Transcript
Speaker: The voice of growth, mastering the mind and market.
Speaker: And i went down there and changed my major the very next day after being in that TV studio for an hour shooting a commercial. So those first six years of my career, small market TV where you do everything. I was producing, I was shooting video, I was writing, I was editing.
Speaker: That's to me the biggest concern. I mean, finding the ultimate truth. And now with AI coming into play, I don't know where we're going to be in five years.
Speaker: We cannot lose that human element of compassion that I do care about what I'm talking about. It's it's heartfelt.
Speaker: Without integrity and trust, I don't have a job. And so I made a post specifically to address your question. This is why we do what we do. The old way of doing journalism is still very important.
Speaker: And that really rocked me my core too. I wish people would kind of embrace the differences and learn from them instead of focus on them. Because when you really break it down, all we want to be is happy and successful and have a loving family and friendships.
Speaker: Yeah, see, I get excited talking about it. When you look at your history, your foundation, your background, what was it that made you say, this is where I'm going to be?
Speaker: This is where I'm supposed to be. It actually happened in college. um I was working at a scuba shop. I went to Mesa State College in Grand Junction. And was in the shop one day and my boss walks in and he goes, we're going to shoot a commercial. Do you want to be in it?
Speaker: And I was like, absolutely. I get to be on TV. And at the time I was majoring in, what was that? I changed my major six times in college. So at the time i would think, i believe it was business management.
Speaker: And so we go down to the TV station and it was KJCT in Grand Junction. And I walked in and got to see the new set, got to stand in front of the green screen, started talking to the photographer who I recognized from college. I just smaller college. He starts to tell me all about broadcast journalism. That's what he was majoring in. And I went down there and changed my major the very next day after being in that TV studio for an hour shooting a commercial. And I just felt it. Walking through the newsroom, getting to meet the news anchors, the news reporters. And even before that, looking back, like when I was a kid, my dad had a video camera. I mean, we're talking to the early And I was playing Little League. And my dad, it was a big camera. Up here with the cord going down to the box, holding the VHS tape. Yeah.
Speaker: And I remember just kind of pushing my brother out of the way when we were making videos at home. i wanted to hold the microphone. So even before college, when I think back of my kids, my ah younger age growing up, I remember just really liking to be on camera.
Speaker: So and then it was solidified and I changed my major and it was full bore head. I just I love learning. I mean, ever since I was a kid, I remember my dad telling me, you sure ask a lot of questions, but don't ever stop. And I still continue to ask questions. Yeah, I know. And, i ah you know, I followed you for a number of years. And I think that.
Speaker: You're obviously very smart, you're very driven, but you're also very curious. yeah And that curiosity comes out in your professionalism too. I mean, you're asking the right questions.
Speaker: This is why this is so interesting because you're now on the other side. know, this this is weird. Right? Why not answer the questions? Yeah, exactly. I'm asking the questions. And, and you know, this is an interesting format because i like it on the other side of that table. We've had CEOs of, for instance, the former CEO of Macy's was in the podcast. We have all these folks, but I've never had somebody in the media world like like you.
Speaker: um What changes have you seen the from where you started to now? Anything that has really changed? Massive. I mean, when I first started, we were still on typewriters. I started my internship at KREX TV in Grand Junction. And this was this goes back to 93, 94, 93. And so we had typewriters and ah five copy page, you know, where they had the carbon paper in the middle. So we had to sit there and type up your scripts on a typewriter, rip them apart, give one to the director, give one to the teleprompter, which was a conveyor belt with a camera on it. All of this has changed yeah rapidly. And so when I graduated college in 96, I went to Mankato, Minnesota, and we had computers and we had to a webpage. And I remember being excited because my bio was on the webpage. And I remember printing it out and mailing it to my family. Look, I've got a bio on the web.
Speaker: And so that's right off the bat. But now with artificial intelligence and social media, I remember, you know, Twitter, when Twitter first came out, I thought, what's the big deal? You know, but then I remember finding out that Michael Jackson died through Twitter. yeah And that was when I clicked like, wow, this is a big deal. Yeah. And now with AI coming into play,
Speaker: I don't know where we're going to be in five years. I mean, it's already difficult at times to find the original source of information, unless I'm the one doing the interview with the person, the source themselves.
Speaker: ah That's, to me, the biggest concern. I mean, finding the ultimate truth. And I think it's going to get more and more difficult as videos come out with AI technology, voices. How do I know I'm, mean, to me, unless you're doing it one-on-one like you and I right now, yeah old school,
Speaker: um How are you going to know where the source is? Exactly. I have a friend who does voiceovers as kind of like a side gig. yeah And he was explaining to me, he's actually going to help me with with doing a new voiceover for our intro.
