By: Justin Gick ‘16
News Editor
For this month’s “Ask the Professionals”, I had the pleasure of interviewing CBS 3 meteorologist Carol Erickson.   When asked about her interest in the field of meteorology, Ms. Erickson said that she had not and that she actually got involved in weather when she graduated from college and was out in Tucson, Arizona.  She went to a television station selling TV time/Sales.  They did not have a position in that area. They invited her to come into the studio and she ended up doing the weather. In Arizona, it was always just sunny and warm, so it was easy.  From there, she went on to be a Meteorologist.
After her education, Ms. Erickson went to a television studio and just stumbled into television news. She explained that in 1972, they would take somebody who had never been in a television studio or taken one broadcasting class. She added that they really did not offer broadcasting classes back then.
Ms. Erickson stated that it was easy to change stations because she feels like she gets along great with her co-workers/colleagues. She makes it a key point to get to know the people she works with and does everything to make sure they like her!  She said it makes work more fun!  Ms. Erickson said she has been in three television markets: Tucson, Arizona, Dallas Texas, and now in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
She said she ended up at CBS 3 because she was working in Dallas doing the weather and reporting, and a guy who was an intern at her Dallas station had also been an intern at CBS 3.  He kept in contact with the people in Philadelphia. He told them, “You should see the girl doing the weather in Dallas!” CBS 3 reviewed a tape, brought her in, and liked her.  So she ended up working in Philadelphia. According to her biography, I saw she left in 1984 and returned in 1991.  I asked, “Did you just take a break or go to another station?”  Ms. Erickson explained that she stayed at CBS 3, but was out because she had her daughter and just took a welcomed break. She said she always stayed in the area and came back to CBS 3.
As far as Ms. Erickson’s favorite parts of the studio, she is really going to like the new big board they are installing (She pointed it out to me as we talked.). She also likes Storm Scan 3; it is a whole new software program with their computer for Doppler Radar. Ms. Erickson added that everything at their station is “state of the art”.
When it comes to transitioning to new technology, she stated that the technology is unbelievable. She started with film, on manual typewriters, then it went to ENG, then onto tapes of all different sizes.  The tapes eventually got smaller and smaller. Now they put everything on discs. She also went from a board that you put push pin plastics into a perforated material to putting your numbers up with a magnet, and now everything is done on the computer. It has been a giant learning curve. She also stated that she was in this business when it was changing from a manual typewriter to what it is now.   Also, Ms. Erickson said she thinks forecasting is a lot easier now.  They have better computer models and they are not perfect as anybody can tell you based on storms that have went way past projections.
Ms. Erickson was a big advocate for family pets and other animals.Ms. Erickson told me that she has always loved animals.  She has been interested in their welfare.  It is her passion in life! It is key to her that students, old people, and even younger kids, and everybody in between, understand that it is completely unacceptable to treat an animal in an inhumane way. In her view, it is completely unacceptable to treat them in any way less that benefits them for what they are.
Ms. Erickson also told me that she was not a fan of social media. I asked her why she disliked it. She said she thinks that we are losing out on the “one on one”.  Now it is more like “one on a million”! She feels it is just so much “blabbing” about what an individual does during the day. She does not know how interesting that could possibly be to anybody. She thinks that it has created a generation of narcissists who are so self-involved. People need to back off and establish face to face communication with others and not just mass Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, Tumbler, and all the other networks.
Ms. Erickson invited me to the CBS 3 studio to do the interview and allowed me to watch a live broadcast. I toured the news studio, the “Talk Philly” studio, and sat for taping in the sound/control room.  We even conducted our interview at the news desk. I thanked her for her time, wished her continued success and expressed my interest in keeping in touch to learn more!