Best TV reporter in Bay Area; KTVU's Rita Williams; Eastbay Express on SFGate and BANG; Thursday media notes

Rita Williams is the Bay Area's senior local TV news reporter, having been at KTVU since 1980. She's also the best and keeps getting better.

Williams is tough, tenacious, and relentless, but fair. Her reporting is some of the most compelling content on almost all of Channel 2's news blocks.

Some of her best work is her interviews with local pols like Mayor Gavin Newsom and the like. Williams' is one of the few reporters, because of her credibility) that has almost universal access to most of the major lawmakers, particularly in both the city and Sacramento.

As good as CBS5's (KPIX) Hank Plante is at interviewing, I'd had hoped it was Williams who got Newsom one-on-one a few months back after his notorious disappearance, suddenly bowing out of the governor's race.

Plante managed to get under Newsoms' skin with direct questions that clearly flustered the mayor; it was good TV, but Williams probably would have got more information. Again, no knock on Plante; he's as good as Williams, although Williams has more presence.

In an industry where "consultants" have taken over the newsrooms, and when, quietly, women in their 50's in the business get more scrutiny, Williams has not only survived, but seems to only be getting better.

**KCBS All News 740AM/106.9 FM won four prestigious Associated Press Television-Radio Association's (APTRA) awards. The station was recognized in the 2010Mark Twain Awards competition for California, Nevada, Hawaii, Arizona, New Mexico, Washington, Idaho, Colorado, Utah, Montana, Wyoming, and Alaska.

**KNBR's sister station, 1050 AM, ironically, has some of the best shows on, while the big dog at 680 has less bark.

Damon Bruce' new four-hour program, (Noon-4 PM,) is off and running, fast and furious, (Bruce hasn't missed a beat--love the new music blocks, especially 'tea-for-two!) and Tony Bruno at night, (7-10 PM) is still rocking and rolling, although I do miss Dan Patrick.

**Eastbay Express has some great, lengthy stories on the state of the Bay Area's newspapers, including some solid work from Chris Thompson on SF Gate and Dean Singleton's BANG papers.