Speaker: And what he did is he loaded up his entire, he read this paragraph into this program. And from that, the program will is you now. You can just give it any text you want. yeah It'll read it just like it's you.
Speaker: and he actually played, he he recorded himself on one thing and had this tool recorded on another thing. showed it to his wife. Yeah. And his wife couldn't tell. Couldn't tell. See, that's scary. Because if the wife can't tell, the spouse can't tell, how's a reporter going to tell? And, you know, we do phone interviews every once in a while.
Speaker: um And a lot of Zoom now. I mean, since COVID, exactly that changed the way we did news. Because we would always go out on, you know, meet somebody at their house, meet somebody at their office to do the one-on-one interview. But now Zoom and Teams and all these different ways to do video. And, yeah, it makes life easier because you don't have to drive, you don't have to do all this. But...
Speaker: You know, I guess I've still got some of the old school in me because i I want to be out. I love to meet people. I love to talk to them. I'm sure you do, too. That's why I do this podcast. And just kind of the old school, just sitting down and talking. Because to me, that's when you can learn so much. Just talk and learn from each other. I did a podcast that released ah last week about...
Speaker: the um the advantages that you need to have in the world of AI. And it's all about leaning into your humanness. Yeah. Because there's things that AI is going to just crush the world in, and there's things it will never be able to touch. can't replicate a human. You can't replicate a human. To the 110%. Yeah, exactly. So you've been in the news industry, you've been in media.
Speaker: What would you say is um what separates those that survive and thrive with those that just don't cut it. Yeah, over the years, I've had a lot of friends get out of the business. It can be brutal in the beginning. I mean, youre you don't pay you don't get paid hardly anything in the very beginning. It takes a long time to build up to you to survive. ate a lot of hot dogs and Top Ramen in the first several years of my career. And you move around a lot because you have to get the start. Well, when I was getting started, you had to get the start in the small markets. Like I started in Grand Junction, Colorado. in a TV station that used to be a house, and they converted into TV station. Then I went to Mankato, Minnesota, uh, and making 21 grand a year, and I thought I was high on the hog right out of college. yeah And then Yuma, Arizona, from there, I was in Yuma for two and a half years. So those first six years of my career, small market TV where you do everything. I was producing, I was shooting video, I was writing, I was editing.
Speaker: Um, going out, one-man band, we call it, you know, Now it's MMJ, Multimedia Journalist. yeah That's a one-man band. yeah And so those first few years, unless you've really got it in your blood, you're going to get burned out. And I had it. and I mean, i I still shoot video. I mean, i if I hear breaking news and I'm close by, I'll go shoot video. I just i love being out in the center of it all. I love being at crime scenes and just...
Speaker: I like to know that I'm there and that I can tell other people about it. um And so, you know, whether it's traffic impacts or just something of of huge news, I want to be the one to tell you.
Speaker: And so I think what kept me in it all was just the love of it, the passion. um And, you know, my dad and grandma and my mom all had really good work ethic. Yeah.
Speaker: And even before I got into TV, I was a wildland firefighter. You know, that was hard work. And so to me, if I'm not out, but you know, with a big pack on my back full of water or my gear, I'm in sitting down typing. So I always remind myself, hey, I'm not out digging a ditch. I'm i'm in an air conditioned newsroom most of the time. And I don't, I just can't complain. yeah mean, I, I feel very blessed and fortunate to have my job.
Speaker: So if you're, obviously you're speaking to thousands, tens of thousands, maybe hundreds of thousands of people when you're on the news and on these platforms. Yeah. How do you keep cool under pressure? Because I know that you've had to deliver some pretty messed up news yeah and things that have gotten you. I mean, how do you deal with that? One of the things that people ask me, what's a difficult?
Speaker: I remember this goes back. My son's 27. So this is 20 years ago. i was in the newsroom at the time. i was the weekend anchor and heard about a fatal rollover on I-10.
Speaker: So I jump in the news unit, grab a camera, and I go up there to shoot the video. And I get there, and it's a rollover. I can see stuffed animals in the road. And I thought, oh, man. But I'm thinking, I knew it was a fatal. And so I'm thinking the driver died. And one of my buddies was an Avra Valley firefighter at the time.
Speaker: i see him. I say, hey, can you give me some info? He goes, yeah, a seven-year-old boy was killed. And at the time, my son was seven. Oh, God. And I remember sitting there and I see them load up his body on the stretcher and his little arm fell out.
