Big Brother
is riding shotgun with the reporters and photographers at WJLA-TV
(Channel 7). The Washington area's ABC affiliate has installed global-positioning-system
equipment in all of the company-owned vehicles that its news crews
use. Station managers stress the equipment is used to dispatch crews
quickly to breaking news, not to spy on them when they are on the
road. Some staffers say the technology invades their privacy. "It's
a very uneasy feeling as you leave the building every day, knowing
that your boss knows where you are at all times," said one WJLA
photographer, who spoke on the condition of anonymity.
Allbritton
Communications Co., which owns WJLA and its sister cable network,
NewsChannel 8, completed the installation of GPS equipment in its
fleet of about 40 news vehicles late last month. No other local
television newsroom in the Washington area uses the technology,
although it is common at stations in other cities. Allbritton merged
WJLA and NewsChannel 8 in August, creating the largest local television
newsroom in Washington. The combined operation is based in Arlington
and has about 300 employees, roughly twice the amount of the typical
big-city television station. "We have a staff that is 50 percent
larger than our biggest competitor. We want to make maximum use
of it," said Christopher W. Pike, president and general manager
of WJLA and NewsChannel 8. He declined to say how much the company
spent on the GPS equipment, but stressed it was bought solely for
news-gathering purposes.
For example,
if a newsroom manager learns of a house fire in Reston, the manager
can plug the home's address into a GPS terminal and determine which
of the news crews in the field can respond fastest, Mr. Pike said.
Eventually, Allbritton wants to introduce on-air maps that will
show viewers the location of a breaking news event and the location
of the crew on its way to the scene. "It's a tremendous news-gathering
tool," Mr. Pike said. Some reporters and photographers fear the
equipment will be used against them. "We all understand we can't
take the company car to go to Ocean City for the weekend. But is
it OK to pick up milk or pizza on the way home? All of these things
were never questioned before we got the GPS system," one photographer
said. Mr. Pike would not comment on whether employees have been
disciplined because of the GPS system. Sources in the newsroom said
at least two staffers have been disciplined for using a company
car for personal use or for speeding in a company car.
The local chapter
of the National Association of Broadcast Employees and Technicians-Communications
Workers of America, the union that represents photographers and
technical workers, is proceeding cautiously. "We do not want this
to be used for disciplinary measures," said Mark Peach, the chapter's
president. The Radio Television News Directors Association, an industry
trade group, could not provide statistics on the number of television
stations that use GPS. The association's chairman, Dave Busiek,
who is news director of the CBS affiliate in Des Moines, Iowa, said
his station uses GPS primarily to dispatch crews to the severe storms
that are common in his area. "I don't even know how to use the darn
thing. The weather folks use it," he said. Mr. Keating, the executive
director of the privacy rights organization, said it is "ironic"
that local television journalists are complaining about GPS. Local
television news is known for "gotcha" stories that catch public
workers goofing off. "It's like the classic local TV news story,"
he said.
