Breaking: 415 Media Exclu: Ted Rowlands Coming Back to KTVU; Former Ace GA Reporter for CNN and Channel 2; Covered OJ Simpson and Scott Peterson Trials; Official Announcement Wednesday

 TED ROWLANDS COMING BACK TO KTVU; 415 MEDIA EXCLUSIVE

Ted Rowlands --the National Correspondent for years at CNN plus other various news stations and networks is coming back to KTVU, 415 Media has learned.

Hard to believe it's been over a decade since Rowlands first began his KTVU stint where his tenacious reporting earned him a national gig as West Coast Reporter for CNN.

Rowlands has covered high-profile stories including the OJ Simpson trial, in addition to Michael Jackson and Scott Peterson. He also covered the trials of Robert Blake and Phil Spector.

Rowland's ubiquity landed him several appearances on Larry King's CNN show during King's tenure at the cable network.

My source tells me Rowlands will both anchor and report in the field for both KTVU's main station (Fox2) and its recent KTVU Plus ancillary station (TV36).

Rowlands will begin his new duties in Jack London Square in the coming weeks; KTVU will make an official announcement on Wednesday.

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Bay Area Does This Offend You?

{Scott Jones/FTV Live}

Don Lemon Is The Black Geraldo

 Uh, whatever ...

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Yes, KGO Radio Thinks You're All Dumb; Paris Terrorist Story Is Not As Compelling As Brian Copeland's Minutiae; Thank God For KCBS And CNN

IT SUDDENLY DAWNED on me.

The Paris terrorist attacks and subsequent aftermath --a massive story, not just an international story but a story that hits close to home, here, still living in post-9/11 America.

We viewed it on our smartphones and laptop--watched it live on CNN and Fox News. It was in our conversation and made for perfect fodder at the office and near the water-cooler and why wouldn't it? After all, it was at the top of the masthead and only brought back those disturbing images of the events of Sept. 11, 2001. We never forget.

Only here in the Bay Area the only talk show on the radio, hosted by some silly fill-in named Brian Copeland, they were talking about the Olympics and SF's failed bid. And twenty minutes later, something equally doofus and out of place, out of mind. This time I won't fault Copeland because he was only following orders from the infamous handbook --KGO's manifesto--that you people are really dumb and that it's good and vital, hosts, to keep it dumb, dumb-it-down.

Yes, they think you all are dumb. Dumb and dumber. Imagine that. Those 12 of you left that actually give KGO any of your time, well that's some serious stuff. That's some serious business. It doesn't shock me anymore because nothing shocks me anymore.

The events in France --three days of hell in the heart of Paris and beyond --with over 12 people being murdered and ambushed; with images of the Jewish grocery store and its "Kosher" customers running out of the market as machine-gun fire rang forth--well, we know what happened.

This sort of incident made for red meat discussion and reaction on radio stations like KGO. Nowadays they tell their hosts to talk about American Idol. "Lifestyle issues" --Paris is too complicated and fraught with that nasty undertone, so frightening, so not worthy of the discussion.

Keep it dumb. That's what KGO and Cumulus thinks of you.

I'm supposed to not talk about this. It's old hat. If it were KGO's way, I wouldn't be surprised had they not called in Chef Ryan Scott during Ronn Owens time slot to talk about arugula cheese omelets as the bodies were being counted in Paris. After all, you listeners are incapable of dealing with such trivial matters as the Paris massacres and international reaction and consequences. As a reader of this site mentioned, 9/11 would have been relegated to a news update on KGO/Cumulus--after all, you people are just plain dumb. Got it?

Fortunately, we had alternatives. We had the cable channels to turn to--something that CNN, even in its Don Lemon-era ways, can do right by providing a first-hand look at what's taking place. It's not perfect by any means but at least it's there and live for all of us to decipher.

We have other radio. Thank God for KCBS too which provided up-to-the-minute reports and whose anchors interviewed experts about the goings-on and how and what France faced; how the US and the West would react to what transpired. Fortunately, KCBS and others have respect for their audience and don't think they're dumb.

