Where Are They Now?

Background: Originally published June 21, 2006. During the years that I wrote a newspaper column, I would occasionally write a "Where are they now?" column, profiling the whereabouts of different southern Oregon journalists who had moved on to greener pastures. This particular column was written more than seven years ago, so all of the information is now dated. However, it provides a snapshot in time of where broadcasters who began their careers in Roseburg ended up going.

     I used to keep a flow-chart of all the news staff at KPIC-TV, as the station evolved from a one-person to a four-person news department over the years. I ceased the practice about the time that I left KPIC in 1999. For one thing, I ran out of space on my three-foot long sheet of paper.
     But my column from two weeks ago, "four station press conference," prodded my curiosity once again. Where have people gone, and do they remember their humble beginnings in Douglas County? (Sidebar: The four station press conference was one of the only times in my life, that I can recall as many as four television stations covering a press conference in Roseburg....not including the sensational court cases that attracted the Portland stations. The press conference involved Douglas County Commissioner Doug Robertson announcing the county would not impose garbage dumping fees. The reporters present included myself (KLSR-TV), Jan Boyd (KOBI-TV), Douglas Mott (KMTR-TV), and Roland Beres (KPIC-TV).)
     Roland Beres is now a morning anchor at WKOW-TV in Madison, Wisconsin. His biography on the WKOW website credits "his start anchoring the 11 o'clock news at a bureau in Roseburg, Oregon back in 1990."
     Bureau? Technically, KPIC is a full-power station because it produces its own separate local news block (separate from KVAL) and the station has its own sales and engineering staff, separate from KVAL. A bureau by definition is an extension of  a news department in another city. ABC news has a bureau in London. KOBI-TV has a bureau inside the Grants Pass Daily Courier. Etc. But I won't split hairs. At least Roland gives credit to KPIC.
     David Springer, who preceded Dan Bain as KPIC's 6:00p.m. anchor, also pays tribute to the Umpqua Valley in his biography on the News12 website from Connecticut. "I began my career at KPIC-TV in Roseburg, Oregon in 1991. From Senator Bob Packwood to the spotted owl, that's where I received my real education in TV news."
     Other big-city journalists proudly proclaim their first jobs in Roseburg. San Diego's news and sports anchor John Howard says the following on KFMB's website: "John's first job after college was in Roseburg, Oregon. He worked as a reporter/anchor at KPIC-TV, and was soon promoted to news director."
     However, some people have more important things to write on their website biographies. Mitch Truswell is now the morning anchor at KVBC in Las Vegas. His background profile on the website is limited to his six years spent as a weekend anchor in Phoenix, but Mitch makes no mention of his time working in Sacramento, his three years at KTVL in Medford, or the one year he spent in his first job at KPIC in Roseburg.
     I tried to see if former KPIC 5:00p.m. anchor Gemma Gaudette listed her beginnings in Roseburg. But unfortunately, her website bio is no longer posted after the Tampa station she was working at re-arranged their staff. Gemma was their morning anchor until earlier this year.
     I did find one common thread among the website bios of former Douglas County broadcasters. The ones who grew up in, or had family in small towns (Roland Beres in Eugene, David Springer in Roseburg, Gemma Gaudette in Coos Bay) usually held a prominent role for the experience they obtained in Roseburg. Those who grew up in larger cities (Mitch Truswell in Portland) typically overlooked their first broadcasting jobs in their biographies.
     Most former KPIC employees are difficult to find when doing a google search on the internet. Many of them left the broadcasting profession long ago. Former KPIC News Director Jerry Drelling now has a public relations consulting business in Hawaii. Former KPIC News Director Marleen Eitzen is now the associate director of public relations and development at Montana State University. Still others are impossible to trace altogether online. Try finding Mike Costa on the world wide web and track down the only one who worked in Roseburg!
     As for me and my website biography....well, I'm still working in southern Oregon, but I proudly give credit to all the stations in Roseburg, Eugene, Medford, and Coos Bay where I've worked over the years.