Skip to main content

Some Media Topics

Surfing around the blogs this evening, I have noticed my friend Tim Lones has posted a clip from the very first "Tonight" show, which was broadcast in 1954. In it, Steve Allen talks about the show, and it following the success of the Today Show. I suggest you go take a look over at Cleveland Classic Media at the clip. And while you're there take a look around at other posts. Tim puts a lot of research in his blog.

I had heard a blooper on the radio this morning. About 7:30am(EST), on WMJI/105.7, newsman Chip Kullick had read a report that Ted Kennedy was going to endorse Barack Obama for president, and that he was the second member of the clan to do so. I guess he realized what he had said and quickly added, "the Kennedy clan." I thought it was quite funny and shot off some emails. One of the folks who I had emailed was Struke(of Media Matters fame). Struke, a former radio and television news reporter is a self proclaimed "news geek," and being such is a quality inspector as far as news is concerned. Struke emailed me back and told me that that was a great example of bad writing, since radio and television reporting had to appeal to the ears and since the words "klan" and "clan" sound the same, that was a poor choice of words. I was paraphrasing as I was too lazy to open up my email. And Struke, you are more than welcome to use my comment section if you want to expand on this. And if newsnomore, who is a Cleveland broadcast hall of famer, is reading this, the invitation goes for you, too.

Both of these gentlemen take their news seriously and would never read a line like "Two teenage punks robbed a liquor store yesterday," or "The scumbag should be given the maximum sentence." Was a time when broadcasters not only went to college, but they sounded like it.

Comments

Tim Lones said…
Cliff:
I have on DVD a "Morning Exchange" interview with former channel 5 news anchor, John Hambrick on the occasion of WEWS-Channel 5's 50th anniversary. on December 17, 1997. He said something to the effect that the main problem with TV news at that time was the writing, that it wasnt as good as before..and this was over 10 years ago..
Anonymous said…
WIXY...thank you for referring to me as a "quality inspector." I feel honored to wear that hat instead of the "quality manager" title that has the cushy chair at your place of employment.

Popular posts from this blog

Post 800: Time to chat

Hi Guys, It's hard to believe that this is post number 800 for this blog. I started this blog out of my desire to communicate. Since radio and television is becoming more and more automated and less and less personal, I'm glad I made the decision to go in this direction as it has given me many blessings. When I first decided to write my musings, a friend from the radio and television boards who goes by the name of newsnomore, told me not to be discouraged if I didn't get any readers. The fact that I did in the early going made me surprised and grateful that anyone was enjoying what I wrote. I've had people tell me that maybe it wasn't meant for me to ever be in radio, that maybe my calling was blogging. Nowadays I think blogging makes for better two way conversation than terrestrial radio, especially the way I do it, non confrontational. The closest I come from any confrontation is the innocent digs that Pat and I shoot at each other. On an average day I get betwee

Lawson's Chip Dip

On a couple of occasions I have written posts dedicated to Lawson's, a convenience store chain that was located in Ohio for close to 50 years. In the late 1980's the chain was bought out by Dairy Mart, of Engfield Ct. Dairy Mart was then purchased by Alimentation Couche-Tard, and most stored were rebranded Circle K. Something that has survived the years since Lawson's has left the landscape is Lawson's Chip Dip. I get many hits on this blog from people out of Ohio, I'm thinking former Buckeyes, looking for availability of this chip dip. I had gotten an email from a former resident of Cleveland looking for it. I emailed Circle K about this sometime ago asking if it was possible to send the dip out to those out of state, they said because of quality issues that it was not possible. My only suggestion would be to get in touch with Circle K in your home area and ask them to start stocking this very popular item that seems to make every get-together complete. Now we wil

Sometimes Sports are Just Sports

 This may or may not make the final cut of my book. I was writing about some events this weekend and what had started as a joyous Friday night at my home school district became a weekend of heartbreak in the area after what happened at another school. Sometimes We Need to Realize That Sports are Just Games   Friday nights in late summer and early fall are sometimes a big deal for high school students and their families. As the long-time band announcer for my local high school, it is a time of year I always look forward to. This past Friday night was originally supposed to be the homecoming game for the local high school. The schedule had to be changed a bit because of the uncertainty of the opponents being able to field a team. There was talk around the league that they may have had to forfeit this game, so homecoming for the local school was rescheduled. The opponents, which are rivals of my local school district, were able to field a team and the game was played. The game was