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Coverage of Savannah Sugar Refinery Explosion- TV

U

upstate29651

Last night an explosion rocked the Savannah Sugar Refinery, injuring between 40 & 100 people. Local TV kinda sorta swung into action.

WTOC was wall to wall, as was to be expected. Very repetitious, with Sonny throwing in his 'old folksy references to people he knows at nearby churches. WTGS actually did a pretty good jobwith what little they have to work with. WSAV did a scroll, and some cut ins, but that was it.

What was exposed last night was the terrible excuses this city has in the way of reporters, and ENG. We are a small market, and we don't have helicopters. What we have are fresh out of journalism school kids, replete with the "deer in the headlights" look when live on scene, and the gadgets avaialable to the field reporters are poor & of low quality.

It just seems this TV market is stuck in the old days with Doug & Cap'n Sandy as the main attractions. What will it take for TV news in Savannah to become somewhat more palatable?
 
upstate29651 said:
Last night an explosion rocked the Savannah Sugar Refinery, injuring between 40 & 100 people. Local TV kinda sorta swung into action.

WTOC was wall to wall, as was to be expected. Very repetitious, with Sonny throwing in his 'old folksy references to people he knows at nearby churches. WTGS actually did a pretty good jobwith what little they have to work with. WSAV did a scroll, and some cut ins, but that was it.

What was exposed last night was the terrible excuses this city has in the way of reporters, and ENG. We are a small market, and we don't have helicopters. What we have are fresh out of journalism school kids, replete with the "deer in the headlights" look when live on scene, and the gadgets avaialable to the field reporters are poor & of low quality.

It just seems this TV market is stuck in the old days with Doug & Cap'n Sandy as the main attractions. What will it take for TV news in Savannah to become somewhat more palatable?
Click to expand...

Your guess is as good as mine. It's like I've often said, there are two factions in this city - one who, like myself, wants to retain the historical aspects of Savannah but move it forward into the 21st century; the other faction wants to remain hopelessly mired in the past, and that opinion spreads through all aspects, even TV news in this market (though I think WSAV wipes the floor with them all, in terms of presentation and budget...some may think that's not saying much in market #97 but IMHO WSAV is still light years beyond the other stations).
 
WTOC won't change until their ratings slip, and then only after a fight. I agree that WSAV is the most professional-looking news operation -- and that they ought to be the leader in the market -- but in the Savannah millieu, WTOC's folksy style still draws the larger audience. As to the other stations: IMO, management doesn't seem to view the news department as an essential element of the operation. A promotional campaign might help, just so long as there is something worth promoting.

As to last night's coverage, I think WTOC would have better served the community if they had done periodic updates as WSAV aired. The effort involved in the 5-1/2-hour broadcast was wasted because, for most of that time, there was really nothing new to report. Fresh details did not become available until around 11:30 when rescue officials held their news conferences. Even then, it was painfully obvious that none of the reporters had much of an idea the sorts of questions to ask.

Rather than standing around in a circle slapping one another on the back for a job well done, perhaps the local stations' news departments ought to be looking at how their efforts compare with those of stations in other markets during similar situations, and resolving to take the steps necessary to assure needed improvement in local television news coverage ... even if this means letting go of cherished traditions and the people associated with them.


This is just my opinion. It and a buck fifty will buy you a cup of coffee, but there you have it.
 
I understand that Bill Edwards did reports for WTKS, but I don't get a reliable signal in the evening, so I don't know what or how much coverage 1290 provided. WBMQ may have had coverage as well, but someone else will have to provide details. I am so used to not having local radio news, I did not occur to me to check.
 
KIX and WBMQ had a reporter at the refinery Friday morning. Everyone else there was TV.
 
CC Stations were fed via Bill Edwards Thursday night. Friday the jocks did updates and we played WTOC updates throughout the day.

My show was mostly dedicated to letting people call in and promoting blood drives and donating to the burn unit via the Southern Women's Show.

We have a page set up where people can leave comments and download a black ribbon at 973kissfm.com
 
Oh, there's no helping me!

