The Newsy Week: When the Wichita TV stations cover probably 1/2 to 2/3 of the geographic area of Kansas, weeks like this one are bound to happen. Even though many of the viewers are in Wichita, when news happens in the rural areas it can be a challenge to cover it in a way just as strong as a story in the stations' own backyard. This week 2 stories posed the problem of having them covered and with who. Watching most of the coverage you will notice that you saw younger talent (even younger and greener then the recent hires of reporters by TV stations in Wichita) on the air. Overall they did a decent job. It would be real tempting when you have a robbery gone bad and turned into a murder or a wreck killing 4 high school students to bring in an experienced reporter from the main office, but the 3 stations stuck with their people stationed out there for the most part. KSN and KAKE even had a live presence for at least the Ulysses tragedy and am not sure about Osborne County. Over at KWCH, Kansas got to know the Adam Marshal phone graphic real well. For the most part I thought the reporters at the stations did a nice job, since they probably are pretty new to TV news. This is probably their first or one of their first TV jobs. Don't get me wrong they all appeared a little green when they appeared on camera. KSN's Josh Haskel had some real nice personal angles, but he needs to take a breath and relax when he appears in front of the camera, but overall a decent job. KAKE's Elyse Molstad would be comparable. She needs to rely less on her notes and eventually look at the camera, but her live appearances this week were probably some of her first in her career. These bureau reporters are much better than when some current Wichita based reporters first appeared on camera. I will say the side bar stories KAKE does using Wichita based reporters and there is such a temptation to do them on big stories out of the area, were lame and merely a chance to make filler video if KAKE wants to make one of the scary promos about how great their team coverage is when people die and the families are suffering. I am shocked, correct me if I'm wrong, I have yet to see any such promos for any of this week's stories.
There was of course the murder in Osborne County and the death of an infant in Wichita at a home daycare. All the stations provided similar coverage and nothing too different or out of the ordinary.
Based on the comments to this blog, the most interesting story it would appear from behind the camera, is the coverage of a Wichita Police officer being shot at. The last post started receiving comments Thursday evening about the stations being asked by police not to release the name of an officer shot. For those not familiar, an officer was shot and the bullet hit his radio microphone he wore clipped to his chest. He survived and for the most part not seriously injured. From the post's comments and what I saw, KSN ran the name and the photo of the officer first. Apparently the name was not released by the Police department, but obtained by the reporter through sources. I still am not sure if the mic or if he was wearing a bullet proof vest and if that saved him. Regardless, an officer should be very thankful he survived. KAKE soon followed with releasing the name. Both also had the information on their websites. Now from here, its a little more sketchy as to what happened and I would love to know more. Apparently the Police Department contacted the local stations and pleaded with them to stop broadcasting the name. KWCH and the Eagle (I think) never ran or published the name. One reader even claims KWCH made it a point to say on TV they weren't broadcasting the name in abiding by the Police Department's wishes, or was it they didn't have another source for it besides KSN and KAKE? Either reason to me would be ethical. KAKE soon pulled the name from the web site and it was never heard on the air again. Meanwhile KSN continued to run the name, although I couldn't find the story online today when I went searching for it. A recent comment claims the police department is mad at KSN and wonders if relations are as bad as a few year's ago when former anchor Bob Donley called the Chief a piece of male anatomy during a press conference. I tend to side with KAKE in this matter for just pulling the name, once they were requested to do so. The idea of Police telling media what to do is not a popular one for media, but it depends on what the Police's reasoning is. I never really heard with this example. If they bring up safety of the officer it would be a legit concern, but still one to weigh with caution. What's the moral of the story? The Eagle NEEDS to have a weekly column on the media happenings. This story really brings to mind many interesting moral and industry questions that can be debated long and hard in many journalism classes around the area. And no, I still think those not involved in the media would find a recap of these events interesting and actually provide a snapshot of the many decisions being made daily in newsrooms. -Hal
Wichita TV News Turns 1!: Time flew by so quick I didn't even think about it until it had gone by. On March 22, 2007, a little blog started called Wichita TV News. Since then Hal has been called every name in the book and alleged to be about every current and former TV person in the market. I never thought that was going to happen. I can see Wichita doesn't read me as much as they once did and that doesn't concern me. I am amazed though at the wide Geographic area the hits on this site are coming from. Sure every now and then we get a hit from a foreign country, but especially in recent months the hits in the US are pretty evenly spread out from East to West. Thanks again. -Hal
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
46 comments:
Don't forget Hal -
Earlier this week - KAKE ran an UNCONFIRMED story about an arrest at Wichita Public Schools.
