My Ed Lee piece wasn't so much about Ed Lee.
What it was all about was an indictment of our so-called "investigative reporters" in this city that don't do a lot of investigative reporting, remember that age-old relic? The good old days, damn right, when there was actual reporting and oversight over the financial doings at City Hall, you know, that small stuff where a notepad or simple phone calls or e-mail is exchanged.
This really isn't necessarily all about Ed Lee. It's about the nitty-gritty ideals of old-fashioned, old-school reporting. It requires a little bit of heavy lifting; checking out the financials, following the money, asking questions like, who got this bid and why. And were there any quid-pro-quos just to make sure, things like that the public depends upon. Sure, it's not very sexy but it used to be an essential. A bond that citizens could rely upon until newspapers began to die and budgets were slashed.
Today, we have "special", "Investigate Units" with splashy promos and TV/radio glitz. The premise is good enough although too many times it's more style over substance.
*Yes, you heard right: Morgan Freeman is the voice on those ads circulating all over Bay Area radio.
*Contrary to friendly and sweet, Terilyn Joe, the former KGO-TV anchorwoman, she was decidedly NOT. And the infamous stories about her alleged fruit throws and "sailor's vocabulary" are pretty accurate.
*Paranoia central: 855 Battery St, where the TV and radio people have to get permission to talk. Maybe if you guys realized that it doesn't matter if you put a gag order on your reporters--word gets out one way or another and by trying to control the rank and file you only make it more of an incentive to get the word out. And it does and will.
*(White) Smoke and mirrors: endless Pope updates does not make for enlightening TV/Radio journalism. (Yo, finally a real Pope!)
*They're not talking much either over at KTVU where the numbers in the early evening has management searching for answers, (and perhaps new anchors). The GM doesn't return phone calls, and a search for a news director continues.
*Recipe for disaster: the local mouthy news chick who thinks because she looks so damn hot, (and she is), that she can go about her increasingly disgusting and arrogant ways in the newsroom makes her bulletproof. She may have to re-think that strategy, says a spy.
*Speaking of Channel 2, a little bonus advice: If you over-utilize your clean-up hitter and expose him to bad pitches, he gets nothing to hit, thus he ends up with a lot of walks and strikeouts. PROTECT him, make him a commodity and then he'll produce more. That simple piece of advice did NOT come from one of your shitty consultants who would have charged you $10G a month. It was free, courtesy of your friendly blogger. Common sense. Merry Christmas.
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Investigative reporting on the local level is dead, write the obituary. You could argue if it was suicide or murder, but it dead all the same.
ReplyDeleteTake the Port of Oakland director's malfeasance last year. Broach the subject, scratch the surface, then move on to the next sound bite.
Let's say the news nerds had the time and budget to engage in the nitty gritty, unlike the old days, the internet saturates public perception with mis/dis information.
Also, transparency leads to indecision, every possible nit wit has to be mollified at a public hearing, etc. Then, the astro turfers concoct their shill groups and parade them to the same hearings...nothing gets done(Berkeley, Federal Govt +/-).
Part of life is taking a leap of faith at some point. It could be said that it's working in SF more or less
As you probably know by now, we have a new Pope. It will be a man of Italian ancestry now living in Argentina. His Title will be Pope Francis the 1st. Actually, as a Catholic,I was surprised and heartened that so many people still even give a Tickled Tinker's Damn about The Pope. I feel a hopefulness for us all in the wake of the incessant and conspicuous efforts given to the goal of scrubbing away all markers of all Christian religions out of our westernized society.
ReplyDeleteSome will approach the crime of faith like the Queen in Hamlet after the completion of a murder. The Queen she tries in vain to wash away the victims'blood from her hands. She tried to remove those dark stains of guilt and commission. Out! Damned Spot! And Still, the stain of spiritual need remains, darkened, ever thickening and gathering all dust.
Any "investigator" who still wears suspenders needs to retire.
ReplyDeleteYawn. >18% of the world population is catholic, and of those maybe 10-15% are hardcore/indoctrinated enough to wait with bated breath to see who the next *gasp* pope will be.
