Newsday (Nassau Edition) from Hempstead, New York • 88

B4 CAROLYN GUSOFF WNBC MG PEREZ WNBC Age: 30 Home: Long Beach Single Education: University of Houston Television Jobs: Corpus Christi Texas age 12 reading news between the cartoons Houston Austin San Diego San Francisco Years In television news: 9 Years as LI correspondent 1 Favorite place en Beaches Biggest story: East End wildfires 1995 JENNIFER McLOGAN WCBS Age: 42 Home: Garden City Married to Daniel Gurskis a screenwriter Children Emily 9 Teddy 6 and Elizabeth 4 Education: University of Michigan master of fine arts Brandeis University Television Jobs: Boston Chicago New York (NBC News) Tears in television: 17 Years as correspondent: 2 V4 Fovorite place on East End in summer Biggest LI story: LIRR massacre 1993 Age: 33 Home: North Hills Married to Jon Turk plastic surgeon son Graham 7 months Education: Cornell University masterb Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism TV Jobs: Fort Myers Fla News 12 Long Island Years In television news: 10 correspondent 8 Favorite place on LI: Fire Island beaches Biggest story: Avianca crash 1990 New York TV stations have discovered that important after all seldom do we have to pursue them now They come and pursue said Schmitt In terms of television news 1978 is prehistoric It was before local news became regional news a profitable and a growth business Before advertising on news programs in New York City generated $400 million annually in revenue And before Long Island matured from a bedroom community of commuters into a mqjor suburban force that research data told advertisers was one of the wealthiest regions in the nation It was also eight years before the revolutionary debut in 1986 of News 12 the first 24-hour local news programing and before wires allowed the entire Island to view city stations At the time there was no Long Island Coalition for Fair Broadcasting to exert political and business pressure for more coverage And there was no microwave technology allowing live reports to be transmitted to Manhattan at any time and from any place The most recent sign that prehistoric era had come to an end was visible in January when the snow-heavy roof of a Massapequa Park supermarket collapsed and nine television camera crews including one from CNN and a helicopter were reporting live from the scene One who took notice was Ken Cynar Nassau supervisor of emergency management and a special assistant to the county executive thought that night: Long Island has grown up along with electronic he said Cynar who has held town and county positions especially in public relations for three decades remembers when a TV news assignment editor in Manhattan know where Hempstead was located And he said was a time when nothing on the Island would be covered after 3 pm because otherwise the film get back to Manhattan in time for the six Now Long Island risks being the most heavily covered suburb in the nation City broadcast stations see it as a battleground where they can increase their audience size and improve their market demographics Meanwhile Newsl2 is a real competitor WLIG 55 is beefing up its news operation while upstate WRNN is fighting to offer regional news on Long Island If the Long Island viewing market could be magically separated from New York City it would be the 28th largest television market in the nation Measured by the number of households it would be similar in size to San Diego which is served by six broadcast stations But that separation will never occur The New York market as determined by the Federal Communications Commission will always be considered a doughnut with the city stations concentrated in the hole and Long Island and other suburbs making up the dough Historically of course the hole has gotten most of the attention According to own research only 25 percent of its Long Island audience said it uses Newsl2 as their prime source ofnews Nonetheless it is becoming more of a habit to routinely turn to cable news at some point during the day when a nuyor event is unfolding locally In any 24-hour period 420000 homes or 60 percent of the 700000 Long Island homes i I I 10 By Rita Ciolli STAFF WRITER SOUNDED LIKE a great story for TV: Local fanners and fishermen rally against a big utility trying to build a nuclear power plant Terrific pictures Plus a clear story line: little guys vs big in battle for the future But no coverage That was two decades ago when the Long Island Farm Bureau was fighting to stop the Long Island lighting Co from putting a nuclear plant in James port on the North Fork The New York City-based television stations wouldn't send reporters all the way out to the Riverhead office recalled Ken Schmitt a member of the industry board of directors i i i 1 said come out and listen to us and they said mm Ft no So one of his fellow farmers in overalls and boots drove hia tractor from the East End to western Nassau to get publicity for the statewide poll showing opposition to the nuclear plant 1978 we had to go into Mineola to get information out to the said Schmitt a vegetable farmer in Melville who was deeply involved in the successful effort to stop Jamesport Or as former Suffolk County Executive John Klein summed up television coverage during that era camera would come to Hauppauge unless I covered myself with gasoline and promised to put a match in my Today the farm bureau is veiy pleased with the attention from the TV stations for such stories as the wine industry pesticide use and crop yields i i lil will Jit I 1 I 1 I i I i i NEWSDAY WEDNESDAY MARCH 20 1996.