Prompter props for all three

[prompter]

It's been a while since I have settled down with a warm cup of "joe" and pecked away at the keyboard, extolling the virtues of
Rochester tv news, but here it goes:

WHEC: The new graphics will force the other two to ramp up theirs---that simple. It's a slick look, especially love the
over the shoulder "spillover" graphics on the camera reads. I also find myself stumbling into their 24 hour weather
channel on my off-air digital lineup. It's a great concept, one that NBC national should be praised for doing. I
can satisfy my weather Jones 24 hours a day---love it!

WHAM: Their website is the best in town, bar none. Mr. Samuels did a great job enhancing it prior to departing for the
GM's seat. It is user friendly, has all the video's I need to find, and is a concise collection area for the news and
information I thirst for. I can't always figure out their choice of new-hires, but when you have been number one
for that long, do as you please.

WROC: Once again, Mr. Walsh has hand plucked a nugget from small market Americana. I saw a refreshing Ali Tuohey
telling me all I needed to know from the heinous track derailment yesterday--guess I know where to get stocking
coal for Christmas. Walsh seemingly has the midas-touch, the acumen to cultivate the "blue-chipper" from a sea
of mediocrity. Good job by all and have a great weekend.

 

[rocktv]

I haven't had a chance to watch "Mr. Walsh's" small-market hires, but even if they are greatest ever, Channel 8 has lost so much institutional knowledge, these kids can't compete.

 

[BobRoss]

WHAM: Their website is the best in town, bar none. Mr. Samuels did a great job enhancing it prior to departing for the
GM's seat. It is user friendly, has all the video's I need to find, and is a concise collection area for the news and
information I thirst for. I can't always figure out their choice of new-hires, but when you have been number one
for that long, do as you please.

I agree -- I think TV websites based on Insight Media's template are usually neater and more organized than TV stations with websites running on the "World Now" or "Internet Broadcast Systems" platforms. Even though Insight is owned by Newport TV (the new owners of Clear Channel TV) they even have a few stations that weren't owned by CC... so apparently anyone can get it. Too bad more don't. Some of these TV websites out there are way too cluttered.

It amazes me how tough it can be to find something as simple as the programming schedule on some stations' sites. But anytime I've happened to come across an Insight-based site in my wandering of the web, it seems pretty easy to find stuff.

 

[canofworms]

i'm a lurker who finally decided to post because its finally getting back to relevant discussion here... i agree that 13's website is the best, 10 had an old site for too long and 8's site is just confusing now. prompter -- none of us seem to know about 8's new ND. is he a local guy, a SUNY grad, stuff like that? seems like they're always bringing in new reporters who have no clue about the city to replace those who do. if you ask me that's 8's real weakness -- bunch of out of state recent college grads who can't locate Roch on a map

 

[BobRoss]

I don't know if you can blame the News Director of a station for his hires, so much as the corporate owner. WROC could probably pull in more people with better connections if they weren't so cheap about hiring. This ND (and any other ND in any other last-place station in the country) is basically stuck hiring "whoever" is willing to work for the salary they're offering. In most cases, that's gonna be younger, less-experienced talent.

Compounding the problem is WROC's reputation for being in last place. Anyone who grew up in the area, knows it well, and has a clue about TV news is probably going straight to 10 or 13, knowing those are the better stations and they'll be paid better (and have their work seen by more people). So, in addition to young and inexperienced, you can add "unsuspecting" to the adjectives to describe channel 8 applicants. These folks just see "Rochester" on the job posting and go for it, because it's a step up in market size, they'll do their time, and move another 20 or 30 markets up the ladder. They don't care if WROC is in last place, because they aren't coming to try to make WROC a better station -- it's just a stepping stone to their next job.

They might not know how to pronounce "Chili" properly, but chances are, they won't really care because the News Director in Orlando, Minneapolis, Richmond, Vegas or wherever else those resume tapes being sent, won't catch the error either. But as long as they look good on TV, that's what matters.

 

[Sxottlan]

I guess I shouldn't be surprised that we at R News are not mentioned, yet I consistently am. :'(

 

[Mark Giardina]

R-News

I guess I shouldn't be surprised that we at R News are not mentioned, yet I consistently am. :'(

I watch R-News and think you folks do a professional job. Give my sincere best wishes to anyone left there who still remembers me.

Unfortunately I will be pulling the plug on cable this summer because, in all honesty, I can't see paying around $1,500 a year for channels that either carry the same movies and shows over and over again; nor can I see having to shell out for infomercial stations.

 

[Kohoutek]

I haven't had a chance to watch "Mr. Walsh's" small-market hires, but even if they are greatest ever, Channel 8 has lost so much institutional knowledge, these kids can't compete.

We could just call them "Jerry's Kids" , but that monicker is usually associated with the annual MDA telethon which if memory serves airs on Channel 10.

Walsh, by the way, is not much more than a kid himself,...and just as clueless.

 

[The Voice of Reason]

Rochester is just a stopping-off point for many of these young reporters that are being hired. All these kids are interested in is padding their resumes and moving on to larger markets. The veterans on TV either started their careers in Rochester or came to town back in the 80s and decided to stay.
The real question that needs to be asked is how many people bother to watch TV news anymore? And for those who do, if the product is that bad, why then don't they voice their concerns to those running these television news operations?

 

[dustintv]

Say has anyone else noticed that both the websites for both WHAM and WHEC are rather similair?

 

[BobRoss]

And for those who do, if the product is that bad, why then don't they voice their concerns to those running these television news operations?

For most viewers, it's just easier to change the channel, than it is to take 10 minutes to e-mail the News Director. That is, if you can even find the News Director's e-mail address on the website. Not speaking specifically about Rochester, but in general... some stations make it pretty tough to find that address. Many stations make it pretty easy to reach generic newsroom e-mail address, but many viewers probably figure it's just some blackhole where the message will never actually make it to the right person... so they don't even bother.

Some viewers really do care, and take the time to send an e-mail. But in most cases, the matters are out of the News Director's hands. Corporate owners simply won't pay Market #1 salaries for talent in Market #78.

Blame cable TV for the crappiness of local news -- for two reasons.

1) More channels means more competition, and thus, smaller audiences. Smaller audiences means less revenue, and therefore, less money available for talent salaries. When there were fewer channels, local stations made a lot more money, meaning they had a lot more money to recruit solid talent, and keep it there.

2) More cable news channels means more news jobs at "the top of the ladder." Before cable, TV news personalities looking to climb the ladder were limited to just 2 or 3 local stations in each market and 3 network news departments. Today, you have some markets with 4 or 5 broadcast stations doing news. In some cases, like we have in Rochester and Syracuse, you have 24/7 local cable news. At the network level, you've still got the big three, in addition to CNN, MSNBC, Fox, The Weather Channel (which is recently getting "newsier") and a handful of other networks that utilize news people. What I'm getting at is that there are more jobs at the top, making it easier for talent to crawl up the ladder faster than ever before -- even if it's faster than they really "should" be going.