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LATE BREAKING
She
was unconscious and in critical condition at St. Luke's-Roosevelt Hospital
last night as family and friends - including Mayor Bloomberg - came
to her bedside in hope she would pull through.
"We're
all really upset," said an NY1 reporter. "I saw her and she
was laughing and acting sweet like she always does. You just never
know." Spitz,
who recently became engaged while vacationing in Ireland, joined NY1
as an intern in 1993 after graduating from the University of Pennsylvania
with an English degree. <<<>>> SHAM
MARTYRS
"Neither
(wife) Jane (Akre) nor I now own--NOR HAVE WE EVER OWNED--a $1.4 million
beach townhouse in Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida." St.
Johns, Florida, Tax Records OWNER
INFORMATION PROPERTY
INFORMATION
BUILDING/IMPROVEMENT
CHARACTERISTICS LAST
SALE INFORMATION <<<>>> |
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NAWLINS TV LEGEND DEAD
During
his 34-year career at WWL, he anchored the station's powerhouse noon
and 5 p.m. newscasts. He also did investigative reporting and won the George Foster Peabody Award in 1993 for an investigative series on alleged Medicaid fraud. He was a past winner of the Edward R.
Murrow Award from
the Radio-Television News Directors Association, earning him the
title among local viewers as "the Mike Wallace of Louisiana." The
New Orleans Times-Picayune offers only wire service coverage.... WWL-TV pays a tribute
to Elder.... <<<>>> DRIVING
WHILE STUPID
He
is expected to turn himself in today at the Bibb County Law Enforcement
Center, where he will be charged with felony vehicular homicide and DUI in
the wreck that killed 48-year-old Ida Kathleen Buchhamer of Macon. Test
results show that Jones's blood-alcohol level was 0.18, more than
twice the legal limit of 0.08. Witnesses said he was driving the wrong
direction on Northside Drive and hit Buchhamer's car head on, killing
her instantly. Jones
received only minor injuries. WMAZ
did not return phone calls Wednesday, and Jones's bio and photo have
been removed from the station website. Details.... <<<>>>
Atlanta
TV "writer" Caroline Wilbert reworks a Chicago Tribune
story on CNN's new boss Princell Hair in today's
Atlanta Journal-Constitution. AJC
editorial offices are directly adjacent to CNN, yet the article
contains no original CNN quotes. Instead,
she revisits the usual industry quote machines at the Poynter Institute,
the RTNDA, and...for some unknown reason....the University of
Georgia. And
to think the AJC used to be one of America's great newspapers, before
Richard Jewell removed its heart and soul. <<<>>> NEW
SHYTOWN BOSS
Edwards
arrives from WPVI, the ABC O&O in Philadelphia, where she
has been assistant ND since 1997. She previously worked in Chicago as an
executive producer at ABC-owned WLS-7 and as a producer at CBS-owned
WBBM-2. <<<>>> BLOW
JOB
Your
surly editor loves watching his friends getting buffeted by 50 mph winds,
but he wonders how long until a stray lounge chair or a razor-edged chunk
of aluminum decapitates someone on live TV. It
would not be a pretty sight. <<<>>> Bad
weather equals good ratings, concludes The
New Jersey Star-Ledger. <<<>>> "If
people lose their power, it's very difficult to watch television," says
Alan Mason, general manager of Time Warner's News 14 Carolina.
Details
of Carolina storm coverage... <<<>>> SHAM
MARTYRS
According
to Wilson, now an investigative reporter for Detroit's WXYZ-7-ABC,
the couple did not register with the Florida Department of Agriculture's
Division of Consumer Services because they believed they qualified for
an exemption. Public solicitations for money are allowed for
"individuals who invite donations for a particular family in need." The
Division of Consumer Services, however, took note of the fact that Wilson
and Akre have been raking in cash under the banner "Citizens
Fund For The Right To Know." Wilson
now says he will comply with state regulations, but he will not produce
audited records...nor will he explain how he is able to afford a $1.4
million beach townhouse in Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida. "We
have nothing to hide and never intended to violate even the spirit of state
oversight," he told NewsBlues. "In fact, we welcome the
opportunity to block further wild speculation by immediately complying with
the obligations outlined to us today by the state official in charge of
administering the state’s Solicitation of Contributions Act." <<<>>> BEST
OF BALTO OK,
time for another one of those silly "Best Of...." editions
that keep magazine budgets in the black. This time, it's Baltimore's City
Paper, which proudly selects Sinclair's Mark Hyman as "Best
Local TV Personality." Says
the City Paper....
The
paper also names WJZ-13-CBS's Bob Turk "Best
TV Weatherman"......
