NEW TECHNOLOGIES IN IRAQI WAR COVERAGE A HIT AT RTNDA
LAS VEGAS -- Several panel sessions during the RTNDA convention here last week included praise for the new technologies being used to cover the Iraq war, providing for “ultimate reality TV” from the scene. Appearing live via video satellite from the war zone, ABC correspondent Mike von Fremd said that in the 1991 Gulf War “we handed our tape up to a ‘copter. Now we have videophones, satellite phones… It’s unbelievable.”
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A major new technology being used is a Regional Bcst. Global Area Network (RBGAN) terminal, which transmits at up to 144 kbps at a cost of $12-$15 per min., developed by Inmarsat last fall. Another is the Global Area Network (GAN) phone terminal that costs just over $7,000 and transmits at 64 kbps, costing $6 per min. WTVF Nashville, which had 2-man crew in the war zone, had been filing reports via e-mail using a mini-DV camera and saving the cost of satellite time, News Dir. Mike Cutler said.
SNG equipment used in 1991 weighed about a ton and required a 2-man crew 2 hours to unpack and set up, while RBGAN is briefcase-sized, weighs 80 lbs. and can transmit live signals from moving vehicles. Also being used in Iraq by reporters on the move are 3-chip MiniDV camcorders. Reporters in the war zone have a lot of flexibility, said Michael Palmer, dir.-technology development for AP. He said AP had 20 broadcast crews in the war zone and “it’s not always appropriate to go on the air immediately [with live report] just because you can.” Software being used tells a reporter such things as the amount of bandwidth being used, speed of computer and min. of authorized satellite time, he said.
Dick Tauber, CNN vp-satellite and circuits, said “we let a lot of stuff go live as it was happening.” If it’s a good report, “we're going to use it,” he said. He said a big challenge had been for CNN officials to know the kind of equipment being deployed with reporters, “where it was and who has it.” When the fighting actually began, “it’s like we hit a huge ‘on’ switch,” Tauber said. Inmarsat’s James Ashworth said there was congestion in use of frequencies early in the war and as a result Inmarsat moved another satellite into place to handle increased traffic.
At a separate RTNDA session, panelists discussed difficulties that had been caused by govt. restrictions on reporters in the war zone. Lucy Dalgish, exec. dir. of the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press, said that experiences of reporters hadn’t been problem-free, but that the system was working better than she had expected.