Arizona Daily Sun from Flagstaff, Arizona • 13

I A Wednesday, September5, 1990 Calendar, Page 3 Entertainment, Page 6 El Comics, Page 8 tfllilBUt 1 -a-fy -f Matt Markiewicz: The voice of KNAU Superior Court; countless press conferences at all hours of the day and night by activists, political candidates and talkative eccentrics; events and developments at the university; a multitude of events and developments on the Navajo Reservation; and, in 1986, the collision of two tour aircraft an airplane and a helicopter over the Grand Canyon in which 1 1 people were killed. It is the last event that details most vividly what KNAU-FMs news department has become under Markicwiczs direction. The station was the first to put the crash on the air and to notify the Associated Press. Then, Markiewicz and his staff reported developments in the story during the days just after it happened and for weeks and months afterward, as investigators moved onto the scene and released their findings. For all that work, the news director and the station were amply rewarded.

KNAU-FM received the Governors Award from the Associated Press for outstanding news coverage for its handling of the crash story for both a local and nationwide audience. Even though Markiewicz is proud of that award, and the many others that KNAU-FM has received in the past six years, he said the real reward is the deeply-felt satisfaction of a job well done. The most personally satisfying thing Markiewicz has done since he took over that one-member staff back in 1984 is to develop consistent coverage of Native American news. No one else is really doing it in Arizona the way we are, he said. The people on the reservation, whites and natives, all really appreciate it.

KNAU-FM devotes a large part of its daily afternoon local newscast to coverage of Native American affairs. The stories may range from what is happening among the Mohawks of upstate New York and Canada to the latest developments on the Tuba City School Board. Native Americans and the reservation have a real impact on Flagstaff, Markiewicz said. A lot of people just dont realize how big it is. And, Markiewicz said radio too has an impact on the community.

It will always have an impact, Markiewicz said. Television is too limited. Commercial television has gone steadily downhill for the last 10 years. I call what it does now mfortainment. More and more people are turning to radio.

For a vast majority of the world, radio is the only source of information. The people trapped in Kuwait or Iraq, for example, dont have television or newspapers. For them, the only way to get any information is radio. In a time of crisis, radio is particularly important and I like to think we are better than television. During his years at KNAU-FM, Markiewicz has developed a strong public service philosophy.

These days, hes not so concerned about getting an exclusive for his news department as he is about getting information to his listeners and to the subscribers of other media outlets. The real important aspect of my job is getting the information out, he said. If I can help someone else get the story out even on another radio station, thats whats important. And, hes learned: You dont need pictures to do that, just good precise words to create pictures in the mind. By PAUL SWEITZER Sun Staff Reporter In his early days In radio, after a stint on television, Matt Markiewicz found himself wishing he could use pictures.

Pictures made it easier to explain things. But Markiewicz knows, after six years as news director of Flagstaffs KNAU-FM, the real challenge is in radio where the right words must be found to create vivid pictures in the listeners mind. And Markiewicz will continue to create those images di spite leaving KNAU next week for Barcelona, Spain. There he will be joined by his wife, Grctchcn, who has taken a teaching job, and will provide coverage of the 1992 Olympics for National Public Radio. In the meantime, Markiewicz will warm up for the Olympics with as much freelance coverage of European events and developments as he can attend in the 18 months before the runner arrives from Athens with the torch and the 1992 games begin.

Markiewicz, 34, came to KNAU-FM, the NPR outlet at Northern Arizona University, in 1984. He had been on campus two years, working toward a masters degree, when the news directors job at the new station opened. Russ Hamnett, manager of the station, recalled that when Markiewicz took over, the news staff included the director and one part-time student. Coverage was pretty much limited to reading stories received through the Associated Press, and what could be picked up second hand from other sources. In the intervening six years, Hamnett said, Markiewicz has turned the department into a professional operation still using students and has made it an award-winner as well.

But such accomplishments were predictable for someone who has known for a long time what he wanted to do in life. It must have been in third grade, Markiewicz recalled. My father took me to KOOL-FM, in Phoenix. We toured the station and I just loved it. My parents always tell me, You knew what you wanted to be when you were in third grade.

But it was not until Markiewicz first arrived at NAU as a student in 1974 that he began to get into broadcasting. However, when he got his chance, he did it whole-heartedly. He eventually became manager of the campus student station KAXR-FM, which later became KNAU-FM. After receiving his bachelors degree and leaving KAXR, Markiewicz moved to Alaska where he worked in public television. That experience explains his concern with the lack of pictures when he got back into radio broadcasting at KNAU-FM.

Overall, Ive tried to give the station consistent news coverage, Markiewicz said. I tried to go beyond who, what, when, where and why. But mostly, just consistency, so that when people tune in they know that theyll have news about northern Arizona, about things that have happened that affect us in northern Arizona. It hasnt been easy Markiewicz admitted. One of the toughest lessons hes had to learn in the past six years is you cant be everywhere all the time.

But, under Markicwiczs direction, KNAU-FM has tried. Among the events that Markiewicz and his staff have covered are the impeachment and conviction of former Gov. Evan Mccham, which the station carried in detail; two major murder trials in Coconino County Matt Markiewicz has been with KNAU, the voice of Northern Arizona University, as news director for six years. As news director, he said the real challenge in radio is using the right words to create a vivid image in the listener's mind. I Markiewicz has helped KNAU earn the Governors Award from the Associated Press for outstanding news coverage.

He also is proud of the track record the radio station has developed in covering the news. Markiewicz is leaving KNAU next week for Barcelona, Spain where he will cover the 1992 Olympics for National Public Radio..