And
Sinclair Broadcast Group wins the award for "Best
Power Grab." <<<>>> Longtime
sports anchor Paul Davis, who's been in the business 22 years,
including the past nine at Augusta's WRDW-12-CBS, is leaving
television in late October. He'll
become a fund raiser for his alma mater, Graceland University, in
Iowa. <<<>>> Michael
Hydeck,
5:30 anchor and reporter at Sinclair's WLOS-13-ABC in Asheville, will
move to weekend morning anchor/reporter at Viacom's WBZ-4-CBS in
Boston, in late October. <<<>>> Reprint
the business cards. AOL
Time Warner is
dropping the AOL, says
the Washington Post. <<<>>> Sweden's
broadcasting watchdog said Wednesday it was censuring an Oprah
Winfrey talk show for showing bias toward a U.S. military attack
on Iraq. <<<>>> Only
14% of Americans believe U.S. news reporting has gotten better since the
events of Sept. 11, 2001, according to a survey released Wednesday by Harris
Interactive. More than twice that percentage (36%) think news coverage
has grown worse, while 45% believe it is about the same. <<<>>> MISSING
LYNNE Paint
your surly editor with a wistful brush after hearing from Headline News legend
Lynne Russell, who dropped us a quick note of thanks for our recent
mention. "There
have been times when I have driven by the network and felt the urge to jump
out of the car and run in and take somebody by the throat," she
admitted. Princell
would be well advised to re-install Ms. Lynne on the Headline News
anchor desk. So,
all seriousness aside, what's she up to these days...more than two years
after departing the evil empire?
Russell's
e-mail stationery contains a quote at the bottom.... "I
will not be pushed, filed, stamped, indexed, briefed, debriefed, or
numbered. I am a free man." The
Prisoner <<<>>> LEGIT
ACCESS? On
Sept. 10, Access Hollywood sent out a five-alarm media alert
announcing that, "according to sources," the Jennifer
Lopez–Ben Affleck nuptials had been canceled, thereby throwing the
known universe into an emotional tailspin. Access
publicists called it "the biggest story of the fall." "While
others were tabloiding the story up, we weren’t," producer Ron
Silverstein told the New York Observer. "All that trust adds
up to a big scoop." He
also said the "scoop" probably had something to do with the Dateline
NBC special in July, in which Access host Pat O’Brien
talked to the couple for the prime-time newsmagazine—a bit of synergy that
infuriated news purists. Since
the Dateline fracas, Silverstein has been arguing that Access
is as legit as NBC Nightly News with Tom Brokaw. "We
follow the same exact standards," he said. "It’s NBC News.
We’re a news operation. We just happen to report on celebrities. We start
a new show from scratch every morning at 5. It’s a crazy news show.
Crazy." "There
is no show that goes to more uncomfortable places," said Silverstein.
"The celebrities know us. We present it in a fair way. We’ll give the
facts, but it will be fair. We won’t exploit it. "People
made their sly comments after Dateline," he said, "but
it’s just not true. Pat O’Brien has won how many news Emmys?
Ten! We have nothing to be ashamed of. We flash it up more. Just because
ours is flashier and we do it in a fast-paced, lighter way, don’t
criticize us because we have a great set and great graphics—that’s
presentation. The substance is there." So
expect more Access with your NBC News. "Between the Today
Show and Dateline, we do three things a week now," said Silverstein.
"It started out a small thing, now it’s really more and more." <<<>>> GRAMMAR
GARAGE SALE
"I
think the real question should be, why would anyone NOT want at least one
'Grammar Guide' in their newsroom? "Now,
if you could come out with a 'Pronunciation Guide' (for
phonetically-challenged writers) and an 'Every Sentence Needs a Verb Guide'
(for writers who think 'President Bush, tonight, raising money in the
midwest' is a sentence), we could make some real progress toward coherent
communication with our viewers. "And
here's another question: are you really 'Mrs. B,' or are you the Surly
Editor pretending to be 'Mrs. B?' Either way, thanks for helping keep us
informed, and on a straight and narrow language path."
