[October 15, 2008] Messenger-Inquirer, Owensboro, Ky., Suzi Bartholomy column Tweet Oct 15, 2008 (Messenger-Inquirer - McClatchy-Tribune Information Services via COMTEX) -- When Jerry Birge lost his job as news director at Evansville's WTVW in 1987, four hours later he was being interviewed for news and sports director at Century Communications in Owensboro. As he was packing up his belongings, one of his former reporters told him about the opening at Century, a forerunner of Time-Warner Cable. Birge got the job and moved his family to Owensboro. For 10 years, he ran the news department at Century Communications, and when the cable station dropped its news format 10 years ago, Birge created "Around Owensboro," a Monday through Friday program of interviews and public service announcements. Birge is a freelance operative who has conducted more than 2,500 interviews on Channel 8. "We're not in the rating book, so I don't know how many people watch us a day, but I'm guessing we go into about 40,000 households," Birge said. The TV host has been in the communications business for half a century. He's worked in radio, television and newspaper. Birge created "Around Owensboro" to fill a need, he said. "This is the largest community that I know of that doesn't have its own commercial television station. "Evansville covers the big things in Owensboro but can't do everything. "This show has been phenomenal," he said. "I've been in the business for 50 years, and I've never had a reaction like this. "I'll be at Kroger or the mall, and people will come up and talk to me," Birge said. They like the show, he said, because it gives them news they don't get on other channels. "We run 15-20 public service announcements a day," Birge said. "That's the news they want to hear." They want to know what's going on in town, he said. "Maybe Owensboro was a little smaller than I thought when I learned they wanted that kind of information." Nonprofits really benefit from the show, he said. Just about every organization holding a fundraiser wants to be interviewed by Birge. Some of the agencies book a year in advance, he said. Birge gets up at 4:30 a.m. Monday through Friday to prepare his script. Then he heads to the studio on U.S. 60 West for the 9 a.m. taping of the show. The program airs eight times a day. "For the last four or five years, my wife, Mag, has been my producer," Birge said. "That's been kinda special." They've been married 50 years. The programming includes an interview, current headlines, weather, the day in history and celebrity birthdays. "She does a lot of this," Birge said. "She's taken a load off me." "Mag does all the scheduling of guests," Birge said. "Since I began the program 10 years ago, we've never had to call anyone for an interview. They call us. We're booked two-three months ahead." Birge will celebrate his 10th anniversary on "Around Owensboro" on Nov. 2 and has just as much enthusiasm for the show as he did when he did his first interview. "I enjoy this more than anything I've ever done," Birge said. FORMER KWC INSTRUCTOR ON WOMENSRADIO: Paula McKenzie, former Kentucky Wesleyan College communications instructor, is a contributing editor to WomensRadio in Washington, D.C., where she has a home. McKenzie has a doctorate in intercultural communication and rhetoric with a cognate in interpersonal communication from Howard University in Washington, D.C., and teaches at Bethune Cookman College in Daytona, Fla. McKenzie lists her mentors as the late Clara Oldham of Owensboro, a longtime women's advocate, and White House correspondent Helen Thomas. To hear McKenzie's interview, "When Did Media Become Big Business?" go to http://www.womensradio.com/content/templates/default.aspx?a=3043&z=8 To see more of the Messenger-Inquirer, or to subscribe to the newspaper, go to http://www.messenger-inquirer.com. Copyright (c) 2008, Messenger-Inquirer, Owensboro, Ky. Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services. For reprints, email [email protected], call 800-374-7985 or 847-635-6550, send a fax to 847-635-6968, or write to The Permissions Group Inc., 1247 Milwaukee Ave., Suite 303, Glenview, IL 60025, USA. [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ]