PDX Media Insider

Merry/Happy

2005-12-21T11:18:00.000-08:00

This being the holiday season at Christmastime and all, I wanted to shout out some wishes to the folks that made blogging fun for me, and my hopes for them for the New Year. I enjoyed starting this conversation in May, and laughed at the parlor game from those wanting to know my identity. I am happy that I got some folks talking.

For TV news people in general, I hope that the downturn and new competition for KPTV's crimefest shows that viewers DO want to know what's going on around them, not just the things that go bump in the night. I hope you can find time to cover the Governor's race and Portland's 2 city council races which should be very interesting, especially Erik Sten's race, as he tries to explain how he voted to give himself public funds for re-election.

For our friends in newspapers. I wish you a prosperous New Year where you learn how to merge what you do with the internet. With that, you may find new life and revenue enough to keep your bosses from offering early retirement, or, at best, to keep from shutting you down.

To the folks reporting on the street in radio, I wish you a good night's sleep. You are the hardest working people in local journalism. I just wish some of your stations would recognize that.

Specifically:
KATU - Here's to your new boss making big changes so you can finally get out of the 2nd place/3rd place rut you've been in since the 90's. Hope you like your new News Director.

KGW - You seem to have lost some of your confidence in your format and your mission. Set an example for the other stations and the competition will be great for the audience, and also with you.

KOIN - Good luck. The future looks better than the recent past... but with rumors that your new bosses may shut down the news department, let's hope they see the folly in that.

KPTV - You've done so well getting viewers with your promotion and your format and an excellent morning program. Bring that thinking to 10pm and you may get your dominance back. Not everyone thinks the metro area is as crime-ridden as you make it out to be. Watch out for the backlash.

For John Erickson - enjoy your new deal. You are one of the classiest people in the biz, and you deserve every megabuck.

For Pete Schulberg - I know you wanted to punch me out. You were a great reporter on TV, a promising columnist, and I am happy you have a new gig for your family. I'm sorry, but I was only trying to prompt you and Peter Carlin to dig a little deeper.

For the Trib folks - I have my doubts we'll see you this time next year, but I'm hopeful. Too many obstacles and I'm guessing one day Pamplin's accountant will say no more.

To the O - the one size fits all needs tweaking. Redo Metro and I'm a happy person.

To Paul Allen - KXL and the Blazers. Need I say more. Change 'em.

To everyone else: As we saw during the storm coverage, everyone works very hard, no matter how many smart and dumb decisions are made. Take time the next week, and throughout the season to value your co-workers, enjoy your family and friends, and keep talking.

ex-PMI

Surprise!!

2005-11-01T20:04:00.000-08:00

I have to say that I am a little disappointed that folks haven't migrated to Lynn's site (although I'm sure folks are worried about getting outed).

There's lots to see and do, and I'm sorry Lynn has to post so much to get things rolling.

I was hoping to see more on KGW's goose-fest with the O, KPTV's obvious nod to its sales department (come on, what's up Andy doing the am news at Les Schwab? They're great when the weather cools down, but your pimp job is toooooo obvious). I want more on Eric Mason (and I'm very thrilled and surprised PACarlin has lead the reporting) and I am curious on lots of subjects.

***Please add your two cents to Oregon Media Insiders. It's the best opportunity to keep feeding our need for discussion, check in on rumours and updates, and to put pressure on our supervisors to make the product even better. I will start posting there from time to time***

Fin

2005-10-15T06:48:00.000-07:00

As of this am, I am no longer a "Portland Media Insider", a decision that was long in coming.

Therefore, this blog will be no more, but I hope someone will pick it up and run with it. It had its moments, but in the end, it was as hard posting as was my decision to get out of the biz. Not sure what I will do next, but I have lots of options. Maybe I'll even write something about this experience.

I leave with no "deep meaning" sign off, other than I wish my colleagues and friends well as they practice their craft. Don't be so hard on each other. Don't be hard on yourself.

ex-PMI

New locations to check out:

PDX Media or PDX Media Watcher or OregonMediaInsiders

"Good Night and Good Luck"

2005-10-14T07:08:00.000-07:00

I plan to be a first nighter for "Good Night and Good Luck" the movie George Clooney made about CBS, Edward R. Murrow and Sen. McCarthy.

It was a dark time in US history and the first time TV news made an impact on society.

Lots of reviewers have looked at parallels between then and now - a timid press afraid to state the obvious or be tenacious. I think there's a lot to be said. Many people are saying finally the fourth estate is starting to do its job.

Hope to hear from those of you going or wanting to go. What did you think? I'll post my thoughts tomorrow.

Barely Breathing

2005-10-12T09:13:00.000-07:00

I know... too much time is going on between posts.

Very busy with life and work (who cares?), and am trying to find another way to do this that suits me and haven't like the results in tests. So I'm posting in fits and starts. Sorry to those of you (like me) who miss the more robust times.

A couple of things - Do the Trib bosses really like Stanford re-living Portland's past two out of every three columns these days? I said I liked his book about those times, but come on - there must be something for him to bitch about these days. I know, I'll throw him a bone - what do you think about Potter's plan for downtown?

A quick glance at some overnights may be proving me and others wrong. KGW's news on WB isn't making much of a gain from its old home on PAX. I thought WB's leads would help. Time will tell.

And sweeps are around the corner (two weeks from tomorrow). Wanna guess how many special reports will focus on meth?

I also got an email about that newspaper that was going to offer a new voice. Well, it's called the NW Meridian and its publisher says it'll be more conservative in a libertarian sense. Wonder how much money is behind it and if it will survive. It starts October 19th - a week from today and publishes every other Wednesday.

Press Releases

2005-10-12T08:55:00.000-07:00

I received an email from someone who appears to be connected with a non-profit and he is asking how to get a news release looked at by the desk and in what form. Fax? Deliver in person? email?

I told him that it's best to fax or email and follow up, but it's likely the follow up with be responded to with an "I never saw that, send it again."

Can we help this person? How can he break through the clutter of hundreds of PR, marketing and development types trying to get space in our paper or on our air?

The Trib - More Like It

2005-10-07T10:02:00.000-07:00

It was refreshing this am to pick up the Trib.

While it doesn't have the muscle of days past, at least the front page looked more like it.

Gone (at least today) was the HUGE picture and just a couple of stories.

Today's had four stories and a normal (for them) front page picture. Nothing earth shattering or ground breaking, but still good stories.

The paper is being propped up with a number of new writers, including some who are trying to negotiate a living wage, and some free lancers.

Still wonder how long this is going to last.

Welcome Back, Peter

2005-10-03T20:17:00.000-07:00

I thought Saturday's column showed how far behind Mr. Ames Carlin is on the local media scene.

"Ackerman departing: Over at KATU (2), "AM Northwest" host Ken Ackerman is leaving the station and a 25-year career in broadcasting when his contract expires in November. The show's new co-host is ex-KGW (8) anchor Carl Click, who also will co-anchor the 5 p.m. newscast."

Um, it's 5 AM for Carl, and this and the other stuff he reported happened a while back, except the KOIN sale.

Working in TV

2005-10-02T14:08:00.000-07:00

A good questions has been asked:

Why would someone who values good journalism, wants to participate in a community's conversation and/or wants to be part of a team of hard working people, continue working in local TV news - considering what it is now in Portland.

We know it's not always awful, that our bosses and owners aren't always idiots or out to get us or cut us from the payroll.

On our best days we can show people what is happening in our world, or expose things that are a threat. At our worst, we focus too much attention on people or events that have little to do with anyone's daily lives.

So why are we doing this?

I did it because I got to see the country and move to one of the best places in the US.

KOIN Sold - What's Next

2005-09-29T12:58:00.000-07:00

KOIN TV is now the property of something called SJL Broadcast Management.

From the Emmis memo to employees:

The purchase covers KOIN-TV (Ch. 6, CBS affiliate) in Portland, Ore.; KHON-TV (Ch. 2, Fox affiliate) in Honolulu; KSNW-TV (Ch. 3, NBC affiliate) in Wichita, Kan.; and KSNT-TV (Ch. 27, NBC affiliate) in Topeka, Kan., and is subject to approval from the Federal Communications Commission and other regulatory authorities.

As far as I've been able to find out, the new owner has a number of small stations - there is no corporate website that I can find (which will fit right in with KOIN's anemic one). They have been in broadcasting for a long while, buying and selling stations (almost looking like a broker) in a number of markets like Buffalo and San Luis Obispo.

I see them in Lancaster, PA, Billings, MT, Johnstown, PA, Binghampton, NY and other small cities- not exactly powerhouse markets.

It's gotta be better than Emmis, insiders tell me, but there is a lot of worry. Will they have to carry the corporation, considering Portland is market 23. And what will the new owners make of the union situation awaiting them.

Media Notes

2005-09-28T14:30:00.000-07:00

There has been a lot of criticism about "fair and balanced" coverage of the weekend protests in Washington. There was an anti-war group and a pro-Bush group. A number of people writing in the Washington Post, NY Times and Oregonian are complaining that the pro-Bush rally got equal play. How do you balance the two? With the hurricanes, this was just a blip on the radar.

There is a lot written by the right about the demise of Air America radio. What's the real truth? The folks at KPOJ are getting rich off AAR.

And following the KATU thread, we always knew going in that family would have to understand what we do for a living, but there has to be some give and take. What's happening at other stations or papers that you might call family or un-family friendly?

Bits and Pieces

2005-09-23T11:01:00.000-07:00

KPTV has a new General Manager to replace the uber talented Teresa Burgess. He is Kieran Clarke, formerly of Portland's WB station. Staffers are telling me two things about Mr. Clarke - there is some concern about the fact that he just inked a deal with KGW to produce a newscast that competes with his (now) own 10 O'Clock news. They wonder how Meredith managers felt about that. There are also people who note his passion for news, so he'll continue to be supportive of their (so far) winning efforts there.
KATU staffers are scratching their heads about priorities, as a well liked producer was recently challenged by News Director Mike Rausch to decide what he valued most, his wife or working extra hours. The producer chose his wife and is now looking for work.
As the Oregonian noted, the Blazers have new broadcast teams. Wonder how the former Blazer Antonio Harvey will work with the ultra-homer Brian Wheeler on radio? I was sorry to see Ann Schatz move on, because I thought she brought enthusiasm and real knowledge to the broadcasts. She is working with the new College Sports Television network, which we hear may be cannabalized by ESPN some day. Either way, it's a win for her.
Finally, don't know what to make of the leaner Tribune, which is running longer pieces in contrast to O-HD. People are wondering if the final issue is a few days away, rather than weeks or months. And what's with all the sports stories on the front page?

The New O

2005-09-18T19:35:00.000-07:00

My two cents -

I agree that it feels like I'm being lead around like I'm a kid learning how to read. And all those lines! I guess we couldn't figure out the columns by ourselves.

