Most TV News outlets had the initial story of both a man in distress threatening suicide and an ensuing traffic accident that killed two people. The result was a MESS that shut down the bridge and resulted in chaos on both sides of the bay. It lasted well into today, (Thursday).
KCBS should be EMBARRASSED.
The initial reports of a major incident on the bridge began just after 10 PM. A traffic report said there was "police activity" on the bridge resulting in traffic at a standstill Westbound after YBI.
As the trafic worsened and the person in distress became more intense, KCBS and anchor, Peter Finch, stuck with traffic reports. The generic, "police activity" lasted well into the wee hours. I thought to myself, "hey, just WHAT! police activity?"!--obviously, KCBS and Finch weren't interested and just plain lazy.
Would it have been hard to call the CHP and/or cops to find out what was happening? Finch and the alleged "editors" seemed clueless and disinterested even as the Bay Area's #1 traffic artery was shut down.
Clarification: Bigler later reported from the bridge but only late Thursday several hours after the initial incident.
Fortunately, Kim Wonderley, the AM drive traffic anchor was spot-on and solid in doing double duty both as reporter and traffic anchor on Thursday. KCBS was, yet again, asleep at the wheel.
Just plain ridiculous and pathetic.
KCBS Traffic AM or PM drive the other day (i don't remember which) was laughing about the truck that blew over from the wind storm on the San Rafael Bridge. I don't think the truck driver was laughing.
ReplyDeleteI was waiting all night for some real news info on the situation, but got nothing from the news leader KCBS?
ReplyDeleteI get more news from George Norry listening to Coast to Coast AM from 10pm to 2am. Oh wait! That isn't on any Bay Area Radio stations anymore that any of us can get.
DeleteThe best way to get KCBS to cover a story is if there’s a vaccine tie-in. Alas, not many Bay Bridge crises can fit that bill.
ReplyDelete511.org
ReplyDeleteThe ONLY traffic reporter you need.
Currently, HWY 1 near Carmel - in Carmel - a complete parking lot due to Tree work. Apparently the powers that be do not pay attention to traffic patterns during week days. We all know the tree folks are overworked these days, but perhaps clearing up the mess at dinnertime would have been a wiser move?
KCBS is basically the only traffic news, with KQED far behind, and KNBR murky n macky saying “no issues on Sir Francis Drake” 2 times per hour
Bloomberg 960 has traffic, weather and business news. They are much better than KCBS I think.
DeleteExcept they are airing the awful A's for Spring Training now. Hope there are no more day games during the season because the A's are pitiful.
DeleteI echo this as well.
DeleteOn the upside, KCBS wan't running 60 Minutes reruns about getting syphilis from Bakersfield hookers.
ReplyDeleteAu contraire Pierre !
DeleteWhat do think the First Republic Bank/SVB meltdown was about? I’ll tell you: Syphilitic bankers in “New Order” Valley. And now the sky is crying.
Back in the day, the stations had helicopters to help with stories like this, as well as traffic reports. Expensive to fly, helicopters are expensive and were probably the first expense to be cut as radio became obsolete while bleeding cash.
ReplyDeleteBack in the day, radio stations printed money because it was great for advertisers and listeners. They could afford helicopters, a fully staffed (talented) news department, plus, great talk show hosts, fantastic DJs and a great support staff. That's when we had appointment radio.Thanks to deregulation, the FCC and the "money whores" of Wall Street, we have what we have.
DeleteAM radio or KCBS is just one resource; in this case inadequate. Others, if smart phone is available could be QUICKMAP.DOT.CA.GOV, ROADS.DOT.CA.GOV, & CAD.CHP.CA.GOV. Not as reliable is Twitter @CALTRANSD4 as I hear it might only post during daytime/business hours. But other Twitter feeds might help: @KCBSAMFMTraffic or @KTVU
ReplyDeleteTwo people died/killed/dead and 2 accidents plus a suspect involved, wow. Sorry for anybody affected. I hate being stuck in traffic regardless of the cause.
To add a favorite line from a song, "We've got a long way to go, and a short time to get there".
DeleteIn the immortal words of Yogi Berra
ReplyDelete“We’re LOST, but we’re making good time!”
Sounds like so many of our local stations, both radio and TV: “We’re lousy, but we’re losing Money !”
I still think KCBS should hire Rothmann for traffic reporting. “This jam-up reminds me of that Harold Stassen road rage incident back in ‘59!”
DeleteThe use of the term "police activity" comes from the early days of the traffic services. In the early 1980's , Metro Traffic Control launched in LA and later SF. The bigtime radio newsrooms didn't want the traffic services covering news stories because the traffic folks were unwashed, and not trained for "real news" gathering.
ReplyDeleteThe traffic folks used "police activity" as a cue to the newsrooms that there was real news occurring on the freeways.
Now the police activity is used as a "punt" to the newsrooms. "It's YOUR problem"...the untrained traffic folks can't be trusted
with reporting what they hear on the CHP scanner...or what they read on "The CAD".
You’re a fucking idiot. KCBS has NEVER reported a potential jumper. Don’t know the reasoning behind it. But all news outlets, not just radio, never say that there’s a potential suicide on the bridge. Get a clue you moron.
ReplyDeleteExcuse me, but if there had been someone on the bridge who was in vaxxed or unboosted, you know d-mn well KCBS would have reported it, as a red alert
DeleteWe get it, Ron. You’re an antivaxer. Thank you for sharing. Now go back to snorting Ivermectin
ReplyDeleteKGO, the gamblers radio station, covered it in a unique way. They took bets from listeners about whether the guy would jump.
ReplyDeleteWhy Peter Finch keeps working at KCBS is a mystery. Maybe he needs the money, but he could probably get a number of other media related jobs that would pay more than KCBS. The embarrassing kind of salaries that chintzy Audacy currently offers are indicative of the lack of quality mist radio stations want these days because they simply do not care. KCBS js a sad joke, and morale there has fallen to an all time low. Trust me, I know what I’m taking about in this topic because I worked in their newsroom for years, and was a first hand witness to the deterioration. Anyone with any sense has long since left the place, which means that probably about 90 percent of those now at KCBS are underpaid, overworked minor league talent. These young people would never even have had a sniff at major market radio ten years ago, but more likely would have working in back water towns such aa Eureka and Modesto. Places such as those used to have stations where aspiring young broadcasters would cut their teeth, make their mistakes and learn. But most of the on-air jobs in small local radio stations were eliminated years ago, and the same is now true of major market stations such as KGO, which are an abomination to the ear. And the fact that clueless, unqualified twits such as Lee Hammer and Jennifer Seelig are now running local radio stations is proof positive how far a once valued and respectable profession has fallen.
ReplyDelete