Operation Rescue (Organization)]]> Pro-choice movement--New York (State)--Buffalo]]> Pro-life movement--New York (State)--Buffalo]]> Terry, Randall A.]]> Griffin, James D. (James Donald), 1929-]]> Slepian, Barnett, 1946-1998]]> Following Easter Sunday in 1992, the pro-life group Operation Rescue staged its “Spring of Life” demonstrations in front of several Western New York abortion clinics. Anti-abortion activists had been invited by Buffalo mayor Jimmy Griffin to stage their demonstrations in Western New York. New York State abortion law had gone into effect in 1970, allowing abortions during the first 24 weeks of pregnancy. 
Operation Rescue founder Randall Terry and national director Rev. Keith Tucci made appearances. The campaign was modeled after a 46 day protest a year earlier in Wichita, Kansas. During those “Summer of Mercy” sit-ins and blockades, 2,600 people were arrested. Three abortion clinics were closed for a week. 
The Buffalo demonstrations lasted two weeks, resulting in more than 620 arrests. Many pro-choice activists showed up, locking arms in front of the clinics, preventing them from closing.  During the two weeks of demonstrations, one rear driveway to the Buffalo GYN Womenservices clinic on Main Street was blocked for a few hours.
The “Spring of Life” demonstrations attracted national media attention, and served as the lead news story on the nation’s major networks. The Rev. Robert Schenck, an anti-abortion activist, was arrested for disorderly conduct after carrying a 19 week old human fetus and holding it up to abortion-rights demonstrators. His brother Paul, also a minister, was arrested for trespassing after boarding the bus where his brother was being held by the police.
Dr. Barnett Slepian, who provided abortions at a women’s clinic Buffalo, was one of five doctors targeted by anti-abortion demonstrators. His house was picketed and he became increasingly concerned about the safety of his family and his own vulnerability. Six years after the Spring of Life demonstrations he was assassinated in his suburban Buffalo home while preparing soup in his kitchen. James Kopp, the man convicted of his murder, had been nicknamed “Atomic Dog” by radical elements in the anti-abortion movement.

Originally aired on WIVB-TV.
]]> Newberg, Rich (Reporter) ]]>
]]> Murphy, Kurt (Graphic Arts Director)]]> Rice, Marie (Reporter)]]> Walker, Jacquie (Reporter)]]> Pfeiffer, Rick (Reporter)]]> Koop, Bob (Reporter)]]> eng]]> Broadcasters--New York (State)--Buffalo--History.]]> Broadcasting--New York--Buffalo--History.]]> The Memory Keepers
(2021)
This feature presents the cornerstone project of the Buffalo Broadcasters Association (BBA). It lays out the goals and challenges in preserving and utilizing Buffalo’s archival TV news film and videotape dating back to the mid-1960s.
This piece is the most recent in a series of videos tracing the history of The Archive Project. 
 
“The Memory Keepers” was presented at the Buffalo Broadcasters Hall of Fame induction ceremony on November 4, 2021
(Runs: 7:12)

The Archive Project History 
(5 Parts: 2006 - 2011)
(Total running time: 22:49)

The history of The Archive Project is presented here by Rich Newberg in a series of five features. They document a period of awakening to the value of archival TV news footage, and show how painstaking efforts are underway to preserve the moving images that reflect more than a half century of life on the Buffalo-Niagara Frontier.
 
Rich Newberg is a founding member of the Buffalo Broadcasters Association and former Archive Task Force chairman for the BBA. 
His five video reports were presented during most of the BBA's Hall of Fame ceremonies between 2006 and 2011.] 
 
(Summary of Reports)
The Archive Project (2006)
Runs: 3:51
*Edison’s historic moving images of Buffalo are presented as well as a vision for The Archive Project 
*The first meeting with Buffalo television executives is documented
*Recommendations are given for saving Buffalo’s TV news film collection
 
The Archive Task Force (2008)
Runs: 4:00
*A task force is created to seek grants for digitization of TV news film in the BBA's possession
*University at Buffalo senior research scholar Michael Frisch signs on to create a system for categorizing and indexing digitized material
*Highlights of major Buffalo news stories from the 1960s and ’70s are referenced (civil rights riots, Blizzard of ’77, Love Canal, Attica uprising, Jack Kemp’s political rise to power)
 
