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One-Man Air Force: It's All News To Giles

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By ELAINE MARKOWITZ, Tribune correspondent

Published: September 26, 2007

TAMPA - Martin Giles begins each day when it is pitch dark.

At 3:30 a.m. Giles, a veteran news broadcaster, pulls into the parking lot of Clear Channel Communications along Gandy Boulevard in South Tampa. The mazelike building serves as Clear Channel's hub of radio news for the state. Computers light up the interior of the extensive compound.

'Most of the radio news for the state is consolidated in this room,' Giles said one recent morning. 'Eight radio stations operate from here.'

Alone in the wee hours, Giles, who lives in Riverview, pulls out his favorite red chair and begins gathering news for two of those stations - WFLA, 970 AM, and WFLZ, 93.3 FM.

The broadcasting, which begins at 5 a.m., is easy, Giles said.

'In a lot of ways this is the most relaxing part of the job,' he said. 'I just push buttons.'

From 6 to 10 a.m., Giles begins and ends each hour with five minutes of mostly local news and a line or two of lighter, upbeat material if he has time.

The real work, he said, takes place off the air Monday through Friday, when he searches for current news stories and reads reports coming through by the minute. Multiple resources keep him informed and on top of events. He said he also depends on others to help him along the way.

Steve Hall, assignment editor and assistant news director, helps Giles by passing along the morning news he amasses.

'I get e-mails and faxes from everywhere,' Hall said. 'I also read the papers.'

Giles uses material from Hall as well as from producer Gordon Byrd, but he also gathers information.

'When I get here I crank up the computers and check all the wire copy that comes in,' he said.

That copy includes the latest news from sources such as The Associated Press, Clear Channel News Network and Media Alert, which carries 24-hour police updates.

Giles also follows the audio feeds from Fox News, updates on the Drudge Report and a variety of newspapers online.

'I stay in touch,' Giles said. 'I watch television, read the local papers and check computer news.'

Giles said he can take out any little story he wants to imbed in a newscast.

The hard copy he uses for a broadcast may be written by Giles, Hall or Byrd.

Byrd, Giles said, keeps track of breaking news and puts the newscast together until 9 a.m.

Byrd gave more credit to Giles.

'I'm like a furniture maker,' he said. 'I make the unfinished furniture and he paints it and puts on the finishing touches.'

At 10 a.m. Sept. 11, Giles donned his headphones and adjusted the microphone, which swiveled like a movable sofa lamp. He belted out his welcome to listeners.

'Good morning!' he said. 'This is News Radio 970, WFLA.'

Giles launched into current happenings, including the bomb threat at Bay Pines Veterans Hospital and the meeting of the St. Petersburg City Council in the aftermath of the suicide of member John Bryan. He encouraged listeners to attend a commemoration of the Sept. 11 attacks scheduled for that day by the Bayshore Patriots, a loosely organized group of residents.

Giles began his career as a news broadcaster well before the 22 years he has been at WFLA.

'I got my start with Armed Forces Radio,' said Giles, who began broadcasting from 1956-60 while in the Air Force.

Later experience included 10 years at radio stations throughout Florida and four years in New York City. In 1980, Giles, a native of Plant City, returned to Florida.

'You had to move around at first to get ahead,' he said.

Giles said the only downside to the job is not getting enough sleep.

An unanticipated benefit is the effect it has had on his daughter, Susan Giles Wantuck. She can be heard each morning on WUSF's 'All Things Considered.'

Giles said his daughter saw herself as following in his footsteps, but said she has a natural talent for broadcasting.

'I always thought she had a good voice for radio and read well,' he said.

In the hours away from the station, Giles spends time with his wife, artist Ping Chen, does gardening around his home and browses the Internet.

'I'm an Internet junkie,' he said. 'I go from Web site to Web site and could sit at that thing all day.'

At 70, Giles has no plans to retire from broadcasting. 'I'm doing something I enjoy and doing it at a pretty good level,' he said.

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