Problem was, the story wasn't even TRUE!
Good point. I saw that in the comments section and then received a separate e-mail about how KAKE was going to run retractions the following day, but I never got to see them. I think the commenter who referred to each station's "trainwrecks" is right on. Sorry to whoever wrote that one, but I might have to "borrow" that from you. I am sorry I was out of town and not near a good internet connection this week because there was plenty of material to discuss this week.-Hal
I believe KWCH a couple of the same side bar stories with the teen accident as well. For the most part, though, it seemed as if KAKE was trying to lighten the load for their bureau reporter by handing the left-overs off to people back at the station. The problem with that is it doesn't seem those people had a whole lot to work with. Probably a little frustrating.
Side note: ONE YEAR ALREADY?! Yea.
Hal, if you go to the website on Wednesday and watch the KAKE news at 10 its on there video player. Then click on Thursday at 10 and watch the retraction. They are both there. It shows that you shouldn't rely on viewer email tips and rumors.
In KAKE's retraction, it seemed to put the blame on the police department for releasing bad information. It's possible a source did so, but for the most part cops weren't releasing anything. Not sure what led KAKE to think this one was true.
Is the KWCH ownership up to something? They let go the marketing director just recently.. I also hear how they are somewhat dissapointed by the trends of the last 4 ratings periods, which are going down
A question for anyone in the know and not too prejudiced. Are the ratings for KWCH falling that much? Is KAKE and KSN making any gains? If not, this may just be the audience in general not watching the news as they used to
The police department were worried about the officer's safety, thought he may have been targeted directly and that is why they asked to stop broadcasting the name. It was a reasonable request and one that no would would/should fault the stations and paper from abiding by.
The police department couldn't have said anything about KAKE's Wichita Schools story because guess what...they weren't involved...unless you believe KAKE's story.
I think everyone appears to be down. It's just the state of the industry right now.
Hal - Whats your thoughts on the coverage of KU this past week? I sure hope KAKE doesn't pack the camera they took to Detroit and bring it to San Antonio. It looked like Shope and his crew got his home video camera confused with a professional camera because all the stories from Detroit had video of a real poor quality or resolution. It looked like it was shot on my VHS camera from the late 80's.
KAKE is cutting corners everywhere they can. It looks like this is one of them.
That is because KAKE sent him there alone and sent everything back via the web instead of buying sat time....how cheap can they get?
With the right set up video can be sent done via the web. KSN has been doing something similar for awhile and doesn't seem to have the issues KAKE has with the video. The stations love saving money and this method does that and saves a lot of it. However, when it looks like it does on KAKE, when do you say, let go back to using the old fashioned Satellite.
Ratings are on a downward trend and the only thing stations do is cut satellite time and a marketing manager? My gosh, I hope these people at the top are more inventive than that.
Well, something is definately going on over at KWCH. I used to see them on all the stories and scenes. Lately not so much. I would say they have only been at half the scenes i've been on over the past two weeks... Their news judgement has been very poor lately.
In some cases, it is faster, cleaner and easier to send things over the computer rather than a satellite feed. KAKE just hasn't figured out how to do it with quality like the other two yet.
And if you are stupid enough to believe anything on here about why someone either has a job or has lost a job then you really don't have a clue.
