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Emmy
(R) Award Winning Glendale Daily
Planet/KKAT-IPTV Celebrates 5 Year Birthday!
Emmy
award-winning Glendale Daily Planet/KKAT-IPTV celebrates
five-year anniversary. The online news site launched Oct.
5, 2004.
It was Oct. 5,
2004, when Ed Sharpe launched the Glendale
Daily Planet, the parent organization of KKAT-IPTV.
This year, Sharpe celebrated his fifth anniversary, and
for a virtual newcomer to the public stage, he has melded
his technologically advanced talent with a resource that
was heretofore untapped.
Some might say
it was a natural progression. Sharpe had an interest in
journalism and coupled with his fascination with computer
technology, the journey of the Glendale
Daily Planet began.
It was a simple
beginning. Sharpe started with a PDA and at first, shot
videos and stills. Before long, he was using
high-definition cameras and just this year, began
experimenting with 3D video news reports.
It is the west
side of the Valley of the Sun where Sharpe seeks out
stories for the Glendale
Daily Planet. He has been on the spot to witness,
participate in and record the revitalization of downtown
Glendale, the rise of Glendale’s sports empire and the
restoration and preservation of the city’s historic
center.
The past five
years have not just brought a different kind of news to
West Valley residents, it has brought Sharpe recognition
from the industry.
"Throughout
the years, it has been wonderful to be recognized by
groups of media peer judges for the news and
entertainment work we produce here at the Glendale Daily Planet," Sharpe said. "Recently we were
awarded a Communicator online media award and a W3
Award for online news site."
Other awards
the site has won include: Emmy (r) award, rows of Telly,
Hermes Creative, Ava, Aegis Millennium, Videographer, Omni
Intermedia, Marcom, Arizona Press Club, and other media
awards.
But the awards
that mean the most come from the local community. He has
also received the Arizona Black Journalist “Online Media
Diversity”, an Arizona Press Club and the Glendale
Chamber of Commerce “Keys to Glendale’s Success”
awards.
And the
community leaders recognize the effort Sharpe has given to
his newfound life’s work.
Glendale
Chamber President Don Rinehart said, "Congratulations
to the Glendale Daily Planet on its five-year anniversary. As
Glendale’s all volunteer Internet news source, you can
always find the latest in current and breaking local news,
courtesy of Ed and Bette Sharpe. Thanks for serving
the Glendale area for the past five years!"
Glendale Mayor
Elaine Scruggs said, "The Glendale
Daily Planet gives our residents and others the
opportunity to learn about and see events and activities
that are creating our city's history. The
stories and the photos are online and ready to be viewed
within hours of their happenings. I congratulate and
applaud Ed Sharpe for his commitment and dedication. During
the past five years, Ed Sharpe has continued to learn from
the professionals and invest in technology in order to
bring the highest quality product to his readers and
viewers. The success of Ed Sharpe and The Glendale
Daily Planet is extraordinary and has been
recognized by numerous local, regional and national
industry organizations. Happy fifth
anniversary!"
Sharpe also
helps out local public safety officials with quick
uploading of critical information, especially when it
comes to lost children, criminals, dangerous hazmat
situations or fires.
Glendale Police
Chief Steve Conrad said, "Congratulations on your
five years of serving this community! Thank you for
your continuing commitment to cover the Glendale Police
Department, and safety issues that are so important to the
citizens of our city."
Glendale Fire
Department spokesperson Daniel Valenzuela also
congratulated Sharpe’s fifth anniversary and awards,
saying, "We thank them for their coverage of the
Glendale Fire department as we continue to proactively
serve our customers with fire and life safety
services."
Accolades for
the Glendale
Daily Planet have come from all parts of the city
and its municipal and civic organizations.
Nikki Colletti,
President, Citizens’ Police Academy Alumni of Glendale,
said, "My congratulations to the Glendale Daily Planet on
five years of being a leader in news coverage. It is
definitely the front-runner as an on-line, late breaking
news source and continues to prove itself daily. Its
writers and reporters have received many accolades in the
industry. Its coverage of the downtown core is
incredible and it brings to light the culture and rich
history of Glendale, as well as the restoration of the
historic downtown district. It has followed the rise
of national sports in Glendale and kept many of us ‘in
the know’ about events around town."
"On a
personal note, Ed and the Planet have devoted much time
and enthusiasm to the non-profit which I head, the
Citizens Police Academy Alumni of Glendale. They have
continued to assist me in putting this organization in
front of the public and making people aware of our
existence and what we do in the community. My thanks
to his organization for keeping the spirit of Glendale
alive, involving us as readers in its rich history and
serving it citizens and public servants on so many levels.
I thank him for his friendship and wish him and the Glendale Daily Planet many
more years of success along with the recognition it
deserves. Congratulations all!"
Karen Puthoff spokesperson
and PIO for PSA Art Awakenings said, "Happy fifth
birthday to the Glendale Planet! Bette and Ed Sharpe
provide a great service to the community by giving so
freely of their time and talents to keep everyone
informed about local community happenings and events
that impact Glendale, the valley and state. PSA
Art Awakenings particularly appreciates the coverage given
its artists and the help the Glendale Planet offers to
promote empowerment and recovery through creativity."
Trash,
backed-up sewers, road problems – lots of action, tons
of machinery, and sometimes challenges – Sharpe’s
camera is focused on what matters to his community.
Ken Reedy,
Deputy City Manager of Public Works, said, "Congratulations
on five years of Glendale Daily Planet
service. Your reports and CouryGraph video productions
have been an outstanding asset to the Northwest Valley and
all of your viewers here in Glendale."