The Journey Begins (2009)
Runs: 4:39
*First boxes of TV news film are itemized from the year 1966
*A vision is presented for a museum and resource center to house the collection
*First meeting is conducted with Buffalo area colleges and universities
*The BBA’s Archive Project is featured at a national conference of the Institute of Museum and Library Services held in Buffalo
*Conference presenter Dr. Michael Frisch calls Buffalo “one of the most important media centers in the country, of the evolution of television news.” He references Western New York natives Tim Russert, Wolf Blitzer, and political satirist Mark Russell
 
Buffalo Moments in Time (2010)
Runs: 3:52
*A database is created listing the slugs of all 15-hundred WIVB-TV (formerly WBEN-TV) news stories from the year 1966, the first full year of the BBA’s collection
*Scene Savers of Covington Kentucky sends representative John Walko to advise BBA leadership on how best to preserve and utilize the archival news film 
*Dr. Michael Frisch illustrates how his company, Randforce Associates, is able to catalogue and index all the digitized footage for easy access
*BBA president Dave Gillen says, “We’ve got all the pieces in place. We just need the money to do it.”
 
The Scene Savers (2011)
Runs: 6:00
*The step-by-step digitization process is documented by Scene Savers staffers working on the BBA’s Archive Project. 
*Mr. Newberg says future projects will range from documentaries, to classroom presentations, to museum exhibits
*The project seeks to complete the mission of the BBA to make Buffalo’s moving image history accessible to the public, “so that future generations will know their roots and will appreciate the contributions of Buffalo’s broadcasting pioneers.” 
 
Official Launching of The Archive Project (2019)
WIVB-TV Report
Runs: 3:24
On March 29, 2019, the Buffalo Broadcasters Association (BBA) officially launched The Archive Project. The BBA established written agreements with WIVB-TV (Nexstar/CBS) and WKBW-TV (Scripps/ABC) to digitize their news film and early videotape archives. The moving image archive will be  made available for educational use only.
 
Through BBA fundraisers, donations, and grants from the Western New York Library Resources Council, digitized news reports and clips dating back as early as the mid-1960s began being posted on the New York Heritage website. Postings will also appear on the BBA’s own website. 
 
This WIVB-TV news report by News 4 anchor Jacquie Walker shows viewers the scope of the project and why the initiative is a valued resource for Western New York and the nation.]

Official Launching of The Archive Project (2019)
WKBW-TV Report
Runs: 2:05
The BBA collection of archival Buffalo TV news film and video tape becomes the first of its kind on the New York Heritage website. Rich Newberg, one of the chief architects of the project, comments that the collection will document “huge stories, huge challenges that faced this community.”
He says the archive holds valuable lessons for “seeking better solutions in the future.” He adds, “It’s the journalists, the reporters and photographers, who basically gave their communities the first draft of history. And that’s why we think it’s so vital to bring this back.” 

Actor Ed Asner Endorses The Archive Project
(Recorded: September 20, 2019)
Runs: :60 sec.
Ed Asner, who played television’s legendary news director Lou Grant on the Mary Tyler Moore Show, endorsed the BBA’s Archive Project in a public service announcement. The endorsement was recorded while Mr. Asner was in Rochester, New York performing a one man show.
 
Asner endorsement: 
“Hello. I’m Ed Asner. You may remember me as television’s no-nonsense news director, Lou Grant. If you think about it, journalists provide us with our first draft of history. Right here in Buffalo, more than 50 years of TV news coverage is being brought back to life! Local stations are working with the Buffalo Broadcasters Association to bring back the stories that helped define the Niagara Frontier. It’s called The Archive Project, and I support it with all my heart! So should you.”]
]]> Newberg, Rich (Producer, Writer, Host)]]> Vetter, Tom (Producer, Editor)]]> Buffalo (N.Y.)--Biography.]]> Women--New York (State)--Buffalo--Biography.]]>
WIVB-TV’s Rich Newberg covered the O’Brien story for years,
capturing the spirit of John, who honored the wish of his late sister and helped raise funds for a play about her life. “Hit Me Again” was in presented in Buffalo in April 1991.

