It has been 10 years since Boston endured a traumatic and heartbreaking tragedy. The Boston Marathon bombing claimed three lives and injured 280 more. Ryan Schulteis has worked at WHDH as a reporter and anchor for 17 years. He not only covered the bombing, he also experienced it as well.
“I lived close to where it happened,” Schulteis said. “I was getting ready to leave for work and I heard the explosions. The booms. The station called and told me to get down there.”
Schulteis saw things he’ll never shake. For example, a woman running by him draped in a shiny blanket you get from EMTs.
“She couldn’t speak. She was having a complete breakdown.”
Cell phones were not working. Police officials were worried about a cell phone detonating other bombs in the area.
“It was just chaos,” Schulteis said. “Updates were so sad. I can still hear the sirens. They are very unique in my brain. I’ll never forget them.”
Schulteis said the manhunt for the bombers on Thursday was stressful.
“We were reporting live and again I heard two big booms. We were blocked off by the FBI and had to spend the night in a parking lot. The cops were guarding the media. I did some hits with Milwaukee stations from the parking lot. They knew I was there and called to get reports.”
After the bombings, Schulteis said he was touched by the way Boston came together.
“It reminded me of why I wanted to get into the business.”
Schulteis anchors the weekday editions of 7News at 4 pm, 5:30 pm, 6:30 pm, and 9 pm broadcasts at WHDH in Boston.
He joined the news team in the summer of 2006 coming from 7NEWS, FOX 5 in Las Vegas. Before FOX5, Ryan was a reporter for WTVO-TV in Rockford, Illinois and WISN 12 News in his hometown of Milwaukee.
Schulteis earned a degree from the University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh in broadcast journalism and minored in political science. He gave UW-Madison some consideration and knew he wasn’t going to get as much on-camera work. That was something he wanted in a program.
During college, he hosted a show on Titan TV, the Oshkosh public access station.
“We had the chancellor on and made him dance,” Schulteis jokes. “It was a little like The Daily Show. I had two sidekicks named Zack and Garth. We’d all help put the show together. I sat at a news desk. All this would also go out to the community access channel. It was popular.”
After graduation Schulteis had job opportunities in Wausau, Lacrosse, and Rockford.
“In Wausau, I would have been obligated to run the live truck,” he said. “That wasn’t going to happen.”
He chose Rockford because they were going to put him on the air immediately.
“You know you’re only going to be at small stations for a short period,” Schulteis explained. “The stations know it, too. I consider small market jobs as a graduate school education. I wasn’t making much money. My parents still had to help me out with gas money to get to work. I remember my first live shot in Rockford. One of the anchors came out with me. I thought, ‘I’m actually filing my first story.’ It’s such a weird thing.”
Schulteis said a young journalist can make mistakes at the Rockford level that aren’t magnified. He looked at his work in smaller markets as a de facto graduate program.
Growing up, Schulteis watched as much television news as he could.
“I started watching our local anchor Mike Gousha. He was my role model. Mike could have gone anywhere. He could have Lester Holt’s job. He was that good.”
(I too am in Milwaukee and Schulteis is right. Gousha could have written his own ticket.)
Schulteis still has fond memories of Milwaukee.
“My husband and I will visit, go for a bloody mary at the Wicked Hop. I tell people all the time what a wonderful city Milwaukee is. A great food scene. I used to cover stories at Miller Park. I just loved those assignments. The smells in the parking lot. The tailgating smells with bratwurst and hamburgers being cooked everywhere.”
After a time in Milwaukee, Schulteis accepted a job in Las Vegas. He went to Vegas largely because it was different from the midwest, where he’d lived the first 24 years of his life.
He was part-time at WISN, though he said he often worked more than 40 hours a week. He wanted to stay at WISN but couldn’t continue part-time. It was a no-brainer to go to Vegas.
“The nice thing about Vegas was I could sit by the pool in January,” Schulteis said. “That was awesome. It was a new experience living away from home, doing everything by myself.”
While in Vegas he signed with an agent. The agent must have been good because Boston soon called Schulteis about an opening.
“They flew me out and I did a little reconnaissance. I walked around the city and saw all the new mixed with the old. Boston is growing. You see construction cranes everywhere near the Seaport. I mean crane-city.”
He’s been in Boston for 17 years and said he’s had so many co-workers move on to another city or out of the business. Some of his friends are working in network news. Living out of a suitcase is not the life for Schulteis. Too much travel is required. “I like the idea of knowing where I’m getting my coffee in the morning.”
“I live and breathe news,” Schulteis said. “I love current events quizzes. You have to be a consumer of news to be a good reporter. To be a better anchor.”
Recruiting new employees is a problem for all stations, Schulteis said today you could go from a small market to a big market if you’re good enough. When he was in Rockford, that didn’t happen. It was a different time.
“No way,” he said. “Money in this business isn’t very good. Reporters are running around like crazy, sacrificing holidays and home life. It’s not for everybody.”
He’s most interested in the characters in the stories he covers. He said writing is the best part of his job. He loves doing longer feature stories. Schulteis enjoys rewriting, and crafting stories.
“I did a story on a guy who paid his mortgage in pennies. Just rolled up wheelbarrow loads of pennies to the bank.”
When Schulteis was a kid his parents would drive him to the scene of an emergency. That’s what their son wanted and they helped. If there was a train derailment, they’d race down as though they were a news crew.
“I’d watch local television and get excited about the weather,” he said. “When my parents went on vacation to Jamaica, our cousin was watching us. I remember putting together an entire newscast and delivering it to nobody.”
In high school, Schulteis said longtime WISN meteorologist Sally Severson spoke to his science class. He went up to Severson after the talk and asked her if it might be possible for him to shadow people at the WISN studio.
“She said, of course they would,” he said. “I called the reporter and anchor David Davis. He told me to come on down to the station. I did that three or four times. I watched him report stories, and anchor the news. Once he took me out with a photographer and I saw it all happen. An entire story from beginning to end.”
Outside of work, Schulteis enjoys traveling, and going to concerts.
“We saw Adele in London. Her entire crew was staying at our hotel. We spent hours talking with her musical director. She had just gotten the news she was going to do her residency in Vegas.”
Schulteis has covered some of Boston’s most historic news events, from multiple sports championships to the city’s darkest and most inspirational moments.
“I think the best part about the business is the chance to help and inform people. There’s a need to tell the truth. The worst part of the business might be the mental health aspect. We cover death and sadness so much it can take its toll on you emotionally.”
Jim Cryns writes features for Barrett News Media. He has spent time in radio as a reporter for WTMJ, and has served as an author and former writer for the Milwaukee Brewers. To touch base or pick up a copy of his new book: Talk To Me – Profiles on News Talkers and Media Leaders From Top 50 Markets, log on to Amazon or shoot Jim an email at jimcryns3_zhd@indeedemail.com.