It would be easy and convenient to dismiss the dumb-it-down dictum at KGO because it's so farcical to even contemplate as semi-serious only it's true. The 20 topics-an-hour, the PPM-era is KGO being kgo--that's how much they take you all seriously.

If it weren't all so serious it would be laughable.

Now, here's Chef Ryan Scott with a great muffin recipe.

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Mad Has CNN Just About Right

Valerie Coleman Made Her Mark At KGO-TV And CNN; SF Business Anchor Also Had Stint At CNBC

 Valerie Coleman was a major personality on the Bay Area TV broadcast scene as an anchor for KGO-TV. My how time flies ---

She spent considerable time at CNN as their business correspondent and CNBC.

As Valerie Coleman-Morris she's working for the CBS Radio Network reporting on business and women's issues.

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Sara Sidner; Chief Foreign Correspondent for CNN in Jerusalem; Former KTVU Weekend Anchor/Reporter--You've Come a Long Way, Baby

 Sara Sidner...from the halls of KTVU way back when ...to Thailand, India, Africa and currently covering the Gaza--Israel conflict for CNN as one of its chief International Foreign Affairs correspondent based in Jerusalem.


Just the other day, it seems, Sidner was describing the scene from a 3-alarm fire in the Marina.


You've come a long way, baby.




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Nervous Galore at KGO Radio as Cumulus Buys CNN News Content for Radio; KOIT's Jack Kulp on 415 Media Radio; Friday First Take

You might understand why, (again), there's a lot of nervous people at the KGO Radio offices at 55 Hawthorne.

Here's the reason.


As KGO morphs into a news and talk format sometime in September, (based on this station), the station will mix talk shows with traditional news blocks like AM and PM drive. Expect staff cutbacks in the news divisions and frankly, we aren't surprised.


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**Today on my radio show from 2-2: 20 PM PT, legendary KOIT morning personality, Jack Kulp joins me as we talk shop, current events and culture. Simply click on the radio link on the upper right hand icon at the top of the blog.

Another Day at the CNN-PNN 'Breaking News' Center

CNN's Ratings Nirvana Lost Plane Flight Simulator the New Cable Playboy Mansion

 Hi, I'm Jeff Zucker...I'll take a Bombay tonic, two flight attendants, Richard Quest, Martin Savidge and Mary Schiavo twerking.


This was all it took?


And that damn flight simulator? I'm a frickin' genius!


We're beating O'Reilly? Damn!


Who knew.








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The Missing Malaysia Airliner is No 415 Media But Captivating Nonetheless; Saturday Evening Post

 This is not concerning 415 Media but like many out there it has captivated me like no other. I've been glued to the cablers, CNN in particular, and BBC when the others cut.

By the way the coverage has been exceptional even though too many theories have been explored based mostly on conjecture --even from the experts.

Malaysia Airlines. A Boeing 777. Big plane. Missing. Now it appears pretty certain that sabotage, in some sort of variety has taken place although we still have no airplane and very little facts, a million conspiracy theories though. No surprise there.

Let's hear from some of you out there, and in particular, commercial airline pilots. What's your take?

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Snotty People; Jazzy KCSM; Katie Couric would be Great on CNN; RIP Jim Lange; Thursday Opener

 Oh, so now you have a heart. Pious one. It's a damn live shot with snot coming out of her nose. What? She's supposed to get a pass because she's hot? Please. What if she was ugly? It would be seen in Korea right now. Probably is due to this.

Don't be so damn snotty.

*I mentioned KCSM as a "diamond in the rough" yesterday. Redact that. They've been great for years. We take them for granted.

In the middle of the downpour driving around the Berkeley Hills I go to 91.1 FM and hear some old Branford Marsalis. Bravo. How calm, how cool, how mellow. Last week, in between a pledge break, out comes a voice from the past, Sonny Buxton, retro-SF-radio master. I don't know how KCSM does it, but by god, they do it so well.

Give some dough to the fine folks over in San Mateo.

*"Armstrong and Getty" and Sacramento: Birds of a feather...

*Out of the 415 but worth an observation: CNN can do no worse if they plucked Katie Couric to fill the vacant Piers Morgan slot. She's a decent interviewer, she's attractive and she'd own the A25-54 woman demo. Men seem to like her too.

