44 years ago today I woke up to the news of the accident at Desert One. Operation Eagle Claw had failed. The mission was to rescue the American Hostages being held in Iran. I was in college taking courses in television production, but this event gave me the desire to focus on network news. I earned my Bachelor of Science degree in communications with a focus on video engineering for news gathering.

I began my career working for a TV evangelist, then editing for an ad agency before working for a mega-church as their broadcast editor and systems engineer. After working for the church, I finally realized my dream of working for the network news when I got the job with the Associated Press as an up-link engineer. I loved working in live uplinks. I met a lot of people from all over the world.

My view of network news was tainted when I saw firsthand how information was manipulated for political reasons. This was in 2005 so it was probably not as bad as it is now. The straw that broke the camel’s back for me was my producer and I were walking past the CNN set up in the Astrodome parking lot where the New Orleans refugees were staying after Hurricane Katrina destroyed their city. The CNN Producer came up to me holding a clipboard and asked if I had ever been to the White House. I responded that I had driven past but not gone inside. My producer said that he took a tour of the White House a few years earlier. "Perfect" said the CNN Producer as he wrote something on the clipboard. He walked away going towards the camera where the on-air person was waiting for the red tally light to go bright. The producer took the piece of paper he wrote on and handed it to the young lady waiting to give the news report. She looked at the paper and looked up in time to see the tally light come on. She said to the world on live TV, "According to White House sources....."

I could not believe what I just witnessed!

There were many other examples I can share but this particular one really showed the evil side of what many people believe as truth. I knew I had to walk away from a career I loved because I could not be a part of the propaganda that was being spread to the American people.

God has blessed me with a new career that I love. I am now on my countdown to retirement. I look back on my career and I know I made the right decision.