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.  Ben Roberts of WALB, Larry Blunt of WLOS and Stephanie Maxwell of WAPT are also nominated.  Brenda Wood of WXIA is the only Atlanta anchor nominated in this category.

By the numbers: WXIA got the most news nominations, edging WSB.  WLOS of Asheville got more nominations than WGCL.   Here’s the LAF count, strictly unofficial (and, undoubtedly flawed since I ran out of fingers and toes):

• WXIA,  24 nominations
• WSB, 21
• WAGA, 12
• WLOS, 9
• WGCL, 8
• WYFF, 6

WGCL even somehow got excluded from the “station excellence” category.  That category included WXIA, WSB and WAGA, plus WYFF in Greenville.

Investigative reporting rules. Wendy Saltzman’s name appears in five of WGCL’s eight nominations.  Dale Russell got nominated for his outstanding coverage of the fall of Glenn Richardson on WAGA.  Shawn Hoder and Ross McLaughlin got an investigative reporting nod at WXIA.

“Interactivity” is a relatively new category.  WXIA got the only Atlanta news nomination.  Via the web, the station connected a soldier serving in Iraq with the high school graduation of his triplets.  Fox Sports South got the only other nomination in this category for an SEC football show.

“News Excellence” is a vague category which appears geared for head-to-head competition among news directors.  There are only two nominees:  WXIA news director Ellen Crooke, and WYFF news director Justin Antoniotti.

The General Assignment Reporter category is packed with worthy nominees:  Jaye Watson and Duffie Dixon of WXIA; Jeff Dore of WSB; and Michelle Marsh of WGCL.  Marsh is a nights-and-weekends 2009 newcomer to Atlanta.   The others are solid veterans.  It’s too bad they can’t all win this category.

No photographers were necessary, apparently, for WAGA’s “breaking news” nomination.  The station’s nod for flood coverage gives sole credit to two anchors and an executive producer.

Andrew Young, the former mayor / UN Ambassador turned TV documentarian, got more nominations than WSB anchor / diva Monica Pearson.  Jovita Moore, Pearson’s WSB heir-apparent, also got more nominations than Pearson.

The bloviating blogger who chews through untold bandwidth MBps bashing dimwitted “breaking news” gets a nomination at WXIA — in “spot news.”  Figures.