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DOUG DUNBAR AT CBS 11 KTVT..ONCE AGAIN FLUNKS GEOGRAPHY

K

KPLEXCOMPLEX

Guest
AT 4:07pm he was talking about the weather in Austin And San Antonio. In one sentence he moved the Frio River located in Uvalde( Sw Texas) and the adjoining Garner State Park to ..San Antonio. Uvalde is 78 miles sw of San Antonio. He said "?folks along the Frio at Garner State park in San Antonio are experiencing some flooding".. Please somone take up a collection and buy some Atlas's ,pronunciation guides, and Beginners Geography for the news anchors at Ch.11
 
KPLEXCOMPLEX said:
AT 4:07pm he was talking about the weather in Austin And San Antonio. In one sentence he moved the Frio River located in Uvalde( Sw Texas) and the adjoining Garner State Park to ..San Antonio. Uvalde is 78 miles sw of San Antonio. He said "?folks along the Frio at Garner State park in San Antonio are experiencing some flooding".. Please somone take up a collection and buy some Atlas's ,pronunciation guides, and Beginners Geography for the news anchors at Ch.11
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Okay, it's an obvious mistake to folks like you who lived in San Antonio or anybody else familiar with the area, but it's not an obvious gaffe to most of the viewers around Dallas-Fort Worth. Then again, it was probably somebody else who made the original error in geography. Dunbar has only been at KTVT for three years so he's still learning the lay of the land and it doesn't help if a story contains factual errors that he can't immediately recognize. So my thinking is to start the education process with the people in the trenches; buy 'em books and have them take a tour (a virtual tour, that is) of the Lone Star State.
 
You're giving the guy a pass because he's only been there three years? My god whatever happened to simple professionalism?

A truly professional TV news anchor comes to town at least a month before they go on the air. They immerse themselves in a crash course in learning the layout of their new town BEFORE they ever go on the air. They learn the geography, the local pronunciations, street and people names that always trip up the newbies, learn who the local politicians, socialites and big players are, so they can hit the ground running on their first day and sound like they didn't just get off the bus.

I've seen a great example of that just recently, when Lucy Noland came to KHOU Houston from New York City. She did exactly what I just spelled out, and she went on the air on her first day sounding like someone who had been there for a year.
 
Honestly, I've lived in both Dallas and San Antonio. I paid very close attention to geography in Dallas (since I wasn't all that familiar with Texas at the time). Generally, Dallas stations didn't cover much South of Waco. The problem is that the anchors have much less tenure these days. Certainly, Jane, Mike, Gloria, John, and Clarice wouldn't make these types of errors.

On the other hand, San Antonio citizens don't care much about anything North of San Marcos.

Frankly, if Doug had said "near San Antonio" rather than in San Antonio, the statement would have been accurate.
 
FilioScotia said:
You're giving the guy a pass because he's only been there three years? My god whatever happened to simple professionalism?

A truly professional TV news anchor comes to town at least a month before they go on the air. They immerse themselves in a crash course in learning the layout of their new town BEFORE they ever go on the air. They learn the geography, the local pronunciations, street and people names that always trip up the newbies, learn who the local politicians, socialites and big players are, so they can hit the ground running on their first day and sound like they didn't just get off the bus.

I've seen a great example of that just recently, when Lucy Noland came to KHOU Houston from New York City. She did exactly what I just spelled out, and she went on the air on her first day sounding like someone who had been there for a year.
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Yes, I am giving the guy a pass, with some conditions. Do we really know whether it was Dave's error, a simple slip of the tongue, or as I suggested, an error in copy that wasn't caught? I'll say again that it shouldn't be all about the anchor; it has to be a team effort, making sure that it's right before the newscast begins.

