The popular “Week in Review” program on KCPT where a variety of local journalists and civic leaders discuss issues of the day is celebrating its 20th year on the air in 2012.
WIR tapes Friday morning and airs Friday evenings at 7:30 p.m. and re-airs Sunday morning at 11 a.m. Guests this week include Chris Hernandez of KSHB, Eric Wesson of the Call newspaper and Dave Helling of the Kansas City Star.
Originally hosted in 1999 by John Masterman and patterned after “Washington Week in Review,” those duties were taken over in 1994 by Nick Haines, who was recently profiled by Bottom Line Communications.
Guests on that inaugural show (in video below) with Mastman were Brian Kaberline of the Kansas City Business Journal; radio icon Mike Shanin; Deborah Holmes, who was with FOX 4; and a reporter from the Independence Examiner.
A number of KMBC reporters and anchors have appeared on the program over the years. However, in December, a decision was made by KMBC management saying its journalists will no longer permitted to be on the program.
The area’s most-read blogger, tonyskansascity.com, has penned an article only he could do rankings guests with the “best hair,” “best legs,” etc.
Haines was asked about any memorable moments on the program.
“There was the one show when Paul Morrison was in trouble over alleged sexual indiscretions as Kansas Attorney General,” he told Bottom Line. “Before taping, The Star’s Steve Kraske assured us all there was no way Morrison was going to step down over the deal. And categorically spelled that out on the program.
“Literally, 15 minutes after we had finished taping, Morrison called a news conference to announce he was stepping down as Attorney General.”
Below is a video narrated by Haines (who refers to himself as a “dashingly handsome journalist”) that highlights the show over its two decades.
It is an interesting compilation, including remarks by former KCMO Mayor Mark Funkhouser’s wife, Gloria Squitiro, commenting to her husband off-air about the quality-or lack thereof- of the WIR set.
‘WEEK IN REVIEW’ CELEBRATES 20 YEARS
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MIZZOU NEEDS CRISIS PLAN TO RESTORE IMAGE
In Journalism circles, having a degree from the University of Missouri was often a ticket for success. It is not only the nation’s oldest Journalism school, it is also one of the most prestigious.
When rankings for the best “J” schools in the nation are posted the University of Missouri is almost guaranteed to be in the Top 10 or Top 5. However, that may have all changed due to the actions of a single media professor during the recent student uprising at the school.
A Mass Media Professor, Melissa Click, is shown in a video asking for “muscle” to remove a student photojournalist, Tim Tai, who was working for ESPN and in a public place. It is a horrible act by a college professor and shows a total disregard for the Journalist’s First Amendment rights, which is against what the school has taught for decades.
“Who wants to help me get this reporter out of here? I need some muscle over here,” says Click.
A video of Click’s actions against Tai has gone viral and has well over 500,000 views (LINK) on a single site. The New York Times has written an extensive story about her actions.
What was once a sympathetic media for the protesters has now changed with the actions of students and faculty against them.
Technically some have pointed out Click works in the Mass Media Division of the Department of Communications in College of Arts & Sciences, which is separate from the J-school. However, she is listed on the School of Journalism’s site (LINK), which tars the entire Journalism program whether it deserves it or not.
Click had earlier Tweeted out that she she was looking for coverage of the event by Journalists. Later on she is clearly leading the charge against other Journalists with total disregard for their rights to cover the event.
With the resignation of the school’s President and Chancellor the University of Missouri is clearly being painted as a college where the inmates are running the asylum. Rather than act like a Professor, Click and other faculty members have clearly shown they were behind the student protests against the administration.
If the University of Missouri doesn’t hire a crisis communications team immediately its entire image for producing quality Journalism graduates could likely be tarnished forever. If the school was wise it already had a crisis communications plan in place for such an incident, but that is unlikely.
The first move would be to remove Click. But that would be a stop-gap measure since a faculty member helping foment the disturbance was an indictment on all the faculty. The school hired her, and whether tacitly or not, approved of her actions.
A statement issued today by the Dean of the Journalism School denied she was part of the faculty and sounded as if her days as a professor at Missouri were numbered. Click has also been forced to apologize in an attempt to save her job and resigned her “courtesy” appointment to the J-School.
However, a Kansas City reporter told BLC that the protesters are refusing to speak with local reporters and will only do interviews with national media outlets. That is the kind of move that will turn sympathetic local media against them now and in the future.
It’s a bad move.
Published November 10, 2015 at 10:23 am - 5 Comments In Journalism circles, having a degree from the University of Missouri was often a ticket for success. It is not only the nation’s oldest Journalism school, it is also one of the most prestigious. When rankings for the best ...
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Forget the 20th anniversary. I want to hear about KCPT’s time machine. The original WIR host began his duties in 1999 and is replaced by Nick Haines in 1994. Impressive.