Gotta use humor at some point to deal with the tragedy. My standard 48 hour rule has long since expired.

G
 
Yes, there is such a thing as over-involvement in the community:

http://www.wtoc.com/global/story.asp?s=7885267

At the bottom of the article:

"Barbecue organizer Gerald Schantz says that everything was paid for and donated so every dime collected today will go towards the Imperial Sugar Refinery Burn Fund set up at SunTrust Banks. Schantz says they raised just shy of $22,000 dollars from the barbecue. Many from the WTOC News team were on hand to help serve food and spend time with the community also."

Folks at 11 THE News place: back off, ok? How about reporting the news for once, and not inserting yourselves into the story? I get tired of hearing about Sonny going to a church social & eating fried chicken, and singing a tune on his git-tar. Savannah is not quite the hokey place it once was.

G
 
"Folks at 11 THE News place: back off, ok? How about reporting the news for once, and not inserting yourselves into the story?"

Ah, my friend, aren't you quite the dreamer?
 
upstate29651 said:
Folks at 11 THE News place: back off, ok? How about reporting the news for once, and not inserting yourselves into the story? I get tired of hearing about Sonny going to a church social & eating fried chicken, and singing a tune on his git-tar. Savannah is not quite the hokey place it once was.

G
Click to expand...

Forget it, G - as long as Bill Cathcart is GM of WTOC, the station will continue to be the joke, the utter embarrassment of Savannah television that it has been for decades now.
 
Witchlover said:
"Folks at 11 THE News place: back off, ok? How about reporting the news for once, and not inserting yourselves into the story?"

Ah, my friend, aren't you quite the dreamer?
Click to expand...

Apparently so.

Now, we have full page ads in the News-Press taken out by ambulance chasing lawyers from Texas. In a few months, we'll see one from WTOC that basically says, "We were there from the start, we cared mored, we covered your story more, we served you food, gave you blood, and golly gee, we did it because Jeebus loves you, and he loves us too. WTOC: No one loves you more than we do!"

*yack*

G
 
FilmCritic3K said:
upstate29651 said:
Folks at 11 THE News place: back off, ok? How about reporting the news for once, and not inserting yourselves into the story? I get tired of hearing about Sonny going to a church social & eating fried chicken, and singing a tune on his git-tar. Savannah is not quite the hokey place it once was.

G
Click to expand...

Forget it, G - as long as Bill Cathcart is GM of WTOC, the station will continue to be the joke, the utter embarrassment of Savannah television that it has been for decades now.
Click to expand...

Well, to a point, yes. But I'm also aware that the bigger issues is as long as viewers & advertisers are willing to accept "hayseed tv", WTOC will always be tops.

G
 
upstate29651 said:
Witchlover said:
"Folks at 11 THE News place: back off, ok? How about reporting the news for once, and not inserting yourselves into the story?"

Ah, my friend, aren't you quite the dreamer?
Click to expand...

Apparently so.

Now, we have full page ads in the News-Press taken out by ambulance chasing lawyers from Texas. In a few months, we'll see one from WTOC that basically says, "We were there from the start, we cared mored, we covered your story more, we served you food, gave you blood, and golly gee, we did it because Jeebus loves you, and he loves us too. WTOC: No one loves you more than we do!"

*yack*

G
Click to expand...


I think they're probably already editing that spot together -- along with their submission to the regional Emmies for Best Spot News Coverage and Best Community Service by a Local News Operation. Not to mention that gold-plated Attaboy for being such good neighbors.

As to the attorney ads: One cannot help but notice that Morris Newspapers didn't refuse to run those full-page ads. But they will swell up with righteous editorial wrath about the abuses that same group has commited if such comes to pass.
 
WTOC is "hayseed", because Savannah is "hayseed". They wouldn't do it if it didn't make money.

It used to drive me nuts until I got a glimpse one day of how much money the station makes, and could see how much the community loves them.

Just cuz their folksy, doesn't mean their not ingenius.
 
My first wife and I lived in Savannah in the early 90's while I worked for WSAV. WTOC was hayseed back then. Good to see that some things never change.
 
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