By Trevor Pettiford A news director once told me, “In news, we give people what they want and occasionally, we give them what they need”. That axiom seemed to be in play Wednesday night during WXIA-TV’s 11:00 newscast. After the obligatory murder, crash and “you’re gonna die” stories of the night, the folks at 11Alive [...]
Archive for April, 2009
28 Apr
Hey- that’s not my name…
There were a few surprises during our top-secret day-long visit to WXIA Monday. Two of them stood out. The first was the climate. It was odd hearing day-laboring reporters and photographers speak of their mutual respect with management, a quality sadly lacking in much of my previous Atlanta TV experience. It was as if I’d [...]
27 Apr
When college professors attack
This post has been updated, correcting an error wherein we mistakenly reported that Mike Moore is currently a weekend anchor at WGCL. Our bad. Give WGCL credit for immediately recognizing the gravity of the story that erupted in Athens midday Saturday. The killing of three people at a theater gathering was a big breaking story. [...]
26 Apr
Tastes like fruit
This post has been updated, correcting the date of the broadcast. You know how some smart-ass Ivy League liberal went “undercover” and enrolled at Jerry Falwell’s Liberty University? Great idea. He wrote a book about it. Wish one of my kids had thought of it. Anyway. We’re not above stealing a good idea. So when [...]
23 Apr
Off the plantation
Think you work in a rough environment? Put yourself in the shoes of Shepard Smith, the Fox News Channel guy who manages to hold his job despite his kool-aid free diet. Here’s another reason to kinda love Shep. From Gawker:
21 Apr
“TV news stinks”
Last week, WXIA News Director Ellen Crooke spoke to a class of journalism students at Georgia State University. During a powerpoint presentation, she displayed a slide that read: TV news stinks. Intrigued, we asked her to respond to a few e-mailed questions. 1. You told the GSU students that “TV news stinks.” Please elaborate. Local [...]
20 Apr
New tilt?
The editorial voice of the AJC is both a blessing and a curse. For liberals who like to see their views passionately argued in print, it’s a blessing. It’s a curse, however, for liberals who want anybody else to actually listen to them. Its viewpoint is so predictable that the newspaper is reviled and ignored [...]
16 Apr
Made for TV
The Atlanta Tea party Wednesday was a legit story. But it carried lots of baggage, mostly because of its heavy embrace by the Fox News Channel. And two stations had ties to the event’s host, an unabashed partisan who jumped at the chance to do interviews. Observations: Though he’s obviously a fan, Richard Belcher approached [...]
15 Apr
Thanks for nothin’, Comcast
The cable company known as Comcast is taking its sweet time restoring service to LAF World HQ, located in the 30033 area code. Sadly, LAF’s internet service is dependent on this company. So this blog will be on hiaitus until Comcast gets around plugging us back in. Feel free to advise us to switch [...]
12 Apr
Old habit
When the LAF household renewed its AJC subscription last week, it was a classic act of faith, hope and a hint of charity. The newspaper is no longer indispensible. Rather, it’s an old habit. During baseball season, the habit starts with the sports page. And with a new pro baseball team in town — the [...]
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