MS SC SM-33
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Overview of the Collection | |
| Creator: | Baca, Pamela Kahn, 1953-1999 |
| Title: | Pamela Kahn Baca Papers |
| Inclusive Dates: | 1979-1991 |
| Quantity: | 3 Boxes (1.5 Linear Feet) |
| Abstract: | This collection consists of the notes, memoranda, and transcripts that Pamela Kahn created while working on ABC News' Nightline. Of particular interest are research materials documenting adolescent suicide and annotated audiotape transcripts discussing the 1987 Bergenfield, New Jersey cluster of teenage suicides that Kahn used to prepare her documentary coverage on that subject for Nightline (aired 1988). The collection also contains briefing notebooks on newsworthy topics of worldwide significance prepared for ABC News staff (1979-1990) and samples of worldwide staff assignments (1991). |
| Identification: | MS SC SM-33 |
| Language: | Material in English |
| Repository: | Arizona State University Library. Rare Books and Manuscripts P.O. Box 871006 Tempe, AZ 85287-1006 Phone: (480) 965-4932 E-Mail: archives@asu.edu Questions? Ask An Archivist! |
Pamela Kahn Baca (1953-1999) worked as a producer on ABC News' Nightline from 1980 to 1991. Born and raised in Phoenix, Arizona, she attended the University of Arizona but later transferred to Boston University, where she received a B.A. summa cum laude in 1975 with a double major in broadcast journalism and political science.
In 1975, Pamela Kahn returned to Phoenix where she worked as a reporter and news editor for KRUX Radio. Here, she was the first to break the national story of the murder of Arizona Republic reporter Don Bolles. Her later broadcast news career (under the name of Pamela Kahn) included working as a producer, assignment editor, and reporter for NBC affiliate KVOA-TV, Tucson (1976-1977); 10:00 p.m. weekday producer and assignment editor for NBC affiliate KTAR-TV, Phoenix (1977-1978); and 11:00 p.m. weekday producer for NBC owned and operated affiliate WBZ-TV of Boston (1978-1980).
In 1980, Ted Koppel (anchor) and William Lord (vice president and executive producer) hired Kahn as associate producer on the original Nightline staff. She field-produced programs all over the world, especially in war zones such as Lebanon, El Salvador, and the Faulkland Islands, provided coverage of the wars in Latin America during the mid-1980s, and covered the assassination attempt on former President Reagan as well as Reagan's trip to China. She pioneered an innovative, correspondent-less journalistic style called "petaques" in which the subjects tell the story without additional narration by a correspondent. Kahn was promoted to producer in December of 1981 and quickly became known as "one of the top producers" at Nightline. In addition, she became senior producer of ABC's "World News This Morning" (1983-1984) and also served as a producer of "World News This Evening."
Pamela Kahn's many honors included two Emmy Awards: a 1984 News-Documentary Emmy Award for Outstanding Background Analysis of a Single Current Story ("The Hostage Crisis Five Years Later") and a 1986 News-Documentary Emmy Award for Outstanding Coverage of a Single Breaking News Story ("Pan Am Flight 73 Hijack"). In 1990, she received a Community Service Award from the University of New Jersey College of Medicine and Dentistry Mental Health Center and the American Society of Suicide Prevention for her contributions to adolescent suicide prevention through her year-long documentary coverage (aired in 1988) of the spate of teen suicides in Bergenfield, New Jersey in the late 1980s.
Pamela Kahn Baca returned to Phoenix in 1992 and married in 1994. She died in 1999 after a long illness.
Compiled from information provided by Honorable Marcy L. Kahn, donor.
This collection consists of the notes, memoranda, and transcripts that Pamela Kahn created while working on ABC News' Nightline. Of particular interest are research materials documenting adolescent suicide and annotated audiotape transcripts discussing the 1987 Bergenfield, New Jersey cluster of teenage suicides that Kahn used to prepare her documentary coverage on that subject for Nightline (aired 1988). The collection also contains briefing notebooks on newsworthy topics of worldwide significance prepared for ABC News staff (1979-1990) and samples of worldwide staff assignments (1991).
To view this collection, make an appointment at least five business days prior to your visit by contacting Ask an Archivist or calling (480) 965-4932. Appointments in the Wurzburger Reading Room at Hayden Library (rm. 138) on the Tempe campus are available Monday through Friday. Check the ASU Library Hours page for current availability.
Arizona State University does not own the copyright to this collection. We recognize that it is incumbent upon the researcher to procure permission to publish information from this collection from the owner of the copyright.
[Identification of item], Pamela Kahn Baca Papers, MS SC SM-33, Arizona State University Library.
