I was a junior at Skyline High in Oakland; the Monday after Thanksgiving. We heard about it on the radio, pre-Internet. Shock and awe in a bad way.
And when we were told it was Supervisor Dan White who was the shooter? Just plain wow.
The city was already reeling only a few days earlier as the Jonestown massacre took place in Guyana.
My friend, City Hall beat reporter, Duffy Jennings, was there when Board Pres. (then), Dianne Feinstein, had the shocking news.
*Photo: SF Chronicle
Today's (Tuesday) US-Iran showdown could have been a great chance, post Noon to pair Julie Haener and Mike Mibach, yes, unusual daytime, but exposure to a new, younger audience?
Of course no one in Jack London Square has any creative growth and if they did, they'd be somewhere else.
*Melissa Culross was reporting on KCBS Tuesday but she's leaving --it's just a matter of days. Culross and ND, Jen Seelig were/are at odds and the conflict could not be dealt with; sure, I was never a huge fan of Culross but as a GSA reporter and occasional anchor, she was good, just not Morning Drive.
That said, to lose her is another blow to SF Audacy and a growing disconnect between Seelig and her less-than-admiring staff at KCBS.
*Kyla Grogan solo-anchored the Noon news on KRON Monday and was simply outstanding and worthy.
Yes, I was initially not a Kyla fan, during her KTVU days, but I've found her presence both invigorating and special. She's grown on me and now I see what all the fuss was about and why everyone seems to like Countess Grogan.
*At KPIX and KCBS in the morning, Jessica Burch, is simply not working out and PIX knows it.
Her TV weather spot is an ongoing awkward watch, (at best) and her radio spot, (on KCBS, AM Drive) is a mess. She still talks way too fast and you can't hear what the heck she's saying. And if you did, would you care?
I write and poke, yes, a lot at KTVU, it used to be a legacy station and now it's barely the birthplace of Romper Room. I care, wait, more I cared.
KTVU has been destroyed from a heritage outlet to a tattered, mismanaged, hodgepodge of mediocre-to-worse minutiae on-air with a bunch of dreck personified. Oh, you know who's favorite show on KTVU was? Romper Room, paging Mike Mibach.
*If Mibach were to end up at KPIX in the newyear, you read it here, first.
*One thing about Mike, he is a game-changer. He and Juliette Goodrich would immediately create buzz at 855 Battery but I'm just being me.
The last time O' Donnell was seen in public was at an impromptu gathering near PIX's studio, (with Ken Bastida and Liz Cook), late last year.
*The Giants' flirtation with Bob Costas as a mini-games TV guy is on the back burner--maybe money/logistics got in way, but if Larry Baer wants some good local talent, I'd hope he'd call Ted Robinson, who would make a great addition to the broadcast booth.
*A SCOOP at END: Melissa Culross is on her way out the door at KCBS, as I said the other day.
Culross and ND, Jennifer Seelig are apparenty in divorce mode--Seelig and her temper, temper, loses another KCBS veteran.
Wonder they function with any degree of normalcy--it's a testament to the people behind the cameras.
The very people that are on the air.
What was once KTVU royalty is now the greatest threat to its very existence. I say that in a general sense because KTVU will always exist just not the way we all thought it would.
KTVU is a certified goner now. The on-air talent has been exposed as complete phonies and frauds. The people that made KTVU; the esteemed anchors; reporters; vaunted news directors; they're either retired, left, gone and hurried out the door and seeking calmness away from the mass desecration.
What you have left is zero to what KTVU used to be. First and foremost, trust. KTVU has lost the public good will, the Bay Area's favorite news station is now fluttering away big time. I used to watch KTVU News by accident, now KTVU News is a daily accident. The talent is abysmal. I'm being kind.
Mike Mibach, gimme a break. Gasia Mikaelian? Are you serious? Rosemary Orozco? I've seen more genuine people at a Hayward 7-11. I mean, get real.
KTVU used to be news gathering gold-standard --it was the station that garnered both local and national envy; now, it's a certified joke. My oh my, what a complete and utter failure.
Can it get any worse? Oh, take a good look and watch with your very eyes, of course it can.
*The Mibach update: he's on borrowed time, say my sources at KTVU and this was before his "jock strap" jokes. He has LOST the station. Mibach and his crummy smirk were already on everyone's shit list only Mibach made it worse. He came into the job with enormous good will because most of the KTVU staff were fed up with Frank Somerville and wanted change and therefore, Mibach was welcomed aboard but he quickly lost whatever momentum he possessed.
He had a chance to win both staff and viewers alike but he has NO chance now, the damage is done. KTVU and The Firm will most likely have a new face come 2023.
*Julie Haener: I wouldn't be surprised if she were out sooner rather than later. Haener has been mailing it in the last year, assuming she was KTVU's last of the Big 4 but lousy ratings and Haener's own professional reputation have suffered a BEATING.
*Watch out: Amber Eikel, the gruesome ND that is only there because The Firm needs a body.
(ELTON JOHN --live from Dodger Stadium)
They didn't have to showboat, they justvread the news and let the stories speak for themselves. And with subjects like Patty Hearst, The Zebra killers, old Gov Jerry Brown (moonbeam), well, as Fast Eddie would say later, "Good Luck, everybody."
Get asked that constantly. I will try to be direct and forward.
The money pays for my time, my investment, my energy, to make this a GO --24/7 every day, every hour. It pays for expenses like my cell-phone bill, my internet connection, the computer, the very, very necessary things that allow me to take time reading, calling, contacting my sources.
BUT MOST OF ALL, like you, I Need to live.
PLEASE, help me maintain 415 Media. Nobody does what I do in this market. NOBODY. And while I know you love reading the blog, I Love writing it but I need money to keep it going...now and on a daily basis. If there were no thirst for 415 Media, I'd stop immediately.
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