Saw part of a program on KOIN (6) tonight. Caught it in passing. They were running file footage of the Newsroom 6 telecast the afternoon of 18 May 1980.
Talk about memories rushing back.
The indomitable Mike Donahue was helming the newscast then. He seems preternaturally young, a kind of Portland version of Dick Clark. He's been with KOIN over 20 years. In this broadcast he looked like a teenager, and with that transitional '70s-'80s hairstyle, he looked rather like a believeable version of Ashton Kutcher. We should all get the chance to look as good and age as well as him.
Bill Diez gave a report on the Toutle mudflows filmed at several of the bridges. He looked even younger than Donahue did. If anyone remembers him from his last broadcast stint, KOIN morning news traffic reporter ("and, at the ODOT Traffic Command Center, I'm Bill Diez") the difference is remarkable. His 'fro, while well within broadcast standards, was funny, at this remove of years.
Those who were watching during those days will remember Newsroom 6's set paradigm; the working newsroom, reporters busy at tasks even while the news was in production. I liked it. It gave KOIN an air of seriousness and dynamism that the Channel 2 and 8 didn't have. I miss it. In the background I saw Wayne Faligowski making phone calls.
The other reports showed the big peak a-pumping out her plume, and film from Yakima which, as one may or may not remember, was as dark as night in the middle of the day. It was to be the first day of months of dealing with volcanic ash, a travail we in Oregon were fortunate to avoid.
I hope they rebroadcast it. It was great fun to watch.
By Samuel John Klein of Portland, Oregon - Graphic Designer without Portfolio, aspiring artist who dawdled too long.
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