I think that for all they would like it to be, all it feels like is something an art director from the 80's would design (in fact, I have an old Oregonian that I kept from the 80's and it looks the same). And they abandoned it because they decided they weren't USA Today.

The O section is just all the other non hard news segments smashed into one section. I didn't see anything really new - just repackaged.

It's just okay. And for all the hype, is okay okay?

Now for my real disappointment. No change to OregonLive. That would have spoken volumes. Sure there are a few more blogs from writers and reviewers, but it would have been a great time for a makeover. I hope someone from the O or OL writes to tell me that it was in the works but they correctly backed off to give all the support they could to the Times-Picayune.

And I thank Shawn Levy (who I think is one of the best) for promoting this site as Truly vicious Portland media gossip.

Thoughts?

Oregonian HD

2005-09-12T08:42:00.000-07:00

While I create the new site, let's speculate (or add real insider insight) on how different the Oregonian and Oregon Live will be this time next week.

A Few Updates

2005-09-07T06:44:00.000-07:00

The Tribune last Friday wrote about the new 10pm news partnership between KGW and Portland's WB. The article went on about new morning newscasts for KPTV - extending the Good Day Oregon brand to seven days.
What it didn't say was that many people working in the stations production department are being absorbed into news (never a good thing for them), and that Good Day Lifestyles is being cannibalized. Some people have been told (not asked) to take huge pay cuts. And the station will look to hire a number of part-time employees to work short assignments on weekends (and any other time they call). I suspect a number of new workers will answer the call, then we'll hear stories about mistreatment and lack of respect for personal time. Always happens.

The Oregonian's "High Definition News" plan is starting to leak out. It doesn't appear to be a major multi-media, cross platform effort, with independent video/picture pieces on the website (like larger papers do), but a continuation of what we're seeing now - an expanded Metro section, and each section being treated as a "separate entity". There will be fewer long form stories and more attention to the "pace" of each edition, whatever that means in newspaper lingo.

On the ground Katrina reporting has come from the Oregonian, KPTV, KATU and KGW. KOIN's new weathercaster Jeff Baskin is here and has shown satellite photos of his former flooded and off-the-air station in New Orleans. KOIN employees are wondering why they aren't in the Gulf, considering the parent company sent an all-call out to employees willing to help that station get back on the air (there's been no follow up to the original request).

KATU starts its new 4:30pm newscast soon with no real planning, other than how many stories reporters have to file, no new hires for the program, that it will have more national, and that it's unlikely to be really different or aimed at a different audience. Deborah Knapp is the anchor. There will be a news "ticker" on screen, so get your glasses out. This comes at a time when the newsroom is being remodeled and everyone is having to learn new technology.

Katrina

2005-09-05T00:03:00.000-07:00

We have been living with Katrina for over a week now. I have never seen anything like it.

The coverage has been great and awful, both on a local level and what we've seen from national newspapers, the "mainstream" media and on line.

Some observations:

Here in Portland, it was a hard story to cover because it was so far away and it came near the end of August and early September, when newsrooms start to empty for the last shot at a summer vacation. The O had a crew on the ground in Houston for a football game but seemed to not communicate well because it took a day for them to start writing about the mass exodus. They had lots of reporters to tell that story but the priority for the crew was the game.

Local TV has started to send crews or rely on national and regional feeds to "localize" the story, but we never faced a national disaster where we couldn't just plug into a power pole or spend the night in a local motel. That changed the rules. Like September 11th, our local stations were irrellevant. The stories and the images from the networks, national and cable, were so compelling that anytime we tried to interject it seemed pointless and almost disrespectful. It wasn't our story.

The NO Times-Picayune showed how a newspaper with no street or home delivery options continued to bravely tell a story in its own backyard. If that's not worth a Pulitzer, I don't know what is. When we get some space there will be a lot written about the worth of the printed page, and the future of on-line organized journalism.

I agree with an old friend who said that watching the story on TV, before during and after, was like watching storm coverage here - lots of obvious observations about what was in front of you, but very little depth or perspective. I think most of the reporters on screen had great experience talking about weather - they probably all had their storm coverage stripes - but knew very little about the region, its residents, or how to talk about a disaster in real terms. They should have just shut up and let their pictures do the work.

We also learned that we still don't know how to talk about race and income. The tiff about the photo and looting and borrowing showed that. We should have a national conversation about that.

And it's likely that Katrina will overshadow Watergate, Iran-Contra, Monica and all the government scandals of our age. There's something bigger out there about how the storm did the damage it did, how we'll rebuild a great city, how the government responded (or didn't), and what the role of the President is in a situation like this.

I don't remember the name of any of the hurricanes that blew through the past in the recent past. I will never forget Katrina.

High Definition, Low Expectations

2005-09-01T07:25:00.000-07:00

I opened my morning Oregonian today to find dozens of stories about the aftermath of Katrina, which I'd already read or seen yesterday. It's not the fault of the O, or any newspaper that they cannot compete now with the internet or TV on a story like this. All they can do is add perspective. I liked the opinion piece about N.O. music in oped.

What cooked me this morning, and worries me about the new sports editor and his vision was today's front page of the sports section.

A nice looking banner about THE OPENING DAY OF COLLEGE FOOTBALL SEASON FOR AN OREGON SCHOOL. I emphasize that because I don't care if it's Oregon or Oregon State - opening day is a big story and should have a front page piece. Instead, those stories were tucked inside. Back to the front page - John Canzano in Houston, I'm guessing for the game, writes about Damon Stoudamire (we needed to read this?). I would have thought he would have been assigned to do a piece on the aging Astrodome called into help in relief efforts, if he was not going to write a piece about the Oregon-Houston game. Norm Maves (a great guy) writes about the P$U-O$U game (Saturday!), there's a story about N.O. sports teams below the fold (good) and A HUGE PICTURE and accompanying story about the who cares Seattle Mariners.

If you're looking to lose sports readers, you gave a great show today. And I'm a Cal fan!

I'm guessing HD news really means Huh, Duh?

Best, Best Wishes...

2005-08-28T22:03:00.000-07:00

...To everyone assigned to stick around and report and shoot and edit on this Hurricane Katrina about to hit land in Louisiana. TV, radio and print.

I got an email tonight about Jeff Baskin, KOIN's new weatherman, who was leaving the Fox station in New Orleans to come to Portland. Tonight was supposed to be his final night on the air at WVUE. For obvious reasons, his old station needs every meteorologist it can get its hands on, so his start in Portland is delayed.

Godspeed.

Bits and Pieces

2005-08-26T15:05:00.000-07:00

Portland is now the 23rd largest TV market in the country, according to Nielsen. That's big news, considering how many national advertisers make a top 25 market buy. If Portland had slipped behind, say Baltimore and Indy, it would have cost some sales people a car.

Someone is advertising on Craig's List for newspaper advertising sales people. "Northwest Meridian Media is bringing to market Oregon’s only mass market newspaper targeted at readers who are tired of the media being monopolized by liberal and socialist ideologues that laud any misguided plan by government as progressive and apologize on their behalf for their miserable failures." I wonder what that really means and who is behind it.

PAX's 10pm news will be no more. KGW will start producing a 10pm newscast for Portland's WB starting October 3. KGW talent, WB's air signal. While no one can predict that it will bump the juggernaut that is Fox12 Oregon, it is likely to get better ratings than when it ran on PAX. In the May book, PAX delivered a .1 rating for its 9pm program and the news did a 1.4/2. WB's 9pm shows averaged 3.1.

And KOIN had its 3rd union vote since May. KOIN's management challenged the fact that this time, producers and assignment editors were among those voting to unionize. Would someone let us know the vote total and what's behind the challenge?

Seattle Monthly?

2005-08-25T11:54:00.000-07:00

Thought you'd want to see this from the Seattle Times.

Seems Ms. Vogel (not Mr. Vogel, I stand corrected) has her eye on a bigger prize.

Considering all the posts we got from folks about how much they pay writers (or don't), do you think that market is duly warned?

A Snack

2005-08-24T07:07:00.000-07:00

A couple of things to chew on while I reconfigure:

Please join in with b!X, my friend Betsy at Metroblogging Portland and Blue Oregon to think about the O's September makeover. Is it for OregonLive? The paper itself (think Tuesday's Metro)?

Also, KOIN's parent company Emmis got rid of most of its TV stations this week, just not KOIN or the two stations it owns in Honolulu or the stations in Orlando, New Orleans, Wichita and Topeka. KOIN employees see three options - sold to Gannett (which is very interested), sold to the man who runs the TV ops now (who they believe is the architect of their demise), or kept in the Emmis fold.

Hiatus

2005-08-21T08:21:00.000-07:00

Time for a Break

2005-08-15T08:35:00.000-07:00

The last post showed we CAN have a thoughtful discussion about what we do without the name calling.

I'm going to take a week to breathe and decide if I can keep this going.

Let us continue with this, until we meet again:

If there was another daily newspaper in Portland, what would you want it to do differently from the Oregonian? What more do you need from the O?

If you needed radio to keep you up to speed every hour (and at the "bottom of the hour"), what would that sound like? Does OPB do it? Do the other station managers really care about their news product?

What do we expect from weeklies like the Trib, Willamette Week and the Merc?

If TV news must cover crime because it's easy to do, what is the one thing KOIN or KGW or KPTV or KATU could add or do better to make it worth watching? Those of you in TV, what must we do to break the cycle at the morning meeting or when the scanner screams?

And add this: What do the various local news website need to make you come back to visit?

See you soon.

Challenges

2005-08-11T22:33:00.000-07:00

I have learned the value of this site to some, and the responsibility.

There are so many issues we've discussed that as I re-read from the May start, I see the value in talking about what matters to us in the media, the reaction from those who need us (PR and marketing folks), and regular viewers and readers who found this.

There have been a number of times when people whose job it is to disseminate have asked those who don't to stay out. If you read the fine print up above, it was always my intention to let everyone in. I think we learn more when we listen to others.

I have been loudly criticized for editing (censoring) comments that I felt were so off point to be obscene (I get to choose), or disrespectful or redundant. I make no apologies, and if those folks don't like it, they are welcome to do what I do. There are dozens of places for you to write a blog yourself.

I think we have found here that we have an imperfect media market - where our enormous daily (the O) struggles for the credibility it needs, where our weeklies (WWeek, Trib and Merc) have issues about finances or editorial/financial judgement, where the growing trend in TV news plays more to the fear factor than as a mirror on our region, and where local radio is becoming, slowly, obsolete.

No matter what the subject, everything is interesting.

I thank those of you who have taken time to write and express your thoughtful opinions, your look at the history of media in Portland, and your hopes for its future.

I have listened (I think) to some who want me to challenge, more than condemn, or take pot shots.

So let's take this into Friday and beyond - If there was another daily newspaper in Portland, what would you want it to do differently from the Oregonian?

If you needed radio to keep you up to speed every hour (and at the "bottom of the hour"), what would that sound like?

