Mark McKenzie knows he's not bigger than the news. Heck, he's not even the biggest name in his household.
McKenzie, formerly an on-air personality at WQXA-FM 105.7 "Q-106" during the 1980s, and now a reporter at WSBA-AM 910, is aware that he left one dying profession for another, but said he enjoys the work of a newsman — researching and putting together a story.
He broke into local radio in 1980, coming to WLAN-AM 1390 from the New England market. During his time there, he met his wife, Kelly West, who was working at WLAN-FM 96.9 "FM 97."
West, as you might recall, spent 23 years at WARM-FM 103.3 as a co-host on the station's morning show.
McKenzie, meanwhile, did mornings at 1390 and some late nights. He later worked part time at WLBR-FM 100.1 in Lebanon before moving on to Q-106. He was on staff at WQXA when it switched to "Hot 105.7." He recalls playing Power Station's "Some Like It Hot" over and over, and he still cringes to think of the music from that era.
"I can't listen to '80s music," he said. "It is very repetitive, and the quality of the sound ... It was a weird time for music. The '50s and '60s music lasted longer, but it was a great time to be a Top 40 music station."
He remembers being on the York Fair committee that decided in 1988 to bring in teen sensations New Kids on the Block.
"By the time [New Kids on the Block] got to York, they were the hottest thing in the nation," McKenzie said. "When they played, you couldn't hear them signing over the screams from the crowd. I was glad to be there for that."
Spinning music is fun to a point, he said, but after a while it can lose its appeal. By the mid-1990s, he was ready for a change, and news on WSBA provided that transition. The first big story he covered was the Oklahoma City bombing. An invasion in a York County school also stands out, as he provided sound to the Associated Press and CNN.
In the old days, he said, there was more "shoe leather." Reporters regularly called or visited police and fire stations. Now they rely more on press releases, e-mails and the Internet to piece stories together.
McKenzie arrives at work at 3:30 a.m. and does his first news segment at 5:30 a.m. He delivers news every 30 minutes through 9 a.m. He's also WSBA's promotions director.
He said he misses family-owned local stations, which ran the airwaves before radio began cutting back staff and relying on automation. With many corporate radio-ownership groups close to bankruptcy after acquiring hundreds of radio stations, McKenzie is hoping an old trend will re-emerge.
"I don't know where this thing is going," he said, "but I'd love to see families get back in radio ownership, to get personality back in radio."
Brokaw on ESPN: Tom Brokaw will host a series about a weeklong fishing expedition, according to ESPN.
Sponsored by Ace Hardware, "Pirates of the Flats" debuts today on ESPN2's outdoors block.
Brokaw, formerly of "NBC News," will be joined by actor Michael Keaton and others off the coast of the Bahamas.
USA wants more: USA Network's dramatic comedy "White Collar" has been renewed for a second season.