BAY AREA MEDIA NOTES...
*Nobody disputes the fact that KGO's "Dr Bill" Wattenburg is a smart guy and knows what he's talking about. We gather that.
It's the fact that given the increasingly worrisome details coming out of Japan regarding the status of the Nuclear reactor, leaves Wattenburg's words about how full proof the safety net is a bit, well, less credible.
I'm not an anti-nuke power guy necessarily--like most people, I don't really have a clue what's going on there in Japan other than what I read and see, and yes, frankly, its a bit scary and disturbing. And I'd wish Wattenburg would at least take those of us who feel as such into account without his usual arrogant play, that's all. I don't think that's unreasonable and I'm not even an "eco-fraud."
*ADD Wattenburg: A caller on the John Rothmann KGO show Monday night, rightfully complained that 'Dr Bill's' past association with Lawrence Livermore Lab was not fully disclosed during his recent run of appearances on news and talk shows. In fact, Wattenburg has openly talked about his LLL work, but conflict of interest questions?, you betcha.
*I've never met Ed Chapuis and don't have any personal issues with the KTVU News director. But I do hear that the harmony that was a constant at Channel 2 is not so much the case anymore. And its not from one of two various people, but several. That speaks volumes.
*Speaking of KGO, a media wag asked me if the pending Cumulus acquisition of Citadel might allow KGO, (owned by Citadel,) to get a Cumulus FM property here? Like, say KFOG? Not likely, as KFOG still has cachet and "bills very well", according to an ad guy, but "The Bone", (107.7) maybe...Everything's in flux right now and this transaction is still six months away from fruition.
No doubt an FM outpost for KGO would help them against their rival, KCBS, which has 106.9 FM ...but KGO needs a lot more than mere FM stations.
*A big station in town with call letters that include "N" and "R" has barely mentioned the catastrophe in Japan, thereby confirming the fact that outside of the sports playground, they don't have a pulse nor clue when real important things in the world take place.
Better they concentrate on fanfests and 10,000 Giants' promos. (Note: All-sports WFAN in NY made numerous mentions of the events in Japan and added hourly updates; sometimes reality and news trumps the toy dept.)
*Tim Goodman, TV critic, late of the Chronicle and now with the Hollywood Reporter, was unceremoniously booted from his 10-year gig on KFOG...Uptown Conversations is producing "Talking Baseball" with Mark Ibanez, Jon Miller and friends. The date is March 23rd at the Uptown Theatre in Napa--tix: 707 337 5275...ABC Radio's Alex Stone reports from Tokyo are really quite good, ditto CBS Radio's ace Steve Futterman. Both have excelled at getting the info out without any disingenuous chatter in the background...Japan Upside: No Charlie Sheen/Lindsay Lohan drivel and banal TMZ crappola...Irony 101A: Marty Nemko, career coach, informing KGO listeners that he's been let go to make way for that all-time savior, Karel. Yeah, Karel. I can hardly wait. Society will never be the same....
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*Tips/E-mail: Rich.Lieberman@Gmail.com
Your comment on KNBR (although you did not spell out its call letters, why?, where you trying to be cute?) is off base. It is a sports station, not a news station. Its job is to cover the Giants, not to spend hours on end talking about Japan or some other news story, let others do that. Do you want 'Dancing with the Stars' to do a sit down talk show. Get a clue. You're self imposed title as 'Mr. Media' is a joke.
ReplyDeleteDon't understand why there is a conflict of interest. KGO is free to interview any credible source with a background in nuclear physics. Interviewing fear mongers without the formal science education isn't productive. Bill is an advocate but he is not paid by people who build nuclear power plants.
ReplyDeleteFair criticism otherwise. Entertaining radio talk show schtick does not necessarily mix with scientific credibility.
For no good reason-I watched a bit of Hannity talk with "experts" about the crisis in Japan. First, they had one of those think tank nuts FOX news finds, who angrily defended all nuclear power plants and said at first Japan's powerplant is not haveing a meltdown and if it ever did "Would cause no harm"!..then he went to another engineer who brought a tape of earthquake video test tapes of non power plant buildings-when Hannity asked what that had to do with the powerplants in Japan,the guy had no answer..finally, they talked about California quakes where a guest at first identified San Jose as in southern California..a second guest corrected her. Then,I changed the channel.
ReplyDeleteKNBR is a sports entertainment station, an escape from real news. An occasional weather or traffic update during drive-time is about the only non-sports topics that should be there, and there are times pre and post game where that is relevant too. The business reports (Budman?) don't really belong but does open the door for brief Japan or OPEC talk.
ReplyDeleteBarbieri and Radnich have, and will continue to discuss events in Japan anyway.
More unusual is why Ronn Owens, the top tonsil of KGO, on Friday chose to rant about Mel Gibson instead of topic #1, the earthquake and tsunami. I think this is more fodder for discussion than why a sports station prefers to stick to sports.
what's the story on goodman / kfog? the new PD make the call on that?
