If you were watching MSNBC's 'Way Too Early' this morning (and why would you be) you might have noticed that the strange shit at the bottom of their ticker.
Either the font operator is high, it's dummy text or MSNBC has just given up and knows that no one reads the ticker anyway.
Strange stuff.
FTVLive was the FIRST to tell you about firing of KSNW Anchor Justin Kraemer back on December.
Kraemer was fired when he ended the newscast with the line "Let's get the fuck out of here." The station fired him and a Colorado station that was getting ready to hire him, pulled the offer from the table.
Now, Kreamer wants to head to Hollywood and he's asking for donations on the Internet to make it happen.
The fired Anchor has set up a GoFundMe page and is seeking $10,000 to get him to Tinsel Town.
On the GoFundMe page Kraemer writes "Do I deserve your help? No. Not really. My career going up in flames was pretty much entirely my fault. But this is America, dammit! Handing money to people for silly reasons is part of what makes this nation the greatest on Earth."
Kreamer also says that by giving him money, you will be pissing some evil broadcasting people. "If this works, it would infuriate some truly evil people in broadcasting. Who am I to prevent you from the joy you may feel by sticking it to The Man with a donation?" he writes.
But, he admits this is mainly an act of desperation, "if it makes you feel better, I’m very embarrassed to be using a fundraiser as part of the move. But after a career in tv news, six months of unemployment, and no severance from my last employer, I’m pretty broke and am in no position to stop anyone who wants to help me," Kraemer says.
Ahhhh....It's America grand?
It started with fake videos on the Internet, but now it is moving over to the real world.
A few days ago, FTVLive told you about the Toronto Reporter that was interviewing a World Cup fan who dropped the "fuck her right in the pussy!" during the Reporter's live shot.
And now it has happened again. This time it was on Houston's Univision affiliate KXLN. Again, it was while doing a live shot with World Cup fans and even though the Reporter and the fans are speaking Spanish, we think you will understand the "fucked her right in the pussy" part of the live hit.
We have a strong feeling that you will be seeing more and more of this line uttered on live TV news.
Let's go to the video:
Larry Mendte was once a big star TV Anchor in Philadelphia.
But, after hacking into his co-anchor's email account, Mendte was convicted of a felony and fired from his Philly job.
But, somehow he ended up in New York, doing commentaries for the troubled WPIX.
The station parted ways with Mendte and it appeared that the ex-con's TV days were done.
But, like a cockroach, Larry Mendte cannot be killed and he is returning to a job in TV.
Mendte has been hired as the Public Affairs Director of local Me-TV affiliate KJWP Channel 2, broadcasting out of Wilmington, Del.
It's a far cry from NY and Philly, but it proves that no matter how much you screw up in this business, you can still find a job.
The Philly Daily News says that in addition to his role as public affairs director, Mendte will also host two shows. "The Delaware Way" revolves around issues going on in the first state. " . . . And Another Thing with Larry Mendte" features a broader topic of ongoing issues. The shows air back-to-back at 7 p.m. on Saturdays, re-airing Sunday mornings starting at 9.
The debut of " . . . And Another Thing" features Mendte's wife, Dawn Stensland, as a guest.
Wow! That must have been a tough get.
News Press Gazette (NPG) will pretty much rule the Yuma/El Centro market.
Late yesterday, the company announced that it will take control of KYMA and KSWT in the market.
By taking control of these two stations, it will mean that NPG will run the NBC, CBS, ABC and Fox station in town.
So much for competition.
Here is the internal memo sent to the staff:
Mike Meara and NPG announced today that NPG has entered into a “resource sharing agreement” with Blackhawk Broadcasting for the operation of two other network affiliates in the Yuma-El Centro market. The stations are KYMA, the NBC affiliate and KSWT, the CBS affiliate. As many of you know, NPG of Yuma-El Centro already owns and operates KECY and KESE in that market, which includes the FOX affiliate, the ABC affiliate, the CW affiliate and the Telemundo affiliate. Effective immediately, all employees of KYMA and KSWT (except sales) will now become employees of NPG. The sales staff will continue to be employees of Blackhawk Broadcasting. This is just like the KCOY (CBS) agreement that NPG has with Cowles Broadcasting in the Santa Maria / Santa Barbara market.
