Tonight on studio 12, we'r taking you on a little detour.

That's in the artist detour, whose new mural was showcased at the National Western Stock Show.

Then a sneak peek at a brand new segment called The Doodle Desk where conversations seem to get especially interesting behin an easel and a new fire truck.

Technology.

Front and center from the Consumer Electronic Show.

Frannie Mathews brings us that story.

Also, don't miss a dynamic musical performance from our archives.

The debut of Nathaniel Rateliff and the Night Sweats.

Live from right here in our PBS 12 studios.

All of that and so much more coming up on studio 12 from the Five Points Media Center in the heart of Denver, Colorado.

This is studio 12.

Hi, I'm bazi kanani and I'm Ryan Hare.

Welcome to studio 12, a Colorado artist known for big, bold mural and community driven public art, is now using his talents to tell a story about Colorado agriculture.

Thomas Dieter Evans is a well-known Colorado artist who has built a name at the intersection of art and activation.

His latest work is a mural for the Colorado Department of Agriculture.

The project marks 150 years of agriculture in the state, and it celebrates the people and communities behind it.

We were able to meet up with Dieter during the beginning stages of the mural, as he show how his signature style was born and how learning about agricultural history changed the way he looks at everything from water right to what's in the produce aisle.

Here's Thomas detour, Evans.

I only have a couple more days left on this.

Thomas detour, Evans and Thomas Evans, but I go by detour colors.

Do I need, you know, a good one to, sell out here?

A lot of people know m for the murals, but I work on, But a lot of people know me now for sculptural work.

Just, like, interact and work, community activation, things like that.

So trying to make sure I'm at the intersection, just like art and community.

Yeah.

So the color is on.

A lot of my work stems from the idea of, like, not being restricted.

Stumbled on that through going live art.

And with live artists like you don't have time to mix colors or to match colors.

And for me, when I did live art, that's where the colors kind of like show through, because I just had to use paint out the bottle, in this area to represen highlights or shadows, whatever.

And then from there it just became, like a thread that I kind of we sell a lot of the stuff that I, you know, trying to make sure it's abstract but also still relatable and consistent and, like, recognizable.

So that's where I kind o get into, you know, doing work like this behind me, like making it super colorful, but also somethin that you can kind of recognize.

Yeah, a couple Bob Ross videos later, I'm like, oh, this is how you this is how you do it.

Bob Ross was very I guess what inspires me is being able to do work that is different than everyone else.

Impactful, work that's tied to community and tells a story.

For me, sometimes it's more about the process or the materials that I put into a piece.

I did one recently install at the airport, which was a sculpture piec that was all upcycled luggage, and that one was really great because I get to meet so many people that were donating or contributing, you know, pieces of luggage that had stories to the actual sculpture.

So that one is like esthetically, there's a lot of meaning to it in terms of the colors and the shape, but it means a lot mainly because of the community that was involved in terms of putting everything together, because it would not be in the form it is if people didn't contribute all their stories and all their, you know, their background and their memories to the actual sculpture piece.

So me, I want to try to figure ou a way to make a lot of my work different, but also add in community as well, and hopefully this translates well.

Have networke with the agricultural community in Colorado.

But my family does own farm land back in South Carolina.

So my dad grew up on the farm, took me back to the farm.

They, you know, grow corn and, you know, cotton, things like that.

So it's one of those things where it's kind of like, I was familiar with it, bu haven't worked out here at all with any of the community.

So it was really fun jus to learn more about the history.

So for me, it was like really great just to be able to add, the contribution of artwork, to the community and to the stories in a way, where it's kind of like, oh, now you're able to learn more about the history of, agriculture in Colorado through the arts that I do.

So on this side of the mural talks a little bit more abou where we're at in agriculture.

So the opening of this first campus.

So we really wanted to sort of show the next generation, getting into crops.

So having a couple of young individuals sort of growing the next generation of crops, but also some of the, fruits and vegetables and sort of, commodities that Colorado has, in their, their farmland.

So, like, learning how to paint potatoes.

I was interested in learning how to, you know, even like, paint wheat, on all sort of like a micro but large scale and then painting tractors, things like that.

So it was a really, really fun being able to sort o how do I mix everything together and overlap a lot of this stuff.

So that is a cohesive mural.

But also to making the mural fun to wear.

Now, is that just, you know, right angles?

It's like now I kind of made it folded foldable, but to transport but also die cut everything and referencing different things within those sort of like like the tractor, but also like I was saying earlier, like the center point irrigation.

