Tuesday, July 2, 2013

Breathless TV/Radio Voices during BART Strike; Dearth of Black Anchors in 415 Media Fortress; Cumulus SF Morning Dreck Shows; Why is Kate Scott So Special?; Tuesday Bullet Points



The BART strike made for unintentionally funny scenes on the local TV news fronts; reporters looked more flustered than commuters, most of whom seemed to take in this mighty inconvenience with relative calm.

On the contrary, a few newbies and some bay native TV people provided the usual breathless live shots as if they were about to go to the senior prom. Look, there is a lot of activity. There is, in fact, drama; right before our eyes we see the endless traffic logjams, people waiting blocks long for buses at the Transbay Terminal about to be packed in like a bunch of sardines. Yet, who are the calm bodies? Commuters, hands down.

**Steady TV and Radio traffic voices: KTVU's Sal Castaneda; always reporting with a consistent, calming style; you'd expect that from a professional doing his job; Kim Wonderly on KCBS; another calm and rational voice in a sea of hyper, gee-wiz characters. (She wasn't working Monday, but her style and command was needed.)

**I remarked the other day about Carolyn Tyler's lack of looking like Soledad O'Brien at KGO-TV, thereby her rather understated role at the station, but then KGO isn't the only guilty party here. Most all the other outlets have a dearth of Black anchors. How do I know this? Take a look. Dave Clark of KTVU is the exception to many Caucasian faces. And then I got an e-mail from a veteran reporter who agreed with me; (the individual asked me not to use their name for fear of retribution from the station); the vast majority of Black media faces here are comprised of mostly light-skinned people. In other words, don't be too Black if you want to make it onto Bay Area TV news screens.

**Morning nausea shows, courtesy the Cumulus terrestrial Sweetjack factory: KSFO: multiple seizures; KNBR and its cast of the Defecation dancers: too bad to be funny, too awful to even contemplate--you'd be better off using your vomit bag and sip lots of water; and the KGO Radio morning-news gigglers, about as compelling and useful as a cold, pineapple pizza.

**It's rather sad and revealing that a woman sports/traffic reporter on KNBR gets high marks from the mental midgets that make up the Chronicle these days. Yeah, she's so special and enlightening; loves to use the word, frickin, and has built up a residue of good will based mostly on her sexual orientation without the slightest bit of reporting acumen. Wonderful. And a certifiable sham too. Only good news: she's not Powlie, the guy with the fake New Jersey accent who uses his soundboard as an audio-masturbation instrument.

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33 comments:

  1. I happen to like Kate Scott. She knows sports, she isn't some bimbo just offering a sexy female voice and something for the male hosts to oogle at during the show- kinda like the Warrior girls and Raiderettes playing Jockprady on KGMZ. I think that's why she skews people the wrong way. She's just a woman who does her job well and doesn't take BS from the fellas. I liked Ray Woodson in that spot better but Kate does just fine reading traffic, news and interjecting with the boys every now and again. More power to her. She's a lesbian ? Whatever. Who cares.

    What did happen to Jesse Gary and Debro on KTVU. KRON is leading the way with multiple folks of color. No black reporters on KTVU anymore. KPIX has Vern Glenn and Christian Ayers. KGO has a few. KNTV- A couple, KGO a few. I guess that's the allotment.

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    1. I agree. Kate does a good job and has a good radio voice as well. What her sexual preference maybe is of no interest to me nor should it. Ray was very good and is missed but I think he moved up in the KNBR food chain.

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    2. @anon 9:54 I hear Debro started his own business and Gary is reporting on the east coast. KTVU does have David Stevenson, but interestingly, there haven't been any on-air African-American women there in years. I'm not saying there's some big conspiracy, just something I've noticed.

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    3. I could have sworn I saw Jesse Gary on an LA newscast last year. I didn't even realize he had left the Bay Area until I saw him down there.

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    4. KTVU lost a really great weekend Anchor when Sarah Sidner left for CNN, I really liked her.

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    5. Paul Chambers for KTVU

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  2. The sad thing about KNBR is that they have their sports update people doing traffic reports as well. That takes away from their credibility. It's sound small town and bush league. KNBR calls itself the sports leader, and they were when they actually used to have reporters covering the games in the clubhouses, filing reports on the air from before and after Giants, A's, Warriors, 49ers, Sharks, Raiders, Cal, Stanford, and even occasionally USF, St Marys, SJ State and Santa Clara games. That went by the way side years ago when they got rid of Shrader and McGowen. Those guys even traveled with the teams to games. The other stations in the bay area actually do a better job of covering the sports news than KNBR which uses it's updates as no more than a headline service. 'Sports Leader?' NOT!

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  3. Jeez, Rich, before you knew she was gay did you get shot down by Kate?

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    1. Her sexual orientation has ZERO to do with how I feel about here work. She's awful, period.

      Does the fact I like Rachel Maddow, who is also gay, mean a damn? No. I like Rachel because she's talented.

      Scott is not. My opinion.

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  4. The Bay Area's dirty little secret.
    Black and Latino TV reporters are shuttled to the "Crime Beat". No one wants to admit this.
    Is there some reason why minority TV reporters can't do stories from Pacific Heights?
    TV producers please chime in.

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  5. Respectfully disagree on Kate Scott. She's funny, witty, smart, and knows her stuff. I do find Paulie Mack grating, though.

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  6. Agree about Kate Scott. Nothing special. Not sure how she rated the article by the Chron. On the very day it was published, it went quickly to her head. She stepped on Gary and Larry often during that morning's show.