Remember that San Antonio is around 275 miles down I-35 from Dallas. Home base for KTVT is a world apart from San Antonio (and Houston, for that matter). Moreover, Texas is a huge state, with 254 counties and hundreds of oddly named cities and towns. Add in all the local variations in pronunciation and it takes time to become relatively familiar with it all. All local newspeople should know how to pronounce Waxahachie and Coppell, and local streets like Lancaster or Cadiz. And that it's Zang Boulevard in Oak Cliff, not Zang's. But how long should it take Dunbar or other D/FW anchors to be expected to know the location of the Edwards Aquifer recharge zone? Where is the Kemah Boardwalk, and what's the meaning of the terms "Caprock" and "Llano Estacado"? And what are those small bodies of water in the Lower Rio Grand Valley called "resacas"?

The point about the KHOU-TV anchor is well taken, but it may be a matter of perception. Hitting town a month before you sit at the anchor desk is just the beginning of what should be a continuing education. What she picked up in a crash course doesn't really equal the knowledge gained over the span of several years in a market. Considering that even some seasoned pros still make glaring pronunciation or location errors, getting thoroughly familiar with the entire viewing area could easily take three years for someone. Instead of lowering the bar, I think I'm being realistic, especially when it comes to being an "expert" on Texas, which could take a lifetime. And that, folks, comes from a native Texan. After all these years I'm still learning.
 
Nobody's perfect, we all make mistakes, certainly someone with only 5 mins in which to do an entire forcast, live without rehearsal in front of a blank blue screen.

Also, at the last station I worked at, I never heard of anyone using copy to do their forcast, since the the device they would have read the prompter on is switched so that they can see their map.
 
Doug "supposedly" had worked in San Antonio before,so he should know better. Second JD is partially corect,it seems KTVT is in desperate need of a pronunciation guide and a proof reader before it hits the teleprompter. Doug has mispronounced "Medina( Muh deena) and called it Muh DYNA on past ocassions. So the fault does lie with the News Director,however the anchor should always proof read his/her copy.
 
Meanwhile, over at WFAA: looks like they need to re-issue maps to the reporters in the field. (Maybe Hi-Def maps?) The big story tonight was the flooding, which is especially severe in the Horseshoe Bend community in southern Parker County. Channel 8's Darla Miles was on the scene, which is along the Brazos River upstream from Granbury. Her pronunciation of the river resembled BRAH-zuss. Of course, how it's pronounced often depends upon whom you ask, but hers was a combination of Spanish (BRAH-zose) and a commonly used local version, BRAZZ-uss. That's minor when compared with her statement about the reason for the flooding, the huge amount of water being released upstream at "King Possum Lake." Bless her heart. She tried to correct herself (twice, in fact) but settled on "Possum Lake." Possum Kingdom Lake. The dam, completed in 1941, is about 65 miles west of Fort Worth. After tonight's faux pas, I'm betting Darla will know the real name of the lake before she files her next report.
 
Hitting town a month before you sit at the anchor desk is just the beginning of what should be a continuing education. What she picked up in a crash course doesn't really equal the knowledge gained over the span of several years in a market.

You're right of course. An anchor's and a reporter's education should never stop, in radio and TV. We all never stop learning about the town and area we work in. My point is that this education should begin before the anchor gets to town, not after.

It really shows when they wait till after, but it looks oh so good when they sound like they've been there awhile on their first day, as Lucy Noland did at KHOU.
 
Well JD..Maria did it as well at Ch.11"BRA..ZOSE". Whatever happen to the good old days when reporters wrote their own copy, proofread their own copy, and had a 99% accuracy in pronounciation and having full knowledge of geography?
 
KPLEXCOMPLEX said:
Well JD..Maria did it as well at Ch.11"BRA..ZOSE". Whatever happen to the good old days when reporters wrote their own copy, proofread their own copy, and had a 99% accuracy in pronounciation and having full knowledge of geography?
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They've been all over the place with name of that river. During the ABC evening news their on-scene reporter referred to it as the "BRAZZ-uss" three times. I was stunned, since that really is the most commonly accepted pronunciation. Contrast that with the Channel 8 news which followed at 6, when Jeff Brady elected to call it the "BRAH-zose." Considering the Spanish influence on Texan culture, maybe that's neither right or wrong, although there needs to be consistency. But wait, there's more: Jeff handed it off to a cub reporter standing beside the swollen river, who gave it a new name, "BRAHZ-oh." A silent "s" in Brazos? I've never heard that one. (Oh, and one more note: if I'd even been a TV news director, I'd probably be completely bald by now!)
 
