Fort Wayne Local TV Weather Drinking Game

Please participate at your own risk. Not responsible for accidents. 

What's Up, WFFT?

A question for the folks at WFFT: Why are some people who "like" your Facebook page allowed to make comments, while others are not? 

It's not just the Media Maven that's been excluded, other Maven readers have indicated that they, too, are denied the opportunity.

As you can see, we're allowed to "share" WFFT content, but when it comes to adding a comment, that option is forbidden. 

Don't Text and Drive, Unless You're the Media

The Maven got quite a chuckle as WPTA ABC21 anchors Kaitlyn Kendall and Brien McElhatten reported on Governor Eric Holcomb's legislative goals which include a ban on hand-held cellphones. With the requisite concern on their faces and the soft timbre of their voices, the anchors did their best to emotionally connect (that's what the consultant calls it) with their viewers about the dangers of texting while driving.

What brought on the Maven's chuckle, is a blog entry from 2015 which highlighted WPTA ABC21's hypocrisy concerning texting while driving. 

You may recall that a Media Maven reader posted a video of a WPTA ABC21-labeled automobile, driven by an attractive young woman. During the video, the woman can be seen constantly looking down and manipulating her cellphone.

While the screenshots don't do it justice, it's very apparent she's looking down and up and down again. You can view the video here:

https://www.facebook.com/jlute/videos/10153193258824277/

Once again, it's a case of do as I say, not what I do. 

PNC Bank Hijacks W&D Santa. Claims 40-year Relationship

From the emails and notes Wednesday evening, the Maven wasn't the only long-time Fort Wayne resident who was disturbed during WANE-15's Night of Light's coverage.

Live, on-location anchor Dirk Rowley did an impressive job braving the winds and cold. Dirk was not the issue. 

His interview subject, a woman, identified as the President or Vice President of PNC bank was the culprit. Using talking points, obviously prepared by a PNC Public Relations flunky who has never visited the city, she enthusiastically attempted to claim a 40-year relationship with the iconic W&D Santa display After a few more questions from Dirk, she made a similar statement. This inaccurate 40-year relationship seemed to rub more than a few people the wrong way. Blame the Egg Nog?

The facts are, PNC bank has only been in the market since late 2008, early 2009, making the claim that PNC has been affiliated with the W&D Santa display for 40 years is faulty and false. 

This isn't the only instance of a successor company claiming heritage credit for a predecessor's hard work and vision. Kroger's Public Relations, while promoting the annual Cancer Day fundraiser, routinely claims Cancer Day as a Kroger initiative, conveniently forgetting that the Scott family began Cancer Day, also 40 years ago. 

No one really knows why local media just regurgitate the public relations codswallop as gospel truth and don't question PNC and Kroger for claiming credit for long-running, established community events. Might have something to do with those large ad budgets of both PNC and Kroger influencing how "their" events are covered. Just a guess.

Thanks to reader "Dave" for the tip...

Spell-check is Broke

Either the kids in the WPTA ABC21 newsroom can't find the spell-check button, or they believe themselves to be smarter than their audience and spell-check is not necessary. 

The kids have "updated" (corrected the story). Find it here:

http://wpta21.com/news/top-stories/2019/11/25/judge-hands-barber-shop-shooter-the-max-sentence

Why Not Ask?

Last night, Fort Wayne Police worked an armed robbery at a convenience store. Typical, mundane news story, except for the fact that last night's robbery was preceded by three other convenience store robberies the previous night. 

While the TV news reported the facts directly from the media handouts from FWPD, not one of the media outlets, at least not in their stories so far, have asked "are these robberies related"? 

Why not? Simple. If the authorities didn't mention it in the handout they feed the media, the media is either too lazy or unintelligent to ask the logical question. 

While the Maven may seem to be harsh on the local TV kids, at least they covered the story. 

Not participating in reporting last night's armed robbery (according to their social media feeds) were WOWO radio, The Journal Gazette and the News Sentinel. 

WANE - 15's story is here:
https://www.wane.com/news/local-news/police-looking-for-getgo-armed-robbery-suspect/

WPTA ABC21's story is here:
https://wpta21.com/news/crime/2019/11/14/fwpd-investigating-another-gas-station-armed-robbery/

Fort Wayne's NBC 21.2's story is here:
https://fortwaynesnbc.com/news/2019/11/14/man-gets-away-with-money-in-armed-robbery-at-gas-station/

WANE 15 Helps Out Their Friends In High Places

It looks like a news story, it reads like a news story, but in reality, it's not. 