All of the employees will be moving to the NPG of Yuma-El Centro building in Yuma which is being re-modeled to accommodate everyone. All of the stations will continue to produce the newscasts that they are currently providing. Paul Heebink will continue to be the General Manager.
Please join me in congratulating Paul and his team and in welcoming all of the new NPG employees from KYMA and KSWT.
News-Press & Gazette Broadcasting continues to grow! For the record we now operate 45 affiliates in ten different markets.
WHAS in Louisville is trying to make the news easier to watch....."trying" might be the keyword here.
The station says that viewers told them that they were tired of flickering graphic animations that added nothing to the story they were watching. Now our new, easy-to-read graphic design actually helps you watch the news.
Sounds like a great idea right?
Maybe not.
WHAS explains their new graphic format and it seems a bit confusing, plus you need to learn what all the colors mean?
They write, that on the screen during the newscast, the first line of type tells you what’s happening right now. If you have the sound turned down, or if you just walked into the room, the first line will tell you exactly what’s happening on the screen.
The second line of type tells you what’s coming up next. If there’s a story you’re interested in, the second line will tell you when to expect it. Those stories are also color coded to help you find exactly the kind of news you want, and see when it’s coming up:
At the bottom of the screen, you’ll see a ticker of all the latest news from WHAS11.
How about just telling us the news with video and forget all the graphic crap?
I know, it's a novel concept.
Thanks a lot news consultants.
George Zimmerman's lawyer still sees dollar signs in his client's case against NBC.
James Beasley is vowing to appeal the ruling of a Florida judge who yesterday tossed the litigation from her courtroom.
The Washington Post writes that Judge Debra Nelson wrote that Zimmerman “shall take nothing by this suit” even though NBC News in multiple broadcasts had shortened a police call in a way that inaccurately depicted Zimmerman as volunteering racial information about Trayvon Martin on the night of their fatal encounter in February 2012.
“We obviously disagree with the judge,” says James Beasley, Zimmerman’s Philadelphia-based attorney. “We understand she has her position and we respect it, but we obviously disagree.” An appeal is coming.
Nelson is the same judge who presided over Zimmerman’s 2013 criminal trial, in which he was acquitted of second-degree murder.
Stay tuned....
WGCL Morning Anchor Michelle Burdo opened her mouth and inserted her foot.
During a segment about summer hair tips (how exciting) Monday morning, Burdo standing with a black woman said, “I’m not a colored woman but I have kinky hair just like her and when you straighten it every day, it’s…” She pauses. The woman filled the empty air by saying, “healthier.”
On this morning's show, Burdo said she was sorry.
“Yesterday, I made a pretty insensitive remark during one of our segments here on Better Mornings Atlanta. I apologize… Once again, I truly want to say from the bottom of my heart that I really am sorry about that comment. I made that comment in reference to my hair color but I used an inappropriate term.”
Sorry, I don't buy that the reference was to her "hair color." She would have admitted to the insensitive remark and not tried to make an excuse for it.
If you ask us, she needs to apologize for the apology.
Just saying....
Here's the clip and you can judge for yourself what she was saying.
H/T Atlanta Journal Constitution
It's that time of the month once again. Time to look back on the best news bloopers for the month on June. Some of these you have seen, many you have not. So, sit back relax and watch the TV news bloopers and thank God if you are not in any of the clips.
OK, first off, I have to say that this really happened.
Seriously!
The Weather Channel took 20 seconds out of every other commercial break yesterday to brag that they'd preempted programming to talk about the weather.
Yes....The Weather Channel preempted programing to bring you weather coverage. What a concept!
They had to inform viewers that if they were tuning to the Weather Channel for programing it was being bumped because of weather.....on The Weather Channel!
The 20-second piece that says "tonight's scheduled programming is cancelled to bring you the weather" is beyond parody.
Seriously! WTF?!!!!!!
H/T Gawker
It used to be yelling in the newsroom was as common as booze in the GM's desk.
But times have changed and now yelling can get you some time off without pay.
Case and point, Jeffrey Schneider, the senior vice president of communications at ABC News, was suspended after shouting at a staffer.
Politico writes that the incident, which Schneider confirmed, resulted in a two-week suspension that ended yesterday. Schneider, who is widely known as a high-intensity figure at ABC and throughout the industry, was seen raising his voice in frustration at a staff member earlier this month.
