IT'S ONLY SPECULATION now but industry buzzards are saying KRON is about to embark on wholesale labor alteration (read: layoffs) on all personnel very soon. In particular, some of your second tier (by KRON standards) air talent, including some traffic reporters are on the hit list. The reason? Corporate is looking to become (again) mean and lean.*That unseemly, schmaltzy, on-air "goodbye" to Cheryl Jennings on Friday night on KGO-TV was spectacularly tacky. That's all I'll say for now.
*Jennings has a lot of naysayers--sure. But her ex-hubby, Duffy Jennings, a former Chronicle reporter/PR guy, has some choice words if you ever come across him.
*Speaking of the Chron, those of you that read 415 Media know that I have said those well-pubbed "retirements" by some of the paper's star columnists and reporters weren't all that voluntary --case in point, recently departed, Jon Carroll who tells CJR the real story.
The Chron's new EIC has a major problem. She won't say so--I will.
See you later today.
Hmph...layoffs at KRON...reminds me of layin' off the toilet at the gas station. It's that bad, goddamit.
ReplyDeleteDon't tell Christine they laid off the toilet...she'll be like that one guy in the middle of UN Plaza...Plop!!!
DeleteMedia General is being courted by 2 station groups, so "yes" there are layoffs at KRON and all the other MG units.
ReplyDeleteTwo obvious factual misstatements in Lieberman's comments about Jon Carroll's exit from the SF Chronicle.
ReplyDelete1. It is inaccurate to state that "Jon Carroll Didn't Exactly Leave The Chronicle On His Terms." What Carroll says is the following:
"Let me put it this way, it was not entirely voluntary, but I was offered a choice and I took it. I have to say that now that it’s happened, I couldn’t be happier."
Sounds like the terms were agreeable to Carroll.
2. Jon Carroll DOES NOT tell CJR "the real story." All he told them was that "it was complicated."
Please Rich, don't change facts just to create a more interesting story.
Please, Soloman, if you buy that Carroll went out on his own volition, then you're the guy that is a regular viewer of Wheel of Fortune and can't get Jeopardy.
DeleteReading the CJR column, it sounds like Carroll had a couple of options, reconciled the best for him, and has made his peace. He makes mention of corporate bureaucracy pervading the editorial sphere and gives an example of the Chron requiring him to come into the office and his response. I don't think Rich was changing facts at all reading the CJR article. I would not be surprised, that in the future, more web analytics people starting creeping into management and editorial the way they're starting to incubate pro sports teams' management.
DeleteAgree with Solomon here.
ReplyDeleteWhat's interesting to me is that sfgate put Carroll behind a paywall. I suspect that many fans, like myself, were unwilling to subscribe to this increasingly dreadful "publication." And thus, Carroll lost readers....
What a shame.
Such a wonderful business this is, ain't it? The only justice will be Fatnich getting shown the door. His time has passed like gas out of my ass from last night's pizza. There are also some unpolished reporters on KRON4 that should be honing their craft on the San Francisco State University in-house television station, as opposed to on commercial television. But I'll betcha they'll last because they're cheap to keep.
ReplyDeleteHow right you are 11:33. There are many unpolished local reporters. The dumbing down of the local news scene. Note to KPIX -- please have an experienced "live shot" reporter, such as Juliette Goodrich, give lessons to Emily Turner and Da Lin on keeping eye contact with the camera. These two should enroll at SF State to get the fundamentals they missed.
DeleteSadly, I had some "mondegreens" I never got around to sending Jon. I wonder if anybody else at the paper will take up the mantle; I doubt it.
ReplyDeleteDepending upon who replaces her, maybe I'll start watching KGO7, which didn't shine with her on it. Sometimes, in fact, I watched ABC news from Los Angeles because local news is so dull.
ReplyDeleteCheryl Jennings and Roberta Gonzales are the two local news personalities that will cause me to change the channel when they're on.
Deleteme, too. One gone, one to go.
DeleteMy favorite is Elizabeth Cook, which I realize some may not agree with me on. She is much better than the one who replaced her at six. So when that happened, I tried watching KBO7 but I felt like it was the AARP channel (sorry, I know that sounds ageist, but I'm up there in age, too, so I'm entitled). I finally ended up at ABC Los Angeles. I do business in the L.A. area and have family there, and I used to live close to there as a young boy, so it's been nice to watch online. I rarely turn on my TV.
DeleteI vote for Rich as Bay Area Best Media Blogger of 2015. As a professional journalist myself, I know that would really piss off the local stuckup journalist, but he kicks their ass when it comes to reporting on media. Yeah, I know, sometimes he gets things wrong. Name one local reporter who hasn't got something wrong. There ya go.
Keep it up, Rich, and follow me back on Twitter dammit.
Jon who?
ReplyDeleteObviously I'm in the minority here, but I'm very sorry that Cheryl Jennings is leaving. It was refreshing to have an SF news anchor with experience and class. Yes, she's older, but so what? Most of the 5 o'clock viewers are seniors anyway. She will likely be replaced by one of the new, young ethnic women "reporters", who seem to be the preferred norm here in the Bay Area.
ReplyDelete@12:51 Stop living in the past. Cheryl is old and was getting god awful plastic surgery to stay relevant. She should have left years ago. News is changing. Don't you people see it? It's not about news credibility...it's all about the dollar sign these days.
DeleteThat doesn't make it right. Sadly, everything is driven by the dollar sign. Probably more so than ever. Greed, greed, greed.
DeleteWhat BA TV group is training field reporters in concealed handgun use?
ReplyDeleteI'll be happy when Radnich is gone from KRON and KNBR. That fat ass has been stealing money for decades
ReplyDeleteSeriously anchors are no big deal IMHO. Its all about reporters who go in the field and dig up a story.
ReplyDeletewhen male anchors start doing all kinds of crap to their hair to disguise going bald, it gets ridiculous, and when female anchors contort their faces through plastic surgeries in ways nature never intended, that's when you lose me with anchors and it's why I didn't watch KGO7 news at 6. I'm not being sexist. I think women sans the plastic surgery are fine if they do their job well. It's the freakish looks that just turn my gut for both men and women. But, you are correct. Reporters make the news. Better to invest in good reporters than in readers, IMOO. It is too bad that society has a hangup about women getting older on TV. Thus some resort to the ridiculous surgeries that turn freakish. This isn't always the case with other countries.
DeleteThere was absolutely nothing wrong with Jennings' send off. For someone who had been anchoring KGO for nearly 30 years...longer than Van Amburg or anyone else...it was entirely appropriate. Yes, she got forced out...nobody buys that it was "her decision". It may have been "her decision" to take the reduced role KGO offered but that was the only offer. But the send off was deserved and came across as a lot more genuine than the one KGO quickly fumbled together for Leigh Glaser last year.
ReplyDeleteThe amazing thing about Jennings' career is how many people have come and gone since she started. Who's no. 2 these days? Pam Moore?
ReplyDeleteGotta be Pam. Ashley didn't start at KGO until the mid 90s.
DeletePam Moore has been with KRON since around 1990, so she's about five years behind Cheryl. I remember in the early 90's, when Pam and Gary Radnich were a couple.
DeleteI will stick with Norah O'Donnell for my news! The most professional and beautiful anchor in American TV broadcasts!
ReplyDelete