John died in 1992 at the age of 39. He was the oldest survivor of dystrophic epidermolysis bullosa. Maureen was 27 when she passed away in 1984. She died as her mother was changing here dressings. Both brother and sister appeared much older than their years. At John’s funeral it was said by his brothers that “he made friends out of strangers and family out of friends.”

The series of reports ends with the tribute to Irene. Newberg interviews Michael who recalls Mother Theresa giving Irene her rosary. There is a scene of the brother and sister in the audience during Mother Theresa’s presentation at Niagara University. Speaking of his mother’s spirit, Michael says, “It was genuine humility…” He added, “She just thought that she was fulfilling God’s will and purpose for her life.”
]]> Newberg, Rich (Reporter, Archivist)]]> Grosvenor Room of B&ECPL (repository)]]> eng]]> PS 076 Herman Badillo Bilingual Academy]]> Journalism, Elementary school]]> Journalism and education]]>
News 4 anchor Rich Newberg and news photographer Tom Vetter conducted workshops with the final goal of creating a TV news magazine program called “The Badillo Beat.” Fernando Correa, an 8th grade student who showed great potential in front of the camera, anchored the program, taking viewers into the heart of Buffalo’s Hispanic community. The purpose was to address important unresolved social issues.

The items featured in this compilation include reports on
what transpired during the course of the project and the student produced program that was presented to the school on June 23, 1998.

Buffalo mayor Anthony Masiello had praised the initiative, telling students at the partnership signing ceremony that they were being given “an opportunity to grow” at a time when “communications is everything.”
He said, “We live in an international marketplace. By the time you are adults, we’ll be communicating with all parts of the world every single day visa-a-vis TV and journalism, computers and telecommunications.”

The Herman Badillo Bilingual Academy already had facilities and equipment used to videotape important school events. Rich Newberg told them that having entry into a television station and a professional newsroom could be a major step toward a career in broadcast journalism. However, he cautioned them that, “Unless you go for it, unless you want want it badly enough and work for it, it is not going to come to you. All we can offer you is the opportunity to see what television is all about.”]]> Newberg, Rich (Reporter, Archivist)]]> Vetter, Tom (News photographer)]]> Rice, Marie (Reporter)]]> Murphy, Kurt (Graphic artist)]]> Education--New York (State)--Buffalo]]> Education--New York (State)--Erie County]]> Bullying]]>
In Western New York, worried parents of young victims of bullying were concerned that their school districts were not dealing effectively with the issue. A rash of incidents on school buses targeted students as young as six years old.

WIVB-TV Senior Correspondent Rich Newberg reported on young children being tormented and found that school superintendents were reluctant to go on-camera to discuss the issue. Parents said bullies were not being punished, even after repeated incidents were documented.

There was enough pubic interest in the growing problem to warrant a special WIVB-TV presentation. On March 2, 2011, large portions of the 5 and 6 o’clock newscasts were set aside to feature a panel of experts who took calls from concerned viewers. They addressed issues including whether or not a targeted child should fight back.

Parents were also advised to look for signs indicating that their child might be a victim of bullying. It was noted that victims can carry deep emotional scars. There were calls for serious interventions by school districts that had been reluctant to take direct action against known bullies.

The segments ended with high profile celebrities and politicians, including President Obama, offering words of encouragement to those who were being tormented at school. Students were urged not to remain silent and to seek help from those they trust, including parents and teachers.

Legendary Buffalo boxer “Baby Joe” Mesi told a group of public school children that he had been a victim of bullying. The former world heavyweight contender said he built up his self confidence by learning how to box.

“Too often the voice of the victim, the target of the bully, goes unheard,” said WIVB-TV General Manager Chris Musial. He added, “Young people still feel trapped, abused and tormented. We at WIVB-News 4 and CW23-WNLO are committed to digging deeper in our coverage of this important issue. Whether it begins in the schoolyard or school bus, or in cyberspace through online taunting or texting, we will continue our efforts to find solutions that lead to an end of these horrible actions by bullies.”

“The Bully Project” was honored with a national Sigma Delta Chi Public Service Award from the Society of Professional Journalists. ]]> Newberg, Rich]]> Murphy, Kurt (Graphic Artist)]]> George Richert (Reporter)]]> eng]]>