Speaker: And man, I actually lost it right there because that was my son's age. And I'm thinking to myself, his family's probably just driving down the interstate, singing songs, talking. A blowout tire leads to instant tragedy.
Speaker: So um I always put myself in the family of the victims because I think that's so important. We cannot lose that human element of compassion. passion of just We're all neighbors. i mean, we all live in Tucson, and I like to think of us as the two degrees of separation, not the six degrees in Tucson.
Speaker: And so I think and that's something that i I want everybody to realize. You know, and I'm just just not some robot. I don't care. I do care. i mean, I live here. I work here. My two youngest sons were born here. My oldest son was born in Yuma. i mean, my roots run deep. I've been here for 27 years now. And um I just want people know that I do care about what I'm talking about. And it's heartfelt.
Speaker: Well, I know being being at the apex of the community's media world, I'm sure you also get a lot of people that just try to bust your chops. Every day. Just go down my Facebook ah feed. And, you know, it used to bother me. I mean, i would be like, why do people got to be so mean? You know, especially in the beginning. But now it's like water off a duck's back. I i think why is somebody, what makes this person think it's okay to get on and just to not only attack me, they attack people leaving comments on my page.
Speaker: And, you know, sometimes I think, well, misery loves company. and something's going on in their life. And then you just got people who want to be a troll. yeah And why would I even care about that? And like I said, in the beginning it did, but now I've got actually, I posted every once in a while as reminder, I'm sitting in my backyard with my feet up on the table with a,
Speaker: beverage in hand, with my hat over my hand. is like, this is my response to keyboard warriors. yeah I really don't care. And it's kind of a nice way to, reach it's nice when you can reach that point in your life. yeah There's so many more important things to worry about. and for sure And I'm not going to worry about some stranger's comment on my page. exactly And to be honest with you, it's kind of nice because I have a lot of people just come to my defense. I don't even have to say anything anymore. it's really good How do you define integrity?
Speaker: Uh, well, I'm- Because that's important in the news, right? It is. Metal in the news, but you're obviously a father. You've got yeah boys that you're raising to men and all that. I mean, integrity is such an important thing. It is. And I kind of want to go back to my dad, my grandma. I mean, my grandma was like a second mom to me, small town, Oklahoma. I spent my first half my childhood in San Diego. My dad was a native and then went to Oklahoma. where a man's handshake is better than his word. You know, if you tell somebody you're going to do something, you do it. And I was raised that way through my dad, through my grandma, my mom, my uncle Wes.
Speaker: And, um, and, you know, I think a lot of the morals come from the Bible, um, raised, I was in D-Malay all throughout high school. Uh, and, and just, I just believe that you say you're going to do it, you got to do it. And integrity, I think comes from the heart. I mean, I, I don't want to disappoint people. Like, I believe in raising my sons to do the same thing. I mean, this morning on the way to school, we were having this conversation. Because my son didn't do one of his homework assignments, and he told me he would. yeah i was like, buddy, you told me you would. and when you tell me something, you have to keep your word. yeah
Speaker: And without without integrity and trust, I don't have a job. yeah i mean, if people don't trust me, why are they going to listen to what I have to say? And it's something I'm i'm very cognitive of. cognitive of um I want people to trust me and I don't want to do anything to harm that. yeah And so I think of it every, I mean, when I, even if it comes down to a simple post on Facebook, I think I'm very aware of what I'm doing and I'm aware of my surroundings. If I go out and about, if I want to go hang out with my buddies, you know, I have to be aware of what I'm doing.
Speaker: You see the full spectrum of society in your in your role. yeah You see the best in people, you see the worst in people, um you see people that are struggling, people that are succeeding, you see it all and you're in this unique position.
Speaker: um How does that viewpoint shape your world? I mean, I'm sure it affects you. I'm sure it gives you pride. But how does it affect you day to day? um it always remember It always reminds me that I'm just very lucky to where I am right now. I mean, I i have a job that I love. I'm living in a city that I love.
Speaker: And, you know, when my kids were younger, and I still do this, I will go to other parts of town and and park and walk through and just say, hey, look, look where we live and look where how other people live and just be aware. And my oldest son works at Gospel Rescue Mission. And so we i volunteer there multiple times a year just to remember that not everybody has it so lucky in life. And they've been delivered... some maybe some horrible tragic events in their lives that have led into this. i mean homelessness.