If TV news needed to cover crime because it's easy, what is the one thing a station like 12 or KATU could add that would make it worth watching?

Thanks for stopping by.

Portland Monthly

2005-08-11T16:08:00.000-07:00

Word on the street is that the uber successful Portland Monthly Magazine has pushed its new editor Louise Lague out the door. Something about not fitting (sounds too familiar).

I guess working in New York with People and other highly popular publications wasn't enough to save Louise. She just got to Portland a short while ago.

My sources say PM has lots of pluses and minuses in the exec suite - the plus being Mr. Vogel, the minus being Ms. Vogel.

From where I sit, they put out a shiny product that someone in line at the store is always grabbing. And they look like they are doing very well in securing the upscale advertiser.

Do any PM insiders know the real story and want to share?

Stanford vs. WWeek

2005-08-10T07:23:00.000-07:00

I wonder if it was too late for the Willamette Week to respond to Tuesday's shot across the bow by Phil Stanford.

If you didn't catch it, he questioned WW's readership numbers vs. the Trib (one paper a week versus two?) and then he talked about numbers of pages - it's always about size isn't it?

What do you think that's about? Is Phil now the official apologist for the Trib?

Anchors (Follow Up)

2005-08-09T19:08:00.000-07:00

As I read the posts about Portland anchors (and yes, they don't hold a candle to Mr. Jennings, RIP), some people suggested that Lars was the best local anchor in recent memory. As a friend once told me, there are no more anchors, just lures.

I would suggest the following and have some questions:

Lars was a great reporter before he became an anchor before he became a card-carrying member of the Talking Points crowd.

Mike Donahue was/is the best anchor to calm Portland during a major crisis (Mt. Hood tragedy - Mt St Helens 1980.

Tracy Barry and Kathy Smith were/are the best female anchors to front newscasts in Portland.

Steve Dunn is the best current anchor doing M-F.

Pete Ferryman/Kim Maus are the best morning team, ever, in Portland.

I don't know Richard Ross (although I heard he was Mr. Rose Festival).

What did Shirley Hancock bring to KOIN - and did her lawsuit help female anchors in the market?

Who among the newbies are stepping up to the plate?

Peter Jennings

2005-08-08T08:16:00.000-07:00

The passing of Peter Jennings is more than the exit from life of a journalist who had an extraordinary career, it marks the end of a long era in TV news.

Gone is the anchor who can draw viewers by his (and unfortunately, mostly it's been men) presence and command of the day's events. The obituaries noted that he was the last of the "Big 3" to leave the air, and I suspect we will never again see anchor luminaries like Huntley-Brinkley, Cronkite, Douglas Edwards, Rather, Brokaw, et.al., again.

In our fair city, I think it's fair to say we no longer have anyone on the air who we need to see every night. Gone are the days of "did you hear what Jeff said" or "wasn't Tracy really calming as she talked about the mountain tragedy" or "doesn't Mike really know Oregon."

We don't care. We don't see anchorpeople as central to our lives because we've come to get our information from where we want it - we don't have a favorite station (for the most part) based on who reads the news. We come to a station because of time or convienence or something else. Although I've posted here many times that KOIN would do well to bring Donahue back in a daily anchor role, I doubt he'd make more than a blip on the radar for a few days, with viewers making their decisions on how they feel about KOIN as a whole, not one man. When KOIN brought Kelley Day back, the numbers went up, for a day. We know what they've done since.

Anchors are pretty much gatekeepers to the next live shot anymore, and producers and managers rarely give them time to show off expertise. At the Today show, as that broadcast is seeing its numbers drop, its new EP traces that back to when the "talent" was too tightly scripted. There's more time now for ad libs.

Again, I don't think we're going to see a dominant anchor anymore, like we won't see and hear a new Beatles or watch Burger King usurp MickeyD.

Too many choices.

Another Busy Week

2005-08-07T07:21:00.000-07:00

It's the start of a new week (on the calendar at least), and we had a couple of wild back and forths... which we should (although hate, hate, hate the name calling). I laid off a couple of days to cool down with the last post.

A couple of letters came in but I think I'll post the most contentious one tomorrow.

Today I'll ask what was asked of me:

It came following the Trib story about biking and the numerous riders who died. The person who wrote me asked about headlines, and whether the story painted an incorrect picture about Portland and biking and walking, etc. They said Portland remains a very safe biking community, where drivers, for the most part, keep an eye on bikes and give them space.

But they came away from the article with the thought that Portland is a scary town for biking - as we often do thinking about crime when we watch TV.

I know it's hard to strike that balance, when the numbers seem a little out of hand, and we aren't likely to lead a newscast with, "Nobody got hurt and there were no fires in Portland today," (wouldn't that be a shocker).

How should we strike that balance, when the editor says only so many words, or you only have :45 seconds?

A Fair Trial

2005-08-04T15:58:00.000-07:00

I got a question from someone who wanted to ask this basic question?

Following the coverage of the Wilberger arrest - the newscasts, the Oregonian headline today, etc. - they wanted to know where will the case be tried?

They were asking, I think, if there could be a jury pool in Oregon that can take up the case cleanly, following all the stories. It's a good question, since this is one of the most covered crimes in recent Oregon history.

We can't just sit on our hands on this one, so I'm not sure how I could respond.

I do think Mr. Panty raid may end up with some cash in his pocket because of the earliest allegations that leaned toward him. In the end everything reported on this story was done with the hope of finding Brooke alive.

Channel 2 on 2

2005-08-03T19:20:00.000-07:00

Some of the cheers you are hearing when you drive down Sandy Blvd. are the early numbers after Channel 2 is airing on Channel 2 on Comcast. They are doing quite well.

I didn't think it would make a difference. But, when you do diaries, people can get confused.

The numbers suggest even more competition for KGW in the fall.

What do you think they are doing right? KATU folks are excited about the latest numbers.

Now, For Something Completely Different

2005-08-03T06:37:00.000-07:00

Whew - glad that's over. We'll revisit that. Need a breather.

Here goes.

An email came in from a parent of a high school junior-to-be, who is really interested in journalism - reporting. What he or she didn't make clear was which side - broadcast or print?

I recommended UO in state for its print program and OSU for its broadcast facilities, WSU as the best broadcast journalism school in the NW, and the usuals, Northwestern, Missouri, Columbia (although more for grad school) for print (although Missouri has its own TV station, so that's a big plus).

I told him/her I'd post the question to the field - where would you recommend? Where did you go?

I Don't Like What I Just ...

2005-08-01T18:27:00.000-07:00

A regular visitor to the site sent me a note saying she was very upset by seeing the obviously disturbed women who tried to hurt herself yesterday. She was upset by the video of her trying to elude police who were trying to help her. She wondered if the story was news, why her name was mentioned, especially since no charges were filed.

While I disagree with her that it wasn't news - officers were risking their lives to calm her and save her, and cameras were there - if something happens in front of you it's news.

What she asked was - if she didn't like something and called in to a station or newspaper, would anyone listen? I think in this case we'd politely listen but not really do much about it, or take it out of the next newscast.

What's the policy at various newsrooms around Portland? Should we help folks by giving a common email address or phone number? Newspapers have letters sections, but only publish a fraction, obviously.

How do we let viewers, listeners and readers know we truly do value their input? Or do we?

Give and Take

2005-07-31T19:11:00.000-07:00

This morning's Oregonian kept up its campaign to talk about pensions. In it, it focused squarely on Randy Leonard and his fire bureau pension.

Was it a fair article? Were the facts presented fairly and accurately?

Randy knows his side and so far, he's got this to say on Blue Oregon. His ex-wife said she was misquoted.

Is this a case of story decided before the facts were all in? Or a case of someone creating a different cover.

I'll let you judge.

Kudos to the O

2005-07-30T09:56:00.000-07:00

Great to see Mike Donahue's story gets an above the banner headline in this morning's Oregonian, and a front page living section play.

If they decided to do the story from reading this site, I'm extremely happy.

If they got it off the buzz on the street or in the biz, that's cool too.

Again, if we can help get Mike's story out (and now that it's in the O, it will) and his hope to get the message to other men, fantastic.

--And again, kudos to KOIN's interim management for playing it straight - "to the point."

Optimism

2005-07-29T14:17:00.000-07:00

Today's Tribune has a couple of interesting items.

One of them being an optimistic look forward for the paper, a statement that talked about increased readership, a 15% jump in ad sales, but nothing about how that lead to cuts and layoffs. The article does not mention those let go, even in an issue that published Pete Schulberg's final (or one of his final) article(s).

The Trib moves to Clackamas County starting this weekend.

The other item is Phil Stanford writing how they - Channel 6 - are closing in on me. He takes time to narrow down what I do, but I think I've made it clear what industry I'm in.

I didn't kill Francke, Phil.

Numbers

2005-07-28T16:43:00.000-07:00

The July Book is over for TV. The spring numbers are in for Radio.

For TV - KGW turns the tide on KPTV in the morning - reversing Good Day Oregon's 6-7am win in May. KPTV tied the Today Show (is their tide turning?).

No changes midday. KGW wins, but not as big as usual. KOIN 2nd.

5pm - The news is KATU has overtaken KOIN by a full point and two shares for 2nd. At 6:30, KATU ties KGW. We need to see what happens in November to see if these are real numbers.

At 10pm, KPTV out posts all network programming. At 11, KGW ends up with a smaller number than 12, but a larger share.

My conclusion: Contests helped 12, KGW should fret a little about the numbers and not be too coy about November. A good book for 2 could turn the market on its ear. I also think KOIN won't be able to get out of its free-fall with its new weather person and team changes. Too much to do, so little time. Plus, they might have a new owner by then and a new corporate look.

The commercial numbers (listeners 12 years and older) are out for Portland Radio:

The headlines for me are:

K103 is #1. Progressive (or ultraleft) KPOJ beats ultraright KXL, and is up a full share point from the winter. Two country stations are #2 & #3. The Charlie experiment has dropped numbers for FM97 - they stand at lucky 13th. KPAM remains at death's doorstep - #20, tied with a spanish language station.

When KOPB's numbers are factored in, insiders tell me they'll move to the head of the class.

One Up-ing Classy

2005-07-27T20:40:00.000-07:00

Last week, Mike Donahue told colleagues his doctors caught cancer of his prostate in the early stages. Tonight, he told viewers about it, as he will at 6 and 11 the next two days.

This is not a man saying "woe is me." This is a man who wants other men to understand the importance of early detection and treatment. He knows men don't go see doctors about this because of ego or fear. He hopes his reports might get guys to take this seriously.

Sadly, these reports are on the lowest rated TV newscast in the market. This is not a time of competition, but a time to educate. For those of us in the business, we should encourage people to watch KOIN the next few days, even though it's against our nature to do so. Or we should encourage our bosses to do similar stories and mention Mike - because everyone knows, likes and respects him. Other markets have done this when an icon has faced a tough medical challenge.

