Ariel 'Foreign Bureau'

By Joni Mazer Field and Beth Miller, Washington Bureau, 29 March 2005

The Washington news bureau has moved to new premises, ending more than 25 years of broadcasting from 2030 M Street.

The new bureau, just down the road at 2000 M Street, has hi-tech radio and TV production facilities and a purpose-built newsroom.

TV editor Joni Mazer Field and producer Beth Miller recall the days before digital in the BBC's old former home

Joni Mazer Field

In 1980, I was the first TV freelance editor hired by Martin Bell. Considering there were four of us in the office, it was a lofty title. Videotape was brand new, and during my first edit, I hit the wrong button.

Tone burst from every speaker and the aghast look on Martin's face said: 'You'll never work here again.' Before he could utter a word, I promised I'd be the best editor he ever had, or die trying. Somehow I survived.

Bob Grevemberg, a former Louisiana vice squad cop, was the cameraman, fixer, technician and sidekick who could provide whatever services or demands were placed upon him.

Our two freelance technicians were Larry Tyler and Larry D'Anna. Whenever there was a problem we 'needed a Larry'. The Brits thought 'a Larry' was US slang for a technician.

We had a civilised schedule, a few days to film, enough time to edit (or so it seems in retrospect); the problem was the feed. Playing back the tape at the feed point felt as if we were sending it into a black hole.

Many times we couriered a copy of the story with a kindly passenger on an overnight flight to the other side of the pond.

A world away

When 'Grev' became saddled with other business concerns, Kerry Meyer and Misa Rossetti joined the team as camera crew. Martin claimed Misa was the only French sound recorder ever to wear stylish heels in the Salvadoran war zone.

Sharon Blanchet was scooped up from CBS so the Wash team rose to a whopping five. When the editing needs expanded to cover all the bulletins, a virtual 24/7 operation, Emily Best came on board and finally Dorry Gundy-Rice, to facilitate all the home office requests.

The office swelled with employee 'visitors' during big stories. We could always expect guests at election time, with people securing any small space they could find. We've had many arrival and departure gatherings, usually in the kitchen.

I've been meaning to throw a party for those of us who actually remain.

The new BBC Washington office is just a few doors up from the old one but a world away from the one I entered all those years ago.

The one thing that has remained constant is the calibre and professionalism of the people I've worked with these past 25 years. I'm so glad I did what Martin advised, and didn't get a job with the Yanks so I could work for the BBC.

Beth Miller

I spent longer working at 2030 M Street, NW, Washington, DC than I spent living in my parents' house before I left for college - more than 22 years.

I arrived at the BBC's Washington bureau in 1982. We had two correspondents: Clive Small for radio and Martin Bell for TV. The other member of staff was the TV assistant/accounts manager, Carol Fisk, from London. There were no producers.

Studios were almost non-existent. We had one small radio studio with a microphone, one quarter-inch tape machine and no sound-proofing. Our broadcast circuit was a two-wire.

If we took on a special broadcast, such as a live feed of the president's State of the Union address, a special four-wire circuit had to be routed to us courtesy of our next door neighbours, CBS.

Computers became a part of our operation almost by accident. We inherited a Basys system after the news special on the election of George Bush senior in 1988.

Techno-nano-cyber world

A small Tandy laptop appeared after the radio correspondent realised just how much noise his portable manual typewriter made during a transatlantic flight home from a superpower summit.

Television had a similar situation. We hired freelance engineers to run our satellite feeds. We were lucky if we sent reports three times a week for the Nine O'clock News.

The office would almost shut down when the TV correspondent went on the road to do a piece. ENG (electronic news gathering) was a new concept. Pity the poor sound technician whose job it was to lug the video deck around after cable-attached cameraman!

Now the Washington Bureau supports more than 50 staff and serves countless numbers of news outlets and programmes. Life at 2000 M Street involves crossing the threshold into a techno-nano-cyber world.

I wonder, looking at a portrait of George Orwell in front of a BBC microphone from the 1940s, what he would have made of it all.

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