Speaker: um And when you really start to, and I enjoy talking to anybody and everybody. And i I like to go downtown. And so over the years I've i've talked to probably two, three hundred different homeless folks where I've actually, not just on camera, yeah it's just walking around downtown. And um and then working at, ah volunteering at the Gospel Rescue Mission.
Speaker: um It really makes me realize that if we all just kind of pitch in we could make a big difference. yeah And it's not always giving money. If you can't afford it, you can give your time. yeah And volunteering, I think, is one of the best things we can do to give back.
Speaker: It makes you realize how much we have it and how much you can really help. And it's just time. Yeah, I totally agree. Tell us about Dan's Car Wash. Oh, that was awesome. That came about over a year and a half ago. And ah the girls and our big brothers and big sisters of Southern Arizona approached me and they brought it up. And I thought, absolutely, I'd love to help out. And our sister station, KPHO up in Phoenix, does the same thing. Mm-hmm.
Speaker: And so I started looking at how they do it. And and then, you know, a good year goes by. It didn't really hear much. then all of a sudden, boom, it's back. I'm like, absolutely, let's do it. and Had no idea what to expect. As I'm driving there that morning, I'm thinking, motive and what if nobody shows up? yeah I mean, we we hit it hard with promos and marketing.
Speaker: And now over, was it almost 260 cars showed up. wow There was never not a car in line exit towards the very end, the last 15 minutes. And it was incredible. It was so heartwarming. um People drove from all the way up from Catalina up north, from Corona de Tucson on the southeast side, just to come say hi and to help.
Speaker: And I said hi to anybody and everybody I could in that line. I really made it a point to say hi and thank you for coming. So we ended up raising, $32,000.
Speaker: But even more so than that was the awareness on how bigs are needed. yeah I think there were at the time, hopefully we made a little bit of an indent. I know at the time we had a few people sign up and a lot of people took the information. But over the years, I've had several good friends. ah Justin Bentley, he's been a big for 15 years. um i've I've been associated with it. And as a kid growing up in San Diego, I remember going to Big Brothers. Yeah. Um, and just, uh, I, I didn't ever have a big, I was never little, but I would go there cause some of my buddies did. And I think it's a wonderful organization and it kind of goes back to having that direct talk about having a direct impact on somebody. yeah I mean, boy, you can mentor them, show them what's good and try to show them the right way.
Speaker: Yeah. I love mentoring. I do some ah events, um, up in Phoenix and here in Tucson with universities and, You make these, I mean, we've all had scars and successes and anything you can share. This is why why I do this podcast, is to give back, to give people a perspective.
Speaker: When you and I, think we're about the same age, when you and i were growing up, you had books, you had TV, you had things, but now there's so much in social media, yeah it's just coming at you in a hundred different directions.
Speaker: So I totally get where the the volunteering and and being able to share your time comes from. yeah um If you look at your career trajectory, Where do you see yourself in 20 years?
Speaker: Uh, you know, I've always kind of wanted to run for office. Let's see, I'm 50. I just had a birthday. I'm 54. four Wow. I have to think about it now. So, uh, in 20 years, I'd be 54, 64. Wow. Hopefully I'll be retired, but, um, I've always kind of wanted to run for office, but that's also changed in the last 10 years. It's just gotten so brutal. I don't know if I want to even deal with that. I might just want to retire and just, you know, hang out with my boys and um But in 20 years, I would like to be able to say that by that time I'll be retired. I feel like I get a good another 10, 15 years. But I also, you know, my dad passed at 64.
Speaker: And I don't, I mean, that's only 10 years away from me for now. And that, man, I don't want that to be me. He had cancer and that kind of runs in the family. Skin cancer, right? Yes, it was. And he just didn't, my dad was stubborn. He was old baby boomer, old school. I remember when he was down here 2010, uh,
Speaker: I said, Dad, you need to go get this looked at. It was bad. I'm going to go down to Mexico, get some skin cream. It's like, no, you need to go to the doctor. So i'm I'm very proactive when it comes to that. I go every six months, and I'll do no more than a year. And I got something, take it off.
Speaker: But yeah, ah by that time, I'd like to be retired and just be a snowbird, actually. Escape the heat of Tucson. My family's in Colorado. and And just go hang out there in the hot months and then come back and enjoy all the cool things to do in Tucson and southern Arizona.
Speaker: What do you think is the the biggest change you've seen in Tucson over your time here? How long you been here? I've got here in 99. Okay, so, yeah. So the explosive growth in Marana, because the TV station's at I-10 and Cortero. It's in Marana. So obviously a lot of my time is spent up there. I just live a few miles from work, kind of live and work on the northwest side. So the explosive growth of Marana has been a huge thing, and in Tucson in general.
