Episode 1 - Introduction to the Hot Zone and Chuck Holton

 

This is the inaugural episode of the podcast, where Chuck explains a little about himself and what's in store for our listeners.  

 

Transcript:

I’m Chuck Holton. And welcome to the Hot Zone Podcast - a daily threat briefing like no other, that takes you inside areas of crisis around the world.

 

For those who don’t know me, I’ve been a war correspondent since right around the start of the Global War on Terror.  In addition to reporting the news, I’m also a serial entrepreneur, a writer and an adventurer, not necessarily in that order.  Above all I’m a Husband and Father of five grown or almost grown kids.  we own a gym and an adventure tour company in Panama, where I spend much of each year with my wife and two monkeys, and we own a farm and a lodge in West Virginia, which gets rented out for most of the year as a vacation rental.

 

With all that going on, you might wonder how in the world I’ll be able to find the time to publish this podcast.  Well let me explain.

 

First, my specialty is crisis reporting.  I have attended nearly every major war and disaster around the world in the past fifteen years.  And let me tell you…there is so much more to the news than what you are getting.  What I mean is this:  When I make a report for one of the news outlets where I work, typically I’m limited time-wise as to what I can share.  So I have to take a very complex, interesting issue and compress it into from one to four minutes.  I might spend a week reporting on an issue like, say the migrant caravan at our southern border, and conduct a dozen interviews and shoot miles of footage of what’s happening.  But I’m only allowed to share with our viewers a little taste of what’s really happening.  And it frustrates me how much great stuff typically ends up on the cutting room floor, as it were.

 

Second, the media does a terrible job of informing you about many interesting things happening today because they just don’t fit in the news cycle.  For example, some political scandal or death of a celebrity might completely dominate the news today, and there’s just no time to tell you about a major crisis in Africa or US troops engaged in a firefight in Kosovo.  I spend a couple hours a day reading up on all these issues, and I’d like to offer an alternative to the news-as-entertainment model you see on television. 

 

Lastly, as I travel the world reporting on wars and disasters, I meet so many people in need, and it’s frustrating sometimes that I can’t do more to help them.  You all have been amazing a few times in the past when I’ve published one of these stories on Social media, sending money to help meet that specific need on somebody’s worst day.  I’d like to do that more, and give you a chance to actually get involved in the news by sending help directly to those affected, and give you a chance to literally watch your generosity change people’s lives in a personal way. 

 

Studies show that watching the news can be stressful.  Watching a show that tells you about everything that is wrong in the world while being powerless to do anything about it just isn’t healthy.  I want to change that by giving you the power to go with me and reach into people’s lives and love them in the midst of their suffering. 

 

So see, I’m doing the work anyway, and I have the equipment already, so why not record a ten-to-twenty minute conversation about the issues facing our world in a way that lets you participate? 

 

Traditional news media is kind of fading into obsolescence, anyway.  For one thing, it’s tremendously expensive to produce.  A major network typically spends thousands of dollars for every minute of television they broadcast.  When they send a team to cover a disaster, for example, they typically send at least four people - a producer, a sound technician, a cameraman and the guy who stands in front of the camera.  That’s four plane tickets, four hotel rooms, four everything.  The news they produce gets sent back to headquarters where there are editors, writers, more producers and a host or two.

 

Then there’s me.  I travel alone, mostly, and do everything from writing, filming, editing and hosting.  I can’t tell you how many times I’ve recruited someone I just met to hold my camera for me while I set up a shot.  But after fifteen years I’ve realized I can turn out a pretty good product for much, much less than the big guys.  And in that time I’ve developed a worldwide network of sources who I can call to find out what is really happening on the ground - just about anywhere.  And because I’m so low profile, I can often get into places and talk to people the bigger networks don’t have access to.

 

One of the reasons people are losing faith in the traditional media establishment is they are realizing how news organizations shape public opinion by what they choose to report and what they choose to ignore.  For example, take some things that are happening as I film this video:  what have you heard more about recently:  the mueller investigation or the fact that the US just broke up a major drug cartel with ties to family of the president of Honduras?  Or the American tourists who were killed in Costa Rica and Roatan Honduras last week?  See what I mean?

 

I’m going to make it my goal to give you     In addition, I’ll be sharing a bunch of bonus content apart from the podcast like long-form interviews cool photos and videos of my travels, and behind the scenes stories of what it’s like to be an international war correspondent, 

 

All this for free, but if you’d like to support what we are doing, either with a one-time gift we can use to help people I meet in conflict zones around the globe, or if you just want to buy me a coffee - check out our subscription service that comes with some additional benefits like a patron’s only facebook page, input into where I go next, and even free copies of my books and other media!  At the very least, please like and subscribe to this podcast - the more people listening, the better the content will be.  Who knows?  Maybe we’ll bring you with us sometime! The bottom line is I want to improve your understanding of what’s happening in today’s world and let you be more involved in the news. 

 

Thanks for listening.