Here’s a story that should have been vetted over and over in the WAGA newsroom before its managers decided to send Denise Dillon after it: Three pigeons were hanged at the Cobb Co. sanitation transfer station. Hanged, as in somebody took fishing line and tied it around the necks of the three pigeons. The story [...]
Archive for November, 2008
11 Nov
Stupid questions
By Scott Hedeen From my experience, there are NO dumb questions in news. Not unless you count these. Anybody who spent any time working in the TV news biz has a few “humdingers” they can remember. Below are a few I actually witnessed. 1. “What was the first thing that went through your mind?” asked [...]
10 Nov
Subprime time
Finally, a local TV station has produced a truly compelling story with an interesting snapshot of the subprime mortgage mess. Amanda Rosseter put a piece on WSB which focused on a recent home sale that got tossed out in court. The reason: The home seller’s mortgage was being paid, at least on paper, by a [...]
9 Nov
A tale of two garbagemen
Ouch. That pain is from a deep bite wound inflicted in the gluteal region of WGCL’s investigative unit. Turns out, WGCL’s Wendy Saltzman was onto something when she pursued her ill-fated investigation into overtime at Atlanta’s sanitation department. Saltzman viewed city records showing that sanitation workers racked up gobs of overtime. Saltzman had a tipster [...]
6 Nov
The de-fanged cartoonist
Highlights from fast-forwarding through WXIA’s three hours of local election coverage on WATL, which featured a cast of characters and commentators making guest appearances: “Why, at your age, are you writing a book? Shouldn’t you be out playing?” Reporter Kevin Rowson, to “noted kid and author” 13 year old Jonathan Krohn, about his book Defined [...]
5 Nov
Atlanta’s newest / oldest celeb
Word is that local TV news crews began showing up at the Atlanta home of 106-year old Ann Nixon Cooper as early as 1:30 Wednesday morning. Cooper is the woman referenced repeatedly in President-elect Barack Obama’s victory speech Tuesday. No field personnel would actually pitch such a ridiculous idea. It came from a manager, probably [...]
4 Nov
Ratf#cked
Maybe Gena Abraham Evans, now Georgia’s DOT commissioner, did something wrong while head of the Georgia State Financing and Investment Commission. Maybe she allowed her personal relationship with a contractor in a state construction project to cloud her judgment. Maybe she erred by failing to disclose that relationship. Maybe Dale Russell’s I-Team investigation into those [...]
3 Nov
Who’s that guy?
Election night might be a tough sell for local TV. The presidential race is at center stage, and the networks and cable news channels will own the audience. Not to mention, John Stewart and Stephen Colbert will host an actual live broadcast at 10 election night. Talk about must-see TV. Perhaps it’s in the spirit [...]
2 Nov
Winne Watch 10.31.08
“William Mayberry says the Halloween horror for his family is real… Police Chief Joe Whisenut says the homicide haunts him six years later.” WSB’s Mark Winne, on the unsolved murder of a woman Halloween night 2002. Drama points: √√√ (out of five.)
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