KPLEXCOMPLEX said:
Doug "supposedly" had worked in San Antonio before,so he should know better. Second JD is partially corect,it seems KTVT is in desperate need of a pronunciation guide and a proof reader before it hits the teleprompter. Doug has mispronounced "Medina( Muh deena) and called it Muh DYNA on past ocassions. So the fault does lie with the News Director,however the anchor should always proof read his/her copy.
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How long ago did Doug work in San Antonio? I don't remember him.

As for Medina, maybe Doug anchored in Seattle. They have a "Muh DYNA" there. Gone are the days when anchors are from the area or stick around for LONG periods of time.

I grew up in Seattle and we have a ton of Native American names -- it's HARD WORK to learn all of the names!!! But, those anchors from out of town do learn them and I've heard few mispronounciations over the years.

Hawaii has to be THE most challenging, if you're not from there!! :D
 
Hawaii would be a trip if you're not a native. I'll hand that to you AA. JD is right. It sums up todays NEws directors, and anchors do not believe in "prep",just a "Glossing Over". There is still NO excuse for any mis pronounciation. If you are reporting, anchoring, you need to make time names ,locations are all spelled and announced correectly. Your credibility is at stake.
 
Sometimes a new anchor doesn't even know what questions to ask. If you weren't from around here, you might not even think twice about saying "PAL-uh-STYNE."

A lot of it depends on producers/writers who are looking out for the anchors. At least once a day I'm telling someone on my staff (whether they ask or not) how to pronounce a place. Twice this week, I've pointed out to all reporters/photographers: "BRAZZ'-us," and some folks on another station are saying it incorrectly.
 
KPLEXCOMPLEX said:
Hawaii would be a trip if you're not a native. I'll hand that to you AA. JD is right. It sums up todays NEws directors, and anchors do not believe in "prep",just a "Glossing Over". There is still NO excuse for any mis pronounciation. If you are reporting, anchoring, you need to make time names ,locations are all spelled and announced correectly. Your credibility is at stake.
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I agree and it reflects poorly on today's journalists. For example, if you can't pronounce "Bexar" correctly ;), how much research was put into that story from "Bexar" County. Furthermore, should I have any confidence in their reporting skills???

Personally, I am an aviation enthusiast. I am ashamed at how many mistakes the media makes in reporting aviation topics. Furthermore, I hate the "this is going to be a long hot summer if you're traveling" stories. Instead, the reports need to be focusing on the historically low fares that passengers are demanding, the antiquated ATC system that the gov't is utterly incapable of replacing (they've been promising to replace it for over 25 years!), and the effect of huge management bonuses on the rank and file airline employees (and the unions refusal to take some of their pay in stock thereby enabling their constituents a chance to cash in on higher stock priices).

My doctor friends laugh at many of the medical reports. They say that a lot of them are based on a press release on a SINGLE medical study. Any new cure must be the subject of MANY studies and approval by the government.

This is the sad state of the news business today...
 
Speaking of aviation stories, on Channel 8 just recently, they had some video and it shows AA with an aerial view of DFW Airport and their terminals, there are about 6 DC-10's parked at the gates.

Now how old is that video?

The most respected guy in the aviation news business is John Nance. He used to be a pilot with Braniff and wrote a book about their demise, "A Splash of Colors". Great book.

If I am not mistaken, he then became a pilot for Alaska Airlines, don't know if he still flies for them or not, due to the age 60 rule, which is the stupidest rule still out there in the FAA rule book, in my opinion.

I'd much rather have a 60 year old or 64 year old pilot up front, than a 34 year old pilot.
 
JayDavis said:
Speaking of aviation stories, on Channel 8 just recently, they had some video and it shows AA with an aerial view of DFW Airport and their terminals, there are about 6 DC-10's parked at the gates.

Now how old is that video?
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It depends. Were there any 727's parked next to the DC-10's??? ;)
 
There was a few 707's,some DC 3's,and a few P-38's for the business execs.;)
 
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