ReplyDeleteIn other words, the majority of humanity doesn't give two shits about the pope. The media coverage today has been unwatchable, unlistenable, and embarrassing. It's the year 2013...that this 1st century dog and pony show is headline news all day is a sad commentary about society and humanity in general. Ohhhhhh! The grey smoke!
KKSF even pulled Len Tillem so Gil could have an extra hour to talk about the pope...are you f*cking kidding me?
Maybe if you had a little more Jesus in your life you wouldn't be so angry?
DeleteAmen (pun intended), yours is one of the best posts I've ever seen here. I was amused watching Anderson Cooper hyperventilating about the new pope like he was his personal altar boy. I grew up Catholic in Mexico City, I thought most people outgrew the mumbo jumbo after turning 16 geez!! Interesting that Tillem was bumped by Gross-man to cover the pope. I stopped listening to those two schmucks last year. Let me know if Gil ever stops his monologues and constant topic changes and for the love of God almighty, stop bringing in Rhoda Gross! Embarassing!!!
DeleteWhat an ignorant commentary. That's akin to saying only 10 percent of Americans care about President Obama, since only 10 percent of America is black. The Pope matters to billions of people whether they are Catholic, or not. He is a global leader, aside from simply being the leader of the Catholic Church. The networks break it because they know it matters and it's important to billions of people. In doing so they throw away millions of dollars in advertising revenue that is lost. Maybe it's not your cup of tea, but it is to many, many others. So switch the channel and find something else to watch and in the meantime work on getting over you own inflated sense of self-importance!
DeleteWhat an ignorant analogy. It makes no sense at any level. Go eat some more jesus crackers.
Delete@4:06 and @10:56 This poster has no knowledge of a) religion; b) politics; and c) the news business. Other than that you're really bright!
Delete@10:14 couldn't agree more. I was personally raised Catholic. I don't care if you're Jewish, Catholic, Muslim, or worship the little fat guy with the belly. Spirituality is good. I don't know what it is but I never really paid attention to or got behind Pope Benedict. Pope Francis seems like a genuinely good man. He even snuck out of the Vatican to surprise a church in town today. Suppoedly he's broken more rules in a day than Pope Benedict broke in his entire 8 years. He refused to take the Vatican city car and insisted on riding back in a bus with all of the other Cardinals...the list goes on and on. He really seems like a true man of the people. I find myself a little excited about Pope Francis. Not Chris Matthews "I feel a thrill running up my leg" about Obama excited, but pretty close.
DeleteFuck the city and especially the planning and inspection departments. Some Ass hole complained about an ATM in my business where I'm trying to get a permit to remove which will cost me $3000 and a permit to install with plans which will cost an extra $5000 and may not get approved and the damn thing only makes $200 a month. How are supposed to make it as small business owners while the city robs us like that. Investigate that Unit. So fed up
ReplyDeleteThat does seem like alot of bullshit. Maybe they found a 3 eyed African green nosed fly, an endangered species indeed! That would explain all the red tape and bs. Liberals....
DeleteTerilyn Joe...I love those hot, bitchy women.
ReplyDeleteRich, you have no idea how crazy the level of paranoia is at Ch. 5 these days. Or maybe you do and are looking for confirmation. Bruno is quietly permitting, if not encouraging, people to come to him to tattle on their co-workers. Even minor violations of company policies that management ignored for years are now resulting in formal reprimands which can and have led to dismissal.
ReplyDeleteLocal radio and TV news are dead? Oh the horror, the horror! Now people might actually have to sit down and do some reading to figure out what's going on instead of having some 'TV news personality' simplify everything for them because they're too lazy to try and learn for themselves!
ReplyDeleteRich, that KPIX comment policy is CBS corporate policy. Every O&O expects their employees to follow it, and for good reason.
ReplyDeleteThe other morning Radnich said if Cumulus said they needed to redo his contract to keep Kreuger,"I would agree to that". .uhuh, I wonder what Vern or Dibbs would say? or Kate right now? The woman cant afford cable...
ReplyDelete