Nov 19, 2002
Videos no one can see
By Mary C. Schneidau
Staff writer

The Library of American Broadcasting in Hornbake Library is not able to view Gulf War videos. CHRIS LAUBER FOR THE DIAMONDBACK

Avon Edward Foote, associate professor at the University of North Alabama, is more than happy to talk about the Gulf War video collection he donated to Hornbake Library. The collection of more than 400 videos is the most extensive Gulf War video collection in the world, Foote said. But those in charge of the collection here at the university wish he wouldn't publicize the collection so much.

Why?

The university has no way of viewing the videos.

In July 2001, Foote donated the video collection to Hornbake. The videos were originally part of the National Public Broadcasting Archives, which is home to noncommercial archives, but when Thomas Connors, the archives' curator, saw that many of the videos' labels had ABC and CNN - both commercial networks - written on them, he passed them on to the Library of American Broadcasting and its curator, Chuck Howell.

Foote, a professor of speech communication and radio, television and film, said Hornbake was the best place for the videos because it already houses LAB and NPBA and most of the tapes are unedited copies of off-network productions.

Though Foote said the Gulf War is one of his professional research interests, he also acknowledged that he considers it to be "personal."

"There's a bit of self-interest," Foote said. "I've guided, assembled and cultivated this collection since I got the videos in 1992."

When asked how he acquired the videos, Foote said, "Now that's the mysterious part of the story. No one really knows but me."

Foote said the videos were given to him in Huntsville, Ala., by an American "civilian contact" who was in Kuwait and Saudi Arabia during the Gulf War.

"He's a super-kind person who wanted the videos preserved," Foote said.

Foote runs a website, www.chotank.com, that provides information on the Gulf War, Disney, Jesse Owens and Foote's family. The website is the first that is listed on the search engine Google.com when a search for "Gulf War news" is made - something Foote is proud of. When on the phone with a Diamondback reporter who wanted to visit the website, he refused to disclose the website address, preferring to make the reporter type "Gulf War news" into Google and see his website listed first.

Foote has a special interest in Disney, and its chairman Michael Eisner. Foote's website provides information on both, in addition to information about Disney's America, a theme park Disney had planned to open in Virginia in 1998. Those plans were canceled.

Foote's website also provides information on Jesse Owens, the black American hero who won four gold medals at the 1936 Olympic Games in front of Adolf Hitler. Foote said he is interested in Owens because Owens was born in Alabama and attended Ohio State University, where Foote went to school.

Though the videos have taken the previously untrodden path from the Middle East to Alabama to Hornbake, they are an important resource, Howell said.

Some of the videos are original tapes used by the networks; a few videos with ABC stickers on them read: "Master copy: Do not erase."

The Diamondback's inquiry about the videos was the first LAB has had in the 16 months since it acquired the collection, Howell said.

Foote is proud of the collection he looked over for nine years, but said he "suspects it's not being used very much. Archives are generally underfinanced."

Connors said the proper equipment, though becoming obsolete because of digital television, costs about $6,000 used. He said he placed a classified ad when the library acquired the videos, asking television stations that were switching from BetaSP to DTV to consider donating their equipment to Hornbake.

Connors also said Foote knew when the videos were donated that Hornbake did not have the proper viewing equipment, and that Foote offered to look into getting the proper equipment, but Connors said he hasn't heard about it since the initial offer last year.

Connors said if and when the videos are able to be seen, interest in them could come from military, political and communications historians. He said news organizations might like to compare and contrast media coverage of the Gulf War to that of the war in Afghanistan and possible upcoming U.S. military action in Iraq.

Howell agreed and said the videos could be used as a source for biographies about Gulf War figures, as well as cable channels producing documentaries. Copyright laws would become a concern if television stations wanted to air any of the videos, Howell said, and any station that wanted to use them would need permission from the original source, such as ABC or CNN.

Foote said he believes the videos are important because of possible U.S. military action in Iraq, which he calls "Gulf War II."

Though the videos have not been viewed at the university, Howell said, "From what we can tell, it is certainly an interesting collection."

If the video collection is half as interesting as the story behind it, it could be worth seeing - when Hornbake acquires the proper equipment, of course.