HARSH BUT TRUE: Katie Marzullo isn't ready for prime time. KGO knows this and probably a good reason why she's never been given serious consideration to land a permanent gig anchoring weeknight news.To be fair, Marzullo is supposedly more than content to be a reporter in the field in San Jose; she has kids and it works out good but she also really wanted to anchor and not on the weekend ...but there's problems.
Marzullo doesn't have a personality --an "IT" factor that viewers can identify with. I'm not saying she has to hog the screen and act like a female oaf but her on-air presence lacks an identity --too droll and dry. Too serious. Is it harsh? Yes. But it's the truth.
Maybe she doesn't have the "it" deal. But she's solid and a damn side better than watching the high schoolers who do the weekday morning news on the same platform. She can only be what she is. That's OK. As Dirty Harry once said, "Man's got to know his limitations."
ReplyDeleteI disagree. I'll take Katie's delivery any day over the plastic empathy we get from each word out of Dion Lim's mouth. I also feel Katie does indeed project an excellent combination of genuine personality and, more importantly, professionalism.
ReplyDeleteIt's too bad you and KGO feel otherwise about Katie, Rich, but I'm with you 100% about an Ashley/Beil team. I would tune into them religiously. You're absolutely right about the unwritten mixed gender rules.
Back in the Philly in the 80s and 90s (and maybe even today, but I haven't been there in ages) there were male and male and female and female teams. WCAU had Larry Kane and Alan Frio (they reportedly hated each other). WPVI had Lisa Thomas-Laury and others whose names I can't remember. Even back then no one thought it was anything unusual.
DeleteAlan Frio. I think he passed through the the SF or Monterey/Salinas market quite some time ago.
DeleteAlan Frio spent time at KXTV 10, Sacramento, then KRON. What a coincedence, both of those stations, changed affiliations.
DeleteThe one thing Katie Marzullo definitely is NOT is "perky"...which I think is the point...if I want "perky" I'll tune in to Access Hollywood, Entertainment Tonight or one of those shows Mario Lopez can't seem to avoid...maybe she'll get her due in an area that gives a shit about its news and rewards them accordingly...that's no longer here...
ReplyDeleteKatie sure has "IT" to me. Good, straightforward and, pardon my sexism, very nice to look at. You telling me the Asian girl on weekends has "it"? Baloney
ReplyDeleteThe same can be said about those damn blonde white girls Fox Network news: To me, they don't have "it" either.
DeleteThat's why I don't watch that network.
More than enough "it" factor. Much better than these anchors from shithole countries.
ReplyDeletefrom L-2,
ReplyDeletesee this Youtube link for Katie M. from 8 years ago on the radio:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sNNHGWJwU04
I believe Katie would develop her own style if given the opportunity (and if she even wants to be a daily "Anchor"). As one can see, she can be deadpan serious to totally goofy with her sense of humor. I'm not close to this news business but I got to believe not everyone aspires to being an in-studio anchor everyday. There's some freedom and excitement being in the field with real people at crime/news scenes everyday.
That is one thing I forgot to mention in my 1:47 reply -- I think Katie may like field reporting, and probably it works well for her if she's raising a family in the SJ area.
DeleteKatie Marzullo has more "it" factor than Dion Lim.
ReplyDeleteI agreed with KGO 7 she ain't ready, her tone is a main issue. She might be better off working for another station like Leyla Gulen for a prime time spot.
ReplyDeleteI am a long-term fan of Katie Marzullo. She is the kind of person I would like to know personally. So much for her persona. As a journalist, I think she is up there with the best. She had a shot at anchor and was demoted, which I feel is the station's loss. Hate to say it, Rich, but Think you have this one wrong.
ReplyDeleteAre you saying she should be more like Pennywise?
ReplyDeleteIf Katie had been filling in for Ama Daetz, or co-anchoring on weekends, instead of the awful Dion Lim, I'd be watching more ABC7 news.
ReplyDeleteKatie mau not have the “it” factor, but she is skilled and capable of anchoring. Katie was on the air with Dan Ashley after the Napa quake and she was excellent! Then when ! became a Katie Marzullo fan.I was disappointed to see Donnie and Marie replace her on the week-end news and she was back doing live shots. When Dion Lim was hired to co-anchor Eric Thomas, I felt this was a mistake.
ReplyDeleteWhy not send anchors and reporters to acting, voice acting and modeling schools? This would help the reporters to better image themselves, so that they can learn how to project their personality and voice...even stylized a persona--giving them extra dimension. I saw Marzullo as a upcoming star, until KGO double-crossed her...after offering her the anchor seat. They then brought in a hot young Asian woman to replace her, well, Marzullo is a smart man's hot woman. There was big in-fight over there, concerning her, and then she disappeared from the news...and stopped posting on social media for months? I thought that she had quit or was fired, then she returned--and with a wedding ring, but as a remote reporter.
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