"It’s
hard to believe how much progress you have made in only
five years! Your technology improvements have been very
impressive and your ability to cover stories on such a
wide spectrum of local news has been outstanding."
"My
congratulations to you and your staff who work so hard to
create quality stories."
The tourism
industry and redevelopment of downtown and the business
community are part and parcel of the Glendale Daily Planet’s
coverage.
Linda Whittley,
owner Papa Ed's Ice Cream sent greetings: "Happy
Birthday! Thank you, Glendale
Daily Planet and Ed Sharpe for always reporting
the ‘scoop’ on Papa Ed’s Ice Cream."
City Tourism
Manager Lorraine Pino at Glendale Visitor Center, said, "Many
congratulations to Ed Sharpe and the Glendale
Daily Planet on their five-year anniversary. The Glendale Daily Planet is a
fantastic source of local information for both residents
and visitors. The online stories and videos are timely and
in-depth and provide a great resource for the online
audience."
Even the
library gets coverage for its programs, whether it means
live footage of a nationally acclaimed author to
volunteers playing puppeteers for a weekly toddler show.
Along his news
reporting journey, Sharpe has joined national press
associations: Society of Professional Journalists (SPJ)
and the Investigative Reporters and Editors (IRE). He
attends local meetings of those groups as well to sharpen
his skills.
But the
progression did not happen without help from an extended
network of talented associates.
Sharpe said, "I
would also like to take this time to thank all my
associates here, Lesa Holstein - Book Topics Editor, Bette
Sharpe - Photographer, Jamise Liddell - Entertainment
Editor, Chef Eric Reinert - The Budget Bistro, Erick
O’Donnell - Reporter and Bill Schreiner -
Associate Engineer... we make a great team!"
Sharpe credits
the mentorship of other community news publishers for his
success... He said, "My favorite lesson was
from Carolyn Dryer at The
Glendale Star that ‘There is always a story wherever
you look; you just have to look.’ I really doubt we would
have achieved what we have without input and
encouragement from our brothers and sisters out
there."
Referring to
his 2007 Emmy award, Sharpe said, "The Glendale
Daily Planet / KKAT-IPTV was the first Glendale,
Ariz. news media outlet to receive an Emmy® award. In
addition, this was also the first Advanced Media Emmy
award to be presented for Breaking News/ Continuing
Coverage in the Rocky Mountain Region."
Sharpe offers a
continuous 24/7 stream of archived footage in the player,
but when a special event arises, has the ability to
go live, interrupting the pre-programmed content to cover
the event. With the advent of higher speed EVDO radio
cards and compact portable satellite terminals, the
options are limitless.
Looking toward
the future... Sharpe states "We were the first in
Arizona shooting some of our news
video in 3D. Since 3D will be common place for
entertainment, we set our sights on having an archive of
3D news event footage"
To learn more
about Ed Sharpe from CouryGraph Productions and other
participative community journalists and engineering staff,
visit http://www.glendaledailyplanet.com
24 hours a day, seven days a week.
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A
pre-history - Ed Sharpe shares some early history
Early work with the internet
with myself and some of the merchants in downtown Glendale
went back as far as the mid 1990's. Having
movies up for people to watch in this era was futile as
most folks were on dial-up lines. In the pre- Daily Planet
days we diddled around with Netscape Real Player at
low bandwidth over dialup lines... it was abysmal!
You can say
yes, we had some community news... Digital cameras
were not really wide spread and were expensive for
something with low resolution... It was an
interesting era Martha Campbell from the Spicery
Tea Room and I managed to get some history of the area
up on line and tourism and merchant information even
prior to the city having tourism websites etc...
and... there is a whole story about this era also.
This was also
the era when people said Internet WHAT!? or...
if they had heard of it ... doubted it would ever be
useful for advertising... what a time it was back
then!
So basically...
I trace my involvement with online media to the mid
1990's
But wait
there is more...
If we want to
count text only.... with out photos, graphic and videos...
I can take my self back in online distribution to 1981
with an HP-2000 timeshare system that was used as an
online information and computer news system... This
migrated into a software product called FORUM/3000 that
ran on an HP-3000. in its day when people were running
bulletin boards on single user systems and in a
multi- user system HP Office was many many many
thousands of dollars, Forum/3000 featured electronic
mail, 100 message and news boards and many other
features. We ran a copy of it on our machine at Computer
Exchange Inc for us HP 3000 system managers to meet
and collaborate and pass news on. there was
also a site in the United Kingdom for the European
user to use.. Lucky them! they had x.25 available
almost as a free or low cost offering to use even
back in the 1980's. In the mid to late 1980's we
then started to work photos and graphics into stories
online.
My main
business with computers was hardware, this project
sharpened my programming skills.
So... you
see... I.. am ... old..
A foundation in
video going back EVEN further... in the late 1960's our
High School got a Concord Reel to Reel 1/2 inch tape
system and Camera, being that I was the kid into
electronics, the school had me figure it out and tutor
some of the other students to use it.
Then even before
that.....
A group of us
kids had a small radio station for broadcasting in the
neighborhood.... seemed lots of kids wanted to
be a DJ... I with my interest in electronics was
able to build the transmitter and mixing console... what
great fun!
But the
creation of the Glendale Daily Planet...
The creation of
the Glendale Daily Planet had to wait until the technology
was ready, the audience was endowed with
equipment and high-speed lines... and... I was ready to devote
endless hours in the pursuit of news. Fun? You Bet!
Hard work? YES... many times. Would I do it
again? YOU BET! -ES
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