Peter Kavanagh
STW Nine Perth, Australia
"At STW Nine,
Perth Western Australia, we do have a room set aside for camera operators.
Journalists are banned unless they are grovelling with us to come
and make them beautiful. The furniture all clashes and there are not
enough seats. I think that is management's attempt to ensure we are
not all sitting around doing nothing (heaven forbid, that is too unproductive).
There is a lounge chair which is great for helping to clear hangovers,
that is if you have time to sleep!! Although any one sitting on the
couch is advised to heed all health warnings as this couch is rumoured
to have been a casting couch and has seen more action than Devine
Brown. There is also a television "so we can monitor our competitors"
but we really just watch the in coming feeds and scan the sports channels,
MTV etc. The only other significant feature is the water cooler which
is allowed to be used by all news room staff. There is talk of banning
non camera operators from enjoying the cold water as they have not
grasped the concept of changing the container once it is empty. That
is about it really. A small room away from the news room were one
can only be contacted via the internal paging system due to mobile
phones being out of range."
Jay Murdock WYFF-TV
Greenville, SC
"Here at WYFF, we
do in fact have a photog lounge. It contains eight lockers (17 photographers,
8 lockers...hmmmm), two couches old enough to know where they were when
Kennedy was shot, a chair, a table, a half dozen copies of magazines
ranging from _Videography_ to _Computer Gaming World_ It has a TV, with
basic cable no less, a couple of rechargers for our two-way batteries,
an Atari 2600 that sometimes works, a VCR, and several "Best of" NPPA
tapes. It also smells. We're not able to identify the smell exactly,
and frankly, it's probably better that we don't try. Some things are
meant to be mysteries..."
Chuck Dennis
KHSL-TV Chico, CA
"WHAT IS THAT?
THE ONLY LOUNGE WE HAVE IS THE LIVE VANS...WE HAVE 2 AND ALL VENTING
FROM THE REPORTERS IS DONE THERE...I AM THE ONLY PHOTOG FOR 6 FIELD
REPORTERS AND SOME ANCHORS THAT DO SOME FIELD REPORTING AT TIMES....WE
USED TO HAVE 2 PHOTOGS BUT, I GUESS I TRAINED HIM TOO WELL AND HE
WENT TO TENN. OH WELL GOOD LUCK TO HIM....IN THE 3 YEARS I'VE BEEN
HERE I HAVE BEEN MOVED FROM A DESK IN THE NEWSROOM TO AN OLD EDIT
BAY AND I HAVE TO BE HONEST, ITS A NICE PLACE TO WAIT FOR THE LENS
MEAT WHEN THERE IS TIME.....IT ALSO SOUNDS A LOT BETTER THAN SOME
OF THE LOUNGES I'VE JUST READ ABOUT.. SOOOOO I WONT COMPLAIN ANY MORE.
IT SOUNDS AS IF I HAVE IT BETTER THAN MOST......"
Clint Smith
KTAL-TV Texarkana TX
"Yeah the Bureau
actually has a lounge!......actually it is the old news room, but
when the radio station the News room moved its operations to the back
of the building. The room itself is nice and roomy, about 20 x 20.
We got a TV, a couch, and a "LUV" seat ( yes used too!) and of course
our scanners. But with all those luxuries there has to be some draw
backs rite!? The thing that stands out the most if the HUGE department
store type air vent that supplies the artificial climate we have.
During the Summer it is the room to be in, at a nice 72 degrees. But
if you are in there in the winter, lord help you. I have left the
room a couple of time because of nose bleeds from the heat! The second
thing that comes to mind is that there are three photogs here. And
only two desks!....I brought my own, so remember if you ever come
to our "PIT" you have a place to store you gear or otherwise You will
be living out of a card board box!"
Keith Bubach
KCPQ-TV Seattle, WA
"The "photog lounge"
at KCPQ in Seattle consists of...well.....Hey wait a minute. We don't
have a photog lounge. It took 8 months to get a TV. The 7 photogs we
have, ya' thats right 7, don't have a lot of time to hang out and chill.
We cover the number 12 market with a staff of 7 photogs. Sure we only
have to fill one 1/2 hour show.......BUT......It is still a big challenge.
And a fun one at that...."
Steve Willing
KDKA-TV Pittsburgh, PA
"Our Photog Lounge
isn't really a lounge, it's a camera storage room with a desk, a T.V.,
and a couple of chairs in it. There's not a whole lot of opportunity
to use it as a lounge mostly because there isn't a lot of downtime.
Basically, we load up into the Jeeps, and roll for the day."
Richard Frederick
WTEN-TV Albany, NY
"My name is Richie,
photog/editor/live truck/@$#%/ with WTEN... Albany,NY. Our lounge
is called "9db lounge" and it doesn't even have a yellow chair in
it!!! But it abounds with funny odors and we have a "wall of shame"
with bad people's mugshots all over!!! We don't have lockers!! We
have cubby's and fellow photogs can easily steal your lav or battery
belt!!! We'll I think that's all you want to hear!!! best of luck!!!
Miguel A.
Mendez KVIA-TV El Paso, TX
"WE HAVE A BREAKROOM
IN THE BUILDING. IT IS AVAILABLE FOR EVERY EMPLOYEE OF THE STATION.
IT IS HARDLY EVER USED. THERE ARE VENDING MACHINES AND COFFEE MAKER
SO IF SOMEONE USES IT IS ONLY FOR A LITTLE WHILE. I KIND OF ADOPTED
THE ENGINEERING MAINTENANCE SHOP AS MY PERSONAL PHOTOG LOUNGE. OUR
ENGINEERS ARE GOOD TO WORK WITH. IT GIVES ME A CHANCE TO LEARN MORE
ABOUT THE TECHNICAL SIDE OF TELEVISION AND A CHANCE TO PICK UP A FEW
CAMERA ACCESSORIES THAT ARE LYING AROUND."
Even
More Lounges from around the Globe!