Reached by phone, a contrite Schneider said he had been "out of line."
"I definitely lost my temper," Schneider said. "I was out of line. I made amends to the person involved, and I think the punishment was fair."
Schneider's absence became a subject of discussion within ABC after a security guard accidentally posted Schneider's picture on the wall, network sources said. Security guards are regularly given photos of staffers who have been suspended to ensure they do not enter the building, but those photographs are meant to be kept in a binder, not posted for public viewing.
Schneider's two-week suspension is now over. He returned to work on Monday.
Word out of southwest Florida is that WFTX (Ft. Myers) has rehired Anchor Amy Wegmann.
Wegmann is the wife of former cocaine Congressman Trey Radal (also a former anchor) who resigned from office after his arrest on drug charges.
Wegmann Anchored WFTX’s 10 and 11 p.m. newscasts, before leaving the station in January 2012 to focus on her husband's run for office.
Wegmann joins the station as it is still repotting on the special election to replace Radel.
Can you say "awkward."
Stay tuned....
As July 4th nears, thoughts about the ice desks of this past winter are a distant memory.
It's time for the Sand Castle Desk!
WRAL (Raleigh) has made a news desk completely out of sand
The station said that it took Moore Riley Architects two days to take six tons of sand into this piece of functional art.
WRAL says they will be using over the next few weeks as we report the weather and summer news from our new "beach bureau."
Back in June of 2013, FTVLive told you that Reporter Bob Tur who is credited with for designing and building the first modern news helicopter and the creator of Los Angeles News Service was in the early stages of hormone replacement therapy (HRT) to transition from male to female.
4 days ago, Tur underwent the final stage, gender reassignment surgery.
Bob Tur is now Zoey Tur.
"My 3rd day as anatomically female," Tur tweeted June 27, giving her 72 followers an update. "No fever, pain or swelling. Look forward to never being understood by men or wrong!"
Before Tur underwent the surgery and the change to a woman, a fried suggested that he talk to Dirk Vahle, ."I said, 'Why? Dirk Vahle is an a-hole.' She said, 'Because Dirk is now Dana.'"
The last time they were in contact with one another was during the Simpson chase. After an initially "tense" reunion, Tur and Vahle became close pals, who were able to relate to each other's change process.
"When you go through something like this," Tur added to the station, "it's like going to war. It's very, very rough, and you need people out there who understand. Dana was very understanding."
H/T NY Daily News
Two former Dallas Anchors, Gloria Campos and Rebecca Miller, have found there is life after TV news.
Campos, who retired from WFAA8 earlier this year after a long career as a featured news anchor, says on her Twitter page that she’s signed with the Dallas-based Mary Collins Agency, where she’ll “focus on” voice-over and on-camera work.
Miller, who was a prominent meteorologist at KXAS and later, CW33, says on her Facebook page that she’s the new senior meteorologist at Southwest Airlines.
“I have a lot to learn but it’s going to be fun!” Miller says.
H/T Ed Bark
The Devlin Design Group won the coveted PromaxBDA Gold Award for Scenic Design.
DDG won the award for its groundbreaking scenic design for KSAZ in Phoenix.
Team DDG’s goal was to establish points of difference between KSAZ and their competition in a market where TV News has become a commodity, and everyone’s methods of presentation look alike.
In addition to Team DDG’s stunning design, this news presentation area offers limitless storytelling venues provided by large color-changing backlit walls that can be programmed to change the style and mood of each newscast.
Not only does this dazzling set engage Phoenix viewers, it also energizes news talent and challenges producers to elevate their storytelling. A key part of KSAZ’s daily planning process is a choreography session meant to challenge the unlimited opportunities presented by this gorgeous HD set.
“The PromaxBDA awards honor North America’s best in local television marketing and design. More importantly, the prestigious Gold Award recognizes one of Team DDG’s core values - Creativity. But an equally important part of what we continue to do is to apply our collective knowledge to create innovative new approaches to scenic storytelling. We’re honored by the awards, but equally honored by the continuing support, collaboration and vision of our clients. Thanks to our friends at KSAZ and FOX Television for entrusting their vision to Team DDG. Three consecutive awards for Set of the Year and now the PromaxBDA Gold Award for Scenic Design. Wait till you see what’s next!” —Dan Devlin, Owner/Chief Creative Strategist
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