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MEDIA STUFF This is where we share a wide variety of interesting tidbits about the news media locally & nationally: KIETZMAN SHOULD STICK TO SPORTS Kevin Kietzman, afternoon host on WHB-810, went into a long, drawn-out explanation (8/15) regarding a guy who had the title of Esq. after his name. Kietzman asked a producer if that meant the guy was a landowner, and that maybe Chiefs' GM Carl Peterson could add that title to those he already has. After making a complete idiot of himself for 10 minutes, someone finally called in and told Kietzman it meant the guy was an attorney. If Peterson has a law degree he could use it. Otherwise, no. WHB JOCKS WAY, WAY OFF BASE Tim Grunhard and Bill Maas, former pro football players with a talk show on WHB-810, were in absolute disbelief (8/13) that autopsy results showing ex-baseball star Darrell Porter died of cocaine abuse were made public. They said it was unfair to pick on Porter and that they don't make autopsy results public for other folks. This is the problem with people who "pretend" to be journalists. They simply do not understand that folks like Porter and themselves are public figures. They ARE different than Joe Schmo on the street. Porter, a World Series MVP, wrote a book about his tribulations. He made his living speaking in public about his challenges. One wonders if Grunhard and Maas actually think they have their jobs because of their broadcasting expertise. Wake up and smell the flowers.
"This one is in
the refrigerator. The door's closed, the lights are out, the eggs are cooling, the
butter's getting hard, and the Jell-O is jiggling." MARTY ROSENBERG MOVES TO DARK SIDE They say that if you wait long enough things will go full circle. That certainly is true in the case of Marty Rosenberg, former hard-ass telecom reporter at the KC Star and then managing editor at Utility Business Review magazine. Marty, who delighted in making life miserable for PR folks, has now jumped to the dark side and is employed at a local KC PR firm. We have now officially seen it all...
287 PR PEOPLE? WHAT ARE THEY DOING?? It was reported by Suzanne King (7/24/02) in the Kansas City Star that Sprint has fired its head of PR and that the "287" folks in public relations will move under Human Resources. First, we were stunned that the company has 287 folks in PR and the company still is able to generate such negative publicity; secondly, putting PR under HR means the company is moving into a major "cover your ass" mode. HR folks don't understand you actually need to speak to the media. PR under marketing makes much more sense. BizSpace Bites Dust
'Mr.' Glass?? In an interview (7/16) with Royals' owner David Glass, Kevin Kietzman, afternoon host on WHB radio, repeatedly referred to Glass as "Mr. Glass" during the interview and following it. Since it was radio, one wonders if Kevin was on his knees during the interview. Or maybe he was hoping WHB would land the next radio contract for the Royals... JOURNALISM & TOM LEATHERS: AN OXYMORON? For maybe the 100th time, local pundit Tom Leathers has rehashed his story in his Squire Express (July 2002) about how the City of Leawood was founded. And each time Tom emphasizes that the City Fathers tried to exclude Jews. While this may have been the case, Tom does it by quoting the city. How can you quote a city? Tom can do it. "So Leawood said to the county," according to Tom, "Yes, we'll go south--but exclude all the Jews." Later on he even quotes the Leawood City Council: "We don't want either of them," the Leawood Council told the commissioners. "If we keep them out, Leawood will remain free of minorities." In most journalistic circles it is a rule to actually quote humans and attribute quotes to people, not cities, groups, buildings, animals, etc. Maybe Tom should take a few J-school courses.
"There is no such thing as an unbiased article in a
newspaper or an objective sound bite on television news. On the contrary, reporters
and editors are trained experts at getting you to believe what it is they have to say and
to adopt their point
IS PETE GRIGSBY RELATED TO BILL? The answer is "no." Pete Grigsby, KMBC-TV weekend weather dude, is NOT related to Bill Grigsby, the radio voice of the Kansas City Chiefs for the past 100 years. The real questions are: "If Pete was raised in Kentucky, why doesn't he have a southern accent? Why does he wear shoes? Why does he have all his teeth?" Ditto for radio guy Randy Miller who is from Tennessee. Sorry, Sarah, but it just ain't right.
