From 1973 comes this behind-the-scenes look at how WABC -TV in New York gets a newscast on the air at 6PM. The two highlights for me are seeing Bill Beutel and Geraldo Rivera doing their jobs. I am a fan of Rivera during his news days. Who can forget Willowbrook? I like watching how Rivera tells a story – so anti-establishment for that time and in some ways, would still be today. But he is certainly a trailblazer with the commentary included in his reports. Local news is terrified of commentary these days because of networks like Fox News Channel which ironically is where Rivera ended up, but no one goes near it now which is sad as it’s such an important tool in communication. I also admire Beutel by reputation alone. I’ve rarely seen him anchor a newscast but he’s a legend in local television news. While this glimpse into TV News’s early days shows the lack of technology they had to put together a show – shooting and developing film and having to use, ugh, typewriters, it’s not all that different from how we put on a show today. It was produced by Encyclopaedia Britannica – the filmmakers who create some of my favorite “ephemeral” films from twenty years earlier. Worth a watch.