Marcy L. Kahn (sister) and Diane M. Churchill donated these materials to Special Collections in March of 2001.
| Series I: Nightline Production Materials | |||||||||||
| Sub-Series A: General | |||||||||||
| Box | Folder | ||||||||||
| 1 | 1 | Biographical Information Regarding Pamela Kahn | |||||||||
| 1 | 2 | Iranian Chronology (1979 November 1-1981 January 8). Typescript, "Public Account, Public Video", 1979 November 1-1981 January 8 | |||||||||
| 1 | 3 | "President Reagan's European Trip". ABC News, New York, 1982 June 2-11 (Notebook) | |||||||||
| 1 | 4 | Viewpoint, ABC News, 1982 April 28-1988 March 21 (Published Transcripts) | |||||||||
| 1 | 5 | Kahn, Pamela, 1984 July (Spiral Notebook with Handwritten Notes) | |||||||||
| 1 | 6 | ABC News, Washington, D.C. Office. News of the Day Newspaper Articles, 1985 November 22-December 2 (Photocopies) | |||||||||
| 1 | 7 | Reporters' and Editors' Sourcebook: Faculty Experts in the Latin American and Caribbean Center at Florida International University, Miami, 1986-1987 | |||||||||
| 1 | 8 | President Bush's Trip to South America. ABC News Research Library, 1990 December 2-8 (Contains Highlighting and Notes) | |||||||||
| 1 | 9 | "ABC Troop Movements/Worldwide"; Staff Assignments, 1991 May 27, July 26 | |||||||||
| Sub-Series B: Bergenfield, New Jersey Teenage Suicides | |||||||||||
| Box | Folder | ||||||||||
| 2 | 1 | Research Material from American Association of Suicidology, 1989-1990 | |||||||||
| 2 | 2 | Research Material: Adolescent Suicide and Suicide Clusters, 1989 | |||||||||
| 2 | 3 | "Suicide and Media Response Workshop." Newark, NJ, 1989 November 23 (Agenda; Kahn's Handwritten Notes) | |||||||||
| 2 | 4 | Suicide Articles Compiled from Associated Press, 1989-1990 (Full Text Format from Lexis Nexis) | |||||||||
| 2 | 5 | World News Transcripts, Anchors Peter Jennings and Kathleen Sullivan Broadcasts Regarding Bergenfield, N.J. Teen Suicides, 1987 March | |||||||||
| 2 | 6 | Kahn, Pamela. Bergenfield/Suicide Project Proposal, 1988 January 1 | |||||||||
| 2 | Notebook 1 Bergenfield Town Meetings; Interviews, 1987 April 14-21 (Transcription of Tapes 8-22; Highlighted and Annotated) | ||||||||||
| 2 | Notebook 2 Bergenfield Town Meetings; COWs (Community Outreach Workers), 1987 May 19-June 30 (Transcription of Tapes 31-42; Highlighted and Annotated) | ||||||||||
| 2 | Notebook 3 COWs - Teens; Interviews; School Newspaper, 1987 July 10-October 8 (Transcription of Tapes 44-28; Highlighted and Annotated) | ||||||||||
| Box | |||||||||||
| 3 | Notebook 4 Linda and Peers; Soviet TV Broadcast Transcript (1987 April 7), 1987 April 7, October 13 (Transcription of Tapes 59-67; Highlighted and Annotated) | ||||||||||
| 3 | Notebook 5 Interviews, Various Individuals, 1987 November 16 (Transcription of Tapes 68-82; Highlighted and Annotated) | ||||||||||
| Series II: Other Materials | |||||||||||
| Box | |||||||||||
| 3 | ABC News "Nightline" with Ted Koppel. Advertisement, Undated | ||||||||||
| 3 | Roger Mudd on Panel, Undated (Photograph) | ||||||||||
| 3 | Roger Mudd "Interviewing" 1st and 3rd Presidents, at Mt. Vernon, 1791, 1991 (Photograph) | ||||||||||
| 3 | WBZ TV-4, Boston, Massachusetts, 1979 March 29-November (3/4" Videocassette) | ||||||||||
| Pamela Kahn is listed as "11 P.M. Producer-Field Producer". In a paper insert, she describes her role on each report. Includes: | |||||||||||
|
A. "The Drinking Decision", 1979 November
B. "Senator Kennedy Announces", 1979 November 8
C. "Papal Visit", 1979 October 1
D. "70's Report: Changes in TV-News", 1979 December 28
E. "Hotel Fires", 1979 March 29
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| Series III: Oversized Materials | |||||||||||
| Drawer | |||||||||||
| 12 | George Foster Peabody Broadcasting Award Certificate to Ted Koppel/Nightline by the Henry W. Grady School of Journalism and Mass Communication of the University of Georgia, 1984 | ||||||||||