TOO BAD KGO RADIO BROUGHT IN THIS RETRED WINDBAG because as I switched from the cable networks to local radio, I enjoyed Rothmann and Thurston (and assorted tonsils) talking about and commenting about the Election.
Then, Gil Gross interrupted the proceedings and began telling old constitutional stories that zero to do with the election and resulted in multiple throngs of people switching KGO and going over to KCBS (meh) and KQED.
Why decent-minded Thurston (Pat) and Rothmann (John) continued to allow Gross to take over their show befuddled me. Gross is, for one, gross. Boring. And not very smart. A real dud if you want to know.
Sympathy for the devil? Not exactly but close.
*Speaking of KCBS, I enjoyed Doug Sovern for his analysis and commentary. Even today, as the election starts to get further complicated (although it looks like Joe Biden is headed for a narrow Electoral win; he just won Wisconsin) the combination of Sovern and Washington-based partner, Marc Sandalow, provided KCBS and its listeners, sufficient coverage and spot-on takes.
*LOCALLY, I tried darting here and there and found, (as usual) a mostly vacuous coverage --which is nothing unusual. I never understood why local stations (not just here) found it necessary to provide coverage that the networks already provided handily. Was there such a rush to nail the always dreaded, "local angle?" And why and how so? Spend your money on hiring good people. That always goes contrary, but again, what else is new?
CNN and ace electronic map wizard, John King, were pretty solid and restrained. King, (whose ex-wife is fellow CNNer, Dana Bash) probably got himself either a whopping raise or future gig with, say, MSNBC, with his entertaining play with the Electoral Vote board. King is so damn good you start to think is he real or is he some kind of robot. Wow oh wow.
I switched from MSNBC (Jory Reid and Rachel Maddow fatigue) to, of all places, Fox News, but guess what? FNC is probably the Chris Wallace and Bret Baier, provide, solid, crisp, and fairly objective reporting. Something Hannity and Carlsen couldn't do if their life depended on it.
Agreed that Baier and Wallace are solid news guys. The other two are commentators, not even nearly news reporters.
ReplyDeleteThurston was terrible. Does she even know how an election works?
ReplyDeleteExactly. She cackles about as much as the ocean swimmer on here.
DeleteAnd for Rich to say Hannity and Carlsen can't be objective while not grouping Joy Reid and Maddow in that category is laughable.
Read Rich's comments again, he said he had Joy Reid and Rachel Maddow fatigue, does not exactly sound complimentary to me. And of course he is right about Hannity and Carlsen, I use to kind of like Tukcer Carlson even though I hardly ever agreed with him, I don't have TV so I don't watch him, but he seem to have lost some of the objectivity he use to have. Hannity never had any objectivity, he is a hypocrite of the highest order. Almost had a nervous breakdown because Obama didn't wear a flag pin, and other little things, but Trump lying, trampling on the constitution plus numerous other things, well he walk on water.
Delete> I never understood why local stations (not just
ReplyDelete> here) found it necessary to provide coverage
> that the networks already provided handily.
Visibility and ego. The same news ego that makes a station stay with a "breaking" story long after anything has ceased to happen and report on it breathlessly as if they're breaking the Lindbergh Baby kidnapping. It's about how they look in the eyes of the other stations and the industry in general, not the audience.
King and that board were endless on CNN. Good, but way too much time spent going back and forth from the 2016 election. One positive I now know the names of almost every county in Florida if I'm ever asked in a trivia game
ReplyDeleteAnd Georgia too
DeleteTonight (Wed) on KGO (and not KPIX? Hmmm...) they had Phil Matier and he was asked about the Electoral College. Aside from the fact that he kept calling it the "Electorial College" he said so many stupid things about how it cannot be replaced because what would you replace it with and how it's easy to criticize but no other system could work as well as it does. Really, Phil? How do they do it in other countries then, where they think the EC is the stupidest thing since double-stuffed pizza. Seriously, why do American always think their solution to everything, from healthcare to traffic safety to airport security, is the best in the world when more often than not it sucks and makes us a laughing stock to the rest of the First World. We're like that embarrassing and somewhat gauche guest at a party who thinks we're the smartest one in the room while others secretly mock us.
ReplyDeleteJohn King is wonderful...surprise he doesn’t get an anchor job at one of the major networks...he is watchable and can hold his presentation with the news...
ReplyDeleteI still don't know what's going on with the election....because I haven't seen any live shots from Walnut Creek telling us what the White (and and a couple of Asian-American) soccer moms know about what's going on.
ReplyDeleteSo I'm still in the dark.
Sandalow is a joke!
ReplyDelete9:42....we are such a laughing stock that people from all over the world can't get here fast enough!
ReplyDeleteJohn King won't go to MSNBC as long as Steve Kornacki is there.
ReplyDeleteMatier switched from KPIX to KGO-TV in 2019. He's getting more viewers as a result.
That Kornacki guy is a joke. He looks like a fool with the whole "rolled-up sleeves means I'm really working hard" act. It doesn't work of either politicians or media people. MSNBC's now regular coverage of treating politics like some kind of sporting event, even had a "Kornacki-Cam" on him during commercial breaks. For what reason? You got me.
DeleteTrump is DONE, Thank God!
ReplyDeleteNo he is not. He will be the proverbial fly in the ointment as the de facto leader of the Republican Party. Kind of what Teddy Roosevelt was after he left office in 1908.
DeleteBTW with Kamala gone to D.C., which Bay Area limousine leftist/liberal will Newsom appoint to replace her.
That's fine, let the republican deal with him and his idiocrasies, he can be their problem now. At least the rest of us can ignore him, and focus on the new administration.
DeleteJohn King deserves every type of broadcast performance award there is, he was incredible. And it was fun watching him visibly control his annoyance of that idiot Wolf Blitzer butting in every five sentences.
ReplyDelete
ReplyDeleteOh how I long for the days of political talk on tv limited to Sunday Mornings and the one camera CNN Headline News repeating itselfevery half hour.
John King is the best in the business at reporting the voting results and analyzing what can happen.
ReplyDelete