Richard Hurd, professor of industrial and labor relations, prepares for an interview by ABC News on the UPS strike. Bert Reed, audio engineer for Media Services, adjusts Hurd's microphone in preparation for the Aug. 6 interview in Media Services' television studio at Martha Van Rensselaer Hall. Adriana Rovers/University Photography
Hours after the International Brotherhood of Teamsters began its nationwide strike against United Parcel Service (UPS) at midnight Aug. 3, phones began ringing off the hook in the offices of researchers and faculty at Cornell's School of Industrial and Labor Relations (ILR).
Kate Bronfenbrenner, director of labor education research at the ILR School, Michael Belzer, senior research associate, and Richard Hurd, professor of industrial and labor relations, have handled more than 100 media queries in the strike's first week and may handle many more, depending on how long it takes to reach an agreement.
"This has been the most intense media attention at one time for me," said Hurd, who also was quoted widely in the press last year on labor's influence in the national presidential election.
The nation's major newspapers The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, USA Today, The Washington Post and wire services, such as Dow Jones, Reuters and the Associated Press, all turned to ILR experts for commentary on the strike's economic impact and the trend toward using part-time workers and to speculate on how the strike will affect Ronald Carey's influence as Teamsters union president. The ILR experts also have been contacted by the major networks, including ABC, NBC, CBS and National Public Radio, among others.
"Good Morning America," ABC's morning television news program, featured both Hurd and Bronfenbrenner in coverage of the UPS strike Thursday morning. Hurd appeared in a report by ABC correspondent Bob Zelnick, ILR '61, while Bronfenbrenner appeared live via satellite from Cornell for an interview with host Tom Bergeron.
A television interview takes more preparation and planning for a Cornell expert than a newspaper reporter's interview, which can be conducted by phone. To accommodate television interviews at Cornell, networks must book satellite time, and Cornell Media Services must make staff available to operate the television camera, set up the sound and oversee the satellite transmission, or feed. Cornell's television facilities are located in Martha Van Rensselaer Hall.
For her live interview with "Good Morning America," Bronfenbrenner arrived at the studio at 7:30 a.m. Media Services technicians adjusted her microphone and ear piece, so she could hear the interviewer's questions, and they performed a sound check with network producers. A television monitor in the studio enabled Bronfenbrenner to see herself but not the program's host. At about 8:15 a.m., Bronfenbrenner took her first question.
"It can be somewhat nerve-racking," Bronfenbrenner said of live television. "First of all you have no idea what questions will be asked, and you can't see the interviewer."
Often television and radio appearances generate even more calls to the experts. After discussing the UPS strike live on NPR's "Diane Rehms Show," Bronfenbrenner received calls from numerous journalists, including one from a Washington Post reporter who had heard Bronfenbrenner on the air.
Cornell experts across campus are quoted daily in the nation's press, and when they aren't making news, they are being called on to comment on breaking news.
Often when a faculty member is quoted widely in the media on a particular subject or incident, his or her name finds its way into reporters' lists of contacts.
Such has been the case for Belzer, an ILR senior research associate who is a former Teamster and a leading authority on the trucking industry. He was quoted widely earlier this year on the Teamsters' presidential election. So when the union decided to strike against UPS, Belzer was a first call for many reporters.
"They know to call me whenever the story involves the trucking industry or the Teamsters," he said. "I'm a little typecast, I suppose."
Belzer, like his colleagues, also appeared on national television commenting on the UPS strike. Belzer was interviewed on CNBC on Aug. 5 for reports aired on the network throughout the day.
But not all media calls end with the expert's name in print or face on the screen. Bronfenbrenner said she probably handled more than a dozen calls from reporters who were seeking help with their stories, needing clarification on various issues or otherwise checking facts.
"You're not just giving them quotes," Bronfenbrenner said, "you're often helping them write their stories. Some reporters are assigned to write a story without a thorough understanding of the subject. So, in a lot of exchanges with the press, you're teaching them."
Though they sometimes keep her on the phone for hours, the media is not an annoyance to Bronfenbrenner. "It's all part of our role as educators," she said. "It's a great opportunity to help educate the public."
Belzer concurs. "So few people understand this particular industry, so they call me," he said. "I'm being an educator mostly. Someone writing about this strike may not understand the pension issue, so they call me."
Not every press interview goes without a hitch, however. Occasionally faculty say they are misquoted, or they may find their job titles switched or wake up the next day to find they've been associated with another institution, in another field of study.
Take Hurd for example. After speaking at length to a USA Today reporter on Aug. 4 about the UPS strike, Hurd opened the newspaper the next day to find his quote attributed to Rich Hurd of Stanford Law School.
"That was me," said Hurd from his office in the ILR Conference Center, at Cornell.
See story about an ILR student-authored study of UPS.