So like that's where this sort of like circular sort of pattern comes from as well.

Yeah.

So this one, when I applied for the project and they were saying, hey, we would love to have a mural that talked about the 150th anniversary of agriculture in Colorado.

I was like, okay, let me figure out where everything kind of started.

And, you know, the history of Colorado and trying to do a mural that would tell the story of the past with, the native communities, the you, the plain communities and tribes, and then how sort of like snowmelt kind of feeds everything because, like, I didn't know about water rights until I knew the Colorado and, like, learning.

Okay, this is how you know you can grow things in Colorado.

It's only because of the snow and the melting in the rivers that it, it provides.

So it's one of those things was kind of like for me, it' inspiring, to learn about that, but also communicate exactly how important each of those things are in the history of Colorado, trying to put into, not only words but now it's like into visuals.

And what that means today, is, for me, exciting because now it's like when I eat food, I look at it differently and like, what was how many, how many peopl had their hands on it in a way.

Or when I go to the, you know, the produce section at the grocery store, okay.

Whereas where is this coming from?

Now I have a more of a appreciation of, you know, where the food comes from and who's growing it.

And, you know, just the whole community, agriculture community.

And then having a piece for a super unique but also tells their story.

I feel like it's honored to be able to be picked to actually tell that story, through my work.

So for me, it's super, super exciting.

And then I did see at the stock show, supe excited to see at the state Fair and meet a lot of these individuals.

So fo me, it's, this is just an honor.

I mean, it it's difficult to figure out how to do, like, a portable mural.

So it took a lot of work, but I'm glad that I'm able to actually take this off o what would usually be on a wall and have it travel to many places where they may not have, the, the street art culture or the street art sort of, esthetic in their, in their community.

But now it's like they have, a piece of artwork that represents them an something that they can enjoy.

That's different than what they're really used to.

And talking about their story, the most challenging thing is like trying to tell everything.

And you can't really tell everything, trying to do that many ways, whether it's like super in your face on the piec or super abstract and it's like it's the shape references that kind of story.

There's so many different parts of Colorado agriculture, that you want to tell, but there's only so much space to kind of tell that story.

So that's the only thing I thought was really interestin and sort of difficult was like, how do I sort of tal about all these different things without leaving anything out?

And for me, I try to do as much as I can to kind of like reference something to where now it sparks a conversation for you to kind of learn mor about it, trying to talk about where Colorado was before, and then what happened the past, you know, 150 years and then almost kind of like what's happening today, especially with the opening of a spur spur campus, you know, educating the next generation on agriculture and growing and then new types of crops, that are more, you know, pest resistant or, you know, new type of technology to help you, have a better crop yield that year, I would say I hope this mural, when someone from the agriculture community sees it, hopefully they feel tha their story is being told, that their story is being celebrated, through the arts and through, like, a unique artist, and style, hope that, you know, the kids see it and say, oh, this is really cool.

My community is is being celebrated.

I want to continue being, a farmer, carry on that legacy.

So I hope hopefully this inspires the next generation as well.

Detour says creating the mural was an honor, and that he can't wait to see each piece of it go out to different parts of the state.

You can learn more about detour on his website.

I am detour.com.

We are introducing a brand new segment called The Doodl Desk and illustrated interview.

PBS Twelve's Kyle Dyer sits down with familiar faces from the Colorado inside out table for a deeper, more personal conversation as they reflect on the experiences that shape their perspectives on Colorado, the panelists take on a playful, artistic challenge drawing each other's portraits during the interview.

In tonight's sneak peek of the Doodle Desk, Kyle Dyer sits down with founder and editor of Westword, Patty Calhoun to explor the opportunities, challenges, and stories that shaped Colorado's longest running independent publication.

Patty Calhoun is a Colorado legend and icon, one of our most respected journalists.

If something is happenin in Denver, Patty knows about it.

She knows the people behind the story, the history behind the moment, and the conversations happening around town because she totally knows everyone and everythin that's happening in this city.

Patty co-founded Westword bac in 1977 as the paper's editor.

She's been inducted to many halls of fame and led the paper to prominence and indie paper to prominence when other newspapers have been hit very hard, and for more than 30 years, Patty Calhoun has sat at the table of Colorado inside ou pretty much every single week.

Our longest running panelist, working here with Patty on CIO has been a real privilege.

Patty's love for Colorado and for the people who call this stat home is absolutely contagious.

