By LOUISE ABERCROMBIE

News Staff Writer

A father-son venture by Mike Boettcher, international television journalist, and son Carlos is going to impact the way military news is reported around the world. The duo are going to launch a major web site NoIgnoring.com.

Boettcher, a Ponca City native, and Carlos are going to cover small units and personal stories about the daily lives of soldiers in Iraq and Afghanistan wars in the style of Ernie Pyle, World War II correspondent. Over the years Boettcher has been a correspondent for CNN and NBC.

The two-man team will first be embedded with the Fourth Infantry Division out of Fort Hood, Texas. Mike has worked with this unit many times before and is obviously respected by both the military and worldwide media.

"We have been given extraordinary traveling orders from the military," Boettcher said. This apparently lets them travel with various units and all sorts of transportation which could even mean by aircraft carrier.

"I've been working in and out of Iraq since Saddam Hussein invaded Kuwait, Desert Storm and for the most recent invasion of Iraq. I've been in and out of there since the war began," Mike said.

The reason Boettcher is launching this unique coverage is because he feels that the major TV news organizations and newspapers have ignored the troops in Iran and Afghanistan.

"We have 200,000 U.S. men and women in Iraq, Afghanistan and the Persian Gulf. The U.S. has seemed to have forgotten about them. We talk about the war, but we've forgotten the soldiers and what they are doing," Boettcher said.

Sets Up Production

"I asked NBC for permission to leave my contract early to set up my own production company that will be the only one in the U.S. that covers our troops — telling their stories. Telling it from the point of view of the troops," the award winning journalist said.

Boettcher, whose career in the media began here with WBBZ Radio, has received numerous awards including two national Emmy Awards, two National Headliner Awards, the top award from the National Society of Professional Journalists and others.

About the Iraqi war, he noted there is a lot of shouting back and forth whether we should be there or not. "Well, regardless of that debate we're there and we have a lot of men and women who are fighting and sacrificing a lot, while the Country sacrifices nothing."

Involves Some Risk

"I want to be there to tell their stories. I was going to do this on my own but I knew I

could use some help. My son Carlos asked if he could join me. I think it is a great opportunity for both of us. There is a lot of risk involved, but I think there is a great gain for us as a father and son and for our country," he said.

Carlos, 21, a student at George Washington University, Washington, D.C., studying International Affairs, said "I mostly expect that we will be able to tell the stories of the soldiers, get their story out there, not just a thing to do — but the right thing to do. Certainly it will be an experience in addition to working with my father for 15 months."

Young Carlos was born in conflict June 16th, in 1986 in Johannesburg, South America, during the 10th anniversary of the Soweto riots. He viewed the fall of the Berlin wall on his dad's shoulders, and now, will be at his father's side in Iraq and Afghanistan.

The elder Boettcher noted the story of the wars and the soldiers will be from two generational points of view. The father and son are going to be equipped with video cameras and editing computers. At first the two will be reporting together since Carlos has not been in a war zone before.

After a couple of months they may split up with one of them reporting separately "live" in Iraq or Afghanistan. They will be reporting in high definition video. Additionally both Carlos and Mike are going to be blogging daily.

Mike said, "It is not without some risks. I had mixed emotions about my son, but in weighing the risks to what we have a lot to gain with our fellow citizens, we have a lot to gain as father and a son, you couldn't ask for more quality time."

Revolutionary Education

In addition to launching the live web project, another landmark is the contribution to education — videoing live from war zones to OU media classes. Mike, who was named as a Distinguished Graduate at OU, will be doing something revolutionary for his alma mater.

While Mike was in Ponca City this week to visit with his brother Fred Boettcher and family, he also met in Norman with OU President David Boren, who is excited about the new classroom concept. Dean Joe Foote has been instrumental in setting up the classes for the Media Military Relations class.

The Boettchers will be sending video live from the Iraq and Afghanistan to the OU classes to let them know what is going on "for real in real time." This effort is to be sponsored by the Gaylord School of Journalism and Mass Communications and the International Programs Department.

An hour after registration opened the class, scheduled for fall, was filled up. Timing is the key, because of the 9 hour or longer difference, and the classes are in the morning Oklahoma time. But Mike said, "We won't sleep much anyway."

Not About Money

While OU will be funding the classroom concept, Mike will be funding the original project at first. "It is not about money, but to tell the story. We don't want to make money on the backs of soldiers. It is not a get rich scheme.

"Later we plan to get sponsors for the web site and it will be advertiser supported. We have help in the construction of the web site from major players in the Internet information business."

Boettcher said, "For me I've been covering wars for almost 30 years. This will be my last one. But I wanted to do it the way I wanted to do it. I'm really proud to have my son who wants to be a part of this next generation."

After the project is up and going the plan is to allow every station in the United States and the world to have access for free. "If we run across some one in the 45th Infantry from Ponca City, we'll let the stations in Oklahoma City know because they don't have anybody there."

"The thing is not being controlled by any network. The important thing for us is not to be beholden to anyone except the people we cover," Boettcher said. There is a huge interest that is not being satisfied by what they are getting from major networks and newspapers.

Pioneering Effort

"We believe covering the soldiers will be a pioneering effort to create a new way of covering the news, emerging yourselves in one subject and knowing that it is not going to attract a mass audience, but an audience that wants to know. We estimate that besides the people who are interested in the war there are close to 30 million people in this country who have a direct interest in what's going on, either they have a relative there, served there or have a neighbor in the military.

Carlos and Mike will begin the journey of a lifetime flying to Kuwait then to Baghdad, where they have a small trailer already set up.