Tuesday, August 7, 2012

KRON Front and Center in Chevron Richmond Refinery Fire Coverage; Heenan and Team Deliver Solid Work


KRON4 Television

Most of the time, KRON is not on my radar. Why? Just take a look every now and then. And then when I hear about what does or does not happen behind the scenes, well, the rest is history.

Then again, KRON surprises you and tries to cover a major story like the Chevron Richmond refinery fire which dominated the Bay Area news cycle on Monday night.

And KRON deserves major props for its wall-to-wall coverage, most notably, the solid work of veteran anchor, Catherine Heenan, who was steady, reliable, and, unlike many in town, can do a tremendous job of ad-libbing. And in a fluid situation like the conflagration in Richmond, it helps that the captain of the ship can guide viewers through all the ever-changing developments.

Heenan was almost flawless. She ran through a bevy of phone callers, eyewitness accounts,  and did so with relative calm and provided all the necessary information. The only blemish was KRON's still relatively less-than-gifted reporters, but overall it was a good effort.

Like most viewers, I was flipping around the channels to watch various coverage from the stations. Mostly, it was all fine and well. Obviously, the thrust of the story and its visual dynamic was the major scene of immense black smoke and two major firestorms emanating from the refinery.. All were visible throughout the Bay Area and when night fell, provided a multitude of pictures that loomed over the local TV news presence. Combine the other elements like residents nearby and surrounding areas advised to remain indoors and "shelter in place."

To its credit, while most of the other stations switched back to regularly scheduled programming, KRON stayed with the story. After all, it is now, in between all its infomercials and various video minutiae, a news-emphasis local TV outlet. Nevertheless, it stuck to the fire and, as a friend who texted me, noted, "If I lived in Richmond or San Pablo I'd rather have that coverage than '400m hurdles from 8 hours ago." Fair point.

To that end, KRON's front and center, comprehensive coverage was a benefit to Bay Area viewers and mostly, a job well done.



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16 comments:

  1. The woman never did settle on a nice looking hair style..always too busy looking,or unkempt.

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    1. I thought the conversation was about a major news event, not a fashion show.

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    2. Why does she dress like a Grandma? plaids,big buttons,pants. She needs to get rid of the Donna Reed 'do. I bet she's had it since her mother combed her hair.
      And get married. Your a newswoman,not a nun.

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    3. Huh,my password was Taopera. Sounds deep. I like it!

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    4. Brian Hackney thinks she is hot.

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    5. With flat chest and a voice like a man. LOL.

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  2. I also jumped around the dial, I liked KGO-7's coverage the most.

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  3. Hats off to Channel 4 for a job well done....

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  4. You can't watch it for hours! I liked how Kgo did breaking news cut ins during programming, so everyone was in the loop. And when they could not break in they had breaking news crawls. They did a great job!

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  5. Anything would be better than Dana King's tortured attempts at ad libs during KPIX's extended coverage. On one hand: 'PIX gets kudos for staying with this major story, but on the other hand they need to get some anchors who can function without a teleprompter.

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  6. KRON did good work. In the past they lost lots of credibility during the Oakland ”riots”. Heenan is always solid, I am a big fan even though I wish smiling did not seem so painful for her...

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  7. Catherine Heenan...the classic news anchorwoman hottie!

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  8. Catherine Heenan is a consummate pro. Also exceptional last night was Carolyn Johnson of ABC7 who was authoritative and knowledgeable. Surprisingly, Sports guy turned 7 anchor Larry Beil held his own. On NBC11, Jessica Aguirre was decent unlike the not ready for prime time glamour-puss Janelle Wang. Without a script to read, Wang was flustered, inarticulate, and sounded amateurish while awkwardly stuttering text copied from Chevron's corporate website. Raj should book the next flight back from London.

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  9. Agreed. I was channel surfing to find the best coverage, and KRON 4 was delivering the goods.

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  10. I've been watching KRON more lately as I get tired of KGO and KTVU. I can't bear KPIX's early news. Catherine Heenan has always been a favorite of mine. She is a real pro. KRON did a great job last night. Channel 36 cut off KTVU's 7pm broadcast mid sentence. Kind of funny, really.

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