Patty, what is it about what you do that keeps you so motivated?

I get to paint with words rather than pencils is part of it.

There always are interesting new things to do in Denver every day, new scandals, but also really interesting things that people are trying.

People come out to Denver or they stay in Denver because it's a city that seems makes things seem possible.

You talked about, you like to be colorful with your writin rather than drawing.

Well, yeah.

How does this feel to be doing this assignmen of drawing each other's faces?

It's just hard to get it right.

I know I want to do you justice.

Oh, okay.

All right, now, can I ask you who inspired you first to get into journalism?

So reading as a kid, and then, I went to Cornell, and I thought I was going to be a doctor, but everybody else was.

I wanted to be a doctor.

So I thought, maybe I really want to be a journalist.

And I work on the independent daily paper.

There, and it was certainly the most interesting thing I did at Cornell.

Oh, yeah.

Oh, now it looks like you have a mustache.

I'm really sorry, but, what inspired you to move out west?

I've been coming out here skiing.

I'm grew up in Illinois.

We came out and scared when we were kids.

We'd come out our families on the train and stay up all night.

And then you'd see you'd get to the eastern plains and you'd see the mountains in the distance.

And just the romance of the West was always really fun.

What inspired you to start a newspaper?

An independent newspaper.

I worked as a it a secretarial pool.

Some people remember what that was.

Oh, Cornell.

Okay.

I typed so many lying Ivy League, resumes.

And I did typed their essays about why they wanted to go to some job or some college.

Like, I'm never typing a resume.

I'm going to start a newspaper instead.

What do you think it is about Westword that has kept it going for so many years, when other papers have not fared well?

I think it's definitely the writers who like to tell stories, and it's the connection of community.

So I'll tell you use an example today, Benny's restaurant.

Many people know Benny's and just yesterday it went on the market.

So it's closed forever.

And I wrote a story about Benny's closing and some of the things I knew from the owner over the years, Benny Amos.

And it was our most read story for three months, just a Mexican restaurant closing because it meant a lot to people.

And this town you just are in the community, the people we care, the people we wear, right?

We're writing for the people who want to get out and use the city and use the state.

And they're here by choice, whether they were born here or whether they stay here.

They want to get ou and experience things they want.

They like to know about the good, and they definitely would like to know about the bad.

So when you're caveat editing dealing with that kind of stuff as well, leading the troops, hiring new people, why is it been so important for you to make the time every week to be on Call Our Inside Out?

You got a lot going on.

Well, it' the same as doing the stories, and it's even better in some ways because it gives you a chance to, really comment on what's going on that day, which certainly in the early days of Colorado inside Out, we were a weekly paper that went to press.

And you didn't come out for two days?

We weren't online until the early 90s, and we didn't really start doing a lot of the stories online until ten years ago.

So it gives you an opportunit to comment on what's going on.

How do you think this show has evolved?

It changes, obviously, with the personalities.

When it first started, it was really interesting.

People on it.

It was so O'Brien and Al Night and Pierre Jiménez and me and I wish we could have talked more because, I mean, Sue and al had seen so much in the political and the journalism world.

Then we had Peter Boyle, who, for a long time everyone thought I was Peter Boyle secretary, because they'd always call and ask me to do things.

So Peter Boyles and then, Roger Callahan, who was great because he was such a TV pros at such a journalist.

Dominick was great.

And, you know, s it changes because of the host.

But what's consistent is you talk about local issues and everyone in town who watches watch because it connects them to the community and they feel like it's so accessible and that we they know u and that we care and they care and we speak to them and people love that.

And that's really fun, which is so important now more than ever.

I feel like I say that a lot but I feel like that knowing who where you're getting your ideas, your perspectives from is helpful because there's so much out there that you don't know who's saying what, right?

It's critical.

What do you think is underrated right now in Colorado society, USA?

I think in Colorado we underrate how many interesting cultural things are going on.

Yeah.

How many really great cultural things are going on.

And we need to pay more attention to that.

You are very good about that, about Westword.

I mean, you are like the list maker.

Do you make the list of what's happening, like the great things to do in Colorado, Denver?

Humiliatingly, I will say at four in the morning.

Sometimes if I can't sleep, I am typing listings of free things to do this weekend.

You are an early person.

You send out emails like at five something.

Don't you know, I try to I try not to do it too early.

Yeah, but I have.

But otherwise I forget.

So you ready to show?

Yes.

All right, all right.

