Chuck Sibley is a relentless photojournalist whose illustrious 50-year career at KTTC-TV in Rochester, Minnesota, has seen him covering everything from the Super Bowl and World Series to poignant local sports, human interest and unforgettable weather stories. He's more than just a photographer; he's a storyteller, capturing the human spirit in every frame.
KTTC-TV
Experience Rochester, MN
Chuck Sibley is a relentless photojournalist whose illustrious 50-year career at KTTC-TV in Rochester, Minnesota, has seen him covering everything from the Super Bowl and World Series to poignant local sports, human interest and unforgettable weather stories. He's more than just a photographer; he's a storyteller, capturing the human spirit in every frame.
KTTC-TV
Experience Rochester, MN
The Growing Destinations podcast is brought to you by Experience Rochester. Learn more about Minnesota's third largest city, which is home to Mayo Clinic and features wonderful recreational and entertainment opportunities, by visiting experiencerochestermncom.
Speaker 2:I didn't even know what the term photojournalist meant right off the bat, but it doesn't take you long to learn that when you're a photojournalist, it's not just what you shoot, but it's your. You better have a very high level of curiosity, you know, because if you don't, it's probably not going to work as well for you.
Speaker 1:Welcome to the Growing Destinations podcast, where we take a deep dive into destination development and focus on a wide range of topics, from tourism and entertainment to economic development and entrepreneurism and much more. I'm your host, bill Vaughn Bank. We're on location at the KTTC television studios in Rochester, minnesota. Today I have the pleasure to sit down with Chuck Sibley, who is a professional photographer. Chuck has been with KTTC for more than 50 years, sharing impactful storytelling through the lens of his camera. Chuck Sibley, welcome to the Growing Destinations podcast. Nice to be here. Thanks, chuck. You are a Rochester, minnesota native and have spent your entire career working in Rochester. What has kept you in the community?
Speaker 2:Probably the number one thing that has kept me in the community is family and friends, and when I had a son in 1981, I knew I was that I should stay around here and be his dad. I didn't want to go wandering off and not be the best father I can be. That and another thing that kept me in Rochester was as a cancer survivor from 1979, I knew I had to stick around the male clinic so they could check me. You know, do follow-up tests every one month and then every three months and then every six months and now it's about once a year.
Speaker 1:Chuck, KTTC television is celebrating 70 years on the air in Rochester and you have more than 50 years with the station as a cameraman, Chief photographer. That's astounding. What attracted you to this work?
Speaker 2:Basically my brother Jim, who got into radio after going to Brown Institute to work in radio in the mid to late 60s. He's the one that gave me a thought that maybe I should try a little bit at either radio or TV, and so it was basically the influence of my brother Jim Plus. I was just curious about what it would be like to work in a small town TV station.
Speaker 1:And then in terms of being a cameraman versus some other parts of the job, what attracted you specifically to that part?
Speaker 2:When I first started that was a part-time camera, studio camera operator back when we had studio camera operators instead of remote cameras, and I started that when I was starting to go to RCTC in August of August and September of 1972. I started out as a part-time studio camera guy. Then, after a couple of years of going to RCTC, I got a full time job in the TV studio helping to do a lot of TV stuff in the studio. But then in about late summer of 1977, they thought they needed another person out in the field doing field photography, shooting 16 millimeter film, and so they asked me if I would be interested in doing that. And I tried it and had a lot to learn. But it's a great way to learn shooting 16 millimeter film.
Speaker 1:Well, technology and advancements have really changed how you gather news these days. Tell us about all of the technology changes you've dealt with in 50 years.
Speaker 2:Starting out being a 16 millimeter news film photographer was a great way to learn, because you learn how to take light meter readings, you learn what's a good shot, what's not a good shot. But then the other types of technology that we advanced through in the early to mid-80s was converting from 16 millimeter film onto great big three-quarter inch videotape cassettes and using videotape instead of film. But the one thing, one of the greatest things you learn about shooting film is also how to process film, and we always had to process our own film every day with our film processor, who we nicknamed Bruno Simple as that, and he was a big old bear and he was involved in the flood of 1978. But we all love Bruno and learning through shooting film is, as far as I'm concerned, was a great training for me.
