"Everyone makes mistakes--move on."From a reader, commenting on the latest blunder from the geniuses over at KTVU-- your community TV News leader in teleprompter mayhem, gross graphics misidentification of their own anchors, more weather teases than a Broadway strip club and overall general malaise inside the newsroom and building in Jack London Square.
Am I piling on? No, Channel 2 keeps piling on itself. Hell, you'd think someone whose job it is to get it right would occasionally get it right. But KTVU is rudderless. There is no accountability, no captain around to guide this sinking ship; the once-great journalistic TV bastion is a shell of itself and has reached the top level of joke status in the Bay Area broadcast community.
*The latest mistake involved a graphic misidentifying Ken Pritchett as "Ken Wayne" at the beginning of the "10 O'clock News" for a good ten minutes Friday Night. TEN MINUTES. Hey, it's a mistake, move on.
*On Thursday night on said show, a series of electronic gaffes littered the screen. Anchor Julie Haener was on camera at least 5 seconds looking straight into the teleprompter, saying nothing and looking awkward, eyes agape. --apparently the camera wasn't intended for her shot. Oops. But hey, it's a mistake, move on
*A few weeks back on an evening newscast, a story about "Bay to Breakers" included a graphic "Pubic Intoxication" --clearly, there are serious issues in this outsourced department at KTVU but since it keeps on occurring nobody has been taken to task, talked to, warned, after all, tweeting about "American Idol" seems to be a more important chore at 2 Jack London Square.
Piling on? Who the fuck piled on here? Was it Rich Lieberman who misidentified, for 10 fucking minutes Ken Wayne for Ken Pritchett? Was it me who put the camera on Haener looking just like a shark bit her ass? Was it I in the graphics who spelled out "PUBIC Intoxication"? WTF!
We repeat: KTVU, the once gold-standard of SF Bay Area TV News has serious issues. It's embarrassing. It's sort of sad really. Particularly when it involves a news operation that gets worse, worser by the day. Nobody is minding the store. The GM is a close-minded zombie from the sales department who needs to get his head out of his ass! The News Director makes Special Ed look like Fred Zehnder.
These idiots are destroying an iconic TV station. They have graffiti on the building. They marginalize good people like Sal Castaneda and Frank Somerville and Ken Wayne and Vacar and Roth and stained the image of Rita Williams.
So, please --NO, hey It's only a mistake --that worked yesterday. Today is a different story. Matter of fact, there are so many issues at KTVU, mistakes, malapropos galore, internal bickering, and a management team that hasn't a clue.
Imagine a Managing Editor from News tweeting out "American Idol" bullshit. What, the marketing department couldn't find a low level reporter? How pathetic.
Sum-ting-Wong indeed.
*Follow me on Twitter
Rich "The sky is falling" Lieberman has been calling this a crisis for months if not years. Rich, is the "crisis" at KTVU as serious as the "crisis" at KGO?
ReplyDeleteLieberman is far too eager to exaggerate to advance his specific agenda. Ends up sounding hysterical and unbelievable.
If you can't see how far both stations have fallen in the last few years perhaps you should stick to watching MTV and VH1--more at your intellectual level.
DeleteIndeed. 1151 should've included watching Looney Tunes, but those cartoons with their intelligent innuendo are probably over his head, too. He's probably one of those minions sitting by his computer at KTVU trying to kiss someone's buttocks.
DeleteNo, Rich is calling them as he sees them. On air gaffes are increasing--sign of a station not willing to invest in production quality.
DeleteIn the rush to get online/on air these days, too many corners are being cut and the facts and presentation suffer.
Oh, and how does this constitute a "crisis"? Look up the definition yourself and then explain how a few gaffes on air meets any of the definitions of that word.
DeleteI don't always agree with Rich, but on this one he is 100% correct. I've been watching news in the area for over 20 years, and for most of that time KTVU was the standard. Lately, it's been an embarassment. Shameful.
DeleteSo don't watch KTVU. The only crisis here is Rich coming off with something fresh to write about.
Deletedipstick at 10:15. The airwaves belong to the public. When a station like KTVU which used to provide some decent news coverage which helped to inform a public (whether the entire public wanted to be informed is another story), providing a more informed citizenry which is something folks like Jefferson felt was essential for democracy.
DeleteIf you don't care for the public of this republic/democracy to be well informed, go ahead with your blinkered view of "who cares if a once decent news station is now shit" attitude. And while you're at it, go fuck yourself.
thank you mel baker! lol
ReplyDeleteI appreciate the fact that you think I'm the only one who ever says anything like this back to Rich, but dude really, stop being paranoid it wasn't me. I sign my name!