Well it doesn't look like you, but.

Oh, my gosh, I think it's great that this is really good.

I try to get your boots in.

So let's show the camera so they can say I had a you were very good at art.

You're more interesting looking than this.

I hope so.

It's just about the poster board.

I'm impressed that people would be happy to be poster board.

Oh my gosh.

Well, thank you so much for being such a fabulous cohort.

I love sitting next to you every week and it's always a blast.

It is really fun.

It's like you're the best.

Thanks!

That was just a sneak peek of one of our conversations with our panelists.

For our full conversation with all of our insiders, check out the Doodle Desk on the passport app.

PBS Twelve's YouTube channel or on our website, PBS 12.org, or wherever you get your podcasts.

We look forward to seeing yo the next time at the doodle desk in the coming weeks, we'll show you more of Kyle's Doodle desk interviews, including the sketches they come up with right here on studio 12, so d be sure to stay tuned for that.

Switchin now to business and innovation.

Our Frannie Matthews attended the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas recently, and came across a new world class airport rescue and firefighting performance truck built by the Oshkosh Corporation.

The company is a leading innovator of purpose built vehicles, like the one that Frannie got to see up close, called the R-2.

Its rapid acceleration and powerful response capabilities, along with new AI technology enhancements, make it an impressive vehicle in airport safety and emergency response.

Here is Franny's interview with Oshkosh Chief Technology Officer J. Ayana.

Over here we have a huge I'm going to use the word fire truck.

That's probably an understatement.

Tell us a little bit about the R2 over there.

Yeah.

So behind us is airport fire and rescue vehicle.

It's.

What are your efforts over.

Okay, so we are the leaders in fir trucks are fire truck readiness.

We are the leaders in fire trucks.

And this is specifically designed for the airport application.

The machine behind me that you see in the production vehicle, we can actually get i that video or be in the vehicle.

I did it yesterday.

I did.

Okay, awesome.

It's a 93,000 pound truck.

Yeah, it's not just a truck.

It here is all the fluids required for firefighting.

It's a job.

It can go from 0 to 50 miles an hour in 25 seconds, which is unbelievable.

For a vehicl to leave up all you need, right?

Because many times, if it needs to turn up to get to where it needs to get to, you know, a second here, a second there, it could be, you know, 20 30s of time savings.

If I, if there's a distress call because the FAA needs to get them.

So, very excited.

Is this your normal reception everywhere in Europe?

You know, Australia.

It's a very global application that we have this year.

Where do you manufacture?

This vehicle is manufactured.

Your response?

In the United States, we have this content based company.

That's why they need us.

Yep.

Everybody's thinking about overalls, and this is really what we're doing.

Seamless.

It's a production vehicle.

And you see the innovation awards.

You know, we won.

We won a total of five innovation awards.

That's amazing.

So it's, it's very, very, very proud of the technology and the me.

Well, you should personally be proud you.

Not only you're this, in essence, the CTO, but you also have supply chain.

Yes.

Can you tell me a little bit about, how you're looking at supply chain now, how it might be eager, there's more opportunity or more challenges?

Right now, the interesting part of my role is, it's all about creating strategic partnerships early on.

We consciously make sure we leverage the technology from the supply base and make sure that we are, you know, we we don't have to invent everything ourselves.

So being able to work with our, you know, global supply base, have a conversation early on using technology for use.

To me, that's the exciting part about it.

Is we always make sure we I use the term make my, what we want to kind of own on meaning we want to own the IP if you want to own on an aspect of it and what we want to partner with.

So that helps me to go find, you know, the right kind of supply base.

So it's a very interesting part of part of the job is makes it very rewarding, kind of bringing engineering and supply to you.

What else would you lik our, our viewers to know about?

We are we are broadcas on PBS 12 in Denver, Colorado, and go all the way up to Wyoming and all the way down to northern, New Mexico.

What would you like, to know?

So, you know, Oshkosh Corporation is everywhere.

You may not see it.

We are an every part of the community.

An example was showcased here on Monday.

You see the TLG machine everywhere in this in this part building that welding business things.

So, so now in so many ways, you know, JLC makes happen right.

Yes.

We are everywhere in the community right.

So and and I think our team or you know we are a company with the higher purpose of, you know, providing solutions for those involved.

Need our everyday heroes.

Technology.

We are a technology company.

We have been doing, you know, level five, autonomy 20 years ago with our defense out in the case I a to follow our technology.