*Someone asked the exact amount of how much debt on Young-KRON 1001 Van Ness building. I don't know that but it's several millions I'd guess.

*The same people that bitch and moan about showing snot emanating from a TV reporter probably watch KQED and think olive is a cool color.

*Radnich was cranky yesterday for no apparent reason.

*Jim Lange was a very nice person. My late brother was on the "Dating Game" and won. The date didn't go so well, I was told, but one of the lasting images was Mike telling me Lange was cool.

RIP Jim.

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If Jahi McMath Were White You'd Be Hearing A Whole Lot More About This Tragic Story

 The Jahi McMath story is both sad and tragically compelling. No one denies that.

 

The case of the 13 year-old, (now certified brain-dead), has been hashed about in media circles but there's a significant subplot to this story; not just the subject matter and its host of medical ethics, human sensitivity, the family and its thirst of any kind of hope for their daughter.

 

This involves race.

 

Jahi's fate and the family's fight has been given a wide array of media coverage, including this segment on CNN with Piers Morgan. And here too with Dana Bash, as it should.

 

That's not the issue we're debating here. Jahi McMath is black. She doesn't have Caucasian skin, nor Goldilocks' looks. She wasn't raised in the suburbs and her parents and relatives; no matter how much agony they must be going through, don't come off particularly well on television. And that's just the point.

 

Think about it for a moment: if Jahi were white her story would be plastered all over the TV/Radio/Internet domain. It would have had a "60 Minutes" segment by now; it would have received heavy-duty play by Geraldo and Megyn Kelly. And it most certainly would be water-cooler topic material not just in the Bay Area but nationally too, but it really hasn't resonated.

 

Part of that has to do the coverage, or lack thereof. This is not a new phenomena. And by the way, this is certainly not meant in any manner whatsoever to diminish the awfulness of white kids that go missing out of the blue; are kidnapped and never to be seen. I can't imagine the anguish and personal hell all missing kids parents must deal with on a daily basis.

 

This is a media matter. And while the subject of Jahi McMath has nothing to do with missing or kidnapped kids, its lack of greater media attention than it has already received speaks volumes about how the media selectively chooses its topical discourse and time generated.

 

Of course some of you will call us out for injecting race into this very sad case and label us insensitive. Absolutely, although the irony is that is precisely why we brought this forward because as much coverage as this story has received it just seems that there hasn't been enough.

 

Call it media institutional racism. It's not an intentional route or some wild conspiracy on what looks good on TV; what generates an "IT" topic nor in anyway is plotted out in the back offices it just sort of happens and that's a sad statement on our media powers-that-be.

 

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KRON'S 'People Behaving Badly' Reporter Reunites Homeless Drummer with Carlos Santana; Stanley Roberts, Marcus Malone Feel-Good Story; Makes CNN

Finally, some good news.

And it all happened courtesy of our 415 Media favorite, Stanley Roberts.

Roberts, KRON's "People Behaving Badly" gadfly correspondent was perusing East Oakland for a story about illegal dumping sites and came upon a homeless man, a guy by the name of Marcus Malone.

Marcus Malone? That Marcus Malone? the former original drummer with Santana? No way, must be a joke.

Pretty soon Roberts did some digging. He told Malone he'd get back to him.

Pretty soon the facts checked out.

Roberts then, through a buddy at KRON, was able to get in touch with Santana himself and reunited the pair.

Both Roberts and Santana appeared on CNN Sunday. We don't normally get all teary-eyed over stories but this one made us feel a whole lot better. Here's hoping Mr. Malone, who figuratively speaking, may have hit the life lottery, is able to get back to living a healthy and productive life.

And to Robert's kind scoop, finally, a person, behaving rather "nicely."

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Howard Kurtz Meets the Press; CNN Washington Media Critic gets Grilled on Reliable Sources; Apologizes over Collins Screw-Up

Howard Kurtz, the media critic for CNN, and, until this week, the Daily Beast, has been in the news, not the kind of news that Kurtz probably wanted and most likely dreaded.