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  7. Now Now Gay is the new straight. I agree with you on Sal Castaneda When I was young, Sal Castaneda was like a Trusting Uncle on TV. Each morning he would tell a tale of Bay Bridge Metering Lights or of a Backup at the caldecott. Aww the great days of KTVU

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    1. I like Sal, but I love it when Tara Moriarty fills in for him. I'm a sucker for redheads . . .

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  8. Kate is likeable enough, but if she were a guy, they'd refer to her style of speaking as 'verbal puke!' She always tries to sound as if she's putting on a voice, rather than sounding natural. Another problem is that she tries too hard to 'be one of the guys,' and it sounds forced. Gary and Larry both don't seem to have much regard for her either, but she IS better than that awful 'Paulie Mac' who is a fraud and should be relegated to working weekends in Fresno. Of course Paulie isn't the only distasteful personality on KNBR. Brown noser Fitz and Brooks are unlistenable, it's comically absurd when that dysfunctional idiot 'P-Con' comes on with Mary Lurie on the weekends (why does Mary even have that guy on with him..he ruins the show!), and how can anyone enjoy listening to the hyperactive, annoying Eric Brynes?

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    1. ONE HUNDRED PERCENT ACCURATE ON FITZ. I listen to Gary and Larry and I love Tolbert. From 12-3, I turn off the radio. Fitz is the epitome of a conceited, condescending, know-it-all that watched, but was never good enough to participate. BTW, no one
      gives a rats ass that you went to ND!!

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  9. Agreed that Paulie Mack is grating, at least when Murph is around. I find myself surprised at the interview questions he asks when he's the only guy around. They sound intelligent! Who knew? When he's second fiddle, he rarely interviews and if he does, he doesn't (can't?) outsmart the top dog.

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  10. It always seems to be that Kate Scott is trying to channel the ghost of ESPN's Gayle Gardner (you have to go back to remember her - Linda Cohn before Linda Cohn). I agree that Paulie Mac is better alone, but I think Brian Murphy is the alpha dog in that pack. He's also a bit of a pedant when it comes to getting stats and stuff right and it sounds like he doesn't like being proved wrong.

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    1. Gayle Gardner was quite knowledgeable, and I always enjoyed and respected her contributions during those early years at ESPN.

      I felt bad when Gayle was relegated to the "Host" role at NBC Sports, which diminished her strengths. It was also painful to see her on one of the ESPN "Reunion" shows a few years back, where see clearly had a different (seemingly melancholy) on-air tone.

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  11. So you are saying that Kate Scott's considerable and continuing professional successes as a sportscaster are all due to her NOT sleeping with the men in charge?

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    1. that's correct, she's not sleeping with men.......if anything she would be sleeping with fellow women. Something for everybody.

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  12. someone is using a fake NJ accent? that's fuct up - DW

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  13. Does anyone remember way back I believe in the mid to late 1970's that KGO Ch. 7 had a light skinned Black Woman, (who was an Anchor) that had the "audacity" to come to work with her hair braided, and be on air. I can't remember her name, but KGO suspended her, and eventually she quit.

    KGO is definitely the most Corporate Media Outlet that we have in the Bay Area, so it is no surprise that they currently have no Black Anchors.

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  14. The BART coverage so far is appalling on so many fronts. Networks are more concerned with shots of dramatic commutes and anecdotes of frustrated, uneducated (on the subject) riders complaining about the cliches that every citizen could've knew all along. Admittedly, dramatic shots and anecdotes are necessary, but the extreme lack of facts on the situation is unbelievable. Networks conflict over the availability of ferries, busses, best options, etc. Some draw info from reporters on scene (reliable) but many rely on viewer comments (often times uneducated and flawed). In addition, the lack of analysis of BART negotiations is also inexplicable. This comes close though: http://www.nbcbayarea.com/video/#!/on-air/as-seen-on/Reality-Check--Breaking-Down-BART-Negotiation-Claims/213923141

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    1. Most people only care about when they can use BART again to get to work, not understanding the negotiations.

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  15. What about the Rod Brooks diatribe taking like the first hour complaing along with playing a sound drope twice about not getting ice cream at a KNBR event WHO CARES another low for knbr along with the one about Tolbert talking about animal mess for half an hour or so.

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    1. "another low for knbr along with the one about Tolbert talking about animal mess for half an hour or so"

      You described perfectly what is wrong with that worthless radio station.

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  16. Yesterday, Brooks called the traffic and sports update announcer, "Traffic Boy." I wonder how he would've liked being called that.

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    1. The NAACP would have been at Brooks defense in a NY minute.

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  17. The KNBR news gal is tough to take. The voice is a comedienne's parody of a female sportscaster, and there's not enough substance to justify the constant sarcasm.

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  18. I would love to see KNBR get rid of Kate Scott. She is constantly talking over Gary and Larry and all of her "bits" (Nobody Cares and Yes) were staples of the show years before she arrived - she really adds nothing original other than her constant need to remind people that she went to Cal. Hosting is about personality, not sports knowledge, and she just doesn't have enough of one.

    In addition to this, her role isn't even necessary. If you listen to Mike & Mike, they do their own quick updates without all of the introductions, sounders and commercials that have to accompany Kate's long and drawn out reports rehashing last night's scores which as sports fans we already know. As for the traffic reports - are they really necessary on KNBR?

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    1. Well put!LOVe em or hate them its the Gary and Larry show

      3 person radio does not work with everybody trying to get their say just listen to CBS sports morning show unlistenbale.Tierney,Barber,Jacobson.

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  19. Kate is trying to play it cool, so she mumbles when she interrupts.

    This often cancels out the other two, and the result is you can't understand any of them.

    Not always the worst thing, actually.

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