Dispatches from Afghanistan
Fundraiser at Eola Hills Winery for Newsman's Journey
Event: 10/13/06

Never before has technology afforded the connection to our troops like today. Several compelling stories about Oregon soldiers will be produced every week in Afghanistan and published on Salem-News.com.

Salem-News.com

(SALEM) - Photojournalist/Reporter Tim King, of Salem-News.com and formerly of KATU in Portland, is going to Afghanistan to produce stories about Oregon troops. This local news mission will cause people to see war from a different vantage point in the coming weeks. The community is invited to Eola Hills Winery (501 South Pacific Highway 99W, Rickreall, OR) on Friday, October 13th from 5:00 to­ 8:00 PM to support Dispatches from Afghanistan. King is leaving at the end of October to embed with the National Guard¹s 41st Combat Brigade in Afghanistan, and will be involved in the Combined Joint Task Force Phoenix for several weeks. News is a service to the community, and Salem-News.com is dedicated to taking that responsibility seriously, producing stories about local people while they are in the theatre of war, bringing them closer to home, for their family and friends. Salem-News.com is a locally owned company that believes in the integrity of good journalism. The news site has been on the air for more than two years and has a viewership of over 4,400 unique visitors daily. It is a highly ranked Website that is part of the worldwide Google News program. The news site has no TV station or Newspaper "parent" to depend on to fund this important mission. There are a number of costs that are fairly substantial, and contributions are accepted with appreciation, and that¹s also where Eola Hills Winery stepped in. Taste local wines and help get stories about local soldiers out to people. Network news agencies have steadily decreased their coverage of international news over the last 20 years, but journalists like Tim King understand the value of "being there". Our troops may be out of sight, but they are not out of mind, and Salem-News.com will do what they can to keep them in the forefront. Eola Hills Winery in Rickreall graciously offered to host the wine-tasting event to help raise funds for this worthy cause. There will be a silent auction, hors d¹oeuvres, and a tour guide for those interested in watching the wine crush, as it is in full swing right now. All are welcome to attend, but please RSVP soon. While in Afghanistan, Tim King will spend time with as many different aspects of the Guard's operations as time and space allow. The news reports will represent some of the most current war coverage available, and will benefit Oregon's soldiers who will enjoy sharing their experiences with those "back home". Never before has technology afforded the connection to our troops like today. Several compelling stories about Oregon soldiers will be produced every week and published on Salem-News.com, and King's footage may also be available via other news agencies. To support positive stories being told of Oregon's men and women in the National Guard, attend the Dispatches from Afghanistan Wine-tasting event on Friday the 13th. Please RSVP: 503-375-9079, 1-800-291-6730, or email: bonnie@salem-news.com Monetary and other contributions needed for the mission are being accepted prior to and following the wine tasting. If you have any questions, please contact Salem-News.com at newsroom@salem-news.com =================================================== Bonnie King, General Manager Salem-News.com Email: bonnie@salem-news.com office: 503-375-9079 =================================================== Tim King began working in television news in March of 1988. During this time period there was a cable TV station on the Oregon coast, based in Lincoln City, called TV10. This station produced a half-hour evening newscast that Tim was hired to anchor. Tim replaced a news anchor named Mark Berryhill of Lincoln City, who today is the Vice President of News & Marketing for the Meredith Corporation, the group that owns among many other companies, Channel 12 and Channel 49 in Portland, Oregon. At TV10 Tim learned the ropes of reporting and anchoring, photography and editing. It was a good start for a long career in electronic journalism. Roger Robertson of Lincoln City, the owner of TV10, saw potential in Tim and hired him as an anchor with no experience in TV of any kind. Tim's next move led him to the radio station combo in Lincoln City, KBCH AM 1400 and KCRF 96.7/98.3 FM. Tim was originally hired as a disc jockey for KBCH on the 6:00 PM to midnight shift, then moved to overnight disc jockey on