Richard D. Yoakam
Indiana University
1997 Oral History Interview, Tape 3 of 5
(full interview was apparently on five separate tapes. We haven’t found Tape 1.)
00:44 Q -is there less substance in TV news packages
-I need the definition of substance….
01:22 in 1975, we had one version of the story on the 6pm news and that was it
-follow up comes the next day
In 1997, so many different versions of that story, charts, graphs, follow ups and
different angles throughout the day
02:45 so much easier to tell a story w/ today’s technology
03:15 so much crime news because it’s easy
-too many stations take the easy way and focus on easy crime stories
04:00 how the network affiliates across the country share the top stories
-you can pick your fav crime stories around the country
Q -mixing entertainment and news
05:25 I don’t like the stations covering their own network programming on the news
06:05 some news is entertaining, no one says news should be dull
Q -Princess Diana death
06:55 I really loved BBC coverage of her funeral. Sounds like a snobby thing, but it’s not.
-new technology allows me to see the BBC, because CSPAN provided the feed
-the announcers let the story unfold in front of you, via images and sounds
08:25 -American broadcasters talked way too much, as if audience needed to know what story was
Q – tabloid journalism
09:44 Inside Edition, etc. try hard to look like news.. tabloid news,
-I guess it’s news, one more option to watch
-don’t know if audience knows the difference, that worries me
11:32 Q is this the reason for the dumbing down of America
11:55 I think it is a bit dangerous to get so sociological about this
-I don’t know if we are dumbing down the news… need good content analyses
-we really don’t know how much of specific types of news are offered
-need much more research
Q -IU Memories, good times as professor
13:45 Always been very grateful for what IU has done for me
14:40 *****they let me do what I could do best. No one came around and told me how to do it-I spent more time taking stuff out of classes instead of putting it in
-I’ve had a great time as a teacher, the students make you young
16:55 ****Remembers listening as students went into studio for newscast but one person had to stay behind to keep an eye on teletype
-Byron Smith was left behind…but he was blind. Best typist and best audio editor
they had
Byron came into Yoakam’s office and said, crazy place you have here. They got a blind guy watching the wire, soon they’ll have a deaf guy listening for the bells
17:30 another Byron Smith story. Byron drove his fellow students home because they were all drunk -that is togetherness, that is bonding
19:00 Little 500 broadcast
-had students all around the track, interviews, etc
-great moments on thos broadcasts
-John Gutowsky said “ah the sweet smell of success has come from the Psi Phi pits”
20:30 -****Bob Hope was at Little 500 and would be in pace car. Marilyn Schultz, now at UT-Austin was going to interview him while they were going around the track
-WFIU engineers came up with a portable wireless mic w/ an antenna wire, but it wasn’t working as the pace car went around the track
A student leaned out the press box and yelled “Marilyn, you’re sitting on your antenna”
Q- talk about the old Radio-TV building prior to ‘64
21:50 WFIU was off the air once for 4 minutes because student opened up back of transmitter looking for a broom
-Arnold Hahn, engineer.. he wrote that up
24:00 Elmer Sulzer got an old fashioned theater organ and put it in the studio
-that was part of old school radio, but no one else cared
-it did get moved to new building but nobody cared but him
25:10 Elmer’s dream was building the Radio-TV building.. he made it happen
-faculty went over blueprints during facuty meetings
-LeRoy Bannerman asked if they could make a change in audio area
26:34 Old building was a Quonset hut from WW2. You could hear toilets flushing on WFIU because it there was little sound proofing
Q-Purple Poop
27:33 ***Idea was to hold students noses close so they knew what happened
-this was RY’s critique of student broadcasts. Wrote it like a newspaper “Purple
Poop.”
-controversial to criticize students in class. RY didn’t agree. Don’t take it personally. This is professional criticism…have to get ready for this in your career
-I’d hang it on the wall
-everybody’s mistakes and praise for all to see
29:40 called Purple Poop because of ditto machines printed in that color
-information, clarity, short sentences, have some fun
31:00 end of tape