DeleteMel Baker ()
The fact that some people see all this as nothing more than just a few harmless mistakes--"move on"--is indicative of why they can get away with it. Indeed our standards have become so low that we routinely excuse major fuckups in ...everything. Make a restaurant reservation and they don't have your name? You don't even get an apology. Contractor makes a costly mistake to your home? Hey, screwups happen. Ford and GM are in a race to see how many more cars each can recall than the others. But hey, you expect that, right? Then Americans wonder why our standard of living is starting to approach India's, and we blame ... oh, the usual suspects: liberals, young kids out of college who don't want to work, minorities. We don't look in the mirror. Instead, when KTVU or some other example flashes the mirror at us, we shrug it off and say No big deal as our standards keep sinking to lower and lower levels of acceptability. Andrew Finlayson, who succeeded the great Fred Zehnder at KTVU, was the first to start sinking the station, though he comes through as a genius compared to his successors. And where does he and others like him at KRON and KPIX go after they leave their news director jobs? They become "consultants," "digital media experts" and other self-anointed gurus with meaningless titles that require no objective criteria but somehow make the suits cream themselves. It's sort of like putting the captain of the Costa Concordia in charge of maritime safety. So actually, Nick H., you're right, the sky isn't falling. It already fell. And most people haven't noticed. That's usually how it happens; in real life it's not Goths presiding over a desolated city while industrial metal plays and chicks ride motorbikes. It's dummies saying "everything's fine," when it's clearly not.
ReplyDelete12:19, you have nailed it! Exactly ...
DeleteAn excellent assessment, a race to the bottom.
DeleteThe TV went off the balcony over 15 years ago. I will never own one again for the rest of my life, it’s among the top ten things you can do to destroy your mind. As for AM radio, it’s on the list to. It can be compared to listening to baby monitor in a wheezing kid’s room.
ReplyDeleteWatching or listening to spin doctors burp up their half truths in thirty second sound bites between traffic and weather reports can be compared to a lame lizard slithering across a cold icy frozen sheet of sewage spilled from a porta- potty.
It’s not too late people. Unplug yourselves, rip out the nine volt batteries that feed your transistor radios and toss the TVs off the balcony.
Liberate your minds.
The crisis of SF City College has been in the news for at least a year, with every meaningless development covered at length by KTVU. So why, I wonder, am I still hearing anchors pronounce the word accreditation accred-uh-dation? The school lost its accreditation because it had, as an institution, surrendered the standards it once met. Has KTVU done the same?
ReplyDeleteSomething the station's crew consistently pronounces with perfection is the name Johannes Mehserle, the ex-Bart cop whose every legal hurdle KTVU blows out of proportion (the latest being the obscene, money-grab lawsuit by the prison inmate father of the deceased). Mehserle was news; he's not anymore. KTVU's interest in the case is the same as its interest in publicizing every racially polarizing incident or allegation (real or imagined). Ironically, the same station that can't send a crew into its own community without a security detail is vigorously beating the drums of the racism and resentment that promote the lawlessness and incivility that have ruined Oakland.
Arse, are you totally unable to articulate a single relevant thought? What happens, you start typing and then forget what it was you were trying to say?
DeleteAgreed. He was an inept BART cop who made a mistake.
DeleteAt one time, The #1 Newscast in The Country
ReplyDeleteIs this why KPIX, via KBCW, sees an opportunity to challenge KTVU's 10 O'clock News?
ReplyDeleteWould this entice FOX to pursue a purchase of KRON ?
ReplyDeleteThe color of Bill Martin's tie didn't go well with his shirt. I'm outraged!
ReplyDeleteSurprised no one mentioned this. Christina Rendon, covered the 12 pm news Friday afternoon. Not only does she look good but she did a good job.
ReplyDeletePlease forgive my semi-off-topic post. 1) KTVU has gotten sloppy (I've also noticed the "flubs;" but I agree with whomever said "you get what you pay for." 2) Again KTVU - how can the weather map say the "Hi-temp" in Napa be 87, but the scroll at the bottom of the screen says something different? 3) After reading Rich's De La Cruz stuff and the KPIX Cook/Allen tension (?), I started watching KPIX for my 5 o'clock news. Besides now being in love with Ms. Cook, I believe I see a more professional newscast (compared to KTVU). 4) What's with Krukow and Miller referring to Kuiper as being "on assignment," but in the next breath saying he is ill? Did he call in-sick, but isn't really (like a Muni driver)?
ReplyDeleteThanks for indulging me.
Maybe the Giants management sent Kuiper to rehab instead of Krukow.
DeleteKrukow is plowed during most games.
3:42: I've noticed that the Giants' announcers often refer to their counterparts as being "on assignment" when they're away for any reason. I believe it's a euphemism for "he ain't here, and it's none of your business where he is". It was mentioned several times, though, that Kuiper was sick, and they hoped he would feel better. On a KGOne note: I found myself turning the radio on, following the Giants' loss - and, there he was.....Ryan Scott. I wouldn't listen to him if I was on a desert island, and his show was the only thing to listen to. Nope..
ReplyDeleteCrisis. What crisis? Don't misuse words. The more appropriate term would be an erosion of quality. The Twitter stuff is laughable considering this is a station that fired someone over a Tweet. Pot-kettle-black.
ReplyDeleteI'm betting the AEs who have to sell time to that gup call it a crisis. If not a fuck festival.