Let's offer our prayers and good wishes for a postive outcome for Mike, and hope his reports make a difference.

Class act.

Another Take...

2005-07-27T20:36:00.000-07:00

...on the Tribune story and it's effect on business coverage in Portland.

It's on the MetroBlogging Portland site - so click here to read it.

Mail Bag

2005-07-27T07:54:00.000-07:00

A couple of questions rolled in overnight:

What do y'all think about Portland Monthly Magazine? Do you think about it? Nicely packaged, tons of ads - anyone ever written for it? What was that experience like?

Today's the last day of the July TV ratings period with a couple of surprises - KGW is in a virtual tie w/KPTV in the morning (pre-7am), is nearly tied by Channel 2 at 6:30pm (big surprise), and is beaten by Channel 12 in late night news (I know - not head to head). Is the big 8 slipping or is it just the summer? A year ago they were #1 with a bullet. What's their next move?

-- pdxmediawatch at gmail.com --

The NEW Trib

2005-07-26T08:17:00.000-07:00

No biz section - in the paper and on the web site.

Jill Spitznass has a piece today about being single - must have been her last - she usually publishes Tuesday. Or my inside information could be wrong.

No mention of any former staffers - haven't seen the hard copy yet - has the masthead changed?

I really thought Stanford would mention it - since he doesn't seem to be worried about his job.

Speaking of Great

2005-07-26T04:49:00.000-07:00

Dick Weinman was THE TV journalism teacher in Oregon. When OSU had the best equipped broadcast program in the state in the 70's and 80's, he excited kids like Elaine Murphy, KC Cowan, Dick Vardanega, Mary Fetsch, Jeff Schrum and Dave Angier to make television a career.

He taught them about being good journalists in front of and behind the camera. He also woke up an entire generation of Oregonians as the morning voice on OPB Radio. Dick Weinman kept in touch with his former students, encouraging them to focus on their strengths and to keep improving their talents.

Last Thursday, "Doc" Weinman's car veered into a cement truck near Corvallis. He's now in intensive care at OHSU. For those who knew him and to others who didn't know about the accident, you can send a card to the family in care of the ICU at OHSU.

For those of you who spent time in his classroom and his studio, feel free to share your stories here about Dick Weinman.

Two Giants

2005-07-25T21:10:00.000-07:00

About a week ago I read about the Oregon Newspaper Publishers Association and its Hall of Fame at the U of O School of Journalism and Communications.

I looked up their Hall of Fame and didn't see two names I know will get there sometime soon.

Bernie Foster is a giant in his community and ours. His Skanner newspaper(s) - did you know he also publishes in Seattle? - are much more important than the Oregonian and the Willamette Week and the TV and Radio stations combined to people of color. When he takes a side, you know he listened and thought about what he will say and write. He cares about Portland and he wants to make sure that our leaders consider his neighborhood and his neighbors, now and forever. I expect some day the ONPA will put him in their hall. He is a man of integrity and if you don't know about him in your newsroom, I suggest you pick up the phone and call him. He'd be happy to take that call and listen to your questions. You'd better be ready for his.

Clara Padilla Andrews came to Oregon in the 1990's and put El Hispanic News on the map. She used to be the Secretary of State in New Mexico, and she took her political smarts and an attitude of no fear to create a paper that means something to Oregonians who speak two languages. The paper is growing, both in circulation and in prestige and it rightly has become a place where opinion leaders need to communicate. She has a great loyal staff who believe they are doing something.

There are lots of people like this, but these are two we should put on a wall some day to remember what they brought to our craft.

Whose BLOG Is It Anyway?

2005-07-24T20:55:00.000-07:00

In the past week, I had to delete a few comments, which prompted this smart question:

Could PDXMediawatcher please explain his criteria for removing a post??

It got me to thinking about what this site has become. It has become (at least in my newsroom) something folks take time to find every day. We know people tangentally connected with the news biz read it (and comment), as do lots of outsiders with viewpoints and comments that seem to make no sense at all (and drive the discussion way away from the point I had originally hoped might make some impact on management).

It's clear PDX Media Insider has little impact on the coverage of news, or the management of news coverage. I wish it did, but my ego remains in tact. As far as "our" issues, I see my self more as a gatherer of ideas and comments, not the final gatekeeper. And I know some discussion does get to the meeting table. (And that some managers have appeared threatened or at least defensive when some comments get to the heart of what we'd like to see some outlets quit doing).

That said, I have deleted a few posts because I thought they were mean spirited, off point, crass, but, most important to me, I didn't think they belonged on MY blog. I haven't done it every time (for those keeping track), so I'll admit to some inconsistency. I don't want the blog to denegrate into what I've been reading on the PDX Radio site. To tell the truth, I also don't have time to police everything - just the obvious stuff.

Jack Bogdanski, who writes the enormously popular Jack Bog's Blog is taking a comment hiatus. That is, he's writing, but not allowing folks to post. As he said, "...to tell the truth, I'm mostly tired of reading and brooding about certain readers' comments."

I understand.

I'm not there yet.

Layoffs

2005-07-21T20:57:00.000-07:00

What happened at the Trib this week stirred up some memories I wanted to share.

Before I do that - bets on whether tomorrow morning's Portland Tribune mentions them at all. I say no.

In March of 2001, the new corporate owner of KOIN (Emmis, which is now selling the joint) let go of about 20% of the staff. Sales, traffic, finance, production and news. No department was spared.

In its wake, some long-time technicians, reporters and photographers we're let go and escorted by security out the door (corporate America). Sandy James. Mark Sanchez. Dave Schmitke. Craig Sklar. John Keller. Charlie Parr. Leslie Martin. Wayne Kosbau. Jay Leonard. Dean Murch. Jeff Voeller. And others. Their old friend and colleague - then manager, John Ray was on his honeymoon, but his fingerprints (fairly or not) were on the dismissal. He still has a hard time talking about it. He'd been pushed aside by the news director Rick Howard who was hired, along with April Thomas and with the help of Bruce Williams (now at KPTV), to clean house.

John got his walking papers in June along with Shirley Hancock, John Honore (who got the sweetest severence in the history of Portland) and a guy named Winnick (can't remember his first name).

It was the largest house cleaning in Portland TV history. Many thought it was a chance to get rid of old timers and bring in fresh blood. In truth it was about saving money. The publicity about Shirley's firing was the beginning of the end of KOIN news. Many people say Gianola smartly used Shirley's example to convince KOIN to give him his current contract, lest he go back home to KATU and take with him a sizable audience. (How odd considering Shirley used Jeff as a way to get a settlment in her suit against KOIN).

My point here is to remember all these nice people, who, like those good people at the Trib, were human beings. They may had lost a step, or didn't fit in, or were a financial liability, but they were people. Most of them moved on. I just heard Mark Sanchez was the last one let go from KOIN to get work - finally finding a PR job in Salem. Good for them all. They found something.

The lesson is the business (media) is malleable. They all had skills.

But we should remember everyone who work or worked in Portland media because they loved it and thought they'd retire doing it.

To the six at the Trib (and Nevill Eschen, who lost the newspaper side of her Pamplin gig), godspeed.

Breaking (Bad) News

2005-07-20T17:13:00.000-07:00

I just got this from a source:

Just when they thought they'd be moving into their new building in Clackamas County, six Portland Tribune employees were shown the door.

Pete Schulberg - Columnist
Jill Spitznass - Columnist
Kristina Brenneman - Biz Editor
Jeanie Senior - Biz Writer
Jon Bell - Biz Writer (see a pattern here)
Tim Jewett - Photo Editor

Managing Editor Connie Pickett was demoted to an editor position. Dwight Jaynes takes on more of a day to day managing and editing function.

Lots of us continue to wonder long this experiment will last. Perhaps the move to Clackamas was the first real indication.

I'm told more news to come.

It's always a sad day when people with families and talent are let go.

Let's wish these people a short transition to their next gig.

As Predicted...

2005-07-20T10:12:00.000-07:00

The O corrected its embarrassing mistake of reporter Anna Griffin's name on page two.

It called it a misspelling. It was bigger than that.

It's like the poster who told us about being at a company function and someone coming up to him and saying "do you still work here?".

I think we expect better of our co-workers - especially those of us who believe in fact checking.

Late, Live, Loco

2005-07-20T07:53:00.000-07:00

I wish I'd have made up that headline. That's the title of this morning's WWeek cover story.

Read Zach Dundas' piece this morning - his focus (as it's been here many times) is that successful engine that is Fox12 News.

He's right that it doesn't represent what's happening in our community, totally. But as he and Channel 12's news boss agree, it's working for them.

It's a well-written tongue in cheek shot at their style and "substance".

I look forward to your thoughts.

Wednesday

2005-07-19T22:32:00.000-07:00

WWeek is going to have a story about TV news, the Oregonian is going to print a retraction (apology) about making a mistake on a key reporter's name, and Pete Schulberg is pissed and wants to out me (honestly Pete, I think I was rude in calling you out - you are just doing your job and have a small amount of space to fill every week - you worked your ass off when you were reporting and anchoring on TV and at least you took the time to write about local stations when you were at the O. I think we should honor you for that).

Looking forward to hump day.

I really like doing this, but if I get outed, this site is gone. Can someone else pick this up if I'm gone?

KOIN Weather

2005-07-19T22:16:00.000-07:00

Okay, here's what I learned.

KOIN apparently has transferred (Emmis station to Emmis station) weatherman Jeff Baskin from New Orleans (WVUE - Fox) to Portland. Don't know much about Jeff - if he's a real meteorologist or a Mississippi State correspondence course kind of guy?

The bottom line is this (even if I got the guy from bad sources - in NO they're advertising for a new meteorologist) - the new weather guy gets Katie Baker off of the main shows (which she didn't want - end of her career outside of Portland). Anna Katayama comes off mornings and noon, so it's Katie and that weakling Mark Ronchetti (I think he's terrible) on the AM and Noon (4th place in the morning, 3rd at Noon - sorry Mark Hendricks and Shirley Hancock/Reed Coleman - they ruined your legacy). Then the new guy works with Jeff and Kelley, Jeff and Kelley, Jeff and Kelley, Jeff and Kelley (unless they come to their senses and put Donahue back on the anchor desk).

Ken Boddie (the #1 news anchor for KOIN right now) pairs with Anna, and Alexis Del Cid goes back in the reporting pool.

New weather guy - two things. It's Will-am-ette. And I hope you got them to buy new graphics and new toys. It'll take about two years for you to make your mark.

Welcome to Portland. Aside all the snide stuff I've written here, you are coming to an easier market to forecast and a beautiful place to live.

Get Ready for your Close-Up

2005-07-19T13:01:00.000-07:00

After reading this, some Portland TV news managers may be getting up pretty early tomorrow morning.

Willamette Week's cover story tomorrow will focus on Portland TV News and sweeps (especially the current July book). It is written by Zach Dundas.

