There were a couple of good things about Joanna Massee’s lead story on WGCL Tuesday at 11. The story, billed as a “CBS-46 investigation,” was a worthwhile bit of enterprise: Check the records of complaints against Atlanta’s 911 center, and see if the center has badly botched any calls. It’s newsworthy in light of the [...]
Archive for September, 2008
17 Sep
Winne Watch 9.16.08
“Take a look at this necklace. And, with it, this earring. Or perhaps, a piece of an earring. We understand it was found along with the human remains belonging to a woman who may have looked like this, found in 1993.” -WSB’s Mark Winne Tuesday Sept. 16 at 6pm. Winne performed the live shot in [...]
16 Sep
It’s buyout time
Think there was any discomfort at the AJC (or other newspapers across America) when Garry Trudeau submitted these pieces? They’re running this week.
16 Sep
We dislike Ike
Here’s a topic for your next journalism class: How do you handle the gasoline shortage story? The question is worth asking because the news media contributes to the mindset that causes panic, hence shortages. Is there any way to avoid that? The story has been out there since Friday, when Hurricane Ike hit Texas. Gas [...]
14 Sep
Pants on fire
It’s time to call BS on WGCL’s claim of producing the “top stories and tomorrow’s forecast in the first five minutes” on its nightly 11 o’clock news. On Friday, the forecast didn’t appear until six minutes and ten seconds into the newscast. On Thursday, it was at five minutes and fifteen seconds. This is nitpicking, [...]
11 Sep
Bunker mentality
Sports reporting is supposed to be fun, right? Of course it is. Unless you happen to be the Georgia Tech Sports Information department. In that case, you view sports reporters as the enemy. It’s been that way for years. And it’s a sharp contrast to the University of Georgia’s sports information folks. At UGA, they’ve [...]
11 Sep
Kill the story
WXIA’s Kevin Rowson is an uncommonly sensible local TV reporter. He’s level-headed, even-handed and can smell baloney from a mile away. When the whiff emanates from his own newsroom, and that of his Atlanta competitors, he recognizes it instantly. Recently, WXIA sent Rowson to a Cobb County home where firefighters, police and animal control officers [...]
10 Sep
Palin’s competitor
Turns out Miss Alaska 1984 lives in Smyrna. Maryline Blackburn beat another candidate named Sarah Heath. The also-ran ended up as Alaska Governor Sarah Palin, now running for VP with John McCain. The AJC’s Dan Chapman produced a piece on it Monday. He reported that Sarah Heath wrote Blackburn a congratulatory note: “Instead, the flute [...]
9 Sep
O’Reilly v. Tucker
What an odd Saturday assignment for a three-person camera crew: Stake out the home of AJC editor Cynthia Tucker, ambush her when she arrives home from the grocery store, and confront her with questions about a recent column. Mostly Media suggests that Tucker should have invited them in for sweet tea and pound cake. Turns [...]
9 Sep
Public Apologist
The good news: The AJC says it is “re-thinking” its position of Public Editor, the editor responsible for corrections and sustained public gripes to the newspaper. The other good news: The previous Public Editor, Angela Tuck, has moved on to another editor position. Tuck handled the job during an ugly period for the AJC, when [...]
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