DeleteJesus Christ. relax, Rich. if you don't like KTVU, don't watch. Problem solved. I don't think anyone is as bothered by this as you. probably just couldn't find another item to talk about.
ReplyDeleteKTVU fell of the deep end the day Dave Clark started. Mornings on 2 is unwatchable unless Clark is on vacation..
ReplyDeleteOK, Rich...let me chime in. Most of the newscasts here (all the majors) look to me as if they're very formulaic, almost phoned in. That's due to the culture. Guns, bad. Anything that has to do with green this or green that, favorable. A mob protesting for vegetable rights, good. Anyone questioning the right of someone who's gay or a member of any protected group to do anything is bad...no matter what it is. Everyone's afraid of the so called gay mafia or Asian mafia or whomever.
DeleteThe reason you have what you have (the shallowness, the sanitized and formulaic coverage of everything) is because that's what people seem to want. Go to Dallas and you won't see it. Go to Houston and you won't see it. Go to Columbus or Cleveland and you won't see it. They report the news and THAT'S IT. No mind screwing allowed.
Go to Los Angeles and you damn well won't see it! I remember KTLA Morning News from twelve years ago when we first moved there or even from the mid nineties when I first worked out here for a few months. There were Carlos Amezcua, Barbara Beck, Jennifer York on traffic, Sam Rubin with the entertainment beat, Mark Kriski on weather...GOOD STUFF. They had tons of chemistry and their ratings were on the roof, for years!
The problem up here is the culture...the anger, fear, bias against offending anyone or risk taking of any kind. It's not normal. We've been around. We know.
Do you want something to blame? Political correctness and a risk averse culture driven by the fact that most people here are living far beyond their means due to what this place costs.
Since the advent of television news consultants and the resulting collapse of any original thinking in producing local tv. newscasts, all of it, from sea to shining sea, sounds and looks the same.You know the drill, the same clothes , hairdos, male/female pairings, spaceship news sets, banter(scripted or otherwise),dumbing down of language, pc perkiness and the like. No wonder fewer and fewer and fewer people watch it. The only plus for tv news is the ability(thanks to camera people) to take you to the scene of an event ..
DeleteHow does one become a t.v. news consultant??. Just call yourself one and done. If you ever wonder why Americans have become generally dumber and dumber over the years(in ways both observable and measurable), t.v. news is no small factor.
Christine, we go back to the midwest once or twice per year and the affectation doesn't seem as bad there. Yeah...if you want news in Cleveland you watch WOIO (which is why most of the oldsters don't - it's their equivalent of KRON) but WKYC, WEWS and WJW still have the same talent they have had for years doing the same jobs. Conclusion? CULTURE. It's not pretentious. They don't have our money.
DeleteIf you view Elizabeth Cook more than once a night, she comes across as too "affected" in reading the news. De la Cruz is a much better reader and not pretentious like Cook.
ReplyDeleteI always feel like Cookie doesn't get a lot of the news she's reading, so she just punches up every third word, kinda like that scene in Broadcast News--just punch up every third word. I doubt she could pass an entrance exam to 9th grade.
DeleteLieberman is just looking for new ways to present his same old talking points...
ReplyDeleteAs an Eastbay native, I am extremely disgusted that Oakland's only TV station - one with an incredible history in itself - has been plagued by complete incompetence by both the General Manager and the News Director. I am very disappointed that the hierarchy at Cox Headquarters in Atlanta is emulating fellow Atlantans Cumulus and not giving a complete rip about consistently maintaining a good product. I hate seeing a part of my entertainment roots get literally plagued by people who have no clue and have no business being in their jobs. A shame. Let's hope there are enough viewers and bloggers who will message Cox and tell them that's enough.
ReplyDeleteI am extremely disgusted you're an East Bay native and you say Eastbay, which is not an actual word.
DeleteHey 11:35, try striking up a conversation with the 20- or 30-something next to you in the grocery check-out line. Mention anything that happened more than 4 or 5 years ago and you'll no doubt get that blank stare 'what the hell are you talking about what the hell is wrong with you' look. Now pretend you run a television news operation and this is your prime demo. How do you get them to watch news that they both a/ don't understand and b/ don't give a rip about? Corporations are about making money. If they don't make that their number one priority they are violating their primary raison d'etre. They have to find ways to shape their message for their consumers, and I'm sorry to break this to you but you and I and everyone else out there is nothing but a consumer. Screw your ideals about democracy and journalism. They don't mean squat if nobody watches and you don't make money. There are no more loss leaders in this business anymore. It's all about increasing market share and beating the competition. So Cox doesn't care about producing a good product? You may be right, but that's not their job. Their job is to produce a product that will attract a larger market share than the competition, and to make a lot of money. If you don't get that, fine. Keep complaining about how the horse and carriage were far superior to the automobile, and how terrible it is that people don't all sit around the table at suppertime anymore. Everyone today is just trying to survive as best they can and if that's not up to your impossible standards, tough shit. Give us all a break, read a few books and grow the fuck up.
DeleteFriday the 13th, Rich.
ReplyDeleteOtherwise KTVU would have done a flawless newscast, like they always do. ;-)