It's a carefully crafted trial balloon designed to gauge public support/resistance to moving the Allen County Jail out of the trendy Arts and Entertainment sector of downtown. After all, a correctional facility within the eyesight of family-friendly Promenade Park, trendy bars, and $60.00 steaks might sour some visitors/residents' stomachs. 

So, being the good supporters of the new downtown Fort Wayne and the political powers that support it, WANE 15 will do their civic duty and methodically analyze support, resistance and opinions of taxpayers/citizens and loyally report the data to their TV audience AND to the political and business leaders that are transforming downtown. Those civic boosters and politicians will then use the data to fine-tune and revise their project and message to better resound with the voters/taxpayers and build support. Sometimes it may take two or three tries.

If all goes well, the heavy-lifting done by WANE 15 will eventually result in the Allen County Jail being torn down, and a $110 million dollar replacement being built somewhere out of sight from those who would be offended by its existence, and the redevelopment folks will have additional valuable downtown real estate ready for even more new, multi-use facilities with ground-level retail and dining, middle-level parking, and luxury loft-type apartments on the upper floors.

Sound familiar? 

FWCS Untouchable?

 https://www.wane.com/news/local-news/3rd-graders-bus-90-minutes-late-mother-upset-with-fwcs/

Only one media outlet ran this story. It's a compelling read that exposes a flaw in FWCS operations. A search of the mother's name and/or child's name of both newspapers and electronic media yielded no results.

Why did only WANE-15 (to their credit) air/publish it?

What magic hold does Fort Wayne Community Schools have on most of the local media?

Why do most local media protect and shield Fort Wayne Community Schools from critical news coverage?

Your thoughts?

A Reader's Quandry

The Media Maven in confused. 

So kids, do you want me to "share" you stinkin' story or not?

On one hand, you encourage me to redistribute your story to my friends on social media...

But on the other hand, you tell me that I may not redistribute your story to my friends on social media...

Tom Waits was right when he said: "The big print giveth and the fine print taketh away."

 

Playing Dumb or Just Being Dumb

For lack of a better description, the Journal-Gazette is the default news source for many in the area and is the default news source/roadmap/assignment editor for all other media outlets in town. 

Having lived in that honored position for decades, the Maven wonders why blunders like below are allowed to make it into print and online. For the record, Tom Henry had two candidates challenging him in primary election. One of those candidates, Gina Burgess posted this on her Facebook page, and the Maven is posting it with her permission.

Given that the Journal Gazette has been accused of being the official public relations arm of the Allen County Democratic Party for years, why would the JG allow themselves to criticism and/or scorn for making such a ridiculous and correctable error concerning their candidate Tom Henry? Is the headline supposed to make incumbent Henry seem more electable since he "had no Primary challenger" instead of Tim Smith who had to deal with Dr. Crawford in the Republican primary?

Is the JG trying to manipulate the voters, or maybe there is no more explanation than "we screwed up".

Sometimes a cigar is just a cigar, and sometimes a mistake is just a mistake. That's what the JG said when they accidentally named Ms. Burgess as a Republican in early candidate profiles. 

Found This on Facebook:

Dirty politics? 

The media had this "manuscript" for weeks but seems to be holding it for maximum impact on the election...

Here it is:

Local Media Mistakes Trivialize Serious Issues

While the NewsWhisperer has left the building

The mistakes just keep on comin':

Once again, local media's poor stenographic skills trivialize the issues they attempt to cover.

From our friends at WPTA ABC21:

It's not really "journalism". All WPTA ABC21 had to do was cut and paste, or retype the press release sent to local media and format it for their social media platforms and on-camera TelePrompter.

And, they failed. Again.

Thanks WANE-TV for covering up the score banner on the Bears - Titans preseason game.

What warranted the ugly blue crawler? A weather bulletin? No, WANE TV felt it necessary to inform viewers that the preempted CBS prime time line up had been pushed back to the early morning hours. 

One has to surmise that the WANE TV voice mail must have been exploded by irate Young Sheldon and Big Brother viewers. 

WANE-15's New Role As A Public Relations Machine

The Maven will be the first to admit that the new Promenade Park on the river is a beautiful, well-executed project. It's impact will be felt for years downtown.

This project has had many champions...political leaders, community leaders, average citizens, and business leaders. One champion stands out in particular. 

WANE-15 has been the most outspoken media champion of the $20 million project. From it's conception WANE-15 was (as they like to hype) was the first to report on the idea and plans. 

