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Media Scope
"Prime Time for Massaro No one in the Mahoning Valley has seen more of George W. Bush and John Kerry -- and the 2004 presidential campaign -- than Jim Massaro. No, he's not a big money man for the parties, nor a political strategist or media pundit. He's the man behind the camera, the man whose employees are operating the satellite trucks parked outside most major campaign events in Midwest battleground states.Massaro owns and operates First Call UpLinks, a Boardman satellite transmission, mobile editing and video production company. Since the Iowa caucuses in January, he and his six employees have worked for nearly every national television network. Last week Massaro's two trucks and video crews were in Cleveland for the vice presidential debate, providing photography and satellite transmission services for NBC and MSNBC. This week they'll be in Columbus providing audio, video and uplinks for CNN to interview battleground-state focus groups. Next week they'll be on the road in Michigan and Ohio with reporters and producers for the British Broadcasting Corp. as they report on the presidential campaign."The race is very, very close -- absolutely," says Massaro. "The crowds are huge for both sides. More people are coming out to hear what the candidates have to say than four years ago -- and we're getting more calls for this election than four years ago."The calls not only come from news organizations in need of video photographers and satellite uplinks, but also from the campaigns. In the last few weeks, Massaro has been the videographer -- and his company's trucks have provided the transmission uplinks -- for "satellite media tours" featuring the Democratic Party's presidential nominee, John Kerry, and his running mate, John Edwards. The satellite media tours -- jargon for consecutive live interviews -- enable the candidates to be in one place while questioned separately by local TV anchors from stations across the country. Massaro got his start in broadcasting 25 years ago as a news photographer for WYTV Channel 33. He launched his company, Massaro Productions, in 1985, and quickly found his niche as a free-lance news photographer. He bought his first satellite uplink truck in 1998.Since then he's worked with CBS anchor Dan Rather covering Hurricane Floyd, with NBC anchor Tom Brokaw covering the 2000 Republican National Convention, and with MSNBC's Chris Mathews when Hardball goes on the road. He was in Shanksville, Pa., two hours after United Airlines Flight 93 crashed Sept. 11, 2001, and he and his crews spent 72 days stationed in Austin, Texas, following the disputed 2000 presidential election. "The networks are just working on bigger assignments than we did at Channel 33," he says. "They treat you as professionals. Everybody pitches in to get the job done. But there's also competitiveness -- to be first with breaking news. We're firefighters. When the pagers go off and the phone rings, we respond immediately.""