When a big story breaks, it seems Twitter is the undisputed leader in being first. Not necessarily being right… but being first, almost for sure. Watching a live Twitter stream flowing out of a big event is like trying to drink out of a fire hose – the volume and pressure of the Tweets are […]
You make the call: Westboro Baptist & the Powell funeral
February 9, 2012 by
My approach as a journalist was always to try to keep it simple – to clearly see things for what they were, and find the core of truth. In so doing, it was not uncommon to run up against what you might call the “limits” of journalism. Objectivity and fairness are basic tenants, but so […]
Love Dilbert, but not like this
February 6, 2012 by
The News Tribune is a good newspaper. Without its powerful voice in the South Sound, this community wouldn’t be anything close to what it is. With that said, long hours and late deadlines make editors vulnerable to following habits that sometimes come back to bite. Case in point: Page A10 in today’s News Tribune. In […]
LIVE – taking the cake
October 29, 2010 by
Ever since the first little aluminum mast poked skyward barely clearing a nearby high voltage wire to put a live reporter on television, the TV news world has been embroiled in the “live, for live’s sake debate.” It is one of the greatest time-wasting, navel-gazing, angst-ridden conversations to be had in any TV newsroom. I […]
Tribune Fiasco
October 6, 2010 by
We have one Tribune property here in Seattle – Q13. There is nothing worse working at a local TV station, 2,000 miles away from the throne, knowing that the bosses are idiots. That’s the sad situation every Q13 employee finds him or herself in however. Wonder why a TV newsroom might have a culture that […]
Never far from Hitler
September 17, 2010 by
One of the most disappointing things about the Internet is that while it certainly has increased engagement amongst “normal” people it has also given a lot of cranks, eight balls and mental midgets a platform. Take the Media Monkey as an example. Anyway, there’s a saying out there that says something like no posting is […]
The Q13 scandal keeps growing!
August 9, 2010 by
The freelance photographer, Jud Morris, at the center of the Q13 police video cover-up fiasco is now accused of stealing a couple of cameras from the station – the same station that fired him for selling his video to KIRO after Q13 allegedly sat on it for fear of ruining its cozy relationship with the […]
TV news body count
June 25, 2010 by
Hofstra University did a study about the number of worker bees in the exciting world of TV news. This year, only about 400 folks lost their jobs – quite an improvement over last year when about 1,200 were axed. This of course doesn’t count the hundreds, if not thousands, of others who decide the industry […]
Q13 – Why it hurts
May 25, 2010 by
I’ve spent a little time hammering Q13 for its censorship and editorial conspiracy issues lately, and I thought it was time to hand out some kudos. Darren Dedo did a story on tow truck driver Gordon Simmons on this morning’s show. It was great. Darren’s writing was outstanding, and the photog/editor did an amazing job […]
Q13 not the norm
May 21, 2010 by
One of the things that drives me most crazy is when people’s unfounded suspicions, superstitions, magical thinking and faulty logic is confirmed by real world events. These coincidental alignments of fantasy and reality are often responsible for this country’s voodoo culture which encourages bad science, prayer in place of study, misappropriated authority, litigiousness and the […]
Size doesn’t matter
May 14, 2010 by
Independent stations work double time trying to prove they are not the “off brand” choice for news, and then @#$% like this happens. To catch you up, Q13 had the video of the recent Seattle cop-versus-innocent suspect incident but sat on it. The freelance photog who shot it, saw what was happening, and sold it […]
Our dying professions
March 30, 2010 by
A lot of troll bloggers like to jump on the print version of the PI’s grave thinking that its collapse is some kind of a political triumph. They would be wrong. Mostly, it’s about economics – and the commoditization of a lot of “products” that used to require professional creation. Today, “good enough” is good […]
Give Diane Sawyer a camera?
February 24, 2010 by
ABC is swinging the axe and taking about 3-400 people in its news division. It’s been death by a thousand cuts at all the networks, and most local affiliates around the country too. The trades I read are filled with the stories of people in the TV news business either getting canned, or hitting the […]
Death on the luge
February 17, 2010 by
As you might imagine, there has been quite the tempest in a teapot over the airing of the fatal luge accident at the Olympics. I have no inside information on this, but Iím sure the phones were pretty active at KING after the footage aired. But frankly, I wonder about that too: The viewership is […]
Sharify Shining
February 15, 2010 by
We have a few master storytellers in the Seattle market. They wouldn’t make it anywhere else because they’re probably too old, or too stubborn, or too opinionated, or too old school for management’s current taste for cheap and malleable pawns who think it’s cool just being on TV – even if you’re working in a […]
Seattle Times & Pre-roll spots
December 22, 2009 by
Running no-option pre-roll spots in front of online video content appears to be the best way to make money at this time. Research shows it’s the model best tolerated by viewers. The Seattle Times is doing this, but it making several awkward mistakes. I’m sure they are not alone – I just happened to catch […]