Now the technology is becoming mainstream and coming into every one of our applications.

So, you know, those of you who are watching this with this broadcast in great time, desig industrial technology companies, you know, you're if you are a student in a knowing where to go, every aspect of the high tech is there here and not just the technology.

I mean, it' and we are the forefront of fans forming, you know, either jo sites and or some neighborhoods, you know, where do you where do you work?

And let's say it has been a pleasure to talk to you.

This is really exciting to see what you're doing.

And what I had said earlie is what we're seeing at the show this year is actual implementations of more complex solutions across the board.

But I'm seeing a lot in physical AI in this is a beautiful example.

You're completely right.

I think also, you know, at the end of the day, it's not about technology.

It's about what it's.

Like.

Stay tuned here on studio 12 as Frannie brings us more stories from the Consumer Electronics Show.

Safety has been a major focus across Colorado for several years now, and that attention appears to be paying off.

Let's check in now with Kyle Dyer, who led a discussion on Colorado inside Out about the latest report showing crim is declining in our communities.

Hi Buzzy and Ryan it seems so often that you hear people quote autistic that paint crime in one light, and then others might sa something completely different.

Well, some new data recently released by the governor's office gives us a new lens to look through.

And so we talked about that in the latest episode of Colorado Inside Out.

New state numbers show that Colorado's overall crime rate has decreased by double digit margins over this past year.

The McGee report that compared Januar through June of 2024 to January through June of 2025, showed a dip in all sorts of different crimes.

Kristi, let's start with you.

Your organization, Advanced Colorado, has talked about the crime issues in Colorado, once calling it a crime tsunami here in our state.

What's your reaction to these new numbers?

First of all, it's great for Colorado.

We want to see crime decrease.

I think one thing worth pointing out is that Aurora was the city with the highest death, at 16.8%.

Now, the former Aurora City Council, which did just flip, had had done a lot to be hard on crime.

Better laws in the state ha on auto theft and retail theft.

And now with a recent Colorado Supreme Court decision.

Localities can't do that anymore.

And they actually cannot have more stringent laws on crime than the state has.

So I think that's going to be interesting and informative.

Like what effect does that have on localities that have been able to reduce crime through these higher penalties?

But Denver, to give them a little bit of credit to reduce crime by 10.2%.

But what is Mayor Johnson been saying?

He's been saying that he's increasing funding for law enforcement.

So I think we can point to specific action being taken by localities.

That's pro law enforcement cracking down on crime that's made a difference.

And then, of course, advanced Colorado.

We did pass two ballot measure in 2024 that the voters agreed with truth and sentencing.

It's going to keep violent criminals in jail longer after they're sentenced, and also provide $350 million in funding for law enforcement at the state legislature, decided to take ten years to implement that.

So 35 million per year in increased funding for training, bonuses are the things that law enforcement needs to keep us safe.

So I think that at the core is the real question can we sustain this drop in crime?

And can the legislature actually participate in making that happen?

Okay.

Your thoughts, Patty.

I think we can sustain it.

I mean, we're coming off Covid still, and that was an aberration.

Let's hope we never see again, both in peopl being locked up in their houses, people being locked up in their in jail, people being out on the streets.

And so we earlier before this statewide stat came out, we'd heard abou Denver's big drop in homicides.

That's something that's happening around most of the country too, which is something to celebrate.

I mean, Denver's drop was really impressive because it went back and you know, when it went down to, oh, our highs had been like a 93 and in 2003, but it was so low.

The car thefts way, way down.

And that is clearly becaus Denver and the rest of the state took actio and used a lot of smart tactics.

Property crime i you still have property crime.

We just wrote about windshields being bashed in just because people are bored or maybe are on the streets and don't know, not even bored maybe just aren't on the planet.

Literally.

So things that we still need to be aware.

But I think the feeling also is, and I'll probably talk about this, people also feel better about their policing.

The communities feel better in this state, at leas we don't know about Minnesota.

But I think here people ar feeling better about the place.

Okay.

But one of the things that I was I was looking at, was the statistics on, crime against people.

And this follows into the violent crime.

And, and there was another report, a second report that came out before this that talked abou the domestic violence situation.

And that's going in the wrong direction.

Absolutely.

Going in the worst, in the worst direction.

Violent domestic violence cases are up, fatalities are up.

And the the thing that really stuck out for me was, that children who are involved in these domestic violence, incidents, even if they are not the intended victim, the fatalities for children was horrific.