Mr. Dundas and I conversed via email and he asked some very good questions, so I look forward to reading his take.

The issue hits the street sometime after midnight. It'll be live on the WWeek website after 10am Wednesday.

New Toys

2005-07-19T09:22:00.000-07:00

Coming soon, KATU will be the first newsroom in PDX to go tapeless. Their new Panasonic cameras use memory much like our digital home cameras.

The complaint inside is inadequate training (as usual with a new toy) and some missing equipment, so I'm told.

Will it enhance news gathering or give them a competitive edge? No. It never does. The only way it does is missing pictures and uncomfortable waits from the anchor desk - "uhm, folks, we're having technical difficulties."

The only time Portland viewers cared about technology was in the late 90's with the helicopter wars, and the hype that accompanied that. New sets, new lighting, stinger units, etc. don't matter. What matters is if the technology helps you win a story. I look for the first disaster where a local reporter or photographer delivers amazing live pictures from a cell phone, ala the London bombings.

When KOIN went on line with its news server (edited pieces go to a hard drive, not a tape), there were lots of problems, human error and equipment snafus. Lots of dead air and angry looks from Mr. Gianola and later, Ms. Day.

Now if KOIN could just correct that problem.

Watch This Space

2005-07-19T08:19:00.000-07:00

Today's post will grow - we're learning more about the new KOIN "Chief" Meteorologist (did he too get his degree from Mississippi State?) and the changes coming to Channel 6, the new technology coming to KATU and other things.

But first...

I got gigged, correctly, the other day for my grammar use, so I'll pass on a HUGE error in today's O - passed on by a friendly poster.

The number two editorial refers to City Hall reporter Anna Griffith's story about how Portland's Park Bureau was going to charge non-profits for using parks.

OOOPS - Her name is Anna Griffin. Wonder who's getting chewed out this morning at the weekly editorial confab???

Did I Miss Something?

2005-07-17T10:35:00.000-07:00

I'm confused.

The Oregonian's Public Editor, Michael Arrieta-Walden writes a thoughtful piece of how a photo can distort a story and the reaction to that story from the point of view of the subject.

Then the subject writes an angry letter to the editor saying they felt "monstrously misused" by the reporter Betsy Hammond (who has an interesting rep), which is at the top of the Sunday letters heap.

Then the lead editorial, which talks about school funding and retirement pay, again, is run with the same picture again, as if to say to the Public Editor and retirees who felt had, so what?

I'll be there's losts of talk in the Broadway Beltway. What's being said?

It just struck me as if the editorial page editors couldn't care less about the people who felt lied to.

Please, let's limit this to a discussion about journalism and editorial decision making - not another discussion about teaching and retirement pay - okay?

Speaking of Columnists

2005-07-15T16:30:00.000-07:00

About a month ago I read the excellent (can't believe I'm writing this) Portland Confidential by Phil Stanford. (Here's a free plug to help you sell copies).

Since it's clear he's got free reign at the Trib (or no one wants to hear his rants by editing him), he's been writing about those old glory days in some of his columns (and to sell some of his books). At least he's not boring is with more Francke stories. Can you imagine if FOX12 News was on the air then, reporting on what he's telling us?

Seriously, along with Jewell Lansing's great book on Portland, you should buy these two great books to read about the past - I'll give any reporter under the age of 30 to quote at least one of them in a piece huge props!

Heeeee's Back

2005-07-15T16:12:00.000-07:00

Just in time to give his two cents about the Emmy Award nominations, Ladies and Gentlemen will you welcome back, Peter Ames Carlin. applause here

Seems our friend Peter has been off a while. I think I read he was on sabbatical. Meanwhile his wife Sarah Carlin Ames (did they flip a coin?), toils as a spokesperson at Portland Public Schools.

In the meantime we've had tens of thousands of hits, hundreds of posts by people who wanted to weigh in or read about what's going on in TV and Radio (and newspapers - clearly our weakness) in the Rose City. In our shop, we usually pass on Pete because he seems to just want to write about shows and specials, not the everyday things that happen in our town. In his world, local TV news doesn't exist. So that's why we're here. Maybe they should have some truth in advertising and call him a TV Entertainment Critic.

I will say he is a very good writer and his pieces are entertaining, but I wish he had the sources and resources to let the rest of the world know what's happening at Charlie, or to hear his spin on the fall of once-mighty KOIN 6 News, or KOIN News 6, or whatever (I didn't get to the point).

Even the biggest story of the week, which merited something in the TV or Biz pages at the O didn't even make a dent - the firing of Teresa Burgess at 12/49. The usually lackluster and useless Schulberg got it in today scooped by us three days ago.

For years the O acted like news didn't exist outside of 1320 SW Broadway. I guess that's still the rule.

...Fight, Fight, Fight

2005-07-14T14:25:00.000-07:00

An interesting post on Blue Oregon following a humous piece in the Denver Post.

It's the old, do we lean to the left or to the right.

It's not posted here to confirm anything, other than it's something to think about and write about.

FB-I Shouldn't Have Done That

2005-07-14T10:32:00.000-07:00

If you go here or here you'll see that Portland FBI spokesperson Beth Anne Steele is in a world of hurt.

Steele used to be a producer at Channel 2, known for her crying jags. When she got the FBI gig, people there went, huh? Now most of us know her as they less-than-competent mouthpiece for the feds here. She's not a crowd favorite. We're told the Justice Department and the White House are furious. She's on leave right now, and we're told, not likely to survive this. Her boss may get sent to Siberia (Butte, Montana?).

The story in the O yesterday didn't go as far as Newsday or, most importantly Aljazeera, which I would think put a little pressure on Portland's security status.

It's interesting because last week I was watching a re-run of the West Wing when President Bartlett's daughter was kidnapped and the story thread had the Portland FBI rounding up Islamic Fundamentalists here. Wonder if BA got a consulting fee.

An Attitude with the O

2005-07-13T21:11:00.000-07:00

A reader wrote in, concerned about the article written by the new FoodDay editor at the O, entitled, quite interestingly "Here's where we're headed with changes". Our reader wrote, "her tone seemed quite condescending to me, it was surprising."

It's not all that surprising. There are a few writers at the O whose opinion I like. Shawn Levy is mostly spot on with his movie reviews. So is Ted Mahar who was put out to pasture a long time ago, yet someone smartly lets us read his take on classics.

We wrote about Randy Gragg and his arrogance - how Portland needs to be rebuilt in his image and likeness.

But the one who makes lots of people giggle, because of his power yet how much he seems to miss the mark is DK Row. I was told that many local artists think that if they got an elephant to pee color on a canvas, he'd do 2000 words. Yet he seems to have missed some important artists that are knocking folks down, like Molly Cliff Hilts, who has foregone the gallery route to become wildly successful and much lauded. Then there's newbies like Laura O'Brien at Open Door, who's imagination has spawned "6 degrees of separation" where the buyers will be connected forever.

I don't envy reviewers, but in a cultural goldmine like Portland, only having one or two great reviewers at our biggest paper sucks.

So Funny I Had to Share

2005-07-13T13:26:00.000-07:00

A local TV reporter relayed this story - I took the names out but they know who they are.

They were "on our way to our PM story in Salem last night and on the way we stopped at the Shell/TA truck stop off the Donald exit. After giving the gas station attendant the card to gas up the live truck we both headed inside to pick something up to eat.
On our way back out, the attendant was rushing in to get us with a white faced panic look.
"Ummm...we need you to come outside," he said.
"I think we put the gas in the wrong hole."
Neither (photographer) or I had any idea of what he was talking about. As we rounded the live truck there was an assistant manager on her hands and knees looking at the bottom of the van that's trickling gas from everywhere.
"I just hope we didn't damage anything," she says with the same panicked tone.
We still have no idea what is going on.
The attendant, who told us later it was his first day, then pointed to where he put the gas. Not in the gas tank opening.
He had unscrewed the silver cap that covers the opening leading straight into the interior of the live van. The opening that's used from time to time to run cable from the inside of the truck to the outside.
When it finally hit us what he had done, we ran to the sliding door of the van, whipped it open and gas came dumping out as if it were a flooded basement.
(The photographer) quickly grabbed his/her camera bag that because of its position in the van was actually turned into a makeshift "gas tank". When she/he (began) lifting the camera out at least a gallon of gas splashed out with it.
In his first day jitters, this 16 year-old, managed to pump a little more than 10 gallons into the inside of unit 20.
The fire department was called, the truck became a HazMat scene, thousands of dollars in damage to every piece of equipment inside, including one Jones of New York suit coat. The poor kid sat with his head in his hands...looked up at (the photographer) and said, "Do you think I'm going to have to pay for all of this myself?"
But by far the best statement of the day came from the assistant manager when she asked (the photographer), "How much gas did he pump? Because I won't charge you for that. That's gas is free."

Thanks for sending it in. It's a hoot.

Insider Information

2005-07-12T23:38:00.000-07:00

A KGW poster sent me a note saying management lost its second major union grievance when it required reporters working extra weekends to take compensation time during the week, rather than getting overtime.

This stuff happens all the time.

The question is, why do employees let it?

When are you going to start working for the school district or the cop shop as its information czar?

That twice weekly paycheck is pretty nice, but is it worth your dignity?

I never hear about this with the O, WWeek or the Trib. I think its because when you work for the newspaper, you realize you're a reporter on a beat, with things to cover that don't necessarily fit your lifestyle.

People in radio and TV think the other way. Plus, they all want to work M-F, 9-5.

Teresa Burgess, Best Wishes to you

2005-07-12T14:40:00.000-07:00

It's confirmed. Meredith Corp. fired the only woman to lead a Portland television station, Teresa Burgess, who ran KPTV and KPDX. She will be replaced in the interim by Paul Karpowicz, who is the head of Meredith Broadcasting Group (got that job in February).

Word is she was fired because her sales team couldn't convert strong numbers in the morning and night into increased revenue and couldn't get sales numbers for UPN - KPDX up. With that, expect a few sales heads to roll. Don't expect any big changes in news, since the corporate folks know they're delivering.

The staff was told, as we know, at 9:30 this morning.

She was much admired in the industry, so expect a follow-up post about her new job (plus she probably walked away with an admirable severance).

PMI

OPB

2005-07-12T08:29:00.000-07:00

It looks like it's happening again. A few years back, OPB dumped it "beloved" production crew, only to hire them back without benefits and guaranteed hours. Most of those people were so dedicated to the product and the work, they toughed it out.

Now, as the O reported this AM, OPB is calling for replacement workers in case of a strike. Funny thing is, the workers haven't even voted to go out. Sounds like another case of "we don't really think you're all that important to us."

Insiders, what's the real story?

Numbers

2005-07-11T21:56:00.000-07:00

Thanks to another insider, I got to peek at the numbers for the July "book" (less than two weeks in) which confirmed what others were saying - but I asked a good friend who's an expert on these and he/she gave me some perspective.