Mrs.B
on LEFT (in white) -- Surly Editor on RIGHT (in black)---> If
your newsroom needs a grammar refresher, write to MrsB@newsblues.com. Also,
a tip of the grammar hat to New York University, which yesterday
ordered a dozen Grammar Guides for an upcoming course. Remember,
you can buy a CASE of 35 Grammar Guides for your newsroom at a 67%
discount...only $5 a book. <<<>>>
So
are they "mortified" or "terrified"? Why
do so many people, broadcasters included, seem to believe the word
"mortified" is synonymous with "terrified"? I hate to
hear sentences such as, "The victim's family was mortified to learn the
killer was still on the loose." Jennifer
Silverman Smart Mrs.B
doesn't know why, but she does know that "mortified" means
"humiliated." >She
was MORTIFIED when she realized her mic was open as she yelled at the kids. "Terrified"
means "deeply afraid." >The
victim's family was TERRIFIED to learn the killer was still on the loose. And
speaking of "loose," notice that it has two o's. >When
the mic connection is LOOSE, we LOSE audio. Another
frequently misused pair of words: flounder and founder. The
bombings came at a time of rising anger and despair on both sides, as the
Bush administration's Middle East peace plan founders. (nytimes.com 9-10-03) "Founder"
means it sinks to the bottom. >If
we don't focus and let ourselves FLOUNDER during this book, we may see our
numbers FOUNDER. And
with that, Mrs. B leaves you with an appropriate quotation: For
all sad words of tongue and pen, the saddest are these, "It might have
been." --John Greenleaf Whittier, poet (1807-1892) |
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MRS. B's GRAMMAR GUIDE contains nearly 200 of Mrs. B's more notable
columns, fully indexed for finding easy answers to tough questions, quickly.
The rugged spiral binder allows the book to lie flat on your desk for ready
reference.
Endorsed
by The Society of Professional Journalists, this special first
edition is being used by college and university professors and is also ideal
for high school broadcast journalism classes. Cost
is $14.95 plus $3.50 shipping and handling. Mrs.B is also offering the GUIDE in
digital format, delivered directly to your e-mail box as an Adobe Acrobat
(.pdf) file, for only $8.95. (no shipping) |
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Got News? Alert the surly, mordacious editor at editor@newsblues.com
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BREAKING NEWS
Hair's
television career has been marked by a meteoric rise. He served briefly as
news director of El Lay's KCBS-2. Before that, he was ND of
Baltimore's WBAL-11-NBC and NBC's Chicago O&O WMAQ-5.
He has also worked in Miami (WPLG & WSVN), Detroit (WDIV)
and Orlando (WKMG). <<<>>> MINNEAPOLIS
ND Jeff
Kiernan,
current news director at Milwaukee's WTMJ-4-NBC (where he's been for
15 years), has been named the new ND at Minneapolis's CBS O&O
WCCO-4, replacing Maria Reitan, who "resigned" last
month. <<<>>> REPORTERS
LIVING LARGE Steve
Wilson,
the "chief investigative reporter for WXYZ-TV, the Scripps-Howard
flagship ABC affiliate in Detroit," who was accused
Friday by Atlanta's Creative Loafing newspaper of misappropriating
money from a legal defense fund and using it to purchase a $1.4 million
home in Ponte Vedra Beach, has refused to talk to NewsBlues unless we
give him the "same kind of unedited 'news release' access to your
readers that you allowed (Creative Loafing Sr Editor John) Sugg." We
declined "I see your policy is to simply print whatever release anyone sends you," harumphed Wilson. NewsBlues asked him to respond to two simple questions... "How can two TV reporters afford such a house? "Were the funds collected from your website used in the purchase of this home?" Creative Loafing article suggests that the money may have come from "uninformed do-gooders" who contributed to Wilson and Akre's "legal defense fund."
A Tampa jury initially awarded Akre $425,000 for wrongful termination, but the award was later overturned on appeal. "Every penny contributed to this fund goes to pay for legal expenses remaining from the trial as well as continuing expenses related to the appeal process—paralegals, transcripts of testimony, etc—only the direct expenses of this lawsuit," says their website. "Jane & Steve receive none of these funds for their personal use." Where, then, did the money come from? "It's not at all that simple," explains Wilson. |
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|
MRS. B's GRAMMAR GUIDE contains nearly 200 of Mrs. B's more notable
columns, fully indexed for finding easy answers to tough questions, quickly.
The rugged spiral binder allows the book to lie flat on your desk for ready
reference.
Endorsed
by The Society of Professional Journalists, this special first
edition is being used by college and university professors and is also ideal
for high school broadcast journalism classes. Cost
is $14.95 plus $3.50 shipping and handling. Mrs.B is also offering the GUIDE in digital format,
delivered directly to your e-mail box as an Adobe Acrobat (.pdf)
file, for only $8.95. (no shipping) |
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Got News? Alert the surly, mordacious editor at editor@newsblues.com
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CREATIVE LOAFING
Wilson
and
Akre were fired by the station for repeated acts of insubordination. They
then sued WTVT under a Florida whistleblower law and immediately
began a vigorous campaign of fundraising and self-promotion. They
implied impoverishment on their website, telling uninformed do-gooders that "we
have decided to put our pride aside and ask all of you who will benefit from
our struggle to help shoulder the burden of legal expenses." Their
web still contains a "Click
Here to Help Jane and Steve" link. To
turbo charge their fundraising following defeat of their lawsuit, they claim
they'll have to pay Fox's legal costs, as much as $3 million. That's
a gross exaggeration. Fox won fees only for the relatively
minor portion spent during the appeal
of a jury decision.