ReplyDeleteI've heard at least 30 people describe what is going on in Japan, and Dr. Bill has been one of the three (3) that have described it best. Indeed, his comparison of a nuclear plant to a wood stove to explain one part of the nuclear reactor process is elegant in it's simplicity.
ReplyDeleteIt was actually self-proclaimed "nuclear expert" Stephanie Cooke on MSNBC (this Monday) who couldn't explain why a containment building exploded! How about Dr. Bill? He *predicted it* Friday night on KGO radio! He also predicted the second explosion. (Apparently, when the water is not circulating to cool down the nuclear rods, the zirconium which encases the rods starts to interact with the steam to create / release hydrogen; and the potential for a fire / explosion thus exists.) Only one other person even remotely mentioned zirconium, and none explained the sequence of events like Wattenburg. (Ms. Cooke is apparently both ignorant of the process, and lazy.)
Agendas?
Yes, the liberal media, anti-nukes crowd and book hawkers are jumping all over this event. Hysteria? Oh yes, Ms. Cooke has a book to sell! (Her agenda seems to be that nuclear power will automatically lead to nuclear weapons in the hands of nuts.)
And how many people died at Three Mile Island. Zero? (0)
FYI, Dr. Bill's affiliation with LLL is well known. Ms. Cooke's credential's are far more mysterious.
Mark in WC
Why was Owens ranting about Gibson? Again? The 10th time? Sounds like his other obsession, Governor Sarah Palin.
ReplyDeleteAnd KGO wonders why his ratings slip?
Have to disagree on the KNBR comment: their appeal is to the sports crowd, information on strip clubs and male enhancement commercials. There are plenty of other stations set up to deal with and inform us of this terrible tragedy in Japan. In fact, thought I heard Radnich issuing a disclaimer saying they were well aware of what was going on in Japan so the show would not be perceived as disrespectful in light of the current events.
ReplyDeletereally was enjoying your last number of posts Rich, like I said earlier lots of good info and commentary...but I guess you can't help yourself with your obsession with KNBR (and your latest off-base remarks), pretty sad to see you back sliding to your old ways...
ReplyDeleteHey Rich thanks for mentioning Dr. Marty Nemko. It’s actually interesting that Nemko was hired and then fired at KGO as a direct result of Karel’s firing and re-hiring on both occasions. I think Nemko’s dismissal is a reflection of how boring and uninformative his show is; think about it, here we are in the worst recession of the last 80 years and this guy can’t keep his job giving career advice. He sounded pretty bitter the last two shows. I’ll tune in this Sunday to bid him farewell, maybe I should call him to give him a 3 minute career make over? On a serious note, something has got to be done about the “let’s talk about it” guy. Do we know his name?
ReplyDelete"(Her agenda seems to be that nuclear power will automatically lead to nuclear weapons in the hands of nuts.)"
ReplyDeleteWell, if that is what her agenda is, then it is right in line with the America, government's view of nuclear power and Iran.
I laugh every time someone trots out the tired old phrase "liberal media". Yes, "Liberals" like Murdoch, Hannity, Beck, Limbaugh, the Wall street Journal, network CEOs. Liberals, all of them, that are tearing down this great nation!!! (rolls eyes)
Your not going to get the real world on KNBR. Radnich as I checked in now and then today, was on all full power giddy. He was Chuckles the clown and the court jester every time I came back..and why I was leaving.
ReplyDeleteWhat did he say today that I remember?..nothing. Just that act he has of, laugh non stop for three hours..then blow off people he meets on the street at 12:01. NOW-THAT'S funnee!
Anonymous 11:04 AM: How many in the illiberal media have told you that PIMCO - the largest private buyer of US bonds - has stopped buying U.S. bonds!??
ReplyDeleteYes, yes, ABC, NBC, CBS, CNN, and even MSNBC all slew the same propaganda. Fox News and talk radio merely filled a huge void. (Hasn't it been reported that the mainstreammediavoted92% for Bill Bubba Clinton?)
P.S. Yes, we, Israel, and all peace-loving peoples should be very worried about Iran getting nuclear weapons, and handing them off to terrorist organizations like Hamas or Hezbollah, in order to "wipe Israel off the map". (I quote the leader of Iran here.)
Mark in WC
P.S. When Canada or Finland threaten someone, cable me.
The thing that angers everyone so about Wattenburg is that he is not PC, he knows what he's talking about and he is right. Oh, and he's not PC
ReplyDeleteAnonymous +1
ReplyDeleteHow many people died from Chernobyl? Short term, 60? Long-term, if you take the U.N's worse-case scenario? 4,000?
dear plus 1...chernobyl =7,000 thyroid cancers. don't worry..it's just a tickle. Fukushima now listed as just below Chernobyl in seriousness...and the party isn't over yet..Remember there are six...not one...reactor in peril..I recall discussing zirconium cladding fires three years ago on KGO..It's not a big mystery..Nuke power is simple and elegant in design...zirconium cladding and its chemical interractions at high heat..just part of that basic discussion..or as Mary Nemko would say, 'JUST GOOGLE IT".. I was called an hysterical woman who was making things up..such denial from some..now singing a different tune..tragic.