THE EMPEROR'S NEW CLOTHES?? Finally, a journalist has poked holes in the media lovefest over former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani, who since September 11 has become some sort of hero who now commands $100,000 per speech. Prior to 911 he was ending his eight years as a lame-duck mayor embroiled in a marital scandal worse than we endured with Bill Clinton. John Giuffo, assistant editor at the Columbia Journalism Review, noted in his column (July/August 2002): "Destined to go down in history as a distrusted imperial force, he (Giuliani) saves himself and his reputation by doing The Right Thing at a moment of climactic violence." Giuffo quotes the "moonstruck" Boston Globe, which said "Giuliani's legacy will be one of compassion when it was needed most." Giuffo noted the Globe somehow overlooked that for "15/16ths of his mayoralty he was known for everything but his compassion." RANDY MILLER SCORES AGAIN Often-fired local radio guy Randy Miller has a new gig on Hot Talk 1510 KCTE in the morning and is really an amazing talent. He can go from serious to ridiculous in a matter of minutes and pull it off perfectly. On Tuesdays Miller does an amazing interview with Steve--dubbed the "Cancer Answer Man"--- who is extremely upbeat despite a bleak prognosis of his condition. ROYALS VP MKTNG DOESN'T SUBSCRIBE TO STAR?? Charlie Seraphin, the KC Royals VP of marketing & communications, wasn't pleased with a column (6/28/02) by the KC Star's Joe Posnanski saying the Royals were too cheap to spend $6,000 on Negro Leagues uniforms for its players. Seraphin went on WHB's Kevin Kietzman show the same day to defend the charges. What struck us as odd was Seraphin noted he doesn't even subscribe to the Star. In our opinion, a guy who deals with the media on a daily basis and doesn't subscribe to the area's largest paper IS incompetent. Kietzman even bragged that Todd Lebo of his staff doesn't get the paper. Enough said. VERIZON JABS SPRINT IN ITS BACKYARD The folks at Sprint Corporation are reeling from the news that Sandstone Ampitheatre has officially changed its named to "Verizon Ampitheater." It is clearly a case of Verizon poking Sprint in its own headquarters city of Kansas City. The Verizon tactic is nearly identical to when MCI became the sponsor of the city's famed Plaza Lighting ceremony several years ago. When MCI announced its sponsorship of the annual lighting event in KC on Thanksgiving Sprint officials were upset beyond belief. At the time MCI said it was planning on sponsoring the event for several years and possibly taking it national. In reality, they had no such goal. The entire sponsorship was simply designed to irritate Sprint and cause morale problems. It achieved its goal---just as Verizon is today. NACCHIO GETS EUPHEMISM AWARD Joseph Nacchio, the obnoxious CEO of Qwest Communications, has bailed out of the company amid questions about accounting practices and other business dealings (AP, 6/18/02). Nacchio is another of a growing number of telecom "visionaries" going up in flames these days. We particularly enjoyed his statement that he was leaving to "spend more time with his family." What a hoot. Guys like Nacchio generally couldn't tell you the names of their kids. He should have just stuck with the traditional "leaving to pursue other interests."
ROB ROBERTS NOTCHES ANOTHER SCOOP Rob Roberts, editor at Sun Newspapers, regularly proves he is one of the area's leading reporters. He proved it again (6/14/02) by scooping the area media with a story titled "Transplant Lifts Former Royal." Roberts detailed the struggles of Ed Hearn, former KC Royals catcher, who recently received his third kidney transplant and is recovering. It was a wonderful piece of journalism.
JUST THE FACTS... The Pew Research Center has just completed research (7/2002) on news media habits. Overall, the group found that fewer people are reading newspapers, with the greatest declines among young adults and young baby boomers. Youth are reading books and magazines as much as older Americans, but not newspapers. Other findings:
SAY ANYTHING BUT 'JESUS' A red-faced ABC says it edited out the word "Jesus" in a recent broadcast "so that viewers wouldn't be offended." Keep in mind, this is a network that has continued to sneak such words as "bitch" and "ass" into shows, but it somehow felt the word "Jesus" might offend people. This is another example of how many media outlets are so obsessed with being politically correct. If you doubt us, read Bernard Goldberg's book "Bias: A CBS Insider Exposes How the Media Distort the News."
ARE YOU KIDDING? THE DERRICK THOMAS ACADEMY?? It's always a hoot to see the media slant a story one way when the public looks on it from a completely different angle. While the KC media does puff pieces on a new school being named after the KC Chiefs' late linebacker Derrick Thomas ("He was a saint and a sinner, just like everybody else," gushed the Star's Joe Posnanski), privately people think it shows just how far the school system has deteriorated when a school is named after someone who was such a poor role model his entire life.. In addition to fathering several kids (7) out of wedlock, refusing to pay overdue library fines as promised for kids; having a scandalous Foundation, dying after not wearing a seatbelt, regularly spending time at strip clubs, etc., we now have the Derrick Thomas Academy. He certainly should serve as a role model for children. Maybe the next school can be named after Allen Iverson...or Andre Rison. The "Mike Tyson Academy" has a nice ring to it.
