Lee Rosenthal Officially Leaving KTVU As News Director And Headed To Boston With His Buddy, Tom Raponi; Staffers Elated; Thursday First Take

 What we reported here, first, became official Wednesday: The Boy Wonder, Lee Rosenthal is headed out as News Director at KTVU and going to Boston with his pal, GM Tom Raponi.

Staffers at KTVU, including all the news talent and editors and producers, have been out of the loop and were said to be frustrated over the lack of information coming from lame duck management. Everyone pretty much assumed that Rosenthal was gone once Raponi was leaving for Boston but were still kept in the dark.

Rosenthal's short tenure at KTVU was marked by a particularly gruesome episode that might have sealed the fate of most other news executives. It was fortunate for Rosenthal that Raponi took most of the heat over Asiana Namegate.

Few people at KTVU ever warmed to Rosenthal who many saw as an eager-beaver, out-of-touch newbie exec clearly not ready for primetime in Jack London Square. Staffers complained of Rosenthal's over-reliance on 21st Century gimmicks like Facebook and Twitter models for news segments.

The shit really hit the fan when other news executives under The Boy Wonder were routinely tweeting Fox shows and participating in marketing department promos. This is, after all, KTVU, still regarded as the gold standard for local TV news stations in the Bay Area.


Obviously, Rosenthal didn't get the memo.


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KPIX and KTVU: Two Quick Friday Summations

Summations Friday--PIX and KTVU

KPIX

The station's newscasts have been better later; the story lines are crisp and the look is fresh. Allen Martin, whom I've been overly-critical of, has become a lot more watchable and provides a more relaxed approach. It shows on the screen. And while I have reservations about Liz Cook and her Mary Poppins approach, she too has vastly improved. She seems more relaxed too.
The tension and hostility with me and Rosenheim has zero to do with his work--it's all business. My issues with DR is that he builds walls between people that I like, (invariably, people there he doesn't care for), and uses that venom to create hostility. Dan, you know as well as I, that the manager issue was not my doing. It's all about the reporters and it's them that's doing the bitching. Have a staff meeting, Dano, and clear the air. Rally the troops. You got a great staff, for the most part, go take 'em to dinner. It would do wonders.

KTVU

My god, what the hell happened here? Oh, THAT thing. (Something having to do with an airline and its pilots).

The fact of the matter is that those of you who have read my posts, past and present, on KTVU know my history. In spite of a slew of personnel changes--both rank and file and management--I've long admired KTVU's stellar news operation. It has managed to survive and still is the envy of the local TN News scene. It had a monumental clusterfuck and it's just hoping that with time, it goes away.
My issues with KTVU are the same as others. They could have been proactive and moved forward with the Asiana affair. That requires a whole lot of work and leadership. Unfortunately, the guys that run Channel 2 have created an us-against-them environment. That's not how to run a TV station.
Months before the Asiana affair, a veteran on-air staffer met with Tom Raponi and requested he and I meet. Raponi refused. I myself requested a brief interview. No response. Nice start at building good will. Then again, outside of press releases, Raponi doesn't speak to anyone. He's the GM! Bizarre.
One last thing: Lee Rosenthal, 2's News Director, perhaps on orders from Raponi, also doesn't talk. Maybe he should. It might help the growing dissatisfaction inside the newsroom. He better hurry.

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KTVU ND Rosenthal was Under Fire at Indy Station on Questionable Homeless 'Story'

Lee Rosenthal, the beleaguered News Director at KTVU, under fire for the Asiana Airline pilot name gaffe, is no stranger to controversy.

In 2011, Rosenthal was ND at an Indy station that did a story exploiting the city's homeless.

Rosenthal has been mum lately, (wonder why), and as usual, did not comment for this story.

As the investigation continues into Namegate, the situation remains fluid. Outside of the four people fired over the brouhaha, there's relative calm, although I'm hearing that there's a decent chance that more heads might roll.

Rosenthal has held a lower profile than usual over in Jack London Square. Senior staffers tell me there's considerable strain with the rank and file over NameGate. This is one of the  the main reasons.

This hasn't helped either.

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KTVU ND Rosenthal Treading Rough Waters; Sorry, But KTVU 'Namegate' is Still Industry Talk Nirvana; Rolling Stone Cover

  KTVU News Director, Lee Rosenthal, has lost the trust of a good many of the newsroom, according to insiders at the Oakland Fox affiliate. Growing credibility issues have arisen over the Korean Airliner 'Namegate' imbroglio that has put the station through a difficult week. It doesn't help Rosenthal that his fingerprints were all over the now infamous press release boasting of KTVU's coverage of the crash a mere two days after the tragedy.

Moreover, the 33 year-old Rosenthal's fist-pumping never went over well inside the newsroom and this was well before the fake names la affair with Tori Campbell. Rosenthal might escape this major blunder that has forever tainted KTVU's gold-standard image and reputation but Cox Media, leading a low-key internal investigation of the matter, may not be so forgiving. As a leading station insider told me, "in the end, someone has to go." Indeed, and Rosenthal might have company. Stay tuned.

*Some of you have barked, "Enough of this, (KTVU), already." Really? I have news for you: This is the talk of EVERY TV news operation in the country. From big-market NY City to small-town Iowa! For better or worse, this indelible blunder has been THEE talk of the back room where anchors, reporters, producers, editors; the whole shebang. I know this because several prominent industry people told me. And when people like Stephen Colbert and the late-night comics are referring to this, you know it's reached cultural critical mass. I rest my case.

*My two cents: The Rolling Stone cover with the Boston bomber was intended to sell magazine covers and create controversy and buzz. They got it; that's the good news. Bad news is that Rolling Stone long ago lost its influence and cachet. The only relevant thing over there is Peter Traver's movie reviews.

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KTVU hires Rosenthal as New News Director; Respected Indy Exec; Tillem has lunch with Cumulus/KGO boss; Ronn Owens Salary

News, notes and comments...

KTVU has hired Lee Rosenthal as their new News Director. He's a respected and young pro out of WXIN in Indianapolis, the Fox affiliate. Rosenthal replaces Ed Chapuis, who was recently fired.

A veteran TV guy here told me that Rosenthal is well-regarded and liked. He's also only 32, but is supposedly known as a good solid pro. We'll see. KTVU is still king at 10 PM, but its early evening newscast ratings are still tepid, which ultimately led to Chapuis getting pink-slipped.

*Len Tillem had lunch with the new KGO OM, Ron Escarsega. What comes of it nobody knows but don't hold your breath. Tillem was bounced from NewsTalk 910 last Thursday.

*Ronn Owens new salary at KGO: $475K...two years with a third-year option.

*"Live....from the Conklin Brothers studio..."? Just when you thought it couldn't get any less sacred.

*April fools "jokes": so lame and utterly jumped the shark eternity dept.

*Since I've become a total wreck with a few things on my mind, good to know baseball is back, but really I don't get too interested until the fall. In the meantime, go A's and Giants, Meat!

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