Speaker: But just, well, even driving here, coming down was a glen. Just all the cone zones, all the construction. yeah ah I feel like that gets worse as time goes on. um But I also feel like the homelessness has gotten a little bit worse as well. And, you know, even though the numbers don't always support it,
Speaker: Maybe it's just because we hear about it so much more with social media, but I also feel, even though crime is officially down, depending on which numbers you look at, and I mean, man, we still just have a lot of murders in in Tucson. And that's just unfortunate. So I think as the city has grown, you get kind of more of the bigger city problems.
Speaker: But yeah, I think that overall, oh, cost of living too. Cost of living, yeah. I used to tell people Tucson is a hidden treasure. I remember even if you go back 15 years ago, some of the homes that you could buy in that 200 to 250 range. And when I first got here in 99, the homes you could buy for that 250, 300 range were like little mini mansions.
Speaker: And now you barely, you can't even hardly find a home for that price. So yeah, the cost of living is just, it's sad to see how much it's gone. I think of my son, who's 27 and my oldest, He moved back in with me like three years ago. hu And I look at houses, you know, as investment and but opportunities for him. And now it's like, man, just stay here. Yeah, why not? and There's no reason for you to get in debt. and I don't want him to be in debt like I have been in the past.
Speaker: I filled up my truck yesterday $162 a diesel. Yeah. And I thought to myself, man, it is, it's crazy. It's getting out hand. It is. And tell me about, ah there's a particular band you like a lot, right? Oh, I don't have my necklace on. Roger Klein and Peacemakers. Klein and the Peacemakers. Tell me about, what's with the fascination? Um, my ferns make fun of me, first of all, but it all happened back in about 2006. Heather row Rose, my co-anchor, uh, and, and then no, no, Chris Pickle was still here at the time. Chris Pickle's been gone for a long time. It was Chris Pickle before Heather and her husband, Carl.
Speaker: Um, they were huge Roger Cline fans. So they were playing. was a place, I can't ever remember the name of it. It was off of Tenka Verde and Grant, where they had a lot of concerts at the time. So everybody after work, and was just, yeah, after work, we all went down there to go see a Roger Cline concert. And I'd heard their one song, because back when Gin Blossoms were kind of making it big in the late 90s in the Tempe music scene, it was really refreshments. Roger Cline was their refreshments back then. Everybody knows the world is full of stupid people. So that was his big song. And so I'd heard that song and I get down there and everybody's singing to every word. And I'm just thinking, man, these people are kind of weird. How do they know all the words or these mega fans? But the the atmosphere, the energy, like this oneness type feeling, you know, people with different bands, know what I'm talking about. When you get into a good scene and the people are having fun and everybody sing the words, I was hooked from that very first concert. And so every time I have a chance, they're gonna be here in September. get to introduce them on stage. They're gonna Rosa. So over the years, I've just gotten a little bit closer. Roger started recognizing me from the concerts, being up front, being the weird guy dancing and singing. And then I helped him out. He had a tequila. We did a cantina crawl, got him on the bus. And we went all around Tucson to all the different bars with about 50 people on the bus. And that's when I really kind of went from kind of being a fan to little bit of a buddy. And so, yeah, I mean, every chance I get to see him, I go see him. It's just the music is phenomenal. When you listen to the words, there's a lot of, you know, every time I give away a dollar two, I get three more on the way. You know, giving positive message and very positive. And you got the Mexican horns and he he's from Tucson. He was really, yeah, he was born in Tucson. His dad, Doc, has a ranch down in Sonota. And then he lives up in Tempe. And so he goes back and forth a lot. So he had the Tempe life and the ranch life. And he's fluent in Spanish, loves the Mexican culture. We go down Rocky Point every year for Circus Mexicus. That's in June. This year, again, it's going late May, early June. So I'll be down there for that, too. Nice. Yeah, see, I get excited talking about it. Yeah, your eyes just opened up on that. Roger.
Speaker: Wow. ah What would you say if you know, you have all this this new cohort of of people on social media, um this new platform of of these podcasts, you're starting to get some more lives. i have friends that do lives up and in Phoenix that and she's a big social media person. And so you have all these things happening.
