1987 was a transition year – we moved from typewriters to a computerized system, complete with the ability to print scripts on a dot-matrix printer. Yahoo!
And it was a potpourri of stories for a general assignment reporter. The recognition that tech and consumer electronics would be huge in the next decade had not landed yet in the mind of local TV folk
It was a bittersweet year for football fans: Redskins and Bear, Giants and Redskins - Joe Gibbs at the helm. Later, there would be an NFL football strike with replacement players, and a strike at NBC stations, with replacement photographers.
HDTV was making a blip on the screen, including a demo by the National Association of Broadcasters (NAB). Eddie Fritts was president of the NAB; Mark Fowler was Chairman of the FCC.
A big sting of pizza parlors in the DC area – one of the toppings, cocaine. The feds figured the operation at about 100 lbs. per month.
I covered a KKK rally in Forsythe County, Georgia. Coretta Scott King and Andrew Young were there.
Fairfax Hospital (now Inova) had its first heart transplant. The recipient was standing in front of cameras – alive!
The name Ollie North became well-known as Iran-Contra unwound. I interviewed Col. North outside his Virginia home shortly after he had extra security installed.
NASA said it was hiring high tech people because it would be operating an international space station by 1997.
John Hinckley, Jr., shooter of President Ronald Reagan and others, was evaluated again for an outside visit. His psychiatrist said Mr. Hinckley was no longer suffering fantasies about Jodie Foster. After a lot of flack, St. Elizabeth’s withdrew its request for the visit.
Presidential candidate Sen. Gary Hart challenged reporters to follow him. Bad choice. They found, “Monkey Business,” and other things. Sen. Hart withdrew, just as his staff said the campaign had “just begun.” I was left waiting at a “breakfast spot” for a planned campaign appearance in New Hampshire.
Diplomatic relations became strained when Iraqi jet fighters killed 37 sailors aboard the USS Stark. I covered a presidential visit to mourn those sailors in Mayport, Florida, the Stark’s homeport. The base was a city of satellite trucks to disseminate the message to America and the world. The same year, the Navy Memorial opened in Washington, DC. As both an enlisted man and an officer (Vietnam Era), I was moved.
The stock market took a big tumble. No *etrade, etc. Investors watched stock prices through “eye” street tickers, or in trading rooms at local brokerages. Investors had to go to the power centers of the market, not use SmartPhones. One culprit for the market drop was computer trading by the big guys. Ironic that individuals couldn’t “computer trade” yet.
I covered an outbreak of bacterial meningitis in Staunton, (pronounced Stanton) Virginia. We used the satellite truck as an editing and transmission platform. Satellite phones (and certainly cellphones) were unreliable at the time, so we convinced a resident to allow us to hook up to her home phone to set up communications to the station. Techies will recognize this as IFB. IFB allows the reporter to hear programming and directions from the control room at appropriate times.
For traffic fans, there was a big push for an Outer Loop of the Beltway by former Congressman Mike Barnes. Not gonna happen for a long, long, long, time. 23 years later, and it's still not gonna happen for a long, long time.
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