Walklin uses her broadcasting skills for public service
By Tiffany Wold
J Alumni News staff
Karen McCaw Walklin's interest in broadcasting started her junior year in high school when she joined the Junior Girl Scouts.
"I applied for a workshop in Colorado allowing me to become more experienced in public relations," she said. "Before I could attend the program I needed to shadow a person in my field, so I decided to shadow Lynne Grasz, who was the director of public relations at KOLN."
Walklin said she remembers leaving Grasz's office and thinking Grasz had the greatest job in the whole world. She never thought she would be sitting in Grasz's chair years later.
Nor did she realize her career would lead her to become a longtime producer of anti-substance abuse ads that would air all over Nebraska.
"I started out as a commercial copy writer and eventually found myself as the department head (at KOLN/KGIN-TV)," said Walklin, a 1976 broadcasting and English graduate of the University of Nebraska.
After graduation, she wentto work for KOLN/KGIN until, in April 1989 she helped the Nebraska Broadcasters Association with one of its biggest public affairs campaigns. She has been producing the public service spots ever since.
The "Drugs are a Dead End" campaign is cosponsored by the broadcasters association, the governor's office, the Nebraska Health and Human Service System and the Nebraska State Patrol. "The campaign serves as a unique venture between the media, government and human service agencies," Walklin said. "It is a joint cooperative effort.
Walklin produces two sets of 30-second anti-abuse spots each year, one in May, the other in November. They are designed to run on radio and television and feature "nearly every approach imaginable," she said, including appearances by experts in the area, dramatizations and just factual information.
Nebraska is the only state that coordinates such an extensive outreach program for people affected by drug abuse, she said.
Walklin said, "One example of the effectiveness of the campaign is the toll-free hotline phone number, where callers can receive information 24 hours per day, seven days a week about where to go in their area of the state for services they need."
She said, all the people involved in the campaign feel they are providing an important public service to all Nebraskans.
Walklin was initially interested in the NBA's public service project because it allowed her more flexibility to be with her family, she said.
"When I took the job with the Nebraska Broadcasters Association I was three months pregnant with Jonathan," she said.
Karen and her husband, Larry, a broadcasting professor at UNL, have two sons: Greg, a freshman attending the University of Nebraska and majoring in news-editorial, and Jonathan, a seventh grader at Lux Middle School.
Larry Walklin said life was about sequencing.
"We like to do different things in different times of our lives," he said. "Karen has learned through the years how to sequence her life and find time for everything, but always placing our family first."
Karen Walklin said her schedule could sometimes be strenuous, but that it's a good opportunity for her to do something she loves.
"The Nebraska Broadcasters Association allowed me to utilize my knowledge in broadcasting and help people become familiar with the anti-substance abuse services," she said. "I am lucky to have found a job that combines the two. I feel like I am making a contribution to society."