And every single one of those fatalities was committed with a gun.

So there while there's a lot of very wonderful good news in these new statistics, there's still some some really major work that needs to be done in this area.

Is there discussion about domestic violence at the state Capitol this session?

Not.

Not that I've seen yet.

Okay.

All right.

And I would agree with Kristy that it's a positive thing.

Any time we're seeing crime go down in any one of our communities.

I will say, though, that the implications of Ice and, well, the hiding of people who are living here undocumented, who are often and other victims themselves or are witnesse to the victimization of others, there' a chilling effect on the ability for these days to complete those cases and to bring justic for people who have been harmed.

I will also say that, a dip means that the amount of officers we do have have the opportunity to perhaps patrol more or to be more present in the community instead of always at a call.

And hopefully this leads t like, you know, lower call time.

So I think that's something that came up a lot when I ran for mayor about the call times and how we were going to, to, to get those down.

I also say that I though cameras, all of this continues to be part of the conversation of what tools are available for officers and how AI is used.

Do you have your privacy?

I think this is going to continue to b a big part of the conversation.

And in particular, when you see, like the mayor of Denver who make claims that, you know, crimes were solved that weren't solved by by flock cameras, I mean, that continues to erode it.

And I appreciate you bringing up guns.

I mean, gun reform and violence is something that the youth have been marchin and marching and marching for.

And we continue to see guns, causing tons of problems across the United States.

That was just one of the topics we talked about on the latest episode of Colorado Inside Out.

You can catch the entire show on YouTube, the PBS passport app, or listen in on Spotify or Apple Podcasts, and make sure to catch our nex episode at any of those places, or right here on PBS 12 this Friday at eight.

We've got a new way of interviewing people who have something to say.

It's called 12 questions, and the concept is simple.

We ask different people the exact same 12 questions, then pull some of their most interesting, honest, and sometimes surprising answers.

Not every question makes the cut, but the goal is to get past the headlines and get a deeper understanding of who they really are.

In our very first edition, we sat down with three journalists from across the country.

Tiffany Lou from WFAA in Dallas, Chad Nelson, director of photography at Kar 11, in Minneapolis Saint Paul, and legendary storyteller Boyd Hooper, also from Kare 11.

Same questions.

Three very different perspectives.

Here is 12 questions.

I did not always kno I wanted to go into journalism.

I actually went to business school and so I have a business and communications degree, and I went into corporate marketing first.

I just really didn' like sitting behind a desk and, you know reporting to the corporate boss.

I didn't feel like I was making a difference in my tech job.

And so I decided to take a community college class.

I took an intro to broadcasting, class when I was in college.

And, the professor on one of the days had us watch the movie The Paper with Michael Keaton, and I was like, this is a job.

You know, I was 18, 19 years old whatever I was, and I was like, people get paid to do this when I was in high school, I got a job at a little radio station, a little 3000 watt radio station in my hometown.

That kind of opened the door.

I sometimes think if I hadn't gotten that job at that little radio station, what I might be doing today, I don't know, I, I doubt that I'd be a dairy farmer.

I don't thin I was ever going to be my life, but I don't know if I would have found broadcasting.

But at 16 years old, I, I kind of figured out what I wanted to do, and I've been on that path ever since.

So I decided to take a community college class called live TV broadcasting.

It was so random and it was like $100.

But that one class changed my life and I totally shifted my career to journalism.

And I think the moment for me was when they hired me as an overnight assignment editor.

And that's the job where you listen to the scanners.

Your shift is like 12 a.m.

to 8 a.m.

it's brutal.

And I just loved it.

Like I immersed myself with scanners all around me.

I was surrounded by producers and anchors, reporters, and I was watching all these different reporters got on assignments.

And I knew tha when I loved the midnight shift, that this was the job that I really wanted to do, and this was the industry that I wanted to be in.

I got a part time photograph job at one of the local stations that was, suggested by one of my professors and, for the weekends, and I just, I never looked back at University of Wisconsin River falls, which is the campus in my hometown, and they they had a radio station there, too, which was again, I thought, like going to school there.

And I can even learn to learn more about radio.

And then I wasn't able to find a radio internship my sophomore year, a summer internship, but I had sent a few resumes out to television stations, and I got a call from the news director at KSTP TV in in Saint Paul.

I walked into that television newsroom with 100 people in that newsroom, and like that I was done with radio.

It was like going to the circus, like it was.

It was the premiere.