GLASS CEILING? SOUNDS LIKE EDUCATION CEILING!! It's not PC, but people are questioning the lead story in the KC Star's Business Section (6/4) about KU Medical Center's President and CEO Irene Cumming. It begins with a story about how she had hoped to be an engineer when she enrolled in college in 1965, but a counselor told her women did not major in engineering. Despite this horrible affront, the article says she went on to graduate with a degree in business in 1976 (an 11-year gap?) and break the famous glass ceiling. It then noted she is still working on her Master's Degree, which she started in the early 90s (12 years?). One can only imagine how a group of doctors and highly trained medical personnel must enjoy working with a woman with those sterling credentials.
MLB SITE GETS FREE PUBLICITY Ever wonder why Jeffrey Flanagan, KC Star sports columnist, mentions Major League Baseball's Web site so often? Or why the Star did a major piece on the MLB site on Sunday (5/26)? Could it be that the person responsible for the site is former Star sports editor Dinn Mann? Nah, there must be some other reason....
So much for a free ride. Ingram's Publisher Joe Sweeney is sending a letter to subscribers saying his publication will no longer be free. As Joe puts it, "$19.99 is all it will take" to keep your subscription coming. He should have added "And our editorial policy has not changed. Take out an ad and get a story."
In the category of "Can they really do this?" we were sad to see the media magazine Brill's Content go out of business a few months ago. Subscribers wondered what would happen to the remaining portion of their subscription. Would they receive a refund? Ha! Former Brill's Content subscribers recently were informed that the balance of their subscription was transferred to Mother Jones magazine. No discussion of refunds. No choice. Stephen Brill simply sold his subscribers to Mother Jones and they now receive Mother Jones whether they want to or not.
REDFIELD SCOOPS HIMSELF In the newsroom at The Plain Dealer in Cleveland there used to be a big sign that proclaimed, "Don't say it, write it." Basically, it meant for reporters to write their stories and not sit around discussing them with other reporters and other folks. Sports columnist Charles Redfield of the Sun should have followed that advice. Redfield recently came up with the scoop that Jim Hinrich, father of Kirk Hinrich, University of Kansas star basketball player, was looking for a high school coaching spot in the KC area and move the family from Iowa. Redfield shared that scoop with some folks and the tip was given to Jeffrey Flanagan of the KC Star, who used it April 24. In essence, Redfield was scooped on his own tip.
"This is not a novel to be tossed aside lightly.
It should be thrown with great force."
-- Dorothy Parker
ABC recently toyed with the idea of putting Ted Koppel, 62, out to pasture as the network tried to snag David Letterman to hype its entertainment package. Don't look now, but TV news is changing dramatically. When Dan Rather, 70, Peter Jennings, 64, Tom Brokaw, 62, Mike Wallace, 83, and Barbara Walters, 70, leave, the news divisions will continue to lose their traditional clout.
Things are really getting dicey at the Harvard Business Review where Editor Suzy Wetlaufer, 42, resigned (Wall Street Journal, 3/4/02) for perceived ethical breaches by being romantically involved with former General Electric Chairman Jack Welch, 66. She is divorced, while he is married. Wetlaufer had interviewed Welch for an article in HBR, but then bailed when word leaked about their relationship. In fact, her objectivity was even called to question in a phone call from Welch's wife, Jane. Now Welch's wife is suing for divorce
By the way, Fortune magazine had a cover photo in November on the 11 "smartest" corporate leaders. Originally the photo had 12 executives, but when Enron started going south, Ken Lay was airbrushed out. How quick the worm turns...
According to a column by Anna Quindlen in Newsweek (2/18/02), don't be misled by Katie Couric's $65 million contract. The medium salary of a journalist in the U.S. is $30,000 a year, which is on par with nurses, teachers and firefighters
In TV news, the phrase "If it bleeds, it leads" is a common statement. Why? One reason is that a 1998 study by the Rocky Mountain Media Watch found that more than 40 percent of local TV broadcasts were devoted to coverage of crimes, accidents and other violent events. (Newsweek, 9/17/01)
If you are going to be on a TV news segment you had better be prepared to give your message succinctly. A recent study shows that 70 percent of local television news stories are one minute or less in length.
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