Yes- KPTV's 10pm viewership is larger than KGW's at 11. Channel 8 has no real competition at 11 from KOIN or KATU.

Good Day Oregon has a slight lead from 6a - 7a - the most important local hour in the morning and continues to pummel the Today Show (NBC) from 7 - 9am. Unlike the rest of the country, Good Morning America (ABC) is not doing much here in P-town.

KGW is still winning from 5-7pm, but here's where my friend pointed out something interesting. This is a lousy statistical sample for KGW and doesn't seem to make a lot of sense. The numbers for their early newscasts are on a free fall - which is against all logic for the market. And they don't add up from the last book in May. It looks like the people with Nielsen boxes right now are not KGW watchers and/or, because it's summer, they aren't watching NBC stuff. Even Oprah's not doing much - which is weird considering the press she's getting about her Paris shopping trip. Inside KGW, panic is not happening because they are doubting the sample big time.

If there was a turnover of households with the meters, that could explain it as well.

And then there's the issue of VOD - viewership on demand, which is huge for Comcast customers, people with TIVO and PVR's, etc. Read here what's coming.

KATU, in June and July, has started to pull away from KOIN for sole possession of 2nd place in the early evening newscasts (I can already hear the shouting inside that monolith on Sandy - "We're number two - We're number two). For those who mentioned KOIN bottoming out - they haven't quite gotten there (Ken Boddie and co have the best ratings for news at that station).

Someone noted only KPTV cares about the July book, which isn't really true. It's just looking like they might have something to crow about. And considering all the radio stations that claim they're number one, get ready for the late summer hype.

We Need to Get This Straight...

2005-07-11T10:11:00.000-07:00

We've had a number of people who call for "pooling" resources.

Sometimes we do - in courtrooms, some hospital things (interview with a victim, special surgery, etc.), when it's a size (how many reporter/photographer teams in a room) issue, or someone wants to talk to someone but make sure everyone else gets it. When those things happen, phone calls get made, logistics get worked out and everyone gets everything in time. Only on a few occasions in the past did a station or newspaper hold out past deadline, then there were screaming fits, but for the most part, we get along that way. (Want to share those stories?)

Why we won't - we're still trying to beat the pants off of each other, we want to slap the word exclusive on as many stories as we can, we want to be first.

Yes we may look the same during a big story, and show you the same stuff, but if you really watched close enough, you'd see big differences, as we do, in context, reporting and producing styles, graphics, hustle, etc.

The only time everyone shared during a huge story was 9/11 when the networks said, after we show it, you can use it. That would only happen here in extraordinary circumstances.

Only 6 & 12 have shared video arrangements, or did (channel 18 is what insiders called the agreement). We share traffic cameras, thanks to ODOT, but that's it. And that's the way it's likely to stay.

Hurricanes

2005-07-10T19:04:00.000-07:00

We love watching bad weather.

Where we live, despite all the complaining from those smarter than us, bad weather stories make our ratings rise into the stratosphere. We get thousands of new viewers who need to know about that windstorm, where the snow is going to hit, and when the rain's gonna stop.

No matter what we do, no matter how trite (Sylvan Hill, Troutdale), we keep 'em rivited.

So why do people complain when we do what we do best - showing what's outside? How do we improve, and, more importantly, how can we take advantage of the huge jump in viewership to show how good we can be?

An Apology

2005-07-08T21:19:00.000-07:00

I blew it. Clear and simple. It was stupid and elitist and wrong.

When I sent the last post I wanted to get a sample of thoughts hoping to get some response on what I want to change in our newsrooms. You see, my bosses think KPTV is the cats meow. I don't.

That said, I wrote a pretty shitty thing about education and income that I should have thought through clearer. And I was rightfully skewered for it. I do hate the fact that we pick stories without thinking about helping our audience learn about the world - how we don't reflect our region (which is not really crime ridden). This is a cool place to live and work and it does has the usual urban problems. It's not wrong that Fox12 does what it does (we all do in some form) - they are finding an audience. And it's working for them. It's not good work, but it's working for them - they have buzz and, clearly, very loyal employees and managers dedicated to keeping it going.

That aside, I apologize for things I wrote about the audience. I will work hard in our meetings to find the stories that might make their lives better - not trying to scare them all the time.

Let's move on.

2005-07-07T22:35:00.000-07:00

I received a number of emails today asking for us to discuss a few issues:

The quandry that is KPTV's 10pm News - it gets decent numbers yet it is appalling to many people - why is it and why don't the folks making decisions there care - especially since real research is likely to show they cannot attract a quality audience (educated, real consumers)? This is not to say they don't have good demos - they do well with the 25-49 crowd, but I'm guessing very few of them have education or wealth. I'm sure my favorite pro-KPTV poster will be the first to dive in to tell me I'm wrong. I'm okay with that - show me the numbers - they're public here in Portland. Where do your viewers live and work? Especially the ones that are there at 10:30, not coming out of your great lead-ins.

Reviewers - I wrote about the food reviewer at the WWeek and the fire she lit in the restaurant industry. A fan of Portland theater was put off by the WWeek critic who said goodbye and talked about theater here very negatively. Was he right, and doesn't he have the right to say that?

Phil Busse - he's made some pretty prominent mistakes, yet he seems to not be in any danger of losing his job. Why is that? Does his boss not care, or does he/she think Phil brings attention and readers, even when he fucks up royally. Like Clinton and Lewinsky.

Dive in.

A Question

2005-07-07T14:14:00.000-07:00

Since the NY Times reporter Judith Miller sits in jail for trying to protect her source on the Valerie Plame outing, and since you know my position about revealing sources, I was curious:

Many non-journalists (I assume) posted thoughts that said no one was above the law. And now that Karl Rove seems to have had his hand in this, and may be complicit, and could be facing jail himself, I wanted to know:

We're those of you siding with the judge expressing thoughts because you wanted to see someone in this White House go down for this crime, or because you don't believe we in the news business have an absolute right to protect anonymous sources?

I await responses from all sides.

To make it clear, I think when you promise anonymity on a story, you give anonymity, even if it means jail.

Mea Culpa???

2005-07-07T09:19:00.000-07:00

Another front page headline for the O (still limping out of its internet problem) about the Blazers' new head coach. It's not the pick they announced last month and nothing in the article about that wrong call.

Will there be another public editor article about missing the big story? Didn't see the name Iavaroni in either the lead story or in Canzano's piece.

One correspondent (that's what we'll call emailers to pdxmediawatch at gmail.com) said that only KGW lead its newscast with the story, wondering if the local stations are so done with the Blazers. I saw something on Fox Sports Northwest with Lenny Wilkins talking about it and something on the ESPN ticker - SportsCenter was focused on the pitcher who took on TV news photographers.

Now the team will introduce the new coach at the Washington Park Rose Garden (not the Rose Garden Arena, which they don't own anymore) at 4:30p. I'm guessing they wanted un-challenged access to live coverage on the 5pm news, but that's gone now because of the horrible tragedy in London.

Back to the O. I'd like to hear from insiders about how the sports section gets that egg off its face.

They hate each other, but...

2005-07-06T10:26:00.000-07:00

Many folks thought it classless that Phil Busse of the Mercury tried to derail Willamette Week's successful application for a Pulitzer. Portland Communique wrote a great piece on this back in April (read it with comments here).

Then Busse slipped on a huge banana peel by writing a review for a restaurant that hadn't open yet, and WWeek took him to task for it.

So how odd they both did the same story in the same week. Mercury first.
http://www.portlandmercury.com/2005-06-30/ex.html

I'll bet Hank Stern was screaming when he saw the story (assuming he scans the competition) and was hoping for a last minute something to kill the planned cover.
http://www.wweek.com/story.php?story=6493

Weird.

Fire in the Hole

2005-07-05T23:05:00.000-07:00

Visitors to Oregon Live today got to read this:

Welcome to OregonLive.com. Due to a power failure we're experiencing technical difficulties. Full service will be resumed as soon as possible. We expect to have all of The Oregonian's content and archives available tomorrow. -- OregonLive.com

One of our readers tells me it was a fire in New Jersey - so much for locally run.

Another reader wrote in today to tell us about the new look for Vancouver's Columbian newspaper website, which is very appealing. I'm also liking the new look of Salem's Statesman Journal's website, especially the section for Education.

Today's incident shows how Oregon's largest daily may have lots to crow about, but its website is, as Niedermeyer said in Animal House, "worthless and weak."

Update at KOIN

2005-07-05T20:48:00.000-07:00

Anchors and reporters narrowly defeated a vote to unionize. 10 votes for, 11 votes against.

Last month, photographers, editors and technicians voted to join a union.

Independence Day

2005-07-04T15:30:00.000-07:00

From my files (from a friend):

The folks at KOIN are spending this 4th away from the nut (former news director) who wrote this memo back in January. It's one of many I'll pass on from time to time that are just funny.

YOU KNOW, I'VE ALWAYS SAID, "INCEST BREEDS INSANITY":
You will undoubtedly notice that all of the monitors throughout our newsroom have been tuned to KOIN News 6.
No Channel 8.
No Channel 4.
No Channel 12.
No station has even become "the best" by watching its competitors. You get better by watching your own newscasts and working together to make them clear, complete and "to the point". So in that spirit, I expect these monitors to stay glued to KOIN News 6. And that also holds true for the small monitors at your desks.
I also encourage you to ONLY watch KOIN News 6 at home (for your local news). What will that do? Well among many things, it will change your focus inward, allowing you to know what "we have already reported" and "how we can forward a story", instead of being preoccupied with what someone else may have done.

Wondered how he was going to monitor their home viewing.

Just so you all know, KOIN put all the monitors back to the other stations when Managing Editor (still there) John (Taco) Bell came into the newsroom and said something like, "what is this bullshit."

Sometimes life is funnier than art.

Tragedy

2005-07-03T07:24:00.000-07:00

I pulled down an optimistic post from Saturday after Matal Sanchez was found dead and his step-grandmother charged. I was hoping the weekend would see a happier ending.

The post praised the restraint and solid coverage in all Portland media - one based on facts and a sense of urgency.

Its conclusion reminds me of the time when I and many colleagues think Portland TV news took a fateful turn - the weekend when police searched and discovered the bodies of Ashley Pond and Miranda Gaddis. The wall-to-wall coverage was embarrassing and un-professional as reporters from every station speculated and, most disappointingly, interviewed every Tom, Jason and Hillary that was willing to come up to the microphone. News managers were most complicit as they pushed their teams to get everyone on camera who wanted - adding nothing to the understanding of the terrible and complex story - just a window into how people are drawn to coverage like moths.

The exclaimation point came when Anna Song spoke at the memorial service for the girls - a line we all thought she crossed. Her boss came to her defense after much public (LA Times, the O) criticism, but she was wrong. To her defense, it wasn't anything Anna did for publicity or to further the cause of KATU - she got close to the story. Too close for some. Anna is a good woman and serious about her work. It was a tough call but it added to the pile that created what many see today and what many of us struggle to call our craft.

