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Does WFAA still use beat reporters?

B

bpatrick

When I lived in the Metroplex in the late '70s,
Marty Haag was news director at Channel 8, and
I recall that he had each of his reporters covering
one beat: one reporter covered Austin; another, Dallas
City Hall; a third, Tarrant County politics, etc.
It meant that every reporter was an expert on his/her
beat, and I remember it was singled out in some of the
trade publications as a reason Channel 8's news was
considered, along with WCCO/4 Minneapolis/St. Paul, as
one of the two best local-news operations in the country.

Does Channel 8 still do this or do they use all general-
assignment reporters?
 
> When I lived in the Metroplex in the late '70s,
> Marty Haag was news director at Channel 8, and
> I recall that he had each of his reporters covering
> one beat: one reporter covered Austin; another, Dallas
> City Hall; a third, Tarrant County politics, etc.
> It meant that every reporter was an expert on his/her
> beat, and I remember it was singled out in some of the
> trade publications as a reason Channel 8's news was
> considered, along with WCCO/4 Minneapolis/St. Paul, as
> one of the two best local-news operations in the country.
>
> Does Channel 8 still do this or do they use all general-
> assignment reporters?
>
I believe they're going the cheap route these days and using mainly pool reporters.
 
> > When I lived in the Metroplex in the late '70s,
> > Marty Haag was news director at Channel 8, and
> > I recall that he had each of his reporters covering
> > one beat: one reporter covered Austin; another, Dallas
> > City Hall; a third, Tarrant County politics, etc.
> > It meant that every reporter was an expert on his/her
> > beat, and I remember it was singled out in some of the
> > trade publications as a reason Channel 8's news was
> > considered, along with WCCO/4 Minneapolis/St. Paul, as
> > one of the two best local-news operations in the country.
> >
> > Does Channel 8 still do this or do they use all general-
> > assignment reporters?
> >
> I believe they're going the cheap route these days and using
> mainly pool reporters.
>
Nope. They have a reporter covering Collin County, One for Tarrant, and one for Dallas County. Janet St. James covers all Health news ,The anchors ,when they are not "anchoring"(weekday and Local) will cover major stories except Gloria. Her exception could be because she does "Wed. Child". All other reporters are assigned to certain newscasts and report accordingly,mostly follow ups.
 
> > > When I lived in the Metroplex in the late '70s,
> > > Marty Haag was news director at Channel 8, and
> > > I recall that he had each of his reporters covering
> > > one beat: one reporter covered Austin; another, Dallas
> > > City Hall; a third, Tarrant County politics, etc.
> > > It meant that every reporter was an expert on his/her
> > > beat, and I remember it was singled out in some of the
> > > trade publications as a reason Channel 8's news was
> > > considered, along with WCCO/4 Minneapolis/St. Paul, as
> > > one of the two best local-news operations in the
> country.
> > >
> > > Does Channel 8 still do this or do they use all general-
>
> > > assignment reporters?
> > >
> > I believe they're going the cheap route these days and
> using
> > mainly pool reporters.
> >
> Nope. They have a reporter covering Collin County, One for
> Tarrant, and one for Dallas County. Janet St. James covers
> all Health news ,The anchors ,when they are not
> "anchoring"(weekday and Local) will cover major stories
> except Gloria. Her exception could be because she does "Wed.
> Child". All other reporters are assigned to certain
> newscasts and report accordingly,mostly follow ups.
>
I forgot about Steve Stoller in Collin,what does he do actually? I always thought he worked for the plano paper
 
> Nope. They have a reporter covering Collin County, One for
> Tarrant, and one for Dallas County. Janet St. James covers
> all Health news ,The anchors ,when they are not
> "anchoring"(weekday and Local) will cover major stories
> except Gloria. Her exception could be because she does "Wed.
> Child". All other reporters are assigned to certain
> newscasts and report accordingly,mostly follow ups.



That's really impressive :).

No wonder TV stations "steal" stories from newspapers.

I know ... stations did it to me.

And, sometimes the idiots call their stories "exclusives".

In fairness, Channel 8 has probably done it the least.

But, of course, Belo owns "The Morning News".

Be informed ... read a newspaper ... or two.
 
Part of the ax falling at Ch 8 last October, the Austin and Fort Worth bureaus were closed. Dave Cassidy still heads up the D.C. Bureau, but I'd bet that he also handles it for all other Belo stations as well (and yep, the same Dave Cassidy that was reporting at WFAA when you lived here in the 70s!) Belo is more likely to use their affiliates as "beat reporters", like KVUE covering Austin, KHOU covering Houston, etc. I saw former Bryan and Houston sports anchor Jeff McShan (now KHOU reporter) filing a hurricane report last week for Ch 8 before Pete/Brad/Justin got there.

I'd guess that Stolar's offices are free at the Plano newspaper, since they show the newspaper logo in the background during all of his reports. Freebies and tradeoffs, Channel 8 can handle.


