A Challenge For The Media

Fort Wayne media primarily operates in a reactionary mode. Aside from covering fires, floods and disasters, they cover stories when prompted to by press releases issues by the authorities or other organizations that they favor. 

So, here's a challenge for Fort Wayne media: There is reason to believe that the Treasure House Thrift store/rescue mission, for reasons that are not quite clear, threw out dozens of garbage bags full of clothes that were donated to them. Sounds impossible, right? 

Please direct your attention to this person's Facebook page and note the audio recording and text information there. 

Here's the link to the video: 

https://www.facebook.com/jennifer.d.walter.7/videos/10153914312754880/?pnref=story

If this is a real story, please report it. If this is a hoax or misunderstanding, please let us know. 

21Alive, Spell Much?

Melissa Long has picked a perfect time to abandon the TV news industry. 

21Alive has new owners, lazy reporters, and people who can't spell.

On a memorable day for Melissa, an idiot co-worker made it even more memorable by illustrating what is wrong with local TV news. Lazy, inept, and with little concern for their product.

Melissa Long deserved much better than this. 

Big Yawn

FedMed, owner of WOWO and a handful of other stations in town is notorious for tinkering with their stations and for over-promising and under-delivering. While FedMed can write a press release that even Barry LaBov, master showman, motivational speaker and mediocre golfer, would applaud, when it comes time for FedMed to deliver, the results are usually so-so.

With WOWO purchasing a low-power FM channel on 107.5 in November, the empty suits in the double-wide out on Maples Road will now be able to confuse and confound FM listeners who've been accustomed to hearing the Mighty 1190 on the 92.3 channel. The issues are two-fold. First, listener habits are usually slow to change. For many the switch will be a surprise and listeners will find themselves having to tune back over to the AM 1190 frequency and it's poor night time signal when they can no longer hear used car salesman Charley Butcher, the Komets or those weekend financial planner dudes on 92.3. Further, because the 107.5 channel is only a fraction of the power of the 92.3 channel (as determined and set by the FCC rules and regulations) many listeners in the outlying counties may not enjoy the crisp, clean and refreshing listening experience they once received on the 92.3 spot. 

Now, whats to become of the 92.3 channel once the move is "complete"? That's open to conjecture. An influential Northeast US media writer has noted that the 92.3 signal again sports the original WFWI call letters, changed last month. FedMed also has nailed down a couple of internet URLs, webpage names, and Twitter account names, a practice designed to confuse the competition. The Maven is pretty sure FedMed doesn't really know at this point but many signs point to some sort of Classic Hits/Rock format. 

 It's been general knowledge the 107.5 spot was being eyed by a couple of other Fort Wayne radio companies, and FedMed didn't want to be left out of the fracas, pulling some strings and backroom maneuvering to nail down the channel. The quick and efficient way the Adams Radio group has used two of these peanut-powered FM signals (96.9 and 103.3) to place "flanking" formats on the air with little trouble and little cost shows the value of these tiny spots on the dial. This tactic is designed to siphon off listeners and advertising dollars from competitors already established stations/formats. The more, the merrier. 

The Maven's advertising agency friend portrays the changes as "same sh*t, different day." Same Rush Limbaugh, same Pat Miller, same confused news department. 

If FedMed is stuck on ideas for 92.3, the Maven hear's that this format is available, real cheap.

WANE TV Does It Again

It is a heart-breaking story. A car accident takes two young lives. 

Families grieve, friends grieve. 

WANE TV confuses instead of informing.

It's always been a fetish of media to stick a microphone in the faces of the families and friends of victims asking how they feel. WANE TV reached out to those close to the victims and compiled quotes about the deceased young men. One of those quotes from the WANE TV news story:

Now, from the Facebook comments section about the story, Caitlyn (we've blurred her last name) is surprised to find out she was dating one of the victims:

Well, Caitlyn, that will teach you to speak to the media. 

A good journalist would have details like this nailed down, but remember no one matching that description seems to work at WANE TV. But WANE is very good at reading Health Department reports and brow beating Asian cafe owners. 

The Maven extends condolences to friends and family of the accident victims and offers an apology to Caitlyn for her treatment at the hands of WANE TV. 

Hey, It's Kendallville

If you notice nothing amiss with the headline above, please move on, and go about your business. 

If you notice a glaring, insulting error with the headline, please call KPC media, and tell them they are complete, blithering idiots. 

You can reach KPC media, proud publishers of the Kendallville Sun, Auburn Star and Angola Herald Republican, at 260-347-0400, or email to contact@kpcmedia.com

Thanks KPC Media, for making Fort Wayne media outlets appear to be freakin' geniuses and serious journalists. 

The Mediocre Are Always At Their Best

The kids in the WOWO news room, doing their best to make WANE TV look like a credible news source.

If the accident occurred at 6:30am, and this story was written at approximately 2:00pm, then someone trapped in the wreck for 20 hours would be a physical impossibility. The Maven thinks 20 minutes might be what the confused WOWO writer had in mind.

Oh, and the first and second paragraphs contain similar information and are redundant.