ReplyDeleteBubba,
ReplyDeleteGoogle "Margot Gerritson" at Stanford. Nothing hysterical about her. Very smart, well educated and has the scientific bone fides to know what she is talking about.
There is nothing worse than the "I told you so's" from the hand wringers like Wasserman.
The demographics that KNBR appeals to is known as the "Young and Dumb" crowd and KNBR doesn't aim one iota above that!.
ReplyDeleteKNBR has no idea what they're doing but yet broadcasts every major team in the bay area besides the lamos in Oakland.
ReplyDeleteDear Bubba (Christine),
ReplyDeleteHere is a simple equation for you. Which would you prefer?
1. Nuclear power, 400-odd plants. Over 40 years, and we now have 7,000 cases of thyroid cancer?
2. Coal-fired plants, thousands in operation. 30,000 deaths - PER YEAR... for the United States! In China, there are an estimated 500,000 deaths per year! (Amazing... I just Googled this. Wow!)
"The World Health Organization and other sources attribute about 1 million deaths/year to coal air pollution."
Oh, and per your hysteria about thyroid cancer: "He explains that there have been 4000 cases of thyroid cancer, mainly in children, but that except for nine deaths, all of them have recovered. "Otherwise, the team of international experts found no evidence for any increases in the incidence of leukemia and cancer among affected residents."
Isn't CONTEXT great?
Heck, even solar power workers (likely 99% men) die... should we cease solar power, too?
Mark in WC
latest news ..Workers abandon attempts..fleeing.Mark...there's some context for you..Chernobyl..one reactor..Fukushima...six reactors...multiple un-contained spent fuel pools...already damaged...now without the pool part..zirconium cladding fires..So this is looking to be many, many , many times worse than Chernobyl..Don't you go ferreting a secret stash of potassium iodide now! Promise? Thyroid cancer is ..as I said previously...just a tickle. Some of the other isotopes might give you cause for alarm..Cesium(hard tumors at 5-10 years) Strontium 90(lodges in the bones,leukemias)..there are more
ReplyDeleteWhy does it sound like Bubba (Christine) is excited by these turn of events?
ReplyDeleteDoes she love the negativity? The drama? The "I gotcha!"???
Mark, WC
Mark, WC:
ReplyDeleteWhy don't you address the points raised by Bubba?
Maybe you don't have any answers, eh?
It's always much easier to attack the person who raises the questions. Wattenburg does it all the time.
Mark, you sound like the right wing nuts who took us to war in Iraq. When we weren’t received with open arms and instead were attacked you’d say: “the liberals are rejoicing about the insurgency”. Bubba is pointing out how wrong you are, simple as that, really you lose lots of credibility when you quote Glenn Beck. You can do better, maybe Savage? At least he has a PhD.
ReplyDeleteWhy does an FM signal help KCBS?
ReplyDeleteNo real journlism. All sound bites all the time.
Check out the PBS NewsHour interview last evening with Stephanie Cooke and OLLI HEINONEN. She certainly mentions zirconium here ... http://www.pbs.org/newshour/bb/weather/jan-june11/japan3_03-15.html
ReplyDeleteAnonymous 3:30 PM: I guess someone finally explained to this "so-called expert"(Stephanie Cooke) what zirconium is, and maybe even linked to Rich's website? *grin* Or another, maybe, that was baffled by her thin knowledge base.
ReplyDeleteI would like to know what her degree(s)are in... you know, beyond her one-sided book.
Mark, WC
From today's SF Chronicle (read carefully, Bubba / Christine):
ReplyDeleteTitle: Experts tell panicked parents: No need to stockpile potassium iodide
"...Joel Leu, a pharmacist at the CVS in downtown San Francisco, described the scene at the store the past few days as "hysteria"..."
Subtitle: Is the sky really falling?
"...There are some dangers for radiation release that could affect the immediate vicinity of the nuclear plants, and could potentially drift over other parts of Japan," [President Barack] Obama said in an interview with KDKA television in Pittsburgh."
"But I've been assured that any nuclear release dissipates by the time it gets to Hawaii, much less the mainland of the United States...."
Get that, Christine?
Cheerio, Mark
Thanks for the PBS post. Her (Editor Stephanie Cooke) interview didn't impress me, including the fact that she was unclear about how far the evacuation zone is in Japan.
ReplyDeleteShe then went on to state a worry about "invisible particles"... and what might get caught in your "cell tissue". I dunno, sounds like gobbly gook to me, and didn't have the authority and confidence that "experts" usually speak with.
I would like to know what her major(s) were, that make her an "expert". I did find that she is a "veteran nuclear-industry journalist", and she is no fan of nuclear power.
Mark, WC
I haven't seen Ann Killion on Comcast at5-for weeks?..did she have a Kawakami? did producers tell her to back off?
ReplyDeleteFrom her and being a regular to the dull Barry Tompkins..somethings up.