Kurtz screwed up royally on a story about Jason Collins. Collins, of course, is the NBA player who came out publicly in an article in Sports Illustrated that he was gay.

Kurtz wrote negatively about Collins in the DB indicating that Collins was once engaged and never mentioned it.

In fact, Collins did mention it.

Twice.

Sunday on "Reliable Sources", Kurtz apologized.

In addition, after his mea-culpa, Kurtz was scrutinized by two media reporters in the show's opening fifteen-minute segment. That's right--Kurtz himself went from interviewer to interviewee, in essence, being cross-examined for his latest series of journalistic foibles.

Sunday's show was fairly remarkable in its scope. A big-time, highly-paid media reporter looking and sounding utterly withdrawn. Indeed, Kurtz was placid and noticeably unnerved, (as he should have been). His demeanor was candid if not fully contrite. All the while saying he was sorry and essentially stating "I screwed up," he still offered fluffy excuses. ("We all make mistakes...In over two decades I've been right and my credibility is well-established.")

CNN has taken a PR hit lately over its error-plagued reporting on the Boston Marathon bombings and subsequent aftermath. Rightly so.

On the other hand, people and organizations; even vaunted journalistic cable news-gathering operations like CNN, make mistakes. For Kurtz, this is only his latest boo-boo. He's lucky to still have his TV gig. But he seemed genuinely sorry.

We'll give CNN credit for taking on the Kurtz issue with profound clarity on Sunday. Maybe this open mea-culpa could be a blueprint for future media shows down the road, for inevitably, there's sure to be many more mistakes.

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The Continued Abuse and Devaluation of Real 'Breaking News'; CNN and Cooper at Heart of Issue

It's happened again. We should not be surprised but when such a news-gathering stalwart logo gets abused time and time again, we have to talk about it.

Remember when "Breaking News!" was a time to stop everything and look at the TV monitor and listen to the radio. Today, it might be taking a turn to the Internet.

Well, the relic of real, breaking news has been further abused and devalued. I talked about this not so long ago. And that's a shame because "Breaking News" was cause for concern, a jolt, a retreat from your moment in life at home, in the office, whatever you were doing, you stopped and immediately went to see what was going on if you cared about the news. I mean, isn't that what we all do?

Now, once again, in light of the Boston Marathon bombings and the ensuing aftermath of stories about the brothers, their tactics, their plans, "Breaking News" once again became all too placid, for the most part, and hate to say it, CNN was the main culprit, with their top dog, Anderson Cooper, its greatest abuser.

Moreover, even when it was plainly apparent that nothing remotely was news nor was any of it breaking, CNN continued, (and continues without any shame), to routinely air "Breaking News" sounders and promos. That's simply irresponsible and downright misleading to its viewers and CNN, even in this lazy day of cable journalism, should know better.

This constant churning out of a hallmark news phrase has been marginalized and diminished. It's a shame that legitimate big and even-not-so-big, real, genuine, BREAKING NEWS has been de-legitimized. Viewers, rightly so, for the most part, have removed the urgency of that sounder from their mindset. It's just another baseless tag line that has been thrust into the cable forest.

CNN isn't the only suspect; Fox News is another co-conspirator. Local TV news stations have also added to the debacle. But CNN has a brand, a reputation, (which has taken a legitimate beating the past few weeks), and that's all but vanished.

A sign of the times that further muddies the already public skepticism of cable TV news. When there's real and absolute new developments, a real story, legit Breaking News, wake me up.

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Canseco bails on Larry King; the Wednesday PM pulse

Jose Canseco was supposed to be a guest on Larry King Live Tuesday night, talking about, who else?, Mark McGwire. Instead the ex-A's slugger bailed on King.

At the start of the show King announced, "Before we begin all the breaking news, a little bit of breaking news of our own. About 35 minutes before air time, we received word from Jose Canseco, the former baseball star, saying, quote, 'I am having a breakdown. I can't emotionally do it' -- meaning this program. 'I am emotionally drained. I am tired of defending myself.'"

"We're sorry to hear that, Jose," said King, "And if you want to get a rain check, you're welcome here tomorrow night, as well."

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