Ch-ch-ch Changes - again

2005-07-01T15:15:00.000-07:00

We're hearing rumours of some job changes in the media and PIO's around the region, based around the new fiscal year for some (July 1), but we're having a hard time tracking things down.

What have you heard?

Food for Thought

2005-07-01T15:06:00.000-07:00

A reader alerted me to a very interesting web site that, for me, asks a great question - okay, the question is mine - what happens when a reviewer says what she/he really thinks about a product? When it has an effect on those reviewed, what should they do? How should they react?

http://portlandfood.blogspot.com/

Read under the titles "The Emperor Has No Clothes!" and "The Emperor Has No Clothes! Part 2"

Has interesting threads regarding a review of a downtown restaurant, the reaction by the owner and chef, and attempts to put economic pressure on the reviewer's paper.

What do you think?

Major Disappointment

2005-06-30T10:53:00.000-07:00

From the NY Times website today:

Time magazine said today that it would provide documents concerning the confidential sources of one of its reporters to a grand jury investigating the disclosure of the identity of a covert C.I.A. agent, Valerie Plame.

Text: Time Inc. Statement on Handing Over Documents (June 30, 2005)

In a statement, Norman Pearlstine, Time Inc.'s editor in chief, said: "The same Constitution that protects the freedom of the press requires obedience to final decisions of the courts and respect for their rulings and judgments. That Time Inc. strongly disagrees with the courts provides no immunity. The innumerable Supreme Court decisions in which even presidents have followed orders with which they strongly disagreed evidences that our nation lives by the rule of law and that none of us is above it."
On Monday, the U.S. Supreme Court turned down appeals from the magazine, one of its reporters, Matthew Cooper, and a reporter for The New York Times, Judith Miller.

Arthur Sulzberger Jr., the publisher of The New York Times, said in a statement: "We are deeply disappointed by Time Inc.'s decision to deliver the subpoenaed records. We faced similar pressures in 1978 when both our reporter Myron Farber and The Times Company were held in contempt of court for refusing to provide the names of confidential sources. Mr. Farber served 40 days in jail and we were forced to pay significant fines.
"Our focus is now on our own reporter, Judith Miller, and in supporting her during this difficult time."

I don't like the implication of this.

Photographers

2005-06-30T10:22:00.000-07:00

If you haven't read the story or seen the video, Texas Ranger pitcher Kenny Rogers went off on two video photographers last night. His actions were shameful and he rightfully faces possible prosecution for assault.

Photographers are often unsung in what they do and I wanted to take time to mete out some praise.

In TV newsrooms, now, they seem to be the sole beacons of real journalistic restraint. They dutifully cover all the crime and crap they've been assigned, but they know better than most what a story really is. They are aching for assignments that tell real stories with real people that will make an impact on the viewer.

At newspapers, photographer toil, often alone, to bring real life to the stories in the papers. They help, with one singular moment, capture the essenence and the pathos of the story. It is a shame, even in the internet world (and because of the awful Oregon Live) that we don't get to see more of the work of photographers - from the O to the Trib to all the local papers in our region.

Today I thought of that looking at Olivia Bucks' picture in the Oregonian of the neighbor looking at what happened to her home when fire visited next door - a lovely picture of an awful moment.

To the men and women on the street who always have our backs - salute.

Following Up

2005-06-29T07:19:00.000-07:00

A request:

"Why not a post asking people comment on the biases they perceive from Portland media types? I've got a couple in mind, and I wonder if others have noticed the same. "

Okay. What do you "percieve"?

Lots of people love to slam the Oregonian for its liberal bias, but everyone knows Fred Stickel is one of the most conservative bosses in town.

The Willamette Week, the Trib? Does covering oodles of crime make KPTV liberal or conservative? Do you think Steve Duin leans to the left or the right?

We've always known that if you do a piece someone's ox will be gored.

Congratulations

2005-06-28T13:36:00.000-07:00

To a truly nice man, Don Hamilton of the Tribune, and his wife Kristen. Parents of twins who snuck in just under the moon of Gemini.

We look forward to your first night of restful sleep - in 15 years!

Congrats from the Insider and from your friends who let me in on your great news.

One last thing...

2005-06-28T00:42:00.000-07:00

Before I head off.

John Canzano on the radio? How many shows do I have to listen to him dis the Blazers who won't do things his way? zzzz

I can do that and cost KFXX very little.

Dumb move for a station that keeps changing formats on an audience that likes a little consistency.

Now if you could help the Mariners win a few games...

KOIN's 2nd Union Vote

2005-06-28T00:24:00.000-07:00

A week from tomorrow, KOIN's reporters and anchors vote to unionize (or not). It follows a vote last month when photographers, editors and technicians at KOIN said yes to NABET.

There has been a lot of pressure (in back rooms and bathrooms we're told) by the top anchors (J&K) to get folks to say no. We think the vote will be close.

The bottom line is money (and taking it out of some pretty large paychecks).

KOIN remains up for sale, which means these union votes could mean very little. A new owner will say what they want. In KOIN's case, there's worry that the current owner's 2nd in command will buy the joint (and other stations in the group) and re-work who works there and how they work there (no benefits, on short term contracts, etc.)

Meanwhile, KOIN is the news operation with no weather star, a sportcaster who is fading into oblivion and ratings shallower than the sand under the Willamette.

We are hearing that Mike Donahue may be, rightfully, moving back to the anchor desk. That might stem the free-fall.

Stay tuned.

Liberal Bias

2005-06-27T23:58:00.000-07:00

I was having dinner with someone tonight who talked about the way reporting used to be - when a controversial issue was before us, we'd talk to a right-leaning person, but then report the rest. It looked like the reporter was filling in the other side.

Now, we have pundits and experts from each side that blur the lines, so that no one can claim expertise.

For example: The school funding issue. Minnis offers a plan. That's the right. The Lars crowd skewers it because it doesn't fit their agenda that schools get too much now anyway. But they never mention Minnis because she is much loved.

The Dems (the left) skewer the plan because they don't want an R to get credit for a school plan that helps Portland (their turf), and rightly claim it's not enough. The unions bark because it hurts the rank and file.

In the end, no one wins and Portland schools are back to ground zero - nothing. Especially since the outgoing board says no to an extension of the I-tax.

My point here is no reporting is moving the issue to a good conclusion, no commentary is helping find a middle ground (who reads the op-ed page anyway), and TV and Radio won't cover it until there is a "final vote".

Good reporting with context and mention of alternatives used to move readers, viewers and listeners to action. Now, it just lulls them to sleep.

Are we another responsible party in the school funding debacle?

gmail - Finally

2005-06-27T10:37:00.000-07:00

I've finally worked out my personal kinks with gmail so I'm sending an open invitation to one and all to send email to the following address:

pdxmediawatch@gmail.com

You can send me comments, suggestions, tips, etc. If you want to remain anonymous, I suggest creating a hotmail account with an untracable handle.

I make this promise to those who want me to be the conduit for inside stuff, rumours, etc., I will NEVER EVER reveal the source of my information, even if it means trashing my hard drive.

The beauty here is that people have felt comfortable posting anonymously and we can keep that going.

Please, please, please, don't add me to mass mail lists or spam.

Huge Ego

2005-06-26T23:08:00.000-07:00

I just finished reading a post on Jack Bog's blog about Randy Gragg which got me to thinking - who in the Portland news business has the biggest ego?

I've heard many in the newspaper world think it's Mr. Gragg, some say Phil Stanford, others Jeff Gianola. We've decided that Lars doesn't count.

Since we're all comfortable with the anonymous posts, who do you think?

One More Thing...

2005-06-26T16:12:00.000-07:00

I know it's an economic issue.

Notice how all the media websites right now (Sunday - 4pm) sans Oregon Live, are stuck on old news - KOIN, KATU and the radio sites all lead with Friday's news. KGW and KPTV at least have the earthquake from early Saturday morning, on its sites.

If anyone wanted to market themselves as a true 24 hour, updated, news and information outlet, they'd have a huge upper hand.

As it is, sleepy Portland continues to have sleepy news operations not interested in feeding those who don't get their news in a traditional way.

And we wonder why we're losing viewers, listeners and readers.

Media Activists

2005-06-26T15:42:00.000-07:00

There is an interesting piece in the Sunday NY Times about news vigilantes who take the time to disrupt and embarrass live news reporting. Most of us in TV have had lots of people do the usual behind the live reporter - waving, screaming "Hi Mom" and the like.

Wanted to pass it on to those who didn't read it.

It reminded me about live reporting in general. If people know we'll be there, those seeking or needing attention will flock like moths to a flame.

And then there's the old question - do live cameras incite people to vent more for the sake of coverage. I think of the May Day demonstrations a few years ago, and the protest where a few photographers got punched, and some idiots ran onto I-5. Would they have done that if the cameras were off. It's a chicken and the egg thing.

A Weekend Two-Fer

2005-06-24T21:45:00.000-07:00

For twenty Alec - name the best anchor team ever in Portland, and the best newspaper columnist.

PDX Media Insider says - Who was Cathy Smith and Bill Laggatuta at KGW and former (and awfully harassed) Oregonian Sports Columnist Julie Vader?

Your turn. No real brainpower required.

Bonus - Worst anchor team - Eric Schmidt and Kelley Day on KPDX when she first came to Portland.

Is this the end of Helicopter Wars?

2005-06-23T23:16:00.000-07:00

From Kim Montour - acting boss at KOIN:

I need to let you know that I am temporarily grounding the helicopter -- effective immediately.
I had a meeting with Warren (Petrie), and we discussed some past issues with the helicopter operator. Until he and I are comfortable that all our issues are addressed and resolved, we will not be flying.
Thanks,
Kim

I read that as budget cuts - don't you?

If you watch KPTV in the am (we'll wait for the numbers you Fox12 brown noser) you notice Tony Martinez camped in the chopper on the ground - even on good days. Costs bucks to fuel that baby up.

The other stations only fly on breakers any more or during sweeps. I'll bet there are a lot of quieter neighborhoods, compared to the late 90's.

Editorial Meetings

2005-06-21T20:19:00.000-07:00

Wonder what goes on in a TV news meeting - deciding what to cover? The saddest thing to watch is reporters whose job it is to come to the meetings with story ideas get ignored by people who are worried about the cute, the bad and the ugly stories they hope to come.

Good ideas die like dogs because news managers first responsibility is what can be promoted, not what people might want to know more about, or need to know about.

Thus today, the big stories were a mix of national stories (Utah search), breaking news (traffic accident), the two headed cat dying, drownings and the theft at Washington Sq.. Where were the stories about the school funding proposal in Salem that might cost Portlanders more tax money, or new hope for Alzheimer's patients (and families)?

