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Stay Classy, Bismarck

I feel really bad for the kid, and hope he gets another chance. He's obviously not ready to anchor a newscast yet (though I submit his co-anchor doesn't seem to be any better), and needs more training—perhaps as a field reporter—before he can confidently tackle the anchor desk.

If the station details A.J. Clemente's career before it starts, it will be a crying shame. They are as much to blame for this incident as he is.
 
I could tell the problem just from the clock alone; there is no ungodly reason on a Sunday, especially on a Sunday afternoon newscast in North Dakota where nothing but fluff community events are 'reported' (trust me, the Midwest local news template on Sunday afternoons is too heavy on non-news), that the show had to start early at 4:59; they're in a definite non-metered market where there's no point to get an early start off to catch an extra tenth of a ratings point. The kid was flustered expecting to be on at 5pm and thought it would start then, but the news director started early and definitely had bad judgement in that 'oh hai, look we have a new guy here' introduction.

And of course the mic shouldn't have been live at that moment to let the co-anchor introduce her partner. This entire fiasco made 'Boom Goes The Dynamite' look professional in comparison. ;D
 
I still remember being in elementary school when Tulsa news anchor Beth Rengel was fired when she didn't know she was on-air, was having problems with her mic and "God damnit!" went out in the 10 PM news. I believe that was on KTUL, though she worked at every station in the market except KOKI before she left to go into advertising.

While she eventually resuscitated her career and got a hefty contract from KOTV, the incident followed her around forever. Even a decade later, when she was interviewed by a news magazine in a local celebrities section, the celebrities were asked, "I was so embarrassed I could have crawled into a hole the time I..." Her answer was, "Guess!"

In a sense, it seems like this shouldn't be a big deal. When doing a radio show, I've dropped the f-bomb and the s-word on a Saturday afternoon. Most of my radio friends have a similar story (or two). Neither I nor anyone I know even heard about those incidents let alone got any sort of reprimand.
 
AKA said:
I feel really bad for the kid, and hope he gets another chance.
Click to expand...

I'm with you. There but for the grace of God go any of us who have worked with microphones hooked up to transmitters.

I just spent a few minutes reading his Twitter feed all the way back a month or so to his telling his sweetheart goodbye and driving cross-country to Bismarck. This is heartbreak. No time to pile on.
 
This reminds me of a news director I once worked for. He insisted that when there was an opening for a GA reporter that they should not have anchoring experience, or if they did they should not tell him about it. If they included shots at an anchor desk in their demo tape, he put their resume at the bottom of the pile.

Why? Because these applicants were wasting his time telling him about a skill he didn't need. ::)

Wondering if this news director has the same philosophy.
 
Oh well, it's obvious he didn't have a clue of what he was doing.

The station should have him apologize on air then, that's that.
 
Hope this doesn't sound prudish, because I am not - I drop the "F" bomb all the time. But there was a time in America (maybe 50 and more years ago, now) when people knew not to use swear words in "polite" company. Being 61 years old, my grandmother was born in the 1890s, and was quite Victorian. You not only couldn't swear around her, but there were other words that she considered crude. If I said, "That stinks," she would gently reprimand me with," Not acceptable! Say it smells bad, dear."

The point is - we knew there were times you had to control your...uh...vocabulary, whether or not you were upset or angry. I would think it would be a good idea for those in broadcasting to try to renew that sensibility - to protect themselves - and be aware they should never use a cuss word anywhere near a microphone - on or "off."
 
my rule of thumb has always been, if you see a mic, consider it Live, and you will never use language like that.
 
Lkeller said:
Hope this doesn't sound prudish, because I am not - I drop the "F" bomb all the time. But there was a time in America (maybe 50 and more years ago, now) when people knew not to use swear words in "polite" company. Being 61 years old, my grandmother was born in the 1890s, and was quite Victorian. You not only couldn't swear around her, but there were other words that she considered crude. If I said, "That stinks," she would gently reprimand me with," Not acceptable! Say it smells bad, dear."

The point is - we knew there were times you had to control your...uh...vocabulary, whether or not you were upset or angry. I would think it would be a good idea for those in broadcasting to try to renew that sensibility - to protect themselves - and be aware they should never use a cuss word anywhere near a microphone - on or "off."
Click to expand...

This is a good point. And since he just started working with his female co-anchor all the more relevant. I've learned to refrain from cursing around new female co-workers until I hear them curse first.
 
Lkeller said:
Hope this doesn't sound prudish, because I am not - I drop the "F" bomb all the time. But there was a time in America (maybe 50 and more years ago, now) when people knew not to use swear words in "polite" company. Being 61 years old, my grandmother was born in the 1890s, and was quite Victorian. You not only couldn't swear around her, but there were other words that she considered crude. If I said, "That stinks," she would gently reprimand me with," Not acceptable! Say it smells bad, dear."
Click to expand...