It was the equivalent of, you know, fire breathing women and plate spinners.

It was just so much energy and, and I and, you know, I've been used to sitting in that little booth that in radio and then I jus the collaboration and the energy and the people screaming at each other across the newsroom, I just, I, I, I knew then this is what I wanted to do.

I think information is somethin that is digestible for people, and being a journalist is giving it context.

It's very easy for me to say a bunch of stats, and politicians do this the best, right?

They love to give you a lot of stats this, that, this, that.

But like, the world isn't so black and white with stats.

There's a lot of gray in there.

And I think for journalism, it's a really, it's very different in the sense that you have to let people understan all the nuance of all of that.

And I think as journalists it's important for us to provide that context of like, yes, the statistic may be true but there's a lot more to that.

I think as journalists, we take information and we see how it impacts the people.

For example, when I'm telling a story about maybe some, I don't know, a social issue, I will find the people that i impacts and why it impacts them.

And our job as journalists is to make the viewers care.

Why is this issue important?

And the only way to do that is to shar a real person story with them.

But of course, in that story we include the information, but we also want to revolve it around the community and why it matters and why we're doing the story in the first place.

I think information is something that already exists.

I think of, information.

It's already online.

It's already, it's already gathered.

It's in a library.

It's an encyclopedia.

Journalism is something that's out there to be discovered.

I, as a journalist, I'm the gatherer.

Or.

And once I once I gather it and produce it, put it into a story form, then it becomes information.

But it's not information until it's been gathered and processed.

I wish people could see the care that goes into producing this story, and the number of peopl who are involved in the process, the attention to detail, the people who are involved in putting that story together, from the reporters to the assignment managers to the photographers, to the producers, to the news directors.

And we have about 100 people in our newsroom.

So there are a lot of people that touch that story along the way who have input, and then, have feedback to share after it airs.

I think people would be pretty please if we pulled back the curtain.

They always say, you know, you don't want to see the sausage being made.

But, you know, in our case, at least in our newsroom, I think people would be pretty okay if they saw the sausage being made.

I wish people knew that it's a group decision.

It's not.

Hey, can I pitch you this story and will you feed it to your managers and let's do it?

It's not that easy of a decision to make.

Like as a reporter in a newsroom, I don't necessarily have the power to decide what goes on on our newscast every single day.

And I think, like sometimes it's hard for people to understand like, hey, why was my story cut?

But it's because there was some huge breaking news that day, and so we had to push it further down.

I think a lot of people thin that this job is so glamorous.

People expect m to show up with a photographer.

Hey, where's your photographer?

Oh, I am the photographer.

And I sometimes feel like feels like they think that they've got the B team with them because I'm by myself shooting a lot of my stuff.

So a lot of times it, it doe feel like I have to prove myself to the people that I'm interviewing.

Oh, I promise, I've been doing this for more than a dozen years now, and, I promise I will do your story justice, but, like why should I have to say that?

So they don't really know that, like, this is how the industry is going, that a lot of people are multimedia journalists and we just do everything.

I would say compassion makes a great journalist.

I think most people who see, a byline in an article or, face on television or whatever it is that they, they think they just, you know, go through and let all this just hate and vitriol or pain and misery or love and joy, like, just bounce right off of them and they go on there.

But most people that I know that are really, really good at their job are very compassionate, because you kind of have to be I mean, you don't want to be part of the story, but you want to understand no matter where somebody is coming from, that you want to understand where they're coming from.

Because if you don't, if you just let it bounce after you say they're wrong or, I know this person is right because I feel the same.

You're not doing a great job, in my opinion.

Empathy, I think.

Yeah, I think, curiosity.

Definitely curiosity.

Seeing somethin that other people might drive by or, might read past in an article, I think a good journalist says, I want to know a little bit more about that.

Something about that doesn't seem right.

Or, or mor people need to know about this.

I've got a few questions I want to ask.

I think that I think a natural curiosity, and I mentioned the word empathy.

And I think that comes into pla because to tell someone story, I need to understand their story.

And I think that's that's the empathetic part of it.

I do stories about peopl who are very different from me, but I need to be able to put myself in their shoes.

I need to understand and, their situation, their challenges, their, their highs in their lows.

And if I can put myself into their shoes, it makes it easier to write that story.

Then to be more, more accurately write their story.

I always tell people that if you stop caring, you shouldn't be in this industry anymore.

A lot of people ask me, you know how I deal with all of the doom and gloom that I cover on a day to day basis?

