Finally, I can talk...

It's been almost a month since the call I'd dreaded for close to five years, ever since I went to work for my boss at Bend.com, Spencer Dahl: He'd run out of funds to pay me.

Yuck. It was a wonderful ride, one that many people were kind enough to tell us they appreciated. But I knew things had gotten tight.

I didn't want to move. I've come to love Central Oregon, and loved that job right up until the end. But I had to act, fast. My wife has a real good job as well, but no way was it going to cover things.

So I frantically networked - and this week, I landed on my feet. I'm the new ... well, here's the press release that went out today:

Barney Lerten, a prolific 14-year veteran of Central Oregon print, Internet and broadcast journalism, has joined the staff of KTVZ NewsChannel 21 as Assistant News Director, the station announced Wednesday.

Lerten has spent the past five busy years as senior reporter and managing editor of Bend.com, generating hundreds of stories a month on every facet of High Desert news, events, issues and people. Now, he takes up a new challenge, assisting “Central Oregon’s News Leader” in its daily efforts to inform, explain, illuminate and engage its audience on that same wide variety of High Desert news coverage.

“We couldn’t be more pleased to welcome Barney aboard, and we know that his insight, professionalism and wealth of experience will prove invaluable to our coverage of the region,” said Lee Anderson, KTVZ News Director.

“It’s definitely a new and exciting challenge for me, and one I’m grateful to undertake,” said Lerten, 49, who spent 14 years with United Press International in San Francisco and Portland before moving to Bend and joining The Bulletin in early 1991. In recent months, he also provided daily news reports on Redmond radio station KRDM, New Talk 1240.

“I’m excited about this new opportunity,” Lerten said, “and I’m looking forward to staying as busy as ever, both in the newsroom and out and about – not to mention helping to develop a truly first-class Website that Central Oregonians can turn to.”

KTVZ, now also broadcasting on digital TV channel 18, has become an integral member of the Central Oregon community over the past 28 years, offering a variety of entertainment, public affairs and news programming as a member of the NBC network. NewsChannel 21 is owned by NPG of Oregon, a subsidiary of News-Press and Gazette Broadcasting Co. of St. Joseph, Mo.

So ... there it is. I'm three days in, and already getting stories on-air, though I've yet to shoot video, appear on-camera, etc. (I'll spare you the on-set still they sent out with the release - lordy lordy, someone get a mask;-)

I've got a lot to learn, believe me. But I also have a lot to offer, in terms of knowledge of the region, journalism stuff (like fairness, accuracy, etc.) and the plain ol' daily hustle to beat, as Lars Larson would put it, "The Daily Dead Fish-Wrapper."

The people you see on TV here in Central Oregon, and those behind the scenes have been very kind and welcoming, even forgiving of my bad jokes and puns (Lee Anderson and I, alas, have somewhat similar senses of humor - but also, thankfully, similar approaches to news judgment, etc.)

With all the acronyms, the coding of rundowns (what TV folk use to assemble a newscast), not to mention video shooting and editing with their fancy new digital system, it'll take a bit of time before I feel at ease. That also means it could be some time before I can have a big impact on their Website - and I'm asking folks for patience in the meantime. But I have a hunch I'll live up to their expectations, and my own (the biggest pressure I ever feel is what I put on myself;-)