Time For A New Post and Random Thoughts

It is most certainly time for a new post. Things are getting a tad nasty in the comments section of the last post. I do want to briefly touch on some of the later comments from the last post on a suspicious death or homicide, whatever you want to call it in Pratt. Apparently KSN reporter Justin Kraemer called it a homicide from the beginning. Other stations kept referring to it as a "suspicious death" and many of you wrote to this blog expressing your opinions one way or another. I believe now all the stations are referring to it as a homicide. What do I think of this? It is proof that it is definitely time for a new post. I know many of you don't think I have a heart, but after all it is a Holiday period so lets steer towards some new topics.

Bill Snyder Back to K-State - This is one of those stories that when it is officially announced, you are almost tired of the story since "sources" broke the story on Sunday. All the TV stations had similar offerings. I was curious to watch the announcement (I don't know why) and I first turned online, but I decided I should give the ole TV a try. KSN was the only one to break into regular programming for the announcement on TV. The others offered it online and had crawls across the screen. Overall though, the coverage during the day was consistent among the three stations and pretty decent.

KWCH New Sports Hire - KWCH employees and fans get ready, I am about to say good things about your station. (Despite your thoughts, I am positive about your station, more than you think.) New weekend sports anchor Jenn Bates is a great hire for KWCH. She comes across as knowledgeable and confident. Female sports reporters/anchors can be tough to come by and I bet she doesn't stay around for long. I think she is very good: male or female.

KWCH Nice Thing to Write #2 - They made a change on their Saturday morning show. Kim Hynes was taken off the anchor desk and replaced by Kara Sewell. It's a difference of night and day. I had been critical before about that show, now it has a whole new feel. Weather guy Rodney appears more relaxed and natural on the set. I haven't seen enough of Kara's stories to see how she is as a reporter, but she does a nice job anchoring, switching from the happy talk of weather, to the latest shooting overnight or fluffy feel good story in a professional manner. Plus her delivery is not forced and you are not reminded that she is reading from a teleprompter. Now, don't get me wrong, I don't think she's quite ready for Cindy's job, but I think it is another good hire for KWCH.

Former KWCH News Director to KPTS - This post is becoming all about KWCH. (Sorry to some of you). I received an e-mail several weeks ago and I never read it until this morning, when I received a few more comments about this. KPTS has hired former KWCH news director Michele Gors as the station's new President and Chief Executive Officer. She began her position last Monday. -Hal

What makes a Good Story?

A Comment from the last post wanted to know, "What are your qualifications on what does make a good story and what doesn't?" Some of what I write here may sound cliche, but I think it often is forgotten for flash and such. (No, its tempting here, but I wont point out the example of the City's newest arrival. Read previous posts for that.)

1)Must keep a viewer's interest - This is an obvious one, but can be very complex because it incorporates so much. If a story isn't interesting, many things can be at fault: bad subject matter, no story development, poor writing, bad editing, and no connection with the area.

2) Must answer the basic who, what, when, where, and why - Sometimes the answers to all of these 5 questions aren't known and won't ever be known. The challenge is to still engage the viewer and give a clear picture with the answers you have, but don't con the viewer into thinking you have all the answers when you do not.

3) Must fulfill the majority of viewers needs of wanting to know - Although it may sound strange at first, this refers to a shooting down the street and even to the latest escapade with Paris Hilton. Because of this, viewers' needs in a particular area of the country aren't identical. This is where I think consultants often times error. Sometimes they come up with a cure-all formula which may (I only write, "may." I don't like consultants.) help one town's TV station but not the whole country. Because people have many options of getting informed, if a viewer invests a few minutes to watch a story on TV, they better come out of it feeling they learned something out of the deal. Whether its the circumstances of the latest shooting or the name of Paris Hilton's newest dog, the viewer must feel they learned something rather than creating more questions from the story. The problems TV stations and other traditional media outlets have with the internet is the ability for viewers to customize their news intake. They don't have to invest 1:30 or 30 seconds for a story they do not care about. Sure they could flip to one of the other stations during this time, but they may not offer anything of interest either. The internet, on the other hand, can be more convenient for checking out multiple media sources at a faster pace. Don't get me wrong, I still prefer TV news over the internet.

I am only starting on this topic and as I get more comments about this one, I'll probably have more posts on this. So please, respond with your thoughts about what makes a good story. -Hal

The Heap of Sweeps

All three stations had what I guess would be considered Sweeps pieces Tonight. KWCHers will say I am picking on him, but Brian Heap's shtick is too much. KWCH's newest reporter's style is over-the-top. His story Tonight was very 80's like, but nonetheless talked about an important issue how social security numbers and other valuable info can be found in dumpsters. I wished The Heap would have done all of Wichita a favor and just stayed in the dumpster. The story was moving along when he includes the audio from a Pennsylvania woman whose son's info was found in a Wichita dumpster. She then thanks God that The Heap was the one going through the dumpster and that he decided to take the cause on. On his Sunday story he HAD to include a line where a woman was speeding along until she saw the Heap and slowed down. Thankfully he gives himself credit, because I don't know many others who would. Its too bad, because the other reporters at KWCH who do investigative pieces, Kim Wilhelm and Michael Schwanke, do not find it necessary to tell people how important they are to the story. In fact outside of seeing them for a few seconds in the story they do not make it about them. They make their stories about the topic they are covering. WOW!! What a concept. And most of their stories are very good. How this Heap of whatever can work at KWCH, I don't understand. I think KWCH takes a huge credibility hit with The Heap filing stories for them. -Hal.

Local Election Coverage Feed Back

I'll let this post be just for all of the readers as you watch the local stations and their coverage of the election returns Tonight. I don't really expect anything all that surprising as far as coverage goes. In part, I think the local races for Congress and Senate should be decided early with little surprises. As you watch and you see something interesting post a comment and let the discussion begin. -Hal

"In the Zone" = "Heap" of Nonsense

KWCH has a segment they apparently do on Sundays called, "In the Zone." (I hope I got the title right, maybe its "Answer Back 12?") "In the Zone" is a segment where they send new morning anchor Brian Heap out to the streets with a radar gun and he sees how fast drivers go in school speed zones. Let me get this out of the way first: people need to slow down and it appears it is an issue. However, when someone is as obnoxious as him and apparently is making this into a weekly segment, then you have to make note of it. My problem is it looks like a segment all about the reporter with him prancing back and forth and even saying once, "She never hit the breaks until she saw me." Thank God for him. I guess I will fall for the Sweeps ploy or whatever you call it, and watch each week to laugh at the Heap. He goes over the top and to me appears as a Heap of nonsense, but hopefully he will save a few lives. -Hal