At the June 15 Broadcast Steering Committee summer meeting, conducted over Zoom, members remembered broadcaster and Los Angeles Local Board member Sam Rubin, who died May 10 at the age of 64.
Rob Archer, BSC member and news anchor for KNX News radio in Los Angeles, recalled Rubin as an entertainment journalist who “had a great relationship with everybody and was well beloved on the TV side of the industry, the radio side of the industry and the celebrity side of the industry.”
Others, including television news colleague and BSC member Joy Benedict from KCBS/ KCAL-TV, shared their memories of Rubin. SAG-AFTRA National Executive Director & Chief Negotiator Duncan Crabtree-Ireland, who remarked that he had the chance to get to know Rubin over the years, called him “someone with an incredible skill; the ability to make anyone feel comfortable talking in front of millions of people. He was someone I really admired, and this is a great loss to the union.”
The meeting moved into staff and member leader reports, focusing on updates from local station negotiations and workplace issues currently being addressed. Additionally, SAG-AFTRA Chief Broadcast Officer Mary Cavallaro provided an update and overview on the state of A.I. in news and broadcast.
The meeting wrapped up with a look ahead at upcoming member education and engagement opportunities in 2024. The News and Broadcast team will be attending several journalism conferences this summer, including those hosted by the National Association of Hispanic Journalists in Los Angeles, the National Association of Black Journalists in Chicago, Asian American Journalists Association in Austin, and NLGJA: The Association of LGBTQ+ Journalists in Los Angeles. Additionally, the News and Broadcast team announced that they will be hosting a virtual SAG-AFTRA safety summit in October to discuss best practices for journalists’ safety in both the newsroom and in the field. In the fall, staff will be offering a national shop steward training on Weingarten rights. The Broadcast Steering Committee will meet again in the winter of 2024.
This item originally featured in the SAG-AFTRA summer 2024 magazine issue.