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Local News Making National Headlines

As most know, I am from Northeast Ohio. I live about 40 miles southwest of Cleveland. I work on the east side of Cleveland.

Two items from NE Ohio made national headlines yesterday. There was a school shooting spree in downtown Cleveland, and a train derailment up I-90 a bit in a town called Painesville. Very rare that you would have two news events of that magnitude happen so close together on the same day.

Ohio Media Watch, a blog that was started as a hobby by one who has posted on the same message boards as myself, and the inspiration for me to start this one, has some very good inside information on the coverage. The shootings occurred within sight of the WKYC/Channel 3 studios. I know some of the folks who stop by here appreciate good media coverage and that's why I wanted to bring this to your attention today instead of when I do my next blog review.

And since I don't watch a lot of television news, I am calling on my two experts-Bizdecision and newsnomore, to maybe give me and my other readers their take on the coverage. But I won't limit it to those two. Anyone who wants can give an opinion of the coverage.

Comments

Pat Jenkins said…
where is rittman wixygrad. and what do you think of lebron sporting the yankees lid?
October 11, 2007 5:37 PM
Cliff said…
Rittman is in northeast Wayne County, about 20 minutes southeast of Akron and 40 miles south of Cleveland.

I think way too much was made of Lebron wearing the Yankees cap, and it took the attention away from the Indians.

Lebron can wear whatever ball cap he wants, as long as he plays basketball to the best of his abilities for the Cleveland Cavaliers.
October 11, 2007 5:50 PM
Anonymous said…
I thought the coverage was really good on all fronts. I was upset with Dan DeRoos of 19 ACTION NEWS who felt the need to call out his own name and place of employment when asking a question at the press coference...and then asked a very stupid question. There was a tragedy that occured and the only reporter that had to yell out their place of employment was this clown.
October 11, 2007 5:54 PM
Anonymous said…
I only viewed a small portion of the coverage. When it was in its early stages, I saw the cut ins on CNN from the TV in my office.

They were showing the live shots from Kim Wheeler on Channel 3. Occasionally, they would cut in with channel 19.

Kim was interviewing one of the students, who decided he needed to drop the "F-Bomb" when describing what he saw. Kim handled it very well, wrapping up the interview quickly, probably wondering if she just earned the station an FCC complaint.

I thought Ed Galleck of channel 19 handled his live shot really well. The audio on his live shot was down, so he called in on his cell phone. They used his cell phone audio over shots from the helicopter until his life shot could be re-established. On the air, live, he went from his cell phone to a full audio and video feed from the scene. He handled it extremely well.

Unless you've done it, there is so much that goes into a breaking story of this magnitude. You not only have the challenge of finding the facts, but also everything else that goes with TV news...mainly, technical difficulties.

You have directors yelling in your ear, people trying to make you goof up on the sidewalk, in addition to collecting information, then reporting it live.

A very, very stressful situation that only a veteran reporter can handle smoothly.

Been there. Done that. Don't want to do it again.

The poorest coverage I viewed was from CNN. Fredricka Witfield was anchoring the breaking news and really made some imbecilic comments.

Too many times reporters "speculate" when they don't have fact to fill the time.

We see this much too often.


It is days like these that I'm glad I am, indeed, newsnomore.

peace out.
October 12, 2007 6:50 AM
Pat Jenkins said…
i should have went farther down your blog wixy, you already answered my lebron question. my fault. i don't know if i would be as "forgiving" of his act as you!!!! the tribe in 6?
October 12, 2007 1:17 PM
Liquid said…
This was a horrible incident to see on television, since I too do not watch it often. Great coverage though. Good post WIXY!
October 13, 2007 8:29 AM
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