((Brian's Note: In the mid-1990's, Julie (Negus) Eickhoff and I comprised the weather team at KCAU TV in Sioux City ,Iowa. Julie was the Chief Meteorologist at KCAU from 1994-2000. Julie's been in real estate since 2000 and is currently a realtor with PRO-LINK Realty in Sioux City.))

In the last few weeks it seems that everyone I once knew in broadcasting has gotten “Linked In.”  I left TV news over 8 years ago.   And while I’ve stayed in contact with a few people from KCAU, I’ve lost touch with many of them as they continued on in broadcasting and landed in markets all across the country.  Many of them are in

!  It’s brought back a flood of memories…some of which include some of KSFY’s finest!  But, because I wouldn’t want them to share stories about me, I’ll also protect the not-so-innocent.  Those were good times!

Then, a few days ago the leading story in the news was about Jodi Huisentruit’s diary appearing at the

newspaper, and everything came full circle.  Most people don’t know this, but I left broadcasting because I had a stalker that scared me in a way I hope you never have to understand.  I’ll spare you all the details here, but to give you an idea of what it was like…it took a year for me to spend more time looking forward as I drove in my car than looking in my rear view mirror.  I was lucky I had warning and could take steps to protect myself. 

Now all that is behind me, but I do still worry about all the wonderful people I see doing local news today.  Most of the fans are truly wonderful people.  They really do enjoy watching you and appreciate your work.  But don’t overlook that not all fans are so pure.  What I learned through my experience is that once your personal information is given to the public, they can do with it what they please and you never get it back again.  Show them pictures of your wedding…now your new husband or wife has lost anonymity.  Show pictures of your kids…now everyone knows who they are.  It’s fun at the time, but once you are in a crisis situation, you’ll wish you could take it all back.

 TV newscasters are a brave bunch.  You put yourselves out there everyday both on-air and at personal appearances.  You give up time with your families every evening to bring us the news, weather and sports.  Thanks for doing that.  But please protect yourselves and your families.  Your fans will still appreciate you even if you are a bit more guarded.

((Brian's Note: Julie is right about LinkedIn. It has reunited a lot of us who used to work together down in Sioux City. I'm glad Julie and I reconnected. Feel free to leave a comment below or send me an e-mail by clicking here.))