The Media Drop is happy to present its second successful “interview” with a member of the media - this time, Scott McGrew, technology/business reporter from NBC affiliate KNTV, which serves the San Jose / Oakland / San Francisco area.
Scott [profile] is co-founder of a technology-specific program called TechNow, which is produced out of KNTV and shown to an audience that spans from parts of Asia to the Middle East. Thanks to Scott for taking the time out of his schedule to answer a few questions for the site.
Background: Scott graduated from Iowa State University in 1991 with a double major in Political Science and English. He has worked for NBC11 for the last five years.
TMD: I’ve read on NBC11’s website that you’ve been working for them for about five years - how did it come about that you made your way to KNTV, and how long have you been in the broadcast industry as a whole?
SM: I’ve been a television reporter for 12 years. I started in Macon, Georgia at a salary of $200 a week. My duties included being my own cameraperson, so I would often have to set up an aluminum light stand about the same height as myself, focus and frame it up in the videocamera, and then run around and kick it over and stand in front of the camera with a microphone.
I moved all over the country, going from larger to larger cities until I landed in Salt Lake City. My wife bought me a computer for my birthday and I discovered this “Internet” thing — this was the early 90’s. I thought it interesting enough to ask my boss if I might report on computers on day a week. Around the same time Fox News Channel was starting up and wanted reporters at Fox stations to supply them content, so I sent them reports on computers. KNTV then asked if I’d like to come out to Silicon Valley and report on computers full time. It was not hard to figure out the answer.
TMD: What would you consider as the moment you decided you wanted to work in journalism, or, more specifically, on television?
SM: When I was about 8 I saw a “how we make the news” report on one of the television stations in my hometown of Grand Rapids, Michigan. I suppose the reports were rather self-serving — the station was, after all, doing a report on itself. But I was transfixed. I loved the idea of a job where you rarely actually spent any time in an office.
So it was always an idea in the back of head. When I discovered I had a talent for knowing a bit about everything (I read a lot of books), that pretty much sealed it. I’ve known all along that I wanted to do this, so I guess it never occurred to me that actually getting a job doing it is quite difficult. I just assumed I could do it, and it worked out.
Truthfully, I secretly wanted to be a fighter pilot. Still do. But I wear contacts, so that was a no go. I amuse myself with flying a small Cessna and then had the extraordinary opportunity to fly backseat in an f16 during Operation Enduring Freedom. Air Force policy was that civilians could not actually pilot a fully armed airplane, so I categorically deny that I hand flew that sucker for about an hour out of the three hour mission.
TMD: Do you remember the first time someone stopped you on the street and asked if you were “that guy” from the news? How did you react, and does it happen often?
SM: You know, now that you mention it, I don’t recall the first time. How odd. It happens about once a day. My standard reply is “we appreciate you watching”. And we do.
I don’t mind it because when many people know who you are, every trip to the drug store or though the drive up window you’re being watched. So you can never ever be grumpy or rude to anyone. And that’s good for the soul.
The only problem is when people recognize you but they can’t figure out WHY. They don’t have context — they don’t expect to see me at the grocery store. But they recognize my face, so they assume I must be someone they know in their personal life. Their dentist? Their husband’s co-worker? Their kids old baseball coach? You can see them trying to figure it out. They don’t want to be rude, so they come over and greet me like a friend. And of course I don’t know them at all, but they think I do. I always just say “and how have you been?” I wonder if they figure it out later.
[ed: I would have to compare this to the first time you see one of your teachers at the grocery store or something along those lines…]
TMD: Has technology-specific reporting always been your “thing”, or was there another direction you thought you might go in before TechNow?
SM: I’ve reported on all kinds of things. I witnessed a firing squad once. So I’ve done everything, political reporting, education reporting, crime, you name it. I’ve always liked computers, so it’s marvelous that I report on something I enjoy. I’ll do this as long as it pleases the guys who sign my paycheck.
TMD: Specifically, how did TechNow come about, and did you ever expect it to have as large an audience as it does?
SM: I was hired to create a half hour show for KNTV about computers and the internet, so it was always in the plans. Truthfully, the bosses were expecting a BUSINESS show. I gave them a tech show with business aspects.. exactly what they were not asking for. I actually expected to be fired when they saw the first episode. It has Jimi Hendrix music in its theme, for goodness sakes. I’m still amazed I didn’t get in trouble for encouraging viewers to photoshop our host. (an idea, by the way cough-stolen-cough adopted by one of our competitors.)
TechNow is one of the most watched locally produced shows, and that pleases me because we have a staff of just three people. And none of us work on it full time. So I love beating other tv station’s shows when I know they have a huge staff working full time on their show.
Internationally, it amazes me. We get great fan letters.. at one point we would get one fan letter PER DAY from the west African country Ghana. My favorite: “whenever we have power, we watch TechNow.”
TMD: One of my favorite questions to ask to people involved in technology is what the coolest thing that you ever set your eyes on before it hit the market for the public? And as a followup, do you have one of those products, and are you still using it today?
SM: Easy: Personal Video Recorders like TiVo and Replay TV. the first time I had an evaluation unit, I didn’t get around to hooking it up for a couple weeks. The company kept asking “have you used it yet, have you used it yet??” No one had ever heard of these things, so I was in no hurry. When I finally did, I was so amazed I started bringing in neighbors to see me pause live television. And of course I still use one today. I still think TV executives don’t understand how dangerous these things are. I never ever watch commercials. Ever.