During the run-up to last week's Grand Opening, WANE-15 was not to be outdone by competing media. In nearly every newscast, WANE-15 devoted significant air time and reporting resources to covering every detail and feature of the park. From the most significant to the most minute, WANE-15 provided the most rosy and positive public relations support for spending $20 million.  Even after the Grand Opening, WANE-15 found time to run a silly story about how the park's innovative design would prevent flooding. The Maven calls BS on that one. Yes, they used the word "prevent", which implies that Fort Wayne will never flood again, thanks to Promenade Park.

A professor at a local university estimates that WANE-15 devoted as much at 45% of the news reporting airtime and resources to downtown's new addition. The question at hand is: was WANE-15 just being a good (perhaps overzealous) community cheerleader, and in the process, ignored other news stories that might have reflected poorly on the community leaders basking in the glow of the new park. The Red River management team are probably happy that WANE-15 has given them a break.

In the Media Maven's humble (and perhaps flawed) opinion, Media needs to balance the homage they pay to local politicians and civic leaders with doing real journalism.

Yes, the city is more beautiful and attractive, but people are still being murdered, kids can't get off a school bus without being shot at, and Red River continues to bungle the garbage collection, while the city administration finds that acceptable. And the other mayoral candidate appears to have no definable plan.

Conversation Conservation

One of the pitfalls of the new technology is that "features" like AutoCorrect, while trying to make us look smart, sometimes make us look like fools. 

Below is a perfect example. This is what happens when "journalists" write their stories on their iPads while waiting for the early bird specials to kick in at Club Soda. 

FYI, kids...a DNR officer is a CONSERVATION Officer, not a CONVERSATION Officer. 

The updated (Updated: Jul 30, 2019 / 03:35 PM EDT) story can be found here: 

https://www.wane.com/top-stories/vandals-use-bb-gun-to-damage-tombstones-at-memorial-honoring-fallen-soldiers

FWNBC - Ambiguous As Hell

The Maven presents episode 26 of "Which Is It, Kids?"

In an otherwise good story. the kids at Fort Wayne's NBC confuse their audience. 

The top, bolded headline gives the impression that local homeless shelters are not full.

The bottom paragraph indicates that local shelters are full and homeless people have nowhere to go. 

OK, kids...which is it?

Ignorant Media

Fresh on the heels of a regrettable "live shot" at noon today noting the disappearance of a "work surfer" at an area lake...WANE 15 does it again. 

In social media posts, WANE 15 tells the story of a robbery at the Auburn Salvation Army.

The pictures are clear and detailed, and authorities should have no trouble finding the thieves. 

However, the real crime is the mislabeling of the offense. The news article describes a theft, not a robbery. Kids, there is a difference.

The story is clear that items were taken from the Salvation Army location after business hours and no one from the facility was present.

According to Lawyers.com, here's the difference between a theft and a robbery. Maybe the kids in the WANE 15 newsroom could print this out and tack it on the bulletin board.

From Lawyers.com:

Typically, theft occurs when someone:

• takes money or property without authorization
• carries the property away, and
• intends to keep the property permanently.

A robbery normally happens when someone takes money or property:

• directly from another person
• without consent
• with the intent to keep it permanently
• by the use of or the threat of force.

When In Doubt, Blame The Equipment

Modern computer technology has allowed the broadcasting industry to maximize profits by cutting staff and automating many functions of broadcasting. The argument could be made that technology has allowed financially marginal stations to survive in a competitive arena. 

However, when listeners hear two or three commercials, one on top of the other, in morning drive, or on the weekend hear Rush Limbaugh and an investment guru selling snake oil simultaneously for an hour...one has to question what price stations pay for appearing to be incompetent. 

A Media Maven reader experienced an issue and expressed an opinion to a local radio broadcaster. The reader graciously has allowed the Maven to share the exchange.

This is typical of media. Blame the technology hoping the listener will accept the explanation and simply go away. 

However, the explanation is a lie. Consider: if the technology "failed" as the station representative explained, then listeners would hear nothing. If, however, the sequence of program events were entered into the automation system incorrectly, the result is often referred to as a "train wreck" on the air. 

The issue that media needs to understand is that their audiences are not quite as gullible or ignorant as they presume. And one turn of the knob or punch of a preset button is often the result of their malfeasance. 

The Media Elite

A curious choice of words to describe Fort Wayne's Southwest Chick-fil-a reopening. 

WPTA ABC21's News Princess referred to the popular restaurant