Change Through The Eyes Of Gary Warner

by ABC-7 News Reporter Darren Hunt

EL PASO — ABC-7 Anchor Gary Warner is set to cap off 34 years of greatness at the Sun City’s flagship television station when he signs off Wednesday night.

Monday, he reminisced about the technological marvels that have changed the industry throughout his career.

“It’s like stepping from the horse and thebuggy age into the space age,” he said about the differencein television technology since his arrivalat ABC-7in the early1970’s.

He said it was more difficult to get news on the air back then. “We didn’t even have news units, nowwe have units with two-way communication,” he recalls. “We have assigned photographers and reporters who work as teams … Back then, it was one person who was the reporter/photographer team … they shot things for themselves.”

Gary mentioned how the satellite dishes that adorn the station’s patio summarize news in the 21st century. Video and information from all over the world is available with the click of a button, he said.

Believe it or not, there was a time when Gary — who still has a typewriter in his office — struggled to keep up with the technology. Especially, when he left the Sun City for CNN in 1983.

“That was my first exposure to a computerized newsroom … It was a difficult transition because I had been dealing purely with paper up until that time,” he said, “Itwas a traumatic transition at times andI had a hard time with it.”

With more technology came more news, he recalls. “In the olddays, when doing just thesix and the ten p.m. newscasts, you had some time to think about it and get ready to do it before it went on the air … Now, we’re doing the four, five, six and ten.”

“I developed a very short-term memoryin those days,” he said, remembering the days without teleprompters. “I could remember two or three sentences … You hated it at the time, but it was good training.”

Training that put Gary in a league of his own when it comes to television news in El Paso.