Mark Matthews, the political reporter at KGO-TV, I'm told from a source is OUT at 900 Front.Side notes: Matthews was supposedly escorted out of the building. From most accounts, he was not particularly likeable.
Also gone: Sacramento reporter, Nanette Miranda, a KFSN and KABC reporter.
ABC closed its Sacramento bureau. No big surprise.
The ABC purge is on.
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No surprises here. Randy S at KTVU, and Hank Plante at PIX routinely kicked his ass. Not connected with SF politicos not connected, nor respected during a long stint in San Diego. Wasn't a Trixie Watkowski hire either, so it was a no brainer for the Wicked Witch of the West. More old man Trixie cuts are coming, lets see Wayne F or Vic L?? Uhm.... bet on Lee.
ReplyDeleteThis the guy that talks through his teeth? Annoying SOB.
ReplyDeleteNow we'll have a wise, old 20-something doing political analysis at Channel 7.
ReplyDeleteNow we'll have a wise, old 20-something doing political analysis relying solely on twitter feeds, blogs, and facebook likes at Channel 7.
DeleteA politicians wet dream.
*Apologies for the unauthorized edit.
No, they'll just shut that beat down like they did their entertainment beat after Don Sanchez retired. Politics and Entertainment. Hardly interesting topics in the San Francisco Bay Area. Idiots.
DeleteI'm surprised Miranda lasted this long. The only reason ABC set up that multi-station setup in Sacramento in the first place was to cover Governor Terminator. When he left office and Jerry Brown came in, I started wondering when this day would come...
ReplyDeleteDisney opened the Sac bureau only because of Aaarnold. Smart move. No news value after his departure. Miranda was a forgettable "news reader." Where's my press release? Don't know what I'll do today without my press release. If she ever did generate an exclusive, no one can remember.
ReplyDeleteNo matter what you thought of Mr Matthews, why are abruptly fired employees escorted out of the building? "Let's go shmucko, pack your s--- and hit the street". He was not being arrested. How about "sorry Mark, but we have decided to terminate your employment with us. Please vacate your office (space) by five o'clock."
ReplyDeleteSecurity can observe what is being removed from the building and any computer input erased. Let the man leave with some respect.
Yeah I found that curious too.
DeleteIs escorting employees out of buildings a common practice in the TV business?
@2:44 I've seen a few be escorted out in my day.
Deletehe doesn't give others respect so I'm not surprised that they escorted him out. He has a serious case of NPD and if you knew him you certainly would not accuse him of being a nice guy! Lucky for you that you don't.....sad for me that he's my brother......
DeleteI thought he looks like a kind of unctuous Joe Glover. The Rollin Posts of the world are getting scarce.
ReplyDeleteLocal Bay Area news lost a bit of its soul the day Hank Plante got fired. Even that annoying young bimbo Elizabeth Cook can save them. Oh, and they demoted Roberta?! What the fuck. Fuck KPIX. Haven't watched them since.
ReplyDeleteHe had loose dentures, right?
ReplyDeleteJust saw Nanette Miranda file a piece on the 9 pm news which is aired on KOFY TV 20. So is she really No-No-Nanette?
ReplyDelete"Escorted Out of The Building", such an elegant way to say somebody got their ass thrown outta da building! One Way Buddy, OUT! I might need my own 'escort' if I don't get some kind of Melanie Morgan Update. Oh, and Ksfo morning hosts are auctioning off a lunch date with Brian and Katie! the auction will benefit children. The auction, okay, what's not to like about helping the young ones, but the'prize' is having lunch with those two? If I win the auction, can we just have a SKPE lunch vs fork to fork?
ReplyDeleteMark was called on the carpet by more than one news director at KGO for getting beat on political stories, but I found him to be a good and considerate person out in the field. I recall giving him a heads-up on something that would have caused him a lot of grief if he had missed and not benefited anyone if he had, the kind of routine "CYA" that goes on among competitors. He was most grateful and wrote a short note on his business card to thank me. That's not the kind of thing that wins ratings or Emmys but it shows something about character. Just wanted to add that amid the anonymous personal attacks.
ReplyDeleteEscorted out of the building is, alas, standard practice. Pretty much everywhere. Nice, huh?
ReplyDeleteGotta wonder. Who's next???
ReplyDeleteLook out KGO-TV, Mark is a Scorpio!
ReplyDeleteLet's not pile on a nice guy who worked hard, cared about his beats, and leaves many friends on the staff at ABC7. Can Mark get prickly at times? Sure. We all can. We all do. It's news. It's deadlines. It's crazy pressures. Among those who work with him, this is a loss and a gaping hole in the middle of our operation.
ReplyDeleteNanette, she worked very hard, as well. It was a difficult and thankless beat in which she served two masters, one on San Francisco, the other in Los Angeles, and neither of them face-to-face. Push, pull. She moved from Florida and by the time she left, had Sacramento wired. The woman knew her contacts and shared them. Again, do not pounce on someone in distress.
What mean, petty, insecure people some of you are.
937 has made lots of salient points.
ReplyDeleteIt's all about the cash. Let's get people who took broadcasting classes at some half-ass broadcasting school, pay them dirt cheap wages and let them sink or swim.
In the GOOD OLD DAYS, broadcasters earned their stripes by going to smaller markets, learning the ropes and then graduate their way to a major market. Doesn't seem that way any more.
Mo money. Mo money. Mo money. To the stuffed shirts. And no one cares about quality.
Disgraceful.
I'm not an insider, just a regular guy who watches the local news at home to get a summary of the day, or a heads up on what's going on in the morning. I find a newscast I like and watch it as a whole; I don't switch stations to get a different sports report, weather forecast, traffic update, etc. As part of the ABC package, I liked watching both Mark and Nanette, and having been laid off recently myself I can empathize with them and am sad to see them go. While not Walter Cronkite or David Brinkley, they were just fine for me. As a whole, ABC still is my preferred morning news, and I do watch the KOFY 20 version at 9 (some of us gotta get up early). I still like KTVU at 10pm if I haven't fallen asleep yet. Won't watch PIX after letting Jon Kessler go...
ReplyDeleteWell said 9:37. Some you people are just fucking assholes.
ReplyDeleteMet Mark doing a story once along the Oakland estuary and took a really nice picture of him. Show it to him and he gave me his card to email the photo to which I did. You think the SOB would at least reply with a "thank you" email...NOPE! So long sucker and smooth sailing. So much for character, Tony?
ReplyDelete