We must be related because I think I had the same grandmother. But she rarely said anything. She didn't need to. She had a glare that said it all and, trust me, you did not want to be the recipient of "the glare". ;D
 
One bit of inside baseball...while the kid's lips were moving when the camera came up, they didn't match the words.

I think I know what happened. The voiceover headlines at the top of the newscast...that's rarely done live. My bet is he pre-recorded that. It was undoubtedly multiple takes, which is probably why he swore. He didn't turn off the mic and didn't hit end on the recording. So the expletives were on the file. Camera comes up, he's reading over his first story, lips moving.

Now, usually, the voiceover headlines would be edited together, voiceover and video, and someone might have caught the words there, but it's possible (especially if they were behind on deadline) that the control room rolled the video and the voiceover separately.
 
“@ClementeAJ: Unfortunately KFYRTV has decided to let me go. Thank you to them and everyone in ND for the opportunity and everyone for the support.”
 
To be a good anchor, you have to be a good reporter. This is what happens when your hire an entry level staffer. No one with any experience... OK, a few people with experience would have known better.
 
Lkeller said:
Hope this doesn't sound prudish, because I am not - I drop the "F" bomb all the time. But there was a time in America (maybe 50 and more years ago, now) when people knew not to use swear words in "polite" company. Being 61 years old, my grandmother was born in the 1890s, and was quite Victorian. You not only couldn't swear around her, but there were other words that she considered crude. If I said, "That stinks," she would gently reprimand me with," Not acceptable! Say it smells bad, dear." The point is - we knew there were times you had to control your...uh...vocabulary, whether or not you were upset or angry. I would think it would be a good idea for those in broadcasting to try to renew that sensibility - to protect themselves - and be aware they should never use a cuss word anywhere near a microphone - on or "off."
Click to expand...
I'm with you. The anchor's slip up was as much a reflection of decaying contemporary mores as a poorly timed indiscretion. But, I do hasten to agree with posts above that the consequences he suffered were unnecessarily harsh. This young novice will likely struggle for years, paying for one moment of runaway passion, while an overpaid major league baseball figure will likely get a free pass for dropping the F-bomb on a live baseball telecast.
 
Neil Rattigan said:
To be a good anchor, you have to be a good reporter. This is what happens when your hire an entry level staffer. No one with any experience... OK, a few people with experience would have known better.
Click to expand...

Bismarck is an entry-level market. In fact, it looks like it may not even be a Neilsen-rated market. Anyplace much below market #100 hires fresh out of college, and few stay more than a year (if that) before moving on to higher-paying jobs in bigger markets.
 
michael hagerty said:
Neil Rattigan said:
To be a good anchor, you have to be a good reporter. This is what happens when your hire an entry level staffer. No one with any experience... OK, a few people with experience would have known better.
Click to expand...

Bismarck is an entry-level market. In fact, it looks like it may not even be a Neilsen-rated market. Anyplace much below market #100 hires fresh out of college, and few stay more than a year (if that) before moving on to higher-paying jobs in bigger markets.
Click to expand...

It's Market #151.
 
jfrancispastirchak said:
Lkeller said:
Hope this doesn't sound prudish, because I am not - I drop the "F" bomb all the time. But there was a time in America (maybe 50 and more years ago, now) when people knew not to use swear words in "polite" company. Being 61 years old, my grandmother was born in the 1890s, and was quite Victorian. You not only couldn't swear around her, but there were other words that she considered crude. If I said, "That stinks," she would gently reprimand me with," Not acceptable! Say it smells bad, dear." The point is - we knew there were times you had to control your...uh...vocabulary, whether or not you were upset or angry. I would think it would be a good idea for those in broadcasting to try to renew that sensibility - to protect themselves - and be aware they should never use a cuss word anywhere near a microphone - on or "off."
Click to expand...
I'm with you. The anchor's slip up was as much a reflection of decaying contemporary mores as a poorly timed indiscretion. But, I do hasten to agree with posts above that the consequences he suffered were unnecessarily harsh. This young novice will likely struggle for years, paying for one moment of runaway passion, while an overpaid major league baseball figure will likely get a free pass for dropping the F-bomb on a live baseball telecast.
Click to expand...

Contemporary mores are decaying, but I promise you, the Murrow and Cronkite-era reporters swore like sailors in the newsroom, women present or not.

And again, it's pretty clear this kid was in a voice booth and not standing next to his co-anchor when he let fly.

He should have hit the "end" button.

He should have turned off the microphone.

He should have listened to what he recorded before hitting "send".

But on his first weekend anchoring, after only a week or two as a reporter, the News Director herself should have been shadowing him through every step.
 
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