Assignment editors in town used to look for stories that played to the strength of the staff (and to prominent reporters). Now, they are ambulance chasers and skanner freaks.

What's the morning meeting like in your newsroom?

Beating the Competition

2005-06-19T20:48:00.000-07:00

It was an interesting weekend for the Oregonian - especially (as noted several times) for the sports team. Friday morning the Sports Headline screamed the Blazers had a new coach. Later in the day, the Blazers made clear on most of the broadcast outlets the Oregonian blew it.

On Saturday, the O's public editor, Michael Arrietta-Walden, in a rare non-Sunday column, took the sports team (especially John Canzano and Jason Quick) to task for the scoop that wasn't true - yet. That was in the same paper as Canzano's effort to explain how he got the story wrong.

Considering that the Trib doesn't publish again until Tuesday, TV and Radio news departments don't really do sports anymore, was he worried about getting scooped by KFXX?

The O got clobbered by the Willamette Week on Goldschmidt, is paranoid about the Trib and Francke - is that why it was rushed to the paper without enough corroboration? Oregonian folks - what really went down?

We all love to be first - but shouldn't we be right?

What's Happening to Lars?

2005-06-18T13:32:00.000-07:00

Caught this post on Portland Radio Message Board under the thread LARS smoochabuttathon! - and I actually heard Lars promo-ing his one on one with his boss Paul Allen.

A couple samples:

Eeeg, did you hear Lars "interviewing" Paul Allen today? Yes, Lars it's nice when you disclose that he's your boss, but that doesn't excuse you from KISSING HIS REAR SO NOISILY! I think his first question was "Mr. Allen, how do continue to be so charismatic and wonderful?" Just about anything Allen says is newsworthy, which is why KXL should limit "coverage" of Paul to news/sports segments. Hearing him chatting uncomfortably with Lars about the Blazers and space travel is just too cozy and weird.

And...

Lars had a chance to pick up a few points with me if he had "gone 60 Minutes" and asked relevant newsworthy questions, instead he went Entertainment Tonight. Is "spineless" a new adjective to describe Lars now?

Not that he has any credibility, but it's fun to pass on anyway.

What I've Learned

2005-06-17T22:25:00.000-07:00

I didn't know what to expect when I started this.

In truth, I wanted to get some attention to what I thought was getting disrespect from my bosses, and your bosses. It seemed Portland media was stuck. TV news was going nowhere fast. Radio was becoming insignificant. Newspapers lost the ability to be relevant.

I wanted to pay tribute to the many people who work very hard at their craft, working for people who had a jaundiced eye for viewers and listeners and readers.

We had to tell the truth - that most of us don't have the guts to fight that attitude. I knew that, anonymously, most of us would enjoy a forum to say what we can't say at our desks.

We got and are getting lots of attention. We know that reporters and photographers, producers and anchors, PR people and bloggers check in every day to see what we all say.

Mostly it's been good. Sometimes, people check in and drop crap. But that's good too. We all need to learn, even if its egotistical and mundane.

In six weeks we've talked about lots of things and we'll keep going. I thought I was going to be outed in the first couple of days, but luckily no one still knows my name, even though most of you have guessed in what line of work I toil.

Thanks for letting me vent.

Where do we go from here? What do you want?

The one thing I'd love to know is if you think this is making a difference. In my shop, I know the bosses got nervous - even hinted to some that they wanted to cut off Internet access in the room. Can we make things better?

I know that at least at KOIN, things are changing. I know it's not because of us, but because they got rid of people who did not care about things Portland. But did we open some avenues to talk?

Happy Fathers Day to all you dads. Let's hope we get summer before school starts again.

See you Monday.

Is it just me?

2005-06-15T22:18:00.000-07:00

Or does the O get paid by the Today show for publishing pictures on Page Two of Living of whatever concert or star they're promoting.

Hey Rod Patterson - that and "aisle walk" have got to go.

Talk, talk, zzzzzzzzz

2005-06-15T20:03:00.000-07:00

Ladies and gentlemen....

In this corner, not having the pipes nor the juice to wake anyone, Thom Hartman, Joe Uris and anyone else KBOO can prop up on the mike and Randy Leonard on Sunday (when no one is listening).

In the other corner, it's Lars and Victoria and Larry George w/Randy (when no one is listening) with enough wind to make the Willamette a windsurfing mecca.

Other than that, it's right wing radio in a left-leaning town. How does that make any sense?

Inside the station, Lars is the 800 lb. gorilla, bullying Sweet Baby James and anyone else who dare to think his "news" doesn't deserve a spot on the top and bottom of the hour newscasts. Ask anyone old or new at KXL how much Lars drives the bus. He thinks his "scoops" should lead 'em (un-fair and un-balanced). And unfortunately, he may take the talented Heidi Tauber with him.

At KPAM, Victoria does her Lars act, acting all outraged when this liberal does that. But she hardly makes a dent in the political world.

Then there's Thom the Tanked Engine. He's not long for this world because he's not shown anything that made it worth taking Morning Sedition off the air (and onto weekend re-runs).

Talk in this town is pathetic and predictable - and even though the Sunday guys (yes I've heard them heading into a weekend shift) play closer to the middle, we're in a wasteland.

How many of you are heading to Best Buy for that XM radio?

Press Clubbed

2005-06-15T07:37:00.000-07:00

In relating some of the thing I've heard (and helped by others, thank you very much), I was taken by the posting of Chris Frankonis, who's One True b!X is easily the most read blog among insiders in Portland's political world. He took a shot at a proposed "Press Club" mentioned on this site, and had this take on it:

Journalists, even if they are opinion journalists, are supposed to be reporting the news of the day in order to inform the public discourse. Public relations and advertising professionals, on the other hand, are trying only to advance the causes of their clients or employers, often to the point of distorting the public discourse.
What, exactly, is the rationale behind having a social club where they kick back and mingle with each other? Are we missing something here?

I know we're suffering through a crisis of confidence and credibility in our stock and trade, but I found his comment a little odd. Journalists are being spun all the time. Journalists know it. And that spin is kept out of pieces ALMOST ALL OF THE TIME (or used as information that is checked and double checked). Since most of the people in the PR trade, especially the good ones, used to be colleagues and remain friends, where is the harm of socializing?

From what I understand, this would be more of a restaurant than spin-zone - a place to blow off steam. I know you're not suggesting journalists be segregated, are you b!X? I know the guy working on this and I'm sure you'd get the invite to karaoke night!

Tsunami, tsunami, baloney?

2005-06-15T05:32:00.000-07:00

We had a nice little drill last night on what we thought was IT. There was some smart decision making, some decent observations, but mostly, we did what we did best - show a real reaction to something that could have been real scary.

We took a lot of phone calls from the usual gang who thought we should "go back to programming", but in the end, how could you ignore hundreds (thousands?) of people heeding the sirens and heading to higher ground.

How do you think we did?

Gossip

2005-06-13T18:19:00.000-07:00

Okay, so for all of us who want to deal with fact, here are some of the gossip items on the horizon:

KATU's 4:30 newscast, which goes live in three months, will probably have its format in place only a few weeks before air. Watch lots of in-house second guessing (since KATU is barren as Eastern Oregon desert at that time).
KOIN's interim management is thinking of making anchor changes, even though the station is up for sale. Don't think those big contracts make everyone safe. Some folks the old news director wanted out will likely remain in.
Look for layoffs and more changes when the Trib moves to Clackamas this summer. Same with KPAM. The money pit is only so deep.
Will the O have a new "around town" correspondent? Word is they're looking.
Plans are underway to create a social restaurant/bar club for journalists, pr and advertising folks. Sort of like press clubs in other cities. Late summer announcement. I like that.
KOIN's talent will likely give thumbs down on the AFTRA vote in July.
Will KGW give up it's 10pm experiment with PAX sooner or later?

Your turn...

Staying Too Long

2005-06-11T00:55:00.000-07:00

There's an excellent piece in the latest ESPN Magazine about Jerry Rice, the great football player and the fact that he still wants to play deep into his 40's.

It got me thinking about lots of comments on this site (and sites particular to our industries) where those in the first ten years of the career talk about dead wood and those with more time under their belt talk about the newbies as if they forgot what it was like to be 25 and confident.

TV does its part to weed out (at least in this market) older reporters. We have lots of anchors over 40, but most of the people on the street are under 35. Move on to radio, and it's not age, it's the pipes (and the pay - who wants to stay in Portland for the kind of money they pay radio reporters). At our newspapers, as usual, it's a better mix of young and not as young.

Our bosses wish that our product would gear toward the young, and that what we write, read or produce would draw a better demographic. It's hard for them to be honest about that, since most of our readership, listenership and viewership skews older - but that doesn't stop the drive to get people 25-34.

I'm drifting here. I wanted to know what you think about staying too long? I know people look at me and my experience and wonder how many years (days?) I have left. I also know it's also based on pay (replace me and save $20k).

And then there's our co-workers, who've lost their fire and their ability to perform. We know they're dragging the product down, but we like (and love) them.

Who among us can tell us (and me), the best way to tell someone, "You're done."?

Who among us have said that and gone on to something that re-kindled the fire that started with that first job?

Who among us are still in the biz and re-lit the fire themselves and are doing some of their best work now?

PDX Media Insider

Merry/Happy

Surprise!!

Fin

"Good Night and Good Luck"

Barely Breathing

Press Releases

The Trib - More Like It

Welcome Back, Peter

Working in TV

KOIN Sold - What's Next

Media Notes

Bits and Pieces

The New O

Oregonian HD

A Few Updates

Katrina

High Definition, Low Expectations

Best, Best Wishes...

Bits and Pieces

Seattle Monthly?

A Snack

Hiatus

Time for a Break

Challenges

Portland Monthly

Stanford vs. WWeek

Anchors (Follow Up)

Peter Jennings

Another Busy Week

A Fair Trial

Channel 2 on 2

Now, For Something Completely Different

I Don't Like What I Just ...

Give and Take

Kudos to the O

Optimism

Numbers

One Up-ing Classy

Another Take...

Mail Bag

The NEW Trib

Speaking of Great

Two Giants

Whose BLOG Is It Anyway?

Layoffs

Breaking (Bad) News

As Predicted...

Late, Live, Loco

Wednesday

KOIN Weather

Get Ready for your Close-Up

New Toys

Watch This Space

Did I Miss Something?

Speaking of Columnists

Heeeee's Back

...Fight, Fight, Fight

FB-I Shouldn't Have Done That

An Attitude with the O

So Funny I Had to Share

Insider Information

Teresa Burgess, Best Wishes to you

OPB

Numbers

We Need to Get This Straight...

Hurricanes

An Apology

Next Posts

A Question

Mea Culpa???

They hate each other, but...

Fire in the Hole

Update at KOIN

Independence Day

Tragedy

Ch-ch-ch Changes - again

Food for Thought

Major Disappointment

Photographers