And I tell them like, yes, there are moments where I cry with a grieving mom or somebody who lost a child, or all the difficult things that we have to deal with.

But if I get to the point where I'm just jaded by it and that's my time to like, step away from being a journalist, I think that a journalist should have compassion and should really care about the community.

We're not here to be on camera.

We're not here to be on air as broadcast journalists.

We're her to share someone else's story.

And we have the opportunity an we have the platform to do so.

And so I think we should really like, appreciate that.

So I, I mean, I truly believe that journalists like, should care about every person that they talk to.

And not only that, but like take away and learn from each person that they interview as well.

We'll continue askin the same 12 questions to people from all walks of life journalists, creatives, leaders and community voices and each time we'll bring you a few of the answers that stood out the most.

Before we go, we're leaving you with a nostalgic performance from the past, filmed right here in our PBS 12 studios.

It's the television debut of Nathaniel Rateliff and the Night Sweats.

That was back in 2013, an it's a set that is music magic.

We heart musi called Rateliff a bellows soul God backed by the Night Sweats, a seven piece soul outfit with drums, keys, bass guitar and horns.

It's a powerful performance from a hometown artist captured befor the rest of the world caught on.

We hope you'll enjoy it.

Thanks for joining us for studio 12.

Be sure to catch us again here next Tuesday night at eight.

And don't forget to follow us on social media in YouTube.

I'm Ryan here and I' Bazzi Kanani.

Have a good week.

Good evening and welcome to this very special edition of sounds on 29th.

I'm Syd Pink, and this is a special, that only can be brought to you by PBS.

Tonight.

We have the entire cast of Downton Abbey, Doctor Who and Mr.

Snuffleupagus in the house.

And that is next special.

Doesn't mea tonight isn't gonna be great to.

I promise, because, we have Nathaniel Ratelif in tight sweats, and he looks.

Oh, no.

Sorry, I can't read that far.

I'm sorry.

Nathaniel Ratelif and the Night Sweats are here, and, yes, I didn't realize I had so many fans.

I feel great, as always.

We like to thank Illegal Pete, for, keeping us fed backstage and, radio 1190 for doing whatever they do now, because there are children in the audience.

And I was advised to, back off to prevent any.

And Twitch.

I said, oh, try it out loud.

Of course.

Now, has anyone heard of, music?

Okay.

A couple, I think you guys are set.

I think we can warm the other half over if we can.

I'd like you to give a very warm welcome to a friend of mine.

Despite what they say, you know, being, like, a real pushy, needy, moody rock star type.

I mean, this is a man who pulled me aside.

His lawyer pulled me aside and said, if you say so.

I actually, I've drank with them.

I smoke with them of laug with them.

I've cried with them.

I, went through kendo sword training with him.

We we developed a line o artisanal hand soaps together, and, I was the one who turned him on to the V-neck t shirt.

We go way back.

This is what I'm saying.

And I want all of that to be channeled through all of you.

And I thank you for coming here.

My audience on sales on 29th for the standard rate live and the Night sweats.

I have a, Hey.

Hey, they got the whole night left to lose.

That is is one thing that I do.

And mayb there was some amount of time.

It doesn't tell me that you love me.

Tell me that you need me.

To tell me that you want me.

To do something around.

This part of town, days later.

What are you doing?

Is there.

Yeah.

They got the whole night left in bed.

It is one big night.

We do that as a baby.

So close to you.

Tell me that you want me to tell me that you need me.

Tell me that you love me.

Tell me that you'll be looking around you.

Maybe the town's getting crazy.

Well then you have to give me.

Hey.

Hey hey hey, Hey hey hey, Hey hey.

Coming around here better.

I want you to know.

What do I get paid?

Is nothing to do with me, baby.

Don't.

You keep changing your mind.

This whole baby.

What I can tell you just might as well just lay down and choke on your own.

I can't give you enough to just keep me.

This ship through hell.

This pain all is hell.

And it's trying so hard not to know.

You're building it up just to turn out on empty.

I damn, I know just how it feels.

I know to tear.

Oh, oh, that's inside me.

A little away from hell.

It's nobody cares.

And they're trying so hard not to know.

You.

You take all they want.

Haven't found any better.

I look around and stare.

Run around and yell out.

It might not rain anymore.

Don't you baby stand up long enough to pull it together.

Oh, who gives a damn?

And then you care.

When they're trying so hard not to know.

What?

You.

Might.