Speaker: Do you see the kind of full circle to the one of the first questions, where do you see the traditional media going? with all these other things happening in in social media, things like the AI. I mean, all these things are happening already. Where do you see the actual, where do you see KLD or others like that in in the next few years? Is it gonna be a resurgence because there's more in real life things happening? Or is it gonna just change massively? Well, I think we reestablished the importance of my kind of media during Nancy Guthrie's disappearance. In the very beginning, there was so much misinformation going around. It boggled my mind. I couldn't believe people would call themselves a podcaster or YouTuber and then spread this just based on a rumor. And the biggest one on that was the Culver's incident about a week or two after the initial disappearance. It was the second time they made some detainments. They they raided that home just within a couple of miles of Nancy's home. and then they
Speaker: They surrounded that land cruiser, the Culver's from the home. Well, people were saying that somebody committed suicide. And the reason this started was because somebody took a picture of an FBI agent holding up a cover around this car.
Speaker: his reflection from the lighting was on the back windshield. Somebody saying that that was a dead body in the back of the car. And this spread like wildfire. I was getting messages at work saying, how come you're covering the suicide? Well, nobody's, we don't have that confirmed. The sheriff's department is not telling us that. The FBI is not telling us that. Where are you getting to? Well, it's on X, it's on Facebook.
Speaker: And so I made a post specifically to address your question. This is why we do what we do. Everybody's saying that there's been a suicide. That wasn't true. That post got a million, it reached a million people. So there's still that viewers want the truth, but then they're so quick to spread misinformation with a share, a retweet. Mm-hmm.
Speaker: And so the old way of doing journalism is still very important. You can't just go on the air with somebody, well, somebody told me this. Yeah. Okay, well, what if they're lying? Right. And so I think you have, that's where we're always going to have um our are standing and and how we cover news. But because the podcasters and the YouTubers, and well, I mean, you care, but there's others out there. right It's all about the click. It's all about the clickbait. Yes. And I, I can't stand clickbait.
Speaker: Yeah, no, it's it's not good for anybody. But you see, and obviously we're not going to get into politics, but you see the division oh yeah getting further and further away. I mean, being the same age, I remember growing up as a kid, you know, politically speaking, you would have the other side as your neighbor and you would just hang out and there'd be no issues. Now you see literally people that are neighbors, right?
Speaker: like Wives and husbands. Moving away or divorces or whatever because of some politics. I don't understand it. I really don't. um Because I'm always under the impression, do you really, really, really think that politician in D.C. even knows who you are, first of all? Yeah.
Speaker: And do they really, really care? I mean, you're going to lose relationships and friendships over politics? I don't understand that. It just boggles my mind.
Speaker: In your time in the news, did was there any time where you wanted to quit? yes yeah Yeah, but i I guess burnout kind of came into play a few years back.
Speaker: ah You know, just my hours can be long and just time away from my boys. And there was some just, you know, went through some personal issues, went through divorce and just that was that really kind of hurt. And I thought, man, is it because of the amount of time I spend at work? Is it my hours? Because I work late. I don't get home up till 1030. So there's seeing things that I miss after school activities because I'm at work doing the five, the four and the six o'clock newscast.
Speaker: But, i you know, I actually went to my managers and I said, look, here's what's happening. And they said, if you need to take off a couple of hours here and there to go to your Boy Scout meeting with your boys, just let us know.
Speaker: You can do it. And that was a huge help. I mean, to me, ah a strong manager is all the difference that makes it work. And when you have managers who realize the importance of family life, um that that was a huge help. So it it got me right back to where this is why I love my job. yeah and But yeah, that would be that was several years ago, and but that's all gone. i mean, knowing that all I need to do is say, hey, I need a couple hours off on Thursday. I've got a band performance for my middle son. Yeah, yeah go.
Speaker: So that has made a huge impact and brought it all back. What keeps you up at night, Dan? ah The future for my boys. i mean just all dear boys I've got three boys, 27, 11, and almost seven.
Speaker: And so, this is I remember this. I remember as a kid back in the 70s when we were having the the gas crisis and you could only go, depending on your license plate, if you had an odd number, even number, you can go get gas.
Speaker: I remember when all that was happening. And back then I was watching the news. i And um I remember laying in bed crying. And I i remember this call so because my dad remembers it. And it had such an impact on my dad. And I was crying. My dad heard me. He comes in. He goes, what's wrong? And I must have seen something on the news that day. And I didn't know how I was going to afford to live because they were talking about the inflation back in the 70s.
Speaker: And my dad said, that's not for you to worry about. I'll worry about it. i'll you're You're okay. i'll I'll pay for everything. and But that my dad told me later in life that that was a huge impact for him because he realized, hey, my my kids are depending on me. I need to step up. And my dad was always a hard worker, but it was just kind of a reinforcement for him.