According
to county records, the townhouse purchase on Ponte Vedra Beach shows only a
$300,000 mortgage -- indicating a $1.1 million down payment.
Hatened
litigation if Creative Loafing ran the information that he claimed
was erroneous. Florida law, as with most states, protects reporting on the
contents of public records. According
to the Wilson and Akre website, "Every penny
contributed to this fund goes to pay for legal expenses remaining from the
trial as well as continuing expenses related to the appeal
process—paralegals, transcripts of testimony, etc—only the direct
expenses of this lawsuit. Jane & Steve receive none of these funds
for their personal use." Don't
miss this report by Creative Loafing Senior Editor John Sugg,
who covered the entire Wilson/Akre circus when he was editor of CL's
Tampa sister paper, the Weekly Planet. <<<>>> SHOOTING
THE MESSENGER
The
story, which aired on last night's edition of "World News Tonight"
and was reported by ABC News chief investigative correspondent Brian
Ross and producer Rhonda Schwartz, detailed how ABC
smuggled fifteen pounds of depleted uranium from Djakarta, Indonesia through
the Port of Los Angeles.
Agents later showed up at ABC News' bureau offices. They sought footage from an ABC freelance cameraman, and - according to Ross - agents blocked the home driveway of one of the story's consultants when he was attempting to back out. The consultant, Tom Cochran, a physicist with the Natural Resources Defense Council, "thought he was being robbed." A
spokesman for Homeland Security told The Associated Press,
"We believe ABC News may have broken the law, and we are
pursuing the appropriate course of action. It is a question whether or not
journalists should be breaking the law in the pursuit of a news story. It's
not right for a reporter to rob a bank to prove the bank has lax
security." Details..... <<<>>> |
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HOT
POTATO The
Republican-controlled Senate dealt a blow to the Bush Administration
Tuesday, voting to rescind new Federal Communications Commission rules
that would allow large media companies to get even bigger.
The
resolution faces a tougher battle in the House and a possible veto by
President Bush. Details
in the New York Times.... Writes
New York Times political columnist William Safire....
That's
the ludicrous party line being peddled by G.E., which owns NBC. But
four-fifths of broadcast network TV is now delivered to homes by
cable or satellite — not free — and NBC, ABC, CBS and Fox are
making money hand over fist. "Powell's
Last Stand" on this false argument has become an embarrassment to the
Bush White House, which has been foolishly threatening to veto any
disapproval of the F.C.C.'s abdication of the public interest. Don't
miss Safire's brutal commentary in today's Times..... <<<>>> EXPANDING
NEXSTAR Texas-based
Nexstar Broadcasting Group has signed an agreement to buy Quorum
Broadcasting of Franklin, Tenn. Financial
terms of the deal weren't disclosed. Quorum
owns television stations in 10 markets and has local service agreements in
four of its markets with stations owned by VHR Broadcasting or
Mission Broadcasting of Amarillo. Details.... Meanwhile,
Nexstar has announced plans to go public in October. Initial public
offerings are expected to sell in the $13-$15 range per share. More.... <<<>>> DOLPHIN
SKINNED
Castro,
described as a "proud Cuban American," declined...electing to keep
his hat on because he felt Snyder was rude. The
hat brouhaha has turned Castro into a kind of folk hero among the
local TV reporters and photogs who cover the Redskins, some of whom
complain about shabby treatment from Snyder and company. Details.... <<<>>>
According
to Monday Night Football announcer John Madden, "We were
in Denver [a preseason game] and they threw out over to [Broncos receiver]
Rod Smith, and Lisa (Guerrero) was a little too close. The defensive
back and the receiver and the ball were all coming. And I noticed she not
only turned her back, but closed her eyes." And,
we presume, she let out a little squeal. <<<>>> WELL,
LET'S JUST CALL IT A WIN Those
fun-loving folks down at the Atlanta Journal-Constitution ran a
quarter-page ad in Monday's edition congratulating Atlanta Falcon head
coach Dan Reeves on his 200th career win. One
teensy problem. Reeves
and the Falcons lost to the Redskins 33-31 on Sunday. Details.... <<<>>> |
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ANOTHER
WHAS DEFECTION
"It's
my decision," said Bernson. "They haven't forced me out or
even hinted that I should leave, but I have been without a contract for two
years, and I just felt this was the right time to move along." |
