommy." Lujack remained at WLS for 11 years before retiring from radio in 1987. In 2000, Lujack came out of retirement and spent six more years on the Chicago airwaves.
Born in Quasqueton, Iowa as Larry Blankenburg, Lujack later changed his last name in honor of his football idol, Johnny Lujack. His career in radio began when he joined KCID-AM in Caldwell, Idaho at the age of 18. For 10 years he worked at various radio stations in Idaho and Washington, including KJR-AM in Seattle, before moving to Chicago. Hailed as one of Chicago’s most renowned radio personalities, Lujack has been inducted into both the Illinois Broadcasters Association’s Hall of Fame (2002) and the Radio Hall of Fame (2004).
The Radio Luncheon will also feature a keynote address and the annual presentation of the prestigious NAB Crystal Radio Awards.
II.
Nein, selbst für diese Ehrenbezeugung für ein solches Lebenswerk wird der eigene Arbeitsplatz im Pressezentrum nicht freigemacht werden.
Man muss sehr zeitig da sein, also möglichst schon vor 8 Uhr morgens, wenn man überhaupt noch einen ruhigen Arbeitsplatz für sich finden und besetzen will. [1]. Und das war an diesem Morgen besonders wichtig.
Am Tag zuvor war der Rechner im Pressezentrum nicht über ein LAN-Kabel ans Netz angeschlossen, sondern über eine Wireless-LAN-Verbindung. Und als nach fast zwei Stunden Redaktionsarbeit der schliesslich fertiggestellte Text in "DaybyDay" eingestellt werden sollte, war zwischenzeitlich die Verbindung unterbrochen - und all das in dieser Zeit Erarbeitete damit verloren.
Ja, gewiss: "Backup, backup, backup...". Diese Grundregel nicht zu beachten kann allzu schnell zu solcher Malaise führen. Und dennoch ist ein solcher Verlust ärgerlich und die daraus abgeleitete Erfahrung schnell formuliert: Wenn eine Online-Redaktion wirklich unvermeidlich sein sollte, dann möglichst nicht wirklich "wireless", sondern mit einem kabelgebundenen Netzanschluss. [2]
Dennoch ist ein ungestörtes Arbeiten nur beschränkt möglich, und das ist nicht nur ein Nachteil. Freunde und Kollegen schauen vorbei. Und im Verlauf einer dieser Gespräche wird eine direkte Zusammenarbeit und Übernahme der "DaybyDay"-Links vereinbart. Schliesslich tauch(t)en sogar ein Reihe von bundesdeutschen Medienvertreter auf, die sich durch alles auszeichnen mögen, was ihnen ihr Amt an Würden mit auf den Weg gegeben hat, nur nicht durch eine Presseakkreditierung.
Und so tritt der seltsame Zustand ein, dass in den Hallen und auf den Konferenzen "der Bär tobt", während hier die Arbeit des Schreibens und Montierens der Bilder im Vordergrund steht. Dass einem dadurch viele der zunächst avisierten Veranstaltungen "durch die Lappen gehen", ist klar. Aber genauso klar ist auch, dass eine unzureichende Pflege der bereits geknüpften Kontakte und Nachbearbeitung des Erlebten sich ebenso rächen könnte wie das zuvor nicht hergestellte technische Backup.
III.
Inmitten der Reaktionsarbeit kommt die Meldung einer Organisation herein, die nicht NAB, sondern NABJ heisst. NABJ steht für The National Association of Black Journalists [3] und sie fordert in ihrer Presseerklärung vom 15. April 2008 die "newsroom leaders" auf besser als bisher die "diversity of our nation" in den eigenen Stäben zur Geltung kommen zu lassen:
Staffing in the nation’s newsrooms declined for the fourth consecutive year and efforts to bring diversity to reporting and editing teams remained a challenge according to the annual census released Sunday by the American Society of Newspaper Editors (ASNE) at their annual gathering in the nation’s capital. [4]
The number of newsroom employees in 2007 dropped by 2,400 jobs or 4.4 percent when compared with the previous year. Journalists of color left 300 positions, falling to 7,100, according to the 2008 census released at ASNE’s annual convention in Washington, D.C.
But because of layoffs and hiring freezes, the percentage of journalists of color in daily newsrooms actually grew by a tiny margin, to 13.52% from 13.43% of all journalists. Blacks make up the largest number and percentage of journalists of color with 2,790 or 5.3 percent of the workforce, according to the survey.
That figure has remained near 13 percent for the last four years, illustrating that as the nation’s minority population continues to rise at 36 percent, its newsrooms continue to fail that pace of diversity.
NABJ and ASNE have a shared goal of having the nation’s newsrooms reflect the diversity of the general population. ASNE hoped to reach that goal eight years ago and later adjusted the timeline to 2025.
"The newspaper industry must stop treating diversity as just an effort, but a vital business imperative," said NABJ President Barbara Ciara. "These veiled attempts to convince journalists of colors otherwise fall on deaf ears as hundreds of our colleagues are forced out, leaving little to no opportunity for advancement. While we applaud the few newsrooms that are making a difference, more action and less promises need to be made."
"We have to find a way to equate diversity with excellence in our newsrooms," NABJ Secretary Deirdre M. Childress said in Washington following the release. "While we applaud newspapers and newsroom managers who make efforts in this area, we also need to look at new ways to prepare journalists of color for multi-media information centers and to keep them in journalism."
For the second year, ASNE applauded newsrooms that embraced diversity. Honored as Pacesetters will be The Grand Forks Herald because of newsroom parity with their community percentage; The El Paso Times for its overall increase in minority staffers; and the San Gabriel Valley Newspaper Group (West Covina, Calif.) for the largest increase in minority staffing in one year.
At the same time, ASNE reported 423 newspapers responded that they had no journalists of color.