Speaker: And so, yeah, if anything keeps me up, it's just the future of my boys. What's life going to be like? Everything's changing so rapidly. I don't want them to lose. I don't want them to get so consumed with all the digital stuff. I mean, we, when we have a sleepovers, they're, they're screen free.
Speaker: Like when my son's ah friends are coming over, I tell the parents, Hey, this is a screen free party. I've got a bunch of games set up in the backyard and most of them love it. a couple them like, Whoa, really?
Speaker: What are they going to do? was like, they're going to play. They're going to, they're going interact. And, uh, that, that's the biggest thing. The future of my boys, that's what keeps me up at night. Yeah, I'm kind of the same thing, same way.
Speaker: Mine are a little bit older. Mine kind of in the middle because I don't have ah i have a 19-year-old and an 18-year-old. And they're embarking, one's at the U of A, one's in high school. They're embarking in the new world for them. And there's so many things that are different than when when you and I grew up. Yeah.
Speaker: Um, but you know, the only thing constant is change and you have to adapt. Yes. Right. Um, where you, when you see your, the community, um, coming up and supporting an effort, whether it's like the Nancy Guthrie thing or whatever, um, do you think that your voice carries a lot of weight when you, when you give, um, something to the community? You know, yes. And it really came through with the Dan's Car Wash because you could only hear about that on KOLD. It was only in our air promoting it through our digital media. And to have that many people show up just because they saw it and they knew that I was going to be there, it was very humbling.
Speaker: um And it made me feel really, really good. And it also made me realize the importance of being responsible, being a good steward of our city, doing good for the city. And it was it was incredibly rewarding knowing that these people. and Here's a great example of that day. and There was a guy in a wheelchair who lived in the neighborhood who rode over to give $5. It's all he had. But he said, I saw you asking for help and I wanted to come help. $5. And he goes, I'm sorry, it's not more. It's like, man, just imagine if everybody gave $5. That's plenty.
Speaker: And it's just, I don't know. I didn't know what it was going to be that way. I really didn't. I thought people, we'll get our car washed. But to stand there with everybody, their window down, and I was approaching all the cars to say, thanks for coming. Thanks for taking time out of your day to come down here. And all the people, oh, can we take a picture? And it was just, it was incredibly heartwarming. And it makes me want to actually do more. Yeah. Just to know that together we can make a difference. I remember as a kid, there's still the people that I remember as the news anchors. Guy Atchley, Stephen White, Bud Foster. Yep. Like these are all the brand guys brand names that I had at growing up. Yeah.
Speaker: Are there any any brand name news anchors that you look up to that you're like, this guy is- Dan Rather. Dan Rather? that's who i watched all throughout school when you know when i was a younger kid paul but so i first half my childhood was san diego paul bloom was a channel seven thirty nine in san diego and when i found out i think he was a pilot my dad was a helicopter pilot so i really looked up to paul bloom and i actually emailed him maybe twenty years ago Just saying, hey, I'm a news anchor now, and I remember watching you as a kid in San Diego, and he wrote me back. wow And as an adult, I got excited. I was like, wow, Paul Bloom wrote, and I called my mom and dad at the time. My dad was still alive. i was like, remember Paul Bloom from San Diego? And they're like, yeah i go he wrote me back. And a similar situation happened with John Hook. When I first ah moved to Arizona City to get this job in 99, I watched John Hook.
Speaker: And so I wrote him a message and got to meet him um in real life, and he remembered the message I wrote him, and I thought that was neat. But now I have people who are coming up to me now, and when Guy actually announced his retirement, I actually called him in the K-Gun newsroom. Really? I said, hey, Guy, you know, I'd met him a few times over the years. He's a fellow Okie, because I moved to Oklahoma after San Diego. And I said, hey, Guy, know, congratulations. You've made such an impact in Tucson. and people are going to really miss you. I said, you know what this means now? And he goes, what's that? I go, I'm going to be the old guy now.
Speaker: So, and Bud Foster, i love working with him. He's he's pretty much retired now, yeah but he did come back to the station when Raul Grijalva passed away. And to give you an idea of what Bud is like, when he walked in the newsroom,
Speaker: He had people lined up waiting to say hi. And these are coworkers. And I hadn't seen him for a few months. And things really changed during COVID. He was working a lot from home, so didn't get to see him a lot. But when Bud walks into the room, man, you you want to say hi and you want to listen. that He's covered so much politics over the years, and he remembers so many things. And he's just a walking encyclopedia when it comes to local issues.