both stations which were simulcast from 12:00 AM to 6:00 AM. After working as a DJ, Tim became the News Director of the two stations, and began a regimented routine covering the news for local central coast radio listeners and the Oregon Associated Press. Tim won the 1991 Oregon AP Cooperation award for sharing news stories while working as the News Director of KBCH/KCRF. It was during this time that Tim became very interested in the story of a crashed World War Two bomber at Oregon's Cape Lookout. After learning that there was a sole survivor, and that he was still alive, Tim and Bonnie King made a decision to create a half-hour documentary on the crashed bomber and the story of her only survivor. Three years later that program, Fallen Fortress at Cape Lookout, aired on Oregon Public Broadcasting. After KBCH/KCRF, Tim went to work for KLYC AM 1260 Radio in McMinnville, where he became the News Director for the only radio station in Oregon's Yamhill County. KLYC was an automated radio station and very high tech in the early 1990's. This was Tim's first time working with "non-linear" computer broadcast equipment. KLYC is the place that launched Tim's interest in paranormal research, and introduced him to on-site "ghosthunting" which is something he and his equipment have spent considerable time doing in the years since. After wrapping up Fallen Fortress at Cape Lookout, Tim took a position working at KYMA, the NBC station in Yuma, Arizona where Mark Berryhill was serving as News Director. Here Tim had all kinds of interesting news reporting experiences, many on the other side of the international border. In fact, Tim earned several Arizona Associated Press Awards for his work here between 1995 and 1996, and one was for a report shot in Mexico. Tim's interest in military aviation, dating back to his own years as a young Marine based at the El Toro Marine Corps Air Station, took a huge leap forward in Yuma, where Tim covered Marine Air operations, and a number of military aircraft crashes. He also did a series on Southwest U.S. aviation history, and a special report where he flew wing to wing in a Lear Jet with a Russian MiG fighter. After two years in Yuma, Tim was offered a position as a Photojournalist at the Las Vegas NBC station, KVBC. This is one of those stations where the news crews never stop running, and Tim ran hard during his year with this station reporting on things like SWAT scenes, murders, and even a nuclear test. While working for KVBC, Tim also worked as a reporter and operated the station's flagship live truck. Many Las Vegas NBC newscasts utilized Tim's live shots for the majority of 1997. Tim and his crew were the first people to interview Evander Holyfield after the infamous Mike Tyson ear-biting incident in Las Vegas. He set up a live shot at a hospital exit that 75 or so other media people on hand didn't know about, and earned the Electronic Media Association 1st Place Award in Spot News for 1997 for getting a live interview off the ground with Holyfield under nearly impossible conditions. One morning in the summer of '97, Tim was sent down to meet a man who was about to turn himself in for murder. The man explained that he had killed a woman with his vehicle and that he was very remorseful. After the interview, Tim followed the man into the police station at Las Vegas City Hall where the wanted suspect said, "I'm here to turn myself in for homicide." Even in Las Vegas, some things raise an eyebrow, and this was one of them. But after the man was taken away, Tim suddenly remembered that the man was wearing his wireless microphone. Officers brought him back out so Tim could unwire him and hang onto the $500+ mic. That was a day in the life for Tim King in Las Vegas. But this is also the place where Tim discovered the dark side of TV news. Failing to get along with the certain policies of the management, Tim's last stand was his refusal to add a "rape reenactment" sequence to a story about a serial rapist on the loose. Tim told the Las Vegas NBC station good bye. The day Tim quit KVBC, an offer rolled his way from a friend named Gwen Castaldi who had recently been named News Director for the new start up news operation at the Las Vegas market station, KVVU FOX-5. Tim joined the charter team that rolled out the first news programs on that station in many years. This was 1998, when Rupert Murdoch directed all FOX affiliates to start doing news. Tim worked as a Photojournalist/Reporter for the station after initially being hired as an Assignment Editor. So Tim and all of the news staff were provided with the latest TV news equipment, and Tim started driving