Monday, August 8, 2016

Reggie Aqui, Critically Speaking

If you're of a certain age and you grew up in the Bay Area you may vividly remember the strong, calm on--air presence of so many polished anchors:  Dennis Richmond at KTVU, Dave McElhatton at KPIX, Pete Wilson twice at KGO bookending his time with KRON, Kate Kelly at KPIX, Cheryl Jennings at KGO, and Tom Sinkovitz at KRON.  All of them kept calm when tragedies unfolded before our eyes and interjected humor when the moment demanded levity.


Reggie Aqui
 
For some of us old enough to remember, KGO’s signal off Mt. Sutro delivered a nightly and informative conversation led by some of the best in the business: Russ Coughlan, Jerry Jensen, and Van Amburg.  Somewhere Coughlan and Jensen are trying to fight their way above ground as us living viewers find ourselves subjected to the visual and audible assault of one ABC7 Morning Anchor, Reggie Aqui.
 
Yes, Reggie is here and so far to stay on our screens in the morning.  But his head never seems to stay centered and his feet never seem rooted to the ground.  And for you baseball fans, every day is “Bobblehead Day” when Reggie reads the news at Circle 7.
 
But that’s the part you see at home. KGO insiders witness Aqui’s full body act of someone who’s obsessed with pop culture while acting like a teeny bopper who believes he’s the center of the Bay Area News Scene.
 
"If you thought he swished, smirked, and bobbed his way through every newscast, you’re seeing about one quarter of what we see every day.” That observation came from one KGO source.
 
Yes, Aqui has expressed his feelings about which team he plays for with a recent Tweet about wanting to follow hockey after seeing a modeling picture of a Sharks’ draft pick. He’s not the first gay newsman in the Bay Area, but he’s way ahead of the pack when it comes to being the most ardent, regardless of sexual preference.
 
 
So what if he’s gay?--but even my gay friends think his act is a joke.”, another KGO staffer confided to 415 Media. “It was an open secret that Jerry Jensen was light in the loafers, but he always put his viewers and his craft above all else.  No prancing, no cooing for the camera, no cutesy stuff. Just the facts ma’am. The story came first, not the storyteller.”
 
And maybe that’s what sets the pros apart from the amateurs.  Anyone who observes Reggie in the newsroom gets treated to plenty of odd exclamations like “What’s this?” and “I don’t understand."
 
 
“He gets paid six figures to understand and know that Hayward’s in the East Bay”, grumbled one of my KGO sources. “Reggie earned a degree at Northwestern, but his education apparently didn’t include anything to do with common sense or people skills.”
 
Yet another insider: “He reminds me of that very swishy boy the cheerleaders at your high school deemed as “safe” and would allow to loiter during their rehearsals.  Now he’s killing time between Madonna concerts.”
 
Part of an anchor's  duty includes reading fluffy stories like the one Aqui and his co-anchor Nathasa Zouves delivered recently about pop singer Adele having her credit card decline while on a Bay Area shopping trip…  Aqui might be perfect for this, but is he really the guy you want at the desk for the plane crash or the next time a big quake rattles the Bay?
 
Just ponder.

*Follow me on Twitter

20 comments:

  1. A gay millennial Latino...what could possibly go wrong?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I doubt he's a millenial -he's probably late '30s, or 40, based on his resume.

      Delete
  2. Aqui? Is that a fake last name? As the kids say, really? Better suited for someone trying to be in the entertainment industry.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. The news IS the entertainment industry!

      Delete
  3. >>Now he’s killing time between Madonna concerts.

    Come on and Vouge!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I'll bet he knows how to spell Vogue at least.

      Delete
  4. LOL, Today's KPIX Traffic goof.
    "From The KB..KCBS Traffic Center..."

    ReplyDelete
  5. OK, Reggie and Natasha aren't my cup o' tea. I preferred Eric and Kristin (but, you didn't like them, either). Now, I stick with MO2 - Dave and Gasia (but, you don't like them, either).

    That the KGO Morning news has taken a decidedly "Pop Culture" turn, is likely the call of management. I think it's a bad call, but I doubt that two neophytes are ruling the roost.

    Of the criticisms that you say come from newsroom/station insiders, the only one that registers with me is that he is lax on learning the geography, and whys/wherefores of the Bay Area. IF that is true (IF), he needs to turn that around, now.

    "What is this?" or "I don't understand," may be a part of the learning process. Better to ask, than to guess --- wrong.

    As for "fluff" stories, that's what the two of them are given (again, a main reason that I have tuned out). HOWEVER, we haven't had a catastrophic quake, plane crash or other major story of upheaval, on their "watch." How do we know that it wouldn't be handled well?







    ReplyDelete
  6. Its easy to not notice Hayward- the city spent a fortune to build a freeway right through old historic downtown. Nobody here gets it. But- you can now blow through the city right to Fremont just like that!
    Jeez,we have the best weather,80f all summer,not hot and top notch Hetch Hechy water.
    But still waiting for the gentrification. Better to have hipsters as neighbors then gangsters....

    ReplyDelete
  7. That's "MR. Anonymous" to youAugust 8, 2016 at 5:59 PM

    Adele probably used up her credit limit at Ghiradelli's and didn't have any roof left on her card. Natasha should take heed.

    ReplyDelete
  8. Meanwhile over at KRON4, the Wonder Bra bitch returned to work today. After a relaxing week with consummate pro Teresa Estacio, Dolly Parton without the Southern charm returns. Just can't win here. Maybe it's time to turn off the tube and listen to NPR in the AM.

    ReplyDelete
  9. That picture is from the Starbucks at Levi's Plaza near KGO, I was in there behind him in line this week and nobody (including me) knew who he was, so when he got to the register he announced it, and the lady behind the counter said, "Oh, does that mean we're supposed to ask for your autograph and stuff?" sarcastically, and he just fake laughed it off... not sure if he got that he was the butt of the joke, but in that brief encounter he certainly seemed like a tool. And I'm gay. But I guess I'd say that about most people on the local news...

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. You see, he's so dumb he doesn't go to the Starbucks next to the Safeway on Jackson which is much closer. Plus, he also seems to think that younger people are watching local news in the early morning. What a little fool he is.

      Delete
  10. It's all about the lowest common denominator- attracting and appealing to viewers like themselves, aka the self absorbed, preening "broadcasters" who litter our airwaves. That's management's game plan. It's insidious and yet another example of how much we've lost.

    ReplyDelete
  11. As bad as you may complain, I'd say he is better than the walrus Eric Thomas, Dan Ashley, & Raj put together!

    ReplyDelete
  12. Former KPIX'er Hank Plante was also gay. He was proud of it, but never flaunted it or made an issue of it. Hell, I believe he's even a Republican. Everyone in our newsroom knew it--and it didn't make one bit of difference...because he was a DAMN GOOD reporter.

    He always used to joke, "I'm from Detroit. No bullshit! Don't piss me off!"

    GREAT reporter. GREAT dude.

    ReplyDelete
  13. More mediocre crap. Look at how long Drex and that idiot on KGO radio (Farrell) lasted. This is what management wants. Cheap and barely professional. More suited for Fresno or Stockton at best, NOT San Francisco. Don't blame those guys though. Blame management for hiring these mediocre dweebs.

    ReplyDelete
  14. In a recent broadcast, Aqui actually pronounced "Marin" as "MARE-RIN." Unbelievable.

    ReplyDelete