Speaker: So yeah, pretty neat. Nice. Nice to work with those guys. Yeah. Well, as we round out the podcast here, i want to, I have only a few more questions. yes One of those is, um, what drives you?
Speaker: What is your inner light? what What gives you, you've got tremendous energy. You have a thirst for life. We talked about your curiosity. You're father, you're a member of the community. Like, what is your, do you have one thing that's your core?
Speaker: Oh, that's a great question. What drives me? What makes me excited? You know, my first answer is just life. I mean, I wake up happy. I'm still alive. um Over the years, I've lost some really close people, and it just reminds me that we're not guaranteed tomorrow. I mean, we lost a co-worker. It's been a year and a half ago, Anna Orsini. She was a morning anchor, and she had a brain aneurysm, and she was very full of life. Yeah, duh.
Speaker: To get that phone call, that was that was horrible. And she was only 28. And we were really close. I mean, she was so much fun to be around. And that really rocked me to my core, too. And so those days where I don't feel like doing a whole lot, i just got to remind myself, man...
Speaker: You can't feel this way. Just to be six feet above the ground is a blessing in itself. You know, I'm a believer. And so i I try to live right for that. yeah I want to have, you know, internal paradise and heaven. And I want to see my family and friends again. And so that would probably be my driving force. Just really don't take anything for granted. Don't sweat the small stuff.
Speaker: You know, even when when I was driving over here, it's like a 40-minute drive. And I thought, oh. But then I thought, i I get to be in a different neighborhood. i'm not over here every day. And I love where you are. And I just, I like seeing different parts. And so after here, I'm probably going to go park my truck and go walk around just to see the different parts of Tucson. I love Tucson that way. One thing about Tucson, it's so compartmentalized.
Speaker: I mean, you got downtown, you got the south side, you got the northwest side, you got the foothills, the west side. And it's just so, just they're little pockets of Tucson. But ah yeah overall, we're still Tucson, man. We're the old pueblo. and i wish people would kind of embrace the differences and learn from them instead of focus on them. Because when you really break it down, all we want to be is happy and successful and have a loving family and friendships. And I think if people would just remember that instead of getting focused on our differences... we'd be a lot happier.
Speaker: Yeah. I think you and I share a lot of the same philosophy. I'm exactly the same way. We actually go to restaurants and in random places like, Hey, let's go to Saguaro Corners, some random place, right? Or let's go to the barnyard or let's go to the Northwest side to the old father inn or something random because we're not usually there. yeah And, uh, as far as, as the, you know, um, co-worker who passed and then, that sort of thing. Obviously, you know, sorry for that and for your loss, because I know that it can be sudden.
Speaker: And, um you know, part of this podcast is about stoicism, you know, memento mori, which means remember you will die. And it's not meant to be morbid. It's meant to be enlightening and give gratitude. You know, every morning when I wake up, I spend the first minute giving gratitude. I'm i'm alive. I have All this to look forward to. And I get excited just at life. I kind of like feed my own fire by doing so. And I think it's important to do that in the morning too, because, ah you know, I'll be honest, after Anna passed, I got kind of in a dark spot where why? just didn't seem fair.
Speaker: And so I was just not, get I'd get up, take the boys to school, go home back home and just get back in bed. And that lasted for several weeks. And it was a buddy mine like, man, just get out of the house. Go out in your back. i mean, like where you are now, just go out and listen to the birds and just be thankful for being alive. And so, yeah, I do the same thing yesterday. I went out to El Rio Preserve just to walk around the water. I think being being outside is something I really, really enjoy because, you know, being cooped up at home, being cooped up in the newsroom. I think it's very important. And my dad, I remember my dad saying this.
Speaker: We always were having fun as long as we were outside. And now know and it's I have to be aware. I mean, I can get stuck on my phone for hours at a time. Yeah. Next thing you know, you're down the algorithm on YouTube watching all these videos. And I've been on the phone for an hour and a half. What did I do? I was glued to this little tiny screen and I didn't get anything accomplished.
Speaker: And so I have to remind myself and in order for me to break that, I put my phone in my bathroom now so I don't have it right next to my head and get on the phone and just fall asleep to it. And so I think there's intentional things we can do to help us get away from that. Yeah.
Speaker: Well, Dan, this has been in very informative. It's been a lot of fun. Thanks. Yeah, I agree. Nice getting to know you. Yeah, you too. Certainly, I'll be keeping my eye out for your news and to see ah where your career goes from here. So I appreciate your time. Thanks. Yeah. Cheers. This was fun.