[ed: note - Wow. Scott *works* at a television station.]
TMD: Moving on to some other technology issues - As a reporter, you obviously have to be objective in your stories - but with regard to the Digital
Millenium Copyright Act (DMCA), you must have some opinions on it - I won’t paint you into a corner, but I’d like to know where you think things will go in the near-term future - will downloading continue freely, will music prices get lower and lower, could online distribution be the largest channel for musicians - what do you think might be coming soon - perhaps something new I haven’t mentioned yet?SM: There’s a whole book in that. I will say while artists have a right to protect their works, the DMCA is a badly written law that companies can take absurd advantage of. It’s abused far more often than it’s used in legitimate ways.
TMD: With musicians seemingly split somewhat over the issue of downloading music, do you think there is the possibility of very very low priced music downloads of whole albums, and a larger focus on touring and live acts?
A lot of people have pointed out for years that the labels make money, and the artists don’t - off the album sales - but tours make them some serious money - or is that just “pie in the sky”?
SM: I think the abuse of Kazaa etc is so widespread, the end of paid music is coming. I can’t see how it can continue. Music is just ones and zeros, and they’re infinitely copyable. And that’s not a good thing. But rather than debate the good or bad, the music industry needs to understand their current model is over. Debating the ethics of stealing is silly.. it’s wrong. End of debate. But much like buggy whip makers saying they don’t like the new motor car, opinion on the matter is irrelevent. The industry cannot survive. And we’ve already seen Tower, Wherehouse, etc suffer.
TMD: Moving back to the tech market in general - as consolidation and the dismissal of a lot of companies from the various technology markets has occurred in the last few years, many people think everything has/will level off in the near-term - do you see the same from an “insider” point of view, as you cover high-technology markets on a day-to-day basis?
SM: I expect further globalization. We will continue to see jobs go overseas. Whether that’s a good thing or a bad thing depends on your point of view. As a shareholder, saving money and globalizing is a good thing. After all, is HP an American company, or a global company based in America?
Of course, if you’re the one who lost his job, it’s a bad thing. And you’d be right, at least from your point of view. There’s no right answer.
We will never return to the dot com heydeys of free sports cars for employees. That was fun to document, but c’mon, it was pretty silly.
TMD: Two part question here - as a technology reporter, you are bound, like it or not, to the Internet - and are obviously familiar with web logs and blogging - do the major media see weblogs as “the future” and start to embrace them as part of content distribution, or do they continue to be on the fringe, perhaps dying off in a couple years? And for the second part, I noticed that you had a blog up for a while, which you periodically posted to - ironically, the one post I found was about blogs not being updated a lot, with many just having one post - is there any specific reason you haven’t become a regular blogger?
SM: I love that irony. I blog that people don’t keep up their blogs, and then.. don’t… blog. Love it.
That I don’t do it any more is the reason “big media” is probably not too worried — most people vastly underestimate the amount of work involved in regularly updating something. I have one million other duties, and it always became the last priority.
The interesting thing about blogs are people in the media writing without the supervision of editors. Or the Dean people who were able to blog without the supervision of the political advisors. Just write what you feel. However, it rarely lasts. The Dean people found that as their blog’s appeal went up, the political hacks started paying attention and supervising. Same is probably true for reporters. I was careful to tell my bosses I was experimenting with a blog, and they let me probably because they had no clue what a blog was. But if my blog started getting quoted in a newspaper? You bet they would start looking over my shoulder. And then that defeats the whole purpose, doesn’t it?
TMD: As we’re almost a month and a half into 2004, we’ve seen everything from halftime show debacles to bigtime companies getting in on the music download “revolution” - what is one thing you would like to point out to everyone that might be a big deal this year?
SM: Well, FOAF.
TMD: And my final question [ed: coincidentally] - what is your opinion of the FOAF (Friend-of-a-Friend) phenomenon - a lot of people think there will be a shakeout, but with all the Friendsters, Orkuts, and LinkedIns around, it will probably stand the test of time (or at least a couple years) - how did you find out about
LinkedIn, and do you use it on a regular basis? Do you have any other thoughts about the trend and where it might go?SM: I have many thoughts where it will go. So many, I’m writing a book about it. My literary agent is pitching it to publishers as we speak.
If your readers have interesting stories about their experiences with online social networking, I’d love to hear from them: scott.mcgrew@nbc.com
TMD: That’s about it from my end - again, thanks for taking the time out of your day to answer some questions for me - I know you’re super busy, and it’s really a testament to some of the people I’ve been in touch with already through LinkedIn that they are embracing it as a tool for communication.
SM: Happy to do it.
Well, after getting two of these interviews in the books through email, I’d say it hasn’t worked out bad at all, if I might say so myself. Scott brought up PVRs, which Stan Bunger had brought up as well last week, so it looks like everyone in the industry seemed to be focusing on them when they were introduced. And I’m guessing that’ll be a trend whenever I get to speak with reporters, especially technology-focused individuals.
In closing, if any of you have any comments on the FOAF trends, be sure and contact Scott, as I’m sure that would be helpful for him. Be on the lookout for his book at a bookstore near you! (or online?)
