12-21-12
After a 45 year broadcast career, 31 of which were spent with the Associated press, Ed Tobias is retiring. Tobias says he's moving to his beach condo where he plans to become a full-time beach bum. Tobias covered more than fifteen space shuttle launches, the 1984, 1988 and 1992, 1996 and 2000 political conventions and Soviet-American summits in Reykjavik, Iceland; Valletta, Malta; Moscow, Vancouver and Washington, D.C. Before joining AP, Tobias was News Director at WTOP in Washington, D.C. We turned the table on Tobias and asked him a few questions.
What are your thoughts on the state of news coverage today compared to when you started?
When I got my first full-time radio job, at WFAS in White Plains in 1970, radio was local. At 99% of the stations the programming and, especially, the news was community-based. It was a win-win for the stations and the community. The best of today's stations are still that way, but the vast majority are homogenized. You can drive from town to town and not hear a lot of difference in the programming.
The news, if there is any, is usually no more than headlines. When I was at WASH our combination of music, news and community involvement (on what was, in 1973, supposed to be the "music band"), brought in great numbers. I think that formula can still work today.
What are your thoughts about the place you once worked, WTOP?
It's a great station, with the combination of news and community involvement that I just talked about. And, it's more than a station....it's a true multimedia information source. I mean...radio reporters out shooting video and stills (for the web site)??? TOP and Jim Farley have been on the cutting edge of this. I'm glad that I spent a short time there, and while there hired Jamie Gangel, (who quickly went to NBC), Bob Marbourg, among others.
What story did you enjoy covering the most?
I covered, or produced coverage of, about a dozen space shuttle launches, plus a handful of landings. From an enjoyment standpoint, that was tops. I've also been fortunate to have met a lot of interesting people and traveled to a lot of interesting places over the years.
Worst story you ever covered?
I was running the desk at AP's Broadcast News Center, watched the Challenger explode (on a video feed) and ordered the FLASH on the Broadcast Wire that reported: "NASA says the shuttle has exploded." Watching the faces, and hearing the gasps and moans, from Christa McAuliffe parents and students hit me right in the gut.
Congratulate Tobias on a great broadcast career at edtobias@comcast.net
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