Speaker 1:So you go from film to video, to digital.
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 1:And that transition over that many years I mean with film that had to take you a bit right to get the story on the air, versus today where it's almost immediate.
Speaker 2:Yeah, you had to make sure you had time to come back. If you had to shoot at three or four in the afternoon, you'd have to process your film between four and five and somehow try to figure out a way to get it on a six o'clock show, because it usually took more than 45 minutes to process a whole bunch of film. But it was a great, great way to train and you learn that you can't overshoot, as you know being in the business. If you overshoot, especially with film, the processor will take longer for that film to develop.
Speaker 1:You've covered thousands of stories during your career and big events such as a Super Bowl, us Open, final Four and World Series twice. Are there a few impactful stories that stand out?
Speaker 2:Oh, those big sporting events really were impactful. But also, when it comes to sports, shooting, local sports is every bit as precious to me as shooting these big things like the Super Bowl, the US Open, the Final Four and the World Series. Because when you cover local sports, you go out as a team, you come back as a team, you put stuff on the air and it is probably one of the greatest team things we do. How about human interest? There have been some really really traumatic ones, like the David Brom situation where, as a Lourdes High School sophomore, he took it out on his family. There have been some really really very difficult spot news stories like that, including weather stories of, say, the ice storm in 1991, the flood of 1978, which flooded our TV station, among pretty much most everything in southwest and southeast Rochester.
Speaker 2:Yeah, human interest stories, and one of the most powerful stories I ever did was with our old sports directors, dan O'Hara, with his dear daughter Shannon O'Hara, who had brain cancer when she was 10 years old. She made it until she was about 12. But that is certainly one of the most powerful stories I ever covered is her watching people running a running, walking marathon, and she was there and she showed more courage than just about anybody I've ever seen. When you cover a story like that, it makes you realize how important it is to do it right. And it really wasn't the questions we asked so much, as it was just her humanity. She had a heart of gold.
Speaker 1:Chuck, I'm intrigued by your perspective when it comes to news gathering.
Speaker 2:When you go out to a breaking news story that is nature versus man, like a powerful tornado or a winter storm or something like that, or a flood, you see people come running with everything from a pickup truck to a chainsaw, to a shovel, to even a case of beer or maybe some goulash or something.
Speaker 2:What can we do to help you neighbor? And that is one of the most encouraging things I've seen over the years to cover is that man helping man. One of the hardest things to cover and it's even gotten tougher through the years is man versus man, because when you cover man versus man you see some of the ugliest stuff in journalism and sometimes it just churns your stomach and you might wake up at 2, 3 in the morning and say how in the world did that happen? But nature versus man is a fellowship thing where what can we do to help neighbor? Man versus man can get really, really tough to cover and you don't blame people one bit for not wanting to do an interview or not wanting to be on camera in a situation like that, because the emotions that they're going through when it comes to man versus man are just out of this world.
Speaker 1:Well, you've been a mentor to so many journalists over the years. I imagine that feels good.
Speaker 2:I consider myself a mentor but also, more than anything, a coworker, and you know what I mean, bill. When people come here you hope that they're ready to go out in the field and do their job and hustle back and get stuff on the air, and I would say the huge majority of them have been very good at it. But it does feel good to just kind of lead not so much by what you say is by what you do Simple as that One of your former coworkers is co-producer of this podcast, Erin O'Brien.
Speaker 1:And I asked Erin O'Brien if she'd hop on mic and chat a little bit about working with you, and maybe Erin has her own question for you.
Speaker 3:Good to see you again, Chuck.
Speaker 1:Good to see you.
Speaker 3:I worked at KTTC from 2017 to 19. So just a couple years of your long tenure here. But I think one of my biggest memories of getting to work with you day to day was that, no matter the story if it was just like a quick 15-second mention on a newscast or a three-minute investigative piece you always put 100% into every aspect of the story and I took that lesson with me even now today, not working directly in TV news. It's applicable to a lot of the things that I do. Do you think that's one of the big lessons you try to teach reporters you work with, and what else do you try to leave them with?
