WXIA reporter Marc Pickard will retire Friday, concluding a 34 year career as one of the premier storytellers in Atlanta TV news. I asked longtime WXIA reporter Jon Shirek to write a few words marking the occasion, excerpted below. By Jon Shirek For news to remain “news,” we will always need journalists to dig up [...]
Archive for the ‘shirek jon’ Category
29 Nov
Karma
In most professions, your competition is a pain in your neck. That’s certainly true in the business of TV news. But today I’m here to praise my competition. I might even say I’m thankful for them. But that’s just the tryptophan talking. The tryptophan reminds me of the time when, following the verdict in the [...]
15 Jul
Re-education camp
Earlier this month, WXIA sent one of its most experienced reporters to backpack journalism school and scheduled classes for another. The reporters, Paul Crawley and Jon Shirek, began work in TV news during the film era. Crawley (left) joined WXIA in 1978, Shirek in 1980. “Backpack journalism” is a 21st century term for a brutal [...]
10 Jun
Good, bad, ugly
The Good: Jon Shirek’s 6pm piece on WXIA on gas-crunch changes in auto sales. Shirek spoke with a dealer who no longer takes SUVs on trade-ins. He also revealed that hybrids may be less cost-effective than an old fashioned four-cyclinder buggy. As always, Shirek’s piece was thoughtful and well-written. The Bad: WXIA’s new and unclever [...]
1 Apr
Shirek’s Book of Revelations
This is how you cover an apartment fire. The best story on WXIA’s 7pm news Monday was Jon Shirek’s piece about a complex that burned overnight. The story could have been a cliche, filled with phrases like “lucky to be alive” and “picking up the pieces of their broken lives.” Shirek, one of the best [...]
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