SCA-TV Interview
Conducted
by
Non-Resident with
Interesting Past
and
Examining Sun City
Anthem Communication
An Anthem Opinions
Editorial
Do you recognize this
face?
It's a man named Larry Carroll who recently did a broadcast on SCA-TV interviewing Sun City Anthem Treasurer, Tim Nissen, and upcoming Sun City Anthem General Manager, Sandy Seddon.
If you didn't catch it...here is the
broadcast.
But...our story is not about that
broadcast, it's about Larry
Carroll....
AND...
...Sun City Anthem
Communication.
THE
FIX !
Mr. Carroll has been affiliated with
SCA-TV for a few years...and it was learned that at the
direction of Board President Bella Meese, she
requested that the interview with Mr. Nissen
& Mrs. Seddon be conducted by
Mr. Carroll.
Why would this be of any concern?
For a couple of reasons
!
Let's begin with Larry Carroll...the
"golden voice" of SCA-TV...a supposed "objective" Sun City Anthem owned
television station that CONTROLS VIEWING COMMUNICATION IN OUR
COMMUNITY...
...a television station RUN & FULLY
CONTROLLED by a "closed" group of political
appointees...
...a communication device closely
monitored by a Board who makes sure you see and hear exactly what certain board
members want you to see and hear...
...one would believe, is supposedly run by members of our community.
...one would believe, is supposedly run by members of our community.
You will closely note that following
Mr. Carroll's interview...
...there was NO
OPPORTUNITY FOR REBUTTAL TO ANY OF THE
COMMENTARY.
Well now...Mr. Carroll DOES NOT LIVE IN SUN CITY ANTHEM, yet
for some unknown reason, has been allowed to be an "unofficial" part of the
Communications efforts....
...a rather strange
decision when we also know that a number of Sun City Anthem
residents have been REFUSED admission to various methods of association
communication activities.
And...our question is...
WHY was Mr. Carroll CHOSEN over other able and willing
residents ?
I became aware of Mr.
Carroll a couple of years ago when I was the Entertainment Editor of The Vegas
Voice newspaper, having numerous contacts with members of the local
entertainment community.
Mr. Carroll conducted a
Christmas show at Freedom Hall and the admission charge for the show was $20 as
I recall. (It could have been $15).
What made me curious
about that production had to do with my previous experience with The Vegas
Voice....
...primarily, THE REFUSAL TO COMPENSATE PERFORMERS FOR THEIR SERVICES
for entertainment venues provided to members of the
senior community.
I refer to that treatment as EXPLOITATION; and as a result, I
decided to contact a number of those entertainers to ask them a simple
question...
"Are you being paid to
perform on the Larry Carroll Christmas
Show?"
...and sadly, each of the
five I spoke to, said...
NO
Mr. Carroll's show was
literally sold out...collecting between $4,500 and
$6,000 of revenue....NONE OF WHICH was paid to
the entertainers.
What happened to that
money....AND...how it was believed to have supposedly been channeled
"unofficially" to allow sophisticated equipment to be utilized by him for
personal reasons...has never been disclosed.
And so...I decided to do
a bit of homework on Mr. Carroll, dropping the subject for the time-being, until
I saw him do this latest interview on SCA-TV that was authorized by Bella Meese, despite his not being a resident of Sun City
Anthem.
...and...in what has
become one of the most "POLITICALLY
CONTROLLED" organizations associated with Sun City
Anthem...
...it appears that
someone PULLED A STRING to allow him to do
so.
Controlling
communication....what's next folks ???
But let's look at the
history of Mr. Carroll.
Larry
Carroll was an NBC newscaster in Los Angeles for a number of years until
in 1999...
Something took place
which up until now, has yet to be disclosed to Sun City Anthem
Residents.
According to an article
written on December 22, 1999 by an author named Carla
Hall.....
"The former newsman
and Long had been charged with trying to defraud Newberry Springs water park
owner Terry Christensen by persuading him to put $2 million in a scam investment
that would allegedly earn him $18 million. Skeptical of the deal, Christensen
told the authorities, who orchestrated a sting operation against Carroll and
Long. Christensen never paid any money to Carroll or
Long."
When all was said and done, the charges were
eventually dismissed, but strangely....states the author of the
article....
"In May, when his contract
expired, the station chose not to rehire him, and he lost his $330,000 a year
job."
So...we at Anthem Opinions do
not wish to throw stones, but in addition to being authorized by Mrs. Meese for
a non-resident of Sun City Anthem to conduct business on an association
television broadcast...
...one has to ask WHY a person earning $330,000 a year in
1999 would NOT BE REHIRED
?
Better yet, why is he
allowed, or why would he continue an affiliation with a community's non-profit
communication?
Was there compensation of some kind paid to
Mr. Carroll?
SCA-TV is a community service group...and as
such, unlike clubs whose operations are financed by individual club members, is
FINANCED BY YOUR DUES ASSESSMENTS.
As usual....no one seems to have the
answer...or no one is willing to provide that answer.
BUT...there seems to be more
about our association's communication....
First, it's been noted that many
experienced individuals have been rejected from association communication
participation.
The Communications Committee hasn't met for
months.
In addition, to our knowledge, almost all
experienced blog authors...with one glaring exception, have never been
approached for official communication efforts by members the Communication avenues for membership.
Yet the continuing presence of individuals
including the Association President's husband, George
Meese, the Association Vice-President's wife, Beth Weddle, and yes, an alternative blogger...
...none of which
have any journalistic background...
...are forever there (to monitor
what's going on).
