Time Rewind Reporter's Journal

Danger lurks behind many assignments as reporters are dispatched to cover breaking news. In this episode, Mike shares his experience amid exploding trees, a pair of would-be robbers, exposure to asbestos, a ravaging case of poison ivy and what appears to be an angry mob. His wife, Nancie Xirinachs, joins us to describe what it's like to be married to a big-city reporter.

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David welcomes longtime friend and colleague George Kovacik to reminisce high-pressure newsroom conditions that eventually convinced them to reevaluate news careers and move into public relations. They explain how, after once being the ones gathering and reporting the news, they each now provide information and experts to the media.

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In this episode, we welcome Michael Mendel, the creative force behind three decades of record album art for musicians like Gladys Knight & the Pips, Tony Bennett, Tammy Wynette, Curtis Mayfield, Donovan, David Cassidy, The Stylistics, The New York Philharmonic and many more. Michael reveals what went into designing album covers in the pre-digital era, including photo shoots and logistics you probably couldn't get away with today. Plus, you'll never guess who posed for some of his later covers.

Check out a sampling of nearly 1,000 of Michael Mendel's album covers on Discogs at https://tinyurl.com/53exscsh.

Read more about his work at https://tinyurl.com/fmsph5r9 and https://tinyurl.com/yp6kuu48.

Learn more about Broadcastpast, the production company behind "Time Rewind Reporter's Journal," at www.broadcastpast.com.

In the wee hours of every morning, story ideas are born in newsrooms across the country and around the world. These often require reporters to interview people that are out and about before most businesses are even open. David and Mike discuss crossing paths with a prostitute, bully and others while conducting the traditional "Man-on-the-Street" (MOS) assignment.

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Mike reveals his knack for entering restaurants for a meal and leaving with juicy news stories, including a cheating scandal that rocked the U.S. Coast Guard Academy and an active swingers scene on Long Island, New York. David shares his experience making tough and sometimes unpopular decisions about assignments as a news manager.

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Two years after covering the 9/11 attack in New York, Mike travels into the heart of war-torn Iraq, embedded with a humanitarian aid team. Amid the sound of gunfire day and night, he learns some surprising and amazing things about the Iraqi people and the U.S. troops serving in and around Baghdad. He even scores a souvenir of Saddam Hussein.

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A routine day of reporting turns upside down when terrorists attack the U.S. with commercial airliners. Mike takes us inside his 9/11 experience, trying to reach the burning World Trade Center for WCBS, but getting nowhere fast.

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What happens when a reporter unwittingly becomes part of the very story he is covering? Mike faced this situation on multiple occasions and was even threatened with jail time. In this episode, he tells us how it all played out and what it feels like when the spotlight suddenly shines on the reporter.

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Find out what happens when David takes on a newsroom full of smokers and what Mike discovers while on an undercover ice cream mission. Those stories, plus basements, pizza and more from the duo's "radio daze."

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Former radio reporter Robert Hurst joins David and Mike to share gripping accounts of how he covered two disasters that drew global attention, propelled his broadcast career and garnered awards. The 1987 Comfort, Texas flood trapped a school bus full of church campers, claiming 10 young lives as others sought refuge in trees, and the 1989 Phillips Petroleum plant explosion and fire outside Houston left 23 workers dead and more than 300 injured. Robert reveals how he gained access to the story scenes before other media did.

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