> When I lived in the Metroplex in the late '70s,
> Marty Haag was news director at Channel 8, and
> I recall that he had each of his reporters covering
> one beat: one reporter covered Austin; another, Dallas
> City Hall; a third, Tarrant County politics, etc.
> It meant that every reporter was an expert on his/her
> beat, and I remember it was singled out in some of the
> trade publications as a reason Channel 8's news was
> considered, along with WCCO/4 Minneapolis/St. Paul, as
> one of the two best local-news operations in the country.
>
> Does Channel 8 still do this or do they use all general-
> assignment reporters?
>
 
> Part of the ax falling at Ch 8 last October, the Austin and
> Fort Worth bureaus were closed. Dave Cassidy still heads up
> the D.C. Bureau, but I'd bet that he also handles it for all
> other Belo stations as well

Yes he does. Belo sister station KTVK (Phoenix) has regular reports from Dave Cassidy.
 
> Part of the ax falling at Ch 8 last October, the Austin and
> Fort Worth bureaus were closed. Dave Cassidy still heads up
> the D.C. Bureau, but I'd bet that he also handles it for all
> other Belo stations as well (and yep, the same Dave Cassidy
> that was reporting at WFAA when you lived here in the 70s!)
> Belo is more likely to use their affiliates as "beat
> reporters", like KVUE covering Austin, KHOU covering
> Houston, etc. I saw former Bryan and Houston sports anchor
> Jeff McShan (now KHOU reporter) filing a hurricane report
> last week for Ch 8 before Pete/Brad/Justin got there.
>
> I'd guess that Stolar's offices are free at the Plano
> newspaper, since they show the newspaper logo in the
> background during all of his reports. Freebies and
> tradeoffs, Channel 8 can handle.

Lots of misinformation here, as far as I can tell from my friends at 8.

Austin bureau still exists, but without a permanent staff (reporters just go down to Austin when the Legislature is in session, etc.) The Fort Worth bureau is alive and well, as evidenced by the many reports out of there every day.

WFAA has their own bureau at the Frisco RoughRiders park too - the DMN CC bureau is across the county in East Plano.

They still have beats there, too - it worked for many years, so there's no real reason to change it. As you mentioned, besides the aforementioned bureau reporters, Janet St. James does health, Chris Heinbaugh is at City Hall, Dan Ronan handles aviation-related stories, etc. Not sure of the rest - you'd have to ask someone who knows the day-to-day grind up there.
 
Well, you got me there. My mis-information may just be somewhat dated. Far as I recall, the FW Bureau was on the chopping block during last October's cutbacks, but never heard (or saw) otherwise since. Austin, too. The Plano bureau WAS once at the Plano Star-Courier's office on E Plano Pkwy, 801 I believe, near the Racetrac station and 'Love and War in Texas.' Guess they moved.

Other beats:

Debbie Denman-only heavy rains, floods, hurricanes
Michael Rey-the Ron Chapman Beat
Dale- the Bookie Beat
Alexa- the Greek Beat

> Lots of misinformation here, as far as I can tell from my
> friends at 8.
>
> Austin bureau still exists, but without a permanent staff
> (reporters just go down to Austin when the Legislature is in
> session, etc.) The Fort Worth bureau is alive and well, as
> evidenced by the many reports out of there every day.
>
> WFAA has their own bureau at the Frisco RoughRiders park too
> - the DMN CC bureau is across the county in East Plano.
>
> They still have beats there, too - it worked for many years,
> so there's no real reason to change it. As you mentioned,
> besides the aforementioned bureau reporters, Janet St. James
> does health, Chris Heinbaugh is at City Hall, Dan Ronan
> handles aviation-related stories, etc. Not sure of the rest
> - you'd have to ask someone who knows the day-to-day grind
> up there.
>
 
> > I'd guess that Stolar's offices are free at the Plano
> > newspaper, since they show the newspaper logo in the
> > background during all of his reports. Freebies and
> > tradeoffs, Channel 8 can handle.


Yeah, and it looks as cheesy as it gets.


> Lots of misinformation here, as far as I can tell from my
> friends at 8.
>
> Austin bureau still exists, but without a permanent staff
> (reporters just go down to Austin when the Legislature is in
> session, etc.)


That's no bureau ... that would be a morgue ... in newspaper terms.



> The Fort Worth bureau is alive and well, as
> evidenced by the many reports out of there every day.
>
> WFAA has their own bureau at the Frisco RoughRiders park too
> - the DMN CC bureau is across the county in East Plano.


> They still have beats there, too - it worked for many years,
> so there's no real reason to change it. As you mentioned,
> besides the aforementioned bureau reporters, Janet St. James
> does health, Chris Heinbaugh is at City Hall, Dan Ronan
> handles aviation-related stories, etc. Not sure of the rest
> - you'd have to ask someone who knows the day-to-day grind
> up there.


That would kind of a drag.

You do it.
 
>>
> Other beats:
>
> Debbie Denman-only heavy rains, floods, hurricanes
> Michael Rey-the Ron Chapman Beat
> Dale- the Bookie Beat
> Alexa- the Greek Beat
No. Alexa( Morticia) news bureau is located at 1313 Mockingbird Lane.
 
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