The people at the top are just protecting their fat paychecks and overblown egos. They keep trimming the budget so that regular employees who know quality get out of the business or struggle, and cut satellite time and positions so the product suffers. Sadly this is corporate America now too.. The haves and have nots have never been further apart
Happy Birthday, Hal.
We know who you are. Now that your blog is up and running, how about going back to actually making dubs for people instead of letting the phone ring off the hook.
The court system misses you, too.
This coverage with the one person road crews is kind of silly.
Picking up on something some one mentioned earlier, does anyone know about the most recent ratings. I know KWCH is #1---but any other info on trends or individual newscasts??
Aside from the numbers for each of KWCH's shows is more than the same newscasts from KAKE and KSN combined... no.
There have been any "scenes" lately to miss so I really don't know what you are talking about.
They haven't missed a story. I think they are actually covering more real news and not going wall-to-wall with the daily stabbing or robbery like KAKE or KSN do.
Also, I wouldn't talk about their news judgement. KAKE reported a rumor, got the Wichita school district so pissed at them to basically never work with them again and then had to retract the story.
Then KAKE and to a lesser extent KSN put a police officer's life in danger by reporting his name after he was shot at when the dept. asked media not to. Haven't seen them apologize for that yet.
You want to talk about lack of judgement...trying looking at your own shop pal.
Anon 6PM,
I think it was a typo on your part, KSN HAS certainly pissed off the Police department (as much as KAKE -as you claim- pissed off the the Wichita Public Schools) by never backing down on releasing the name of an officer shot at. I don't know if the stations applogized, but KAKE did make the effort of not broadcasting it in later newscasts, while KSN continued to do so. And KWCH, I wouldn't really compare them in this situation because I really do not believe they had anything to be concerned about, because they were behind in the story and didn't have to worry about having the name before the others to do anything with it.
Everyone had the name at about the same time.
It seems KWCH and the Eagle simply took the fact that the Department was worried about the safety of the officer and his family into consideration when making their decision whether to give it. Both outlets said why they didn't give the name.
KAKE and KSN put a cop's family and his life at risk by their actions. Had something happened or if something happens in the future, it will be on them.
Covering crime is not the answer to the future of this business. At least on air. Crime will be for the Web site before long. People are over the random mug shots. Enough with the filler. And to the KWCH drum beater-- you do as much or more crime coverage than the others. We all do the same amount. And that's why we're all turning viewers off in the long run. It's like a drug addict who doesn't know how to live any other way. We need new ideas and leaders to take us out of this cut and paste world.
"The people at the top are just protecting their fat paychecks and overblown egos. They keep trimming the budget so that regular employees who know quality get out of the business or struggle, and cut satellite time and positions so the product suffers."
Amen.
So you're saying a police officer is in more danger than any other person getting shot at? I don't think so. He's a citizen just like you and I. KWCH and KAKE just rolled over again doing anything they police say that has nothing to do with safety. No one know if the officer was a target or not. Maybe he was. If he was, then the shooter already knows his name and releasing it doesn't matter.
Interesting to read the dialgue here. Looks like there's a lot of blame to go around But I infer from the posts that ALL of the stations aren't real happy with the Stabbing/Rape Du Jour format of the stations. Local TV doesn't really know what it should do in a world that is turning to the Net for its news/pictures/video/entertainment.
JMHO--KWCH seems to have a lock on what market exists for "Traditional News" --coverage,anchors, approach. What viewers there ARE (very large but rapidly diminishing) for that approach flock to KWCH. KAKE seems utterly confused--grasping for new coverage techniques and format while firmly grounded in the past in terms of its key Talent and certain story telling. KSN just seems to be throwing mud up against the wall hoping some of it sticks.
Carrie Rengers' column today explains why KWCH's marketing director was fired...
http://www.kansas.com/business/rengers/story/358526.html
The fact is because of this obscene action...KSN's relationship with the police and the entire city is now worse than it was during the now infamous incident a few years ago.
It's a station's and a journalist's job to weigh a variety of issues when reporting a story. KSN simply didn't care or at least appears not to.
