AP Members Working Together

Hi to all APTRA Members. My name is John Shaffer, I am the Nevada Radio Representative on the APTRA Board. I am also the Program Director, News Director and Morning Anchor at News Talk 720 KDWN in Las Vegas. I'm also guessing I am not alone at wearing many hats in the workplace. We are all doing more with less these days. But, being members of APTRA, we can all do more, working with our fellow members.

I am fortunate to live in a city that garners a lot of national attention, both good and bad. As a result my newsroom is often called by radio stations throughout the country and around the world to provide live and recorded stories for them. I was on the air with the BBC when it snowed in Vegas. On live with Phil Hendrie when OJ's sentence was handed down in his hotel robbery case. My point of all of this is, as APTRA members we have each other to lean on when needed. We have a network of stations throughout the west that can work together to provide "localized" reports for each other. I've called on Reno stations for help during the earthquakes in northern Nevada. It really makes my station sound larger than life for the listeners to think we have correspondents all over the state/country. After all, isn't that what we are as members of the Associated Press, A cooperative? The AP does a great job of covering stories where they have bureaus, but they can't do it all. The more we can help each other, the more we can help the bureaus. And the more we can provide a quality news product to our listeners. When it comes time for the Mark Twain Awards, we are competitors. For the other 364 days a year we are all teammates on the APTRA team.

Anytime something is happening in Vegas, and we can help you out, feel free to give my newsroom a call. (702) 257-NEWS (6397)