Marc Pickard retired from WXIA in September. It was bittersweet for all of us. Pickard is a gifted storyteller, and a guy who probably never had an undignified moment in his entire career. Even when he covered breaking news, Pickard was at his best. His retirement process paralleled my own departure from WAGA in 2007, [...]
Archive for the ‘WSB’ Category
13 Aug
Trampling the flag
Update: This is video of WXIA’s coverage. The flag topples at 1:52. Runoff night got really weird at the Nathan Deal celebratory party Tuesday. It was a low moment for Atlanta TV news. Deal was unexpectedly eking out a victory for the Republican nomination for Governor. He ascended to the podium to address his supporters. [...]
14 Jun
Fined by OSHA
The Occupational Safety and Health Administration has fined WSB $5000 for safety violations surrounding its live truck accident in November. The accident took place when a WSB crew exited the parking lot of the Fulton County jail with its microwave mast raised. The mast came into contact with some 115,000 volt transmission lines above Rice [...]
21 May
Winne watch 5.13.10
“…Before one of three robbers posing as police gunned down Donnie Glass, one of them stole his big platinum ring with diamonds. And now (the detective) hopes a description of the fake cops rings true with someone who calls in a tip.” WSB’s Mark Winne, in a piece about the unsolved murder of a man [...]
9 May
FrenEmmys
Noteworthy, overlooked and undervalued observations from the 2010 Southeast Regional Emmy nominations, announced Friday: The region’s “best” news anchor may work in Montgomery, Albany GA, Jackson Miss. or Asheville. Mark Bullock, the Montgomery anchor (and UGA grad) who won an Emmy last year for “On-Camera Talent – Anchor – News,” is nominated again this year. [...]
29 Apr
Gamesmanship
Local and federal courts are re-writing standard charges to juries to prevent jurors from using popular internet sites during trials. A Fulton County rape trial recently ended in mistrial because a juror researched the case on Google. I successfully pitched a story on it. We went to the Fulton County Courthouse to interview a judge [...]
12 Apr
Plus ca change…
Photo from Feeding the News Beast. The news business may evolve, but certain truths remain constant. A TV newscast must have stories that are timely, relevant and interesting. Important stories are a plus. When news is done well, it helps viewers. It doesn’t help them pay their bills, necessarily, or win grievances with their landlords. [...]
30 Mar
Trust me
When I was teaching at Georgia State University last Spring, I asked a local elected official to speak to my journalism class about media relations. The official showed up, then took me by surprise: He launched into a bitter rant about “so-called investigative reporters” who, he said, twist facts to suit a preconceived storyline. I [...]
8 Mar
LAF by the numbers
Recently this silly blog managed to grab the attention of its 400,000th set of eyeballs. At around the same time, it recorded its 3000th comment. That doesn’t necessarily speak to its popularity as much as it speaks to my inexplicable persistence in crunching out new material every week. One reason for the persistence: My stats [...]
11 Feb
Winne Watch 2.11.10
“So the key is: Who are the three men in the small, dark compact car?” – WSB’s Mark Winne, closing a live shot about the unsolved killing of a gay man. Police are investigating it as a possible hate crime. Winne’s intro had an almost manic demonstrative quality. The black trenchcoat was classic gumshoe wear. [...]
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