the station’s unique Hummer live truck called “Desert Fox”. All of the reporters and photographers at this station were allowed to work at a high level with all of the latest advantages and a highly supportive staff. What has made Tim unique while working in the TV news industry is his unique ability to photograph and report his stories at the same time. This role is normally called a “One Man Band.” You don’t see him in front of the camera very often, not since the early days, but you see a product when he reports that is solely his. Most if not nearly all news reports that a person sees on TV involve at minimum, a reporter/photographer team. Sometimes a third person edits the story. While covering a number of aviation stories including the first visit of a MiG-29 squadron to the U.S. Tim eventually took an "Incentive Flight" in a U.S. Air Force F-16 jet fighter. Needless to say, that morning spent flying over Death Valley at 500 mph did little to diminish Tim's interest in flying and aviation. Most reporters have little to no interest in lugging a TV camera and gear, and most photographers are not into writing and voicing stories, but Tim says that for he and others who shoot and report, there is a much higher degree of control over the eventual product. After working at FOX-5, Tim decided to pursue another documentary; the story of American World War One Pilot Frank Luke JR. of Phoenix Arizona. This cowboy/aviator was the leading American Ace at the time of his death in September, 1918. The research led Tim to France where he studied the Luke story and spent time in the town where he was brought down, Murvaux, in the Meusse region. Tim interviewed descendents of the original witnesses of Frank Luke's death. In the photo, Tim is shown with officials from the local French government in Murvaux, local police and an officer of the nearby French Army contingent at Verdun. Also during this period, Tim, his wife and co-Producer Bonnie King, and Photojournalist Dave Pastor of Cannon Beach, Oregon, visited the Luke family in Phoenix for their first and only family wide interview on their historic ancestor, Frank Luke JR. Tim recently visited Fort Lupton, Colorado where he joined forces with Author Blaine Pardoe who is also producing a book on Luke. The documentary is a work in progress, and Tim plans to complete the program in the coming months. While researching historical data on the Frank Luke story, Tim and Bonnie decided to move forward with plans to create a weekly half-hour feature TV show for Las Vegas television station KFBT called Hot Wheels in Las Vegas. Both are auto enthusiasts, and Tim spent a great deal of his life growing up in Southern California behind the wheel of hot rods and sports cars and the show was a natural expression. Many local bands were featured, along with local models from Las Vegas and every kind of hot car and motorcycle in Sin City. The program was sponsored primarily by Las Vegas Harley Davidson, and The Auto Collections at the Imperial Palace. Hot Wheels in Las Vegas. aired for one 13-week season on KFBT, then ran a second time on a Las Vegas cable station. After the Las Vegas experience, Tim and his family returned to Oregon, and for the first few months Tim shot freelance video for the Portland stations, CNN, NBC News Channel and other groups. Then an offer came along to join the staff at Portland's ABC affiliate, KATU Channel-2. Tim spent three and a half years with KATU primarily as a Photojournalist/Reporter covering the Salem, Oregon region. Tim found the KATU experience to be rewarding and a great way to gain a strong footing in the local news community by initially working for this strong and progressive station. He received the AP's award for Best Photojournalist Breaking News 2004 and the Red Cross Good Neighbor Award 2005. Changes at KATU led to a rollback in Salem coverage, and therefore, Tim's decision to separate from the station and work exclusively for Salem-News.com. Now, it is just a couple weeks until Tim will embed with Oregon National Guard troops overseas in Afghanistan. It is the turning of a page, and the beginning of yet another chapter for this veteran newsman. As an Internet Reporter on Salem-News.com, Tim and all of the dedicated people here are working hard to deliver news that matters, and we hope that the reports Tim will send from the combat theater about our neighbors who are serving in a war far from home, are seen as an example of the deep commitment we have to our community. The risk we take is for all that serve, the families and friends of our soldiers, and the thousands of people who visit us each day.