Vox populi...

Usually the Maven points out the unforced errors of our local media. Many in the media say it's "nitpicking" or "meaningless tripe". 

So, how does their own audience feel about the daily mistakes these "journalists" make?

See for yourself. WANE TV posted this "gem" today:

Their audience reacts:

Those are only a handful of Facebook comments, there are nearly 100 more.....

It's one thing when a nameless media blogger calls you out....it's yet another when your own audience, the people you purport to serve make fun of your mistakes.

Vox populi.

Just One Question.....

The Maven may have missed something, but when did Netflix offerings become "Latest Local News"?

First, Netflix is not local, and it qualifies more as Feature content than breaking News content. 

Perhaps this is part of an NTR (non traditional revenue) advertising sale. News content for sale....what a concept.  

Makes one wonder if the news you are hearing/seeing is really news, or just a sneaking way to get exposure for an advertiser. 

Why Not Just Fix The Mess?

The Maven has become aware that management at WPTA has become aware of criticism of their error-filled newscasts by at least one former employee, and countless others. Another source indicates that an un-named media blogger has also caught the attention of the folks from Quincy.

The Maven understands that with anything new, there will be hiccups. But the hiring of an inept and domineering Chief Meteorologist and monotone anchor can't be chalked up to technical issues. Plus the abandoning of a 38 year-old logo, 21Alive has been considered foolish by many in the advertising and marketing community. The 21Alive moniker is the second most recalled brand in Fort Wayne, second only to the Fort Wayne Komets.

Now that WPTA management, and one would assume the suits in Quincy are aware that their product is being criticized publicly by persons considered to be experts on local media.....the Maven has a question: Will Quincy take these criticisms seriously and return their "product" to a state of acceptability, or will Quincy move to quash and quiet their critics in one manner or another? Would they do that? History provides us a few examples, read on.

A few years ago, a local anchor spent thousands of his own dollars to hire a private detective to find dirt on someone associated with an outfit called Fort Wayne Media Watch. No one knows if Mr. Edwards was successful in his efforts to identify Mr. Reynolds, but it is not beneath Fort Wayne media outlets to locate and harass their critics. The Maven recalls a WANE TV GM, many years ago, who lost his job, in part, because he attempted to intimidate a man who took the station to task, publicly for not taking a Bears game from CBS one weekend and substituting another game. The GM's attempt to get the man fired from his job did not sit well with those at WANE TV's corporate HQ, so the story goes that the GM left town and corporate had to write a 6-figure check.

So, how does Quincy react? Will they attempt to intimidate and silence their critics? The Maven thinks they would be smart to turn their efforts into improving their product, and leave those throwing stones alone.

And, by the way, Quincy, your NBC Fort Wayne news cast still hasn't premiered yet...it's two weeks late, and the Maven hears things are being pushed back further......New Years maybe?

A Point of Clarification:

With the exception of hiring that Clown Carlo, now famous for nearly pissing himself during a tornado outbreak.....most of the Maven's criticisms do not pertain to on-air personnel. Funny, cartoon-character names and bad hairstyles aside, the Maven has genuine empathy for those in front of the cameras who must endure technical and home-office, top-down mistakes and blunders. Clearly, the issues are caused by empty suits, sitting behind $4,000 oak desks in Quincy IL making decisions that affect the lives of their staff (many now former staff) their audience and those who feel compelled to advertise on the station.

One more thing: Has anyone seen Linda Jackson? How long will Quincy's blunders keep the NBC Fort Wayne newscasts on ice?

Old Habits....

For a low budget, tight bottom-line outfit, Quincy has dropped some serious coin on their remake of 21Alive. It's now ABC21, complete with new faces, fancy-looking news set, and a whiz-bang computer system that's eliminating support jobs left and right. Imagine, no one in the building after the 11pm news. 

But one thing remains constant. No one, apparently, knows how to type. 

Forget, for a moment, that this is a "victim" story about IPFW's Women's Studies program and the purported hate crimes committed against it. That's a story for another blogger to write. Instead, take a look at the grammatical disaster that 21Alive, uh, ABC21 has become famous for. 

The Maven will step aside and let ABC21's infamous brilliant hire, the now long-gone excitable chief meteorologist Carlo say those famous words of Maxwell Smart: "missed it by that much".

Who Is Leslie Munger?

Who is Leslie Munger? Besides being a fairly attractive blonde woman, she's also running for the office of State Comptroller........in Illinois.

Why she's appearing in banner ads on 21Alive's, ooops, WPTA21.COM's, web page is a mystery. 

Maybe the folks at Quincy haven't quite figured out that people in Indiana can't vote for candidates in Illinois (at least legally). The Maven wonders if folks in Illinois are enjoying those Lutheran Statewood ER banner ads which appear to be rotating along with Leslie's ads?

The Maven is quite impressed with the new layout of the 21Alive, oops, WPTA21.COM web page, and it's sure an improvement from what most of us saw this weekend. 

Like anything new, there seem to be a few bugs to work out. 

Is this another Quincy Newspapers cost-cutting move? Is this a catastrophic server failure? Is this a Russian hacker? Or is this "Carlo's Revenge"?

Whatever it is, typing wpta.com or 21alive.com into your web browser gives mixed results like this:

Or this:

Remember this is the same TV station that brought us a female news anchor who spoke in an un-listenable monotone, and an excitable weatherman who nearly pissed himself during his first tornado.....so, anything is possible with these folks. 

Protecting Their Friends ?

In 2007, the Journal Gazette's Washington bureau chief Sylvia Smith wrote a set of revealing articles about Washington DC power couple Evan Bayh, and his wife Susan. These are important stories because they shed some insight into current allegations of lobbying lodged against Evan Bayh in his fight to regain a seat in the US Senate.  

Ms Smith wrote: "The intersection of the Bayh's professional lives illustrates the touchy ethical situation some couples face when one spouse is employed by the taxpayers to watch out for their interests and the other is dutybound to work for the financial interests of only a small group of people - the shareholders of the companies Susan Bayh directs."

Just one question. Why isn't the article available from the Journal Gazette? Is it because the Journal has endorsed Evan Bayh and they want to protect him from scrutiny, or do the news writers at the JG even know the article exists in their own archives? At any rate, it's a suspicious omission. But, the Maven is a suspicious sort of guy.

At any rate, the local blog Fort Wayne Observed has made the article available through links on their page. You can find Fort Wayne Observed and the link here:

http://www.indiana.typepad.com/

Any bets that this story will suddenly become "available" again......sometime after November 8?

Facts Optional

"Never let the facts get in the way of a good story" has, for centuries, been used to describe a biased or slanted news story. 

Taking that one step further, why bother with facts, when you can make stuff up to support your editorial position?

The Journal Gazette offers us a prime example of stating a fact with nothing to support the fact except their own words. In today's editorial the J-G weeps for Indiana Tech's dying law school .... AKA "the 20 million dollar mistake", and using made up "facts" to support their point. 

Uh, not so fast, kids. As a respected, former City Council President pointed out on his Twitter feed today, there are, in fact at least 3 law schools within 100 miles of Fort Wayne. They are Ohio Northern University Pettit College of Law in beautiful Ada, OH, a breezy 78 miles down US30 from Fort Wayne. But wait, there's more. Also within 100 miles of our town is the College of Law at the University of Toledo, just a stone's throw from Toldeo's famous Tony Packo's and 95 miles up US 24. Last, but not least, is the Notre Dame Law School, within sight of Touchdown Jesus in South Bend, just 92 miles up the road. 

The point is this: The established media, newspapers included, can no longer get away with pissing on the reader's leg and tell them it's raining.