Comments on: Live Apt Fire

By: Rick Foley

Rick Foley — Wed, 04 Apr 2012 11:59:45 +0000

I dread the day a one-man-band gets injured or killed because there wasn’t a second set of eyes to watch out for the unforseen……. Mental patient with a news grudge, oh wait, that’s the Tea Party. Swerving car, tractor-trailer entering picket lined gate of labor greivence, the usual everyday stuff. GOOD LUCK to this brave young woman. She and her ilk will need it.

By: Mirtha Vaca-Wilkens

Mirtha Vaca-Wilkens — Tue, 04 Oct 2011 20:57:28 +0000

Doug…so cool to run across your blog. It made me remember my days at WAGA. I’ve been in Seattle where I’ve worked in news and then transitioned to the non-profit world. It’s been good. I have to admit, I don’t miss the apartment fires or for that matter, bad weather stories, one bit! I’m returning to Atlanta this Fall and would love to catch up. Cheers, Mirtha Vaca-Wilkens

By: Mary Jane Boyd

Mary Jane Boyd — Mon, 23 Aug 2010 18:25:50 +0000

Thank you Doug for your kind words. Yes, David was a damned good newsman. I loved how he would be telling/reciting a script he had written that day and would be typing on an imaginary keyboard at the dinner table.

I remember your daughter’s diagnosis and the effect it had on both of us. I trust she’s doing fabuouly well – and a college graduate by now . . . we are old.

And thank you for your lovely letter you sent me – yes, I still have.
Love to you and yours,
MJ

By: live apt fire

live apt fire — Sat, 21 Aug 2010 10:19:37 +0000

Hi Melinda–
Great to hear from you. Your dad, David Boyd, was a great American and one of the good guys in our business — a guy who “got it,” as your note indicates. He was a pretty damned good newsman. He was also very generous and humane. When my 18-month old daughter was diagnosed with diabetes in 1988, David wrote me a lovely, caring note that I kept and still have (somewhere). So yes, of course I remember your dad (and your mother, Mary Jane). David was an extraordinary guy who left us at way too young an age. Thanks for writing — please give my regards to your mom.
-dr

By: Melinda Boyd

Melinda Boyd — Fri, 20 Aug 2010 20:11:17 +0000

Hi Doug,

I was surprised and pleased to learn about your blog today via the AJC. I also didn’t realize you had left TV news but then again, I left Atlanta in 2005 and when I’m back, I don’t spend much time watching the news. That being said, I LOVE your take on local news. I’ve only read one blogpost so far and it definitely had me laughing at my desk. It’s the same sort of perspective my father (who also worked at WAGA/Fox 5 News) used to share with us at the dinner table every night. I think you may remember him? David Boyd? Anyways, he LOVED all of the ridiculousness and pomp and “LIVE! APARTMENT FIRE”-type crap that surrounded the local news world and so I’m glad to see someone posting similar commentary.

By: Beth Cope

Beth Cope — Mon, 29 Mar 2010 00:37:29 +0000

Whenever I have media interest in a press conference I always tell my clients to cross their fingers and pray that there is not an apartment fire. That’s why they pay me the big bucks…

By: dave cohen

dave cohen — Fri, 19 Mar 2010 18:31:30 +0000

I’ve lived in Atlanta for 16 years and night after night, at 6 and 11, I’m amazed at how 4 news stations consistently have 4 different lead stories.

The absence of a clear consensus seems to indicate that each station’s self interest — perceived “exclusivity” — trumps genuine news that affects the largest segment of the population.

In the case of perennial ratings leader WSB-TV, my perception is that “minority-on-minority” crime seems to lead their 11PM newscast more frequently than any other story. More often too than Channels
5, 11 or 46 at 11PM.

Wondering if the news community shares any of these views?

By: John Gunter

John Gunter — Thu, 18 Sep 2008 14:20:32 +0000

what happened to Patty Pan and Charles Molineaux at Fox?

By: Gray

Gray — Tue, 02 Sep 2008 00:01:02 +0000

Hey. I just recently posted on my blog about the morals in covering a story like the pregnancy of Sarah palin’s daughter. With your experience, I’d love to see your opinion on the obligations of the news media to report such a sensitive story…

http://leftonlanier.wordpress.com/2008/09/01/morality-questions/

By: Scott Hedeen

Scott Hedeen — Thu, 17 Jul 2008 00:47:11 +0000

“You totally come across as someone yearning to be back on the air. You consume your free time by watching news so you can mock it.

How sad! ”

I love this post! Sad is right! Doug needs to be toting a Mini Cam around Atlanta coming up with stories that make focus groups smile in between pizza bites and picking out free T shirts.

Look at it like this… Trust someone who can speak from experience… not someone who speaks from the inner office memo.