Speaker 2:Well, you know that old phrase you can't mail it in. You don't mail it in. You've got to go out and get it, bring it back and do the best you can to get it on the air in quality, quantity and in time. You know we all have deadlines. Another very valuable lesson you learn is that you gotta get out and get after it every day and be the best photojournalist you can be. I didn't even know what the term photojournalist meant right off the bat, but it doesn't take you long to learn that when you're a photojournalist, it's not just what you shoot, but it's your. You better have a very high level of curiosity, you know, because if you don't, it's probably not gonna work as well for you.
Speaker 1:Chuck, in addition to tributes from current and former colleagues celebrating your 50 years at KTTC, you've also been honored by the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences, also known as the Emmys, the Upper Midwest chapter with the Gold Circle Honor for your 50 plus years in the industry. And not just that, but going above and beyond. That's a prestigious honor. How meaningful is this recognition?
Speaker 2:It's very humbling but a huge honor, and it is one of those things where you look back every now and then and reflect on it and you go where did all that time go? But so many people bounce around the state, the country, the world when it comes to journalism. But the fact that I've stayed around here is not something that I'm one bit sorry for. I'm glad I kind of stayed around here and you get to see a lot of people come and go and when it's time for them to go you just hope they're ready for their next big challenge.
Speaker 1:There's a lot of Chuck-isms, apparently, that you're known for. I think I pulled a couple out, but if I miss some, you can certainly add some People. First News. Second Tell us about that.
Speaker 2:People First News. Second, one of the things I learned from a news director named Larry Hendricks is he had a phrase he would use in our morning assignment meetings or through the day, because people have different ideas and what they want to do. One of his great phrases that I remember and we still have a sign up in the newsroom about it tough on ideas, not people. Whether or not you like the idea, don't be sarcastic about the person that gave them the idea, because they're trying to do the same thing we all are. Come up with ideas on a daily basis. Tough on ideas, not people.
Speaker 1:Here's another one of your Chuck-isms Be quick, don't hurry.
Speaker 2:I stole it from John Wooden, the greatest basketball coach in the history of basketball, and it works wonders. When you're trying to get something on the air from a deadline, be quick but don't hurry and the reporters love that phrase because if you're in a hurry, things are usually gonna get in the mess In basketball, in pretty much every sport, but also in journalism. If you're in a hurry, it's probably not going to work out well for you. So be quick but don't hurry.
Speaker 1:What have you learned about yourself in this role?
Speaker 2:I've learned that I do have a very true sense of curiosity and also learning from family how to get up and get after it on a literally on a daily basis, because if you don't do that, you're going to have days where things don't work out for you very well. So family values are very important and they transfer into a job like this and quite a few other jobs too. I've also learned that there's a lot to see out there. There's a lot to see. It can be beautiful weather shots, it can be horrible weather, it can be breaking news, it can be spot news, it can be features that are just heartwarming and you learn to just stick with it on a daily, weekly, monthly and yearly basis.
Speaker 1:What advice would you give to multimedia journalists today?
Speaker 2:just starting out, I would say one of the things that I talk about a lot with young journalists is, while you're here, while you're here in this small market of like Market 150 or something like that, keep both eyes focused on what you're doing here, instead of having one eye focused on what you're doing here and one eye on your next job.
Speaker 2:Because if you have one eye on your next job, chances are you're not going to deliver the goods. For what we need here and I think that is one of the most important things is be good where you are. It's kind of like being in the minor leagues of baseball. If you stay focused on what you're doing in the minor leagues, chances are pretty good you might make it to the big leagues, but meanwhile be the best minor leaguer you can be. And another piece of advice for multimedia journalists is because so many of them have to shoot their own video these days and they have to go out without a photographer and they have to learn to shoot stuff themselves. And when you do that you find out what kind of character you have and what kind of character you are too.
Speaker 1:Chuck, great advice and no question that you deserve the Gold Circle Honor for your 50 plus years in the broadcast industry. And thank you for being our guest on the Growing Destinations podcast.
Speaker 2:It's been my pleasure. Thanks, bill.
Speaker 3:Thanks Chuck, thanks Erin.
Speaker 1:Thank you.