As for the Eagle story I am a bit surprised that the paper ran with it with absolutely no attribution, no quotes, no supporting facts. Are you supposed to have those if you are a journalist?
KSN's reputation is not damaged with police. In fact, most officers and administration appreciate KSN's reporter. They have the best crime reporter. She got the name of the officer. The other stations didn't. Then, they hid behind the cloak of "police requested us not to run it"...
Good journalism reports. The officer was not in danger. If he was being targeted, the shooter already knew him.
Have any of you ever worked in other markets? This wouldn't even be an issue. Police would have released his name like they should have. If it would have been John Smith at Quik Trip-- police would have gladly given up his identification.
Only a couple of WPD are pissed. And really, they are pissed that KSN's crime reporter got the story. They just have "misplaced" aggression.
It seems like the police department need to find the source of their leaks.
You work at KSN so how would you know what happens in other newsrooms? You don't and were just caught in your lie.
Good journalism means using good judgement. You don't report everything, everytime. You give information critical to the story but take other things into account. It's called being RESPONSIBLE and not sensationalistic. That's the reason people have just a low opinion of what we do.
As for other markets. In no other city, and I've worked in quite a few, is the police department on such open terms with the press.
Also, police here NEVER give up the ID of a shooting victim whether they survive or not until the family is notified which usually takes a day or so. They certainly don't do it "willy-nilly" like you suggest.
Your arrogance is mind-boggling considering you work at a station with hash-marks for ratings.
Are you saying the Eagle story was wrong?
And by the way, KSN worker, get ready for a shakeup. I hear Anita Cochran and Dave Freeman might be having a hard time sleeping these days....
Anyone else see how KAKE staged Barnett's liveshot on Tuesday. People don't stand out in the cold (and boy did they look cold) for no reason at all.
oh the "hash mark" guy is back again. Nice to hear from you. Got any other jokes or is that the only one you know? Deflate your head and stop with the stand-up comedy. No stations pull hash marks. Now go down the hall and thank Roger and Cindy for giving you the sense of entitlement you haven't earned.
Hash marks, huh.
KSN is:
--2nd in the morning
--2nd at Noon (and yes, that includes KAKE's 11:30)
--3rd at 5p (and growing)
--2nd at 6p
--3rd at 10p
Hash marks, huh.
You wondered about Feb. sweeps. This is from KWCH's website.
http://www.kwch.com/global/story.asp?s=8107249
Hmmm. Looking at your claims and the link that was posted, it seems you are being selective in your determination of what is 2nd and 3rd.
KAKE has more viewers than you at 5,6 and 10. You are right in your claims but only in regards to ratings points but not in share or total households.
And keep in mind, you are referring to Wichita-metro ratings. KSN does very poorly in western Kansas.
Hal-- It's happened again. East vs. West vs. Downtown. Time to close the comments and move on to something more productive.
LOL I love watching the cheerleaders from all three stations have at each other. I have news for all of you all three stations suck it is just a matter of who sucks the most....so you KWCH people can break your arm all you want patting youself on the back, but you are only the leader in a three loser race! KAKE u are a total joke and if your GM was any cheaper you would be doing the news by candllight and making the anchors pedal to power the transmitter and cameras. And all you KSNer's are whacked.....your automated cut and paste cookie cutter newscasts are a joke. Not to mention you have the most annoying main anchor and weather man ever to walk through the world of TV. All of you need to stop bickering and get yourself a job in a real market! And BTW I am not bitter, I did not get fired or passed over for a job, I simply someone who knows this market and knows it well and has moved on and in hindsight realizes just how in the dark ages the Wichita market really is.
Last anonymous-you sure talk a big game. I have worked in several markets, and this is a very strong news market. You sound pretty bitter to me.
Just cause you worked in Alabama, Alaska,and Arkansas does not mean you know what the hell you are talking about! Wichita is SO not a strong news market, it is a sensationalist market and is for people who want to do blood and guts car wreck chasing news.
Sorry that's markets 1-30. All it is is death and destruction.
Post a Comment