...and...we've heard it through the
grapevine that Tom Nissen, currently running for reelection
to the Board of Directors, will again be highlighted
in another TV production...that "coincidently" will be aired very close to the
time the Board election ballots are mailed to members...
...thus providing him undue publicity in his
campaign.
The obvious "right thing to do" SHOULD HAVE
BEEN for Mr. Nissen to have recused himself during the election period to avoid
any conflict of interest or partiality, but it certainly appears from all of
these "coincidences" that...
...the FIX is in
!
The cardinal rule in establishing a DICTATORSHIP...
...is to CONTROL
COMMUNICATION.
...and this current leadership has now used
every bit of their influence to accomplish that
objective.
Got a
comment?
Send it to us at:
Anthem Opinions
Administration
I wonder if Sandy our new GM, is getting an objective education or just keeping her head in the Sand.
Dear Anthem Opinions,
Thank you for your editorial concerning our community supported television station here in Sun City Anthem. There are several issues addressed and I had to spend some time sifting through them to understand the main point of the article.
Before I continue, you should know that my observation might be a little biased considering I have spent most of my life in technical television and stage production. Show business is a very difficult and demanding industry stacked with egos and politics that can easily make Washington look like the minor leagues. It is a business of exploitation, self promotion, back stabbing and any other nasty thing you can think of to gain power and fame. Not everyone is like this of course; there are many wonderful people whom I have worked with and I wouldn't trade my experience for anything. So with that said let's get on with it.
Mr. Carroll:
I don't have a problem with Mr. Carroll as a person nor his career. He is always looking for an opportunity and is very persuasive. What he does "goes with the territory". I do have a problem with him participating in our association supported activities especially if it is for his personal gain. I remember him very well from his days in Los Angeles and my advice is to be very careful when dealing with him.
The Fix:
This is what I see is the heart of the matter. Your observations and conclusions are probably correct concerning the control of SCA-TV and its narrow approach to broadcast journalism. This is not unusual in the industry. You can see examples of this in TV news channels, newspapers and other media. Once again, "it goes with the territory".
The situation here in our community can be changed but it will be very difficult. The group running the show is very closed and protective of their domain. Here is a little more personal background information about me as it pertains to SCA-TV.
A couple years ago SCA-TV placed an announcement in the Spirit magazine looking for volunteers. I have to admit I had never watched SCA-TV so I gave it a look (I watched it on-line because I do not have COX which is another issue of who pays for what). The first thing I noticed was the use of a copyrighted, RCA logo. I won't go any further with that.
I watched a few programs over the next few days and concluded that even though the content was somewhat slanted I could be of some assistence because the production values could use some help. I made contact with the head person at SCA-TV and he was very excited about my possible involvement and invited me to attend some of their production shoots. I did. I watched interviews, commentaries and some other shows I didn't understand. During this information gathering adventure of mine I asked the content people at SCA-TV when they were going to tape the opposing views. I was told "we don't do that". I also asked if SCA-TV provided live coverage of board and committee meetings. The answer was "we can't do that". I asked why that was so and I got no response. When I met and talked to the technical people I was definitely overstepping into a very private clique. The smaller the operation the more closed it is. I know this through many decades of production. I then talked to the grunts who were very nice but short-timers. I guess the turnover is high.
A quick look at the equipment, in and out of use, revealed a great waste of money for what they have. This is an area that I have a great deal experience.
After my visits I was told that they would get back to me. You guessed it; they didn't. However they continued to search for more volunteers.
In conclusion I found SCA-TV to be a very select group of people who like to play television on their own terms that serves no useful purpose to our community at large. It is a shame that we do not use this community based television communication tool for the great good of our community. As you know it can be a powerful media.
One the best we've ever received...and your experience should make you a "natural", but the system...we'll the system...needs change, doesn't it ?
I would like to correct an assumption printed in your February 22 Editorial about Larry Carroll.
Bella Meese did not "request" that Larry Carroll interview Tom Nissen and Sandy Seddon. Larry Carroll is the Host of Board Roundtable and therefore slated to do so.
Board Roundtable, some facts.
Bob Sansing started work on this program concept when he was a member of the SCA Board of Directors. In September of 2012 the program came to fruition when he introduced the concept of the show in Board Roundtable's introductory video. It was Bob Sansing's responsibility to choose the subject for each program and line up the board member or members or others to speak about the subject.
Larry Carroll was the first Host of the program, a Channel 99 volunteer and SCA resident at the time, and has been Host for every program since then except one.
"Why was Mr. Carroll chosen over other able and willing residents?" I feel you left that thought hanging. You should have asked SCA Television's General Manager, Bob Passaro. When Bob asked him to Host, Larry was a resident and a Channel99 volunteer. I did not see a bunch of residents lining up at a production meeting that summer of 2012 vying for the Hosting position.
People with clear voices, at ease reading a teleprompter and with word smith skills are an asset to any TV station and would be welcome at SCA Television.
And finally, for good or ill, SCA Television does not intentionally produce controversial programming.
Yours truly,
Nancy Hepburn
SCA Television volunteer
PS You will see and hear the 6 Board of Director Candidates on SCA Television starting soon after their position statements are shot the first week of March.
I was unaware of the fact that Mr. Carroll was not a resident here at SCA.
My question is:
Doesn’t Mr. Carroll have to be signed in as a guest of a resident and isn’the only allowed here five times a quarter, according to policy?
If he is considered a “consultant,” then why is he conducting the interviews at our station?
Maybe someone out there can give us an explanation, because you brought up a point that certainly hasn't crossed a lot of people's minds !