Newmediajim In an Old Media Role, Traveling to the Middle East With the Secretary of State
July 30, 2007
boarding the Secretary of State’s plane
Today I embark on a decidedly old-media journey. I’m heading to the Middle East with the Secretary of State, that will include stops in Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Israel, and the West Bank. Once again NBC is VIP pool for this trip, which means we represent all of the US TV networks.
On this trip, I won’t be doing any video blogging. On the last trip, there was concern expressed by some of the other networks that my mini-DV footage wasn’t immediately distributed to the pool. NBC did distribute the video, and for the life of me, I cant’ imagine that my blog video will do anything other than sit in libraries unused. So for now, I’ll maintain video silence.
Besides I’ve brought work to do on the plane. It’s a long flight, and Chris Brogan reminds me that I’ve got plenty of work to do!
Sadly the NBC News family received horrifying news today. Friend, colleague, and former producer for Tom Brokaw and Brian Williams, Eric Wishnie, was killed in an accident in New York City early this morning. I’d worked with Eric on many occasions, always on extremely high pressure jobs involving anchors, Presidents, and other VIP’s. Despite the pressure cooker environment of these assignments, Eric was always extremely generous and thoughtful. I can tell you from years in the biz, at that level you don’t have to be kind. It’s just the few remaining PROS who are.
So that’s all from the flight line of Andrews AFB. The Secretary of State is on her way. Next stop, the Middle East.
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July 30th, 2007 at 12:25 pm
Sorry that we won’t get your video diary this trip. I love seeing those! As always, wishing you safe travels.
July 30th, 2007 at 12:26 pm
I’m sorry about your loss. It’s nice to know that Eric was such a kind and thoughtful person. It says a lot to the faces that TRULY make up mainstream media versus the broad brush people often paint with.
Fun to see Video on the Net pictures in your little Flickr stream thingy. : ) Reminds me of good times over there.
July 30th, 2007 at 6:29 pm
Jim, I was so sad to hear about your friend Eric. From your description of his thoughtfulness and professionalism, I can imagine that many people share your grief.
I’m very disappointed you won’t be video blogging on this trip. I always look forward to the videos from your travels.
July 30th, 2007 at 6:44 pm
Wow, Impressive, good luck on your journey!
July 31st, 2007 at 9:30 am
Have a great trip Jim! We’ll miss you, but Twitter when you can. The death of friends reminds us to keep their memories close and go at life with all we know we’ve got to give. Let them continue to inspire us. So go forth all over the planet, and be the marvelous Jim Long we all know and love, DV footage or not. The world’s a better place with you tromping right on through it!
August 3rd, 2007 at 8:54 pm
August 5th, 2007 at 2:56 pm
I’m sorry to hear that sad news. Have a safe trip.