MEDIA COVERAGE: Plans take shape for coverage of liturgy with Cardinal DiNardo

By RENEE WEBB, Globe editor
March 6, 2008

While a limited number of people will have the opportunity to attend the Mass for Cardinal Daniel N. DiNardo, thousands more will have the chance to watch or listen to the liturgy thanks to extensive media coverage that is planned for the service.

Tom Kingsbury of Kingsbury Electronics Systems is working closely with Kristie Arlt, diocesan director of communications, to coordinate media coverage of the 3 p.m. Mass to be held at Cathedral of the Epiphany in Sioux City on March 24.

"This is like a puzzle," he explained. "I am the one that puts together the infrastructure."

His duties include routing the cables, finding power sources, positioning video cameras, mixing sound for in the building and a uniform audio feed to the media, helping the TV stations determine where to park trucks for their broadcast and more. Cardinal DiNardo will have one microphone and that single feed will be routed to TV and radio stations as well as the internal sound system at the Cathedral of the Epiphany.

The toughest part, he noted, is not the wiring or technical issues, but in the coordination of the personnel - "getting all the different entities that are going to be involved with this on the same page so that come the day of the show - we know what everyone is going to do. For instance, so Group A is not trying to put their cameras where Group B is going to have theirs and Group C is not going to stand in front of someone when they are doing the live broadcast."

Media coverage

According to Arlt, in addition to The Catholic Globe, other media outlets covering the liturgy are three television stations - KTIV-Channel 4, KMEG-Channel 14 and KCAU-Channel 9, The Sioux City Journal and Aurelia Star as well as 88.1 FM Catholic radio.

"Lining up the coverage has been a lot of work," noted Arlt. "I couldn't do any of this without Tom Kingsbury. He has been my go-to guy."

She added that Bishop R. Walker Nickless and the planning committee are very pleased with the media coverage for this high demand event.

"We wanted to accommodate everyone for the Mass but unfortunately because of the size of the Cathedral that is not possible - so this media coverage is a blessing," she said.

This task is not new for Kingsbury. He coordinated these same tasks for the Episcopal ordination of Bishop R. Walker Nickless.

He noted that his company has covered many large-scale events throughout the country - from huge concert venues to political rallies.

Even with his varied experiences - the church settings pose the greatest challenges.

"Churches are difficult because you have to maintain a certain amount of dignity and decorum. At the end of the day, it has to maintain a church feel," said Kingsbury, who added that aside from big corporate events, sacred church ceremonies offer the greatest pressure.

Bridget Breen, news director at KTIV, pointed out that Chanel 4 will start their broadcast at 2:30 p.m. with 30 minutes of pre-coverage prior to the start of the Mass. Msgr. R. Mark Duchaine, vicar general, will be on hand for the pre-coverage with KTIV anchors Matt Breen and Kristie Ver Mulm. Once the liturgy starts, there will be no break-ins. They will air the Mass in its entirety.

Historical event

"This is a historical event," she said. "It's Cardinal DiNardo's homecoming to the diocese he once served. There are not that many cardinals in the United States - as a community-minded station we see the value and importance of serving our customers in providing something that only a limited number of people would be able to attend in person."

Like Kingsbury, Breen mentioned that much planning has already gone into event - determining pre-coverage content, the roles of her staff and coordinating with the other departments of the station.

"This is a wonderful opportunity and should be a unique and beautiful experience," she said.

KMEG is also providing full coverage of the Mass.

Jeff Raker, news director of KMEG, pointed out that Father Anthony Opem of Blessed Teresa Church in Dakota Dunes will be on set with the station's anchors. It is the same format they used for the ordination of Bishop Nickless.

"We do plan to stream the entire broadcast live on the Web," he noted. "We are delighted to be able to bring this broadcast to our viewership and to the people of the diocese. We think it is an important event and that's why we are broadcasting it."

According to Carla Kreegar, news director of KCAU, they are looking at doing live cut-ins of the Mass throughout the afternoon and plan to provide live coverage during the newscasts with anchor Larry Wentz from the reception. They are also investigating the option of streaming it live on the Web site.

"There is such a large group of Catholics in the area and when you look at how loved Cardinal DiNardo was and what could possibly be in his future - it makes for an important visit for not only the Catholics but Siouxlanders in general," said Kreegar. "There is great interest in this trip."

She added that the station will broadcast some preview pieces over Easter weekend that focus on Cardinal DiNardo's time in the diocese and his elevation to cardinal.

FIRST FOR CATHOLIC RADIO

Jerry Calhoun, vice president of St. Gabriel Communications, pointed out that KFHC 88.1 FM will provide a live broadcast of the liturgy as well as live coverage of the press conference earlier that afternoon. Father William Vit of Storm Lake will provide commentary with John Fitzsimmons, the president of St. Gabriel Communications.

"This will be the first live coverage for the station. It is very exciting. This is a big deal, so we are going all out," he said. "We will eventually get into more live and local programming."

In all there will be about 20 video cameras - between the TV stations, Kingsbury's cameras and even the Sioux City Journal will have unmanned cameras to provide video on their Web site.

Some of the cameras will be manned and others will be remote, unmanned.

"Six hundred and fifty people will be here and there will be thousands who are interested in it," said Kingsbury.

KTIV and KMEG each plan to sell DVD copies of the service in the future.

"The media has been great to work with," said Arlt. "We are grateful to have this coverage so people can experience the Mass live and that the media is so excited that our former bishop is returning to the diocese. It means a lot to our diocese that the media sees the magnitude and importance of this event. We appreciate all of the work that they have put into this."

The reception will follow Mass at approximately 5 p.m. at the Marina Inn in South Sioux City, Neb. It is open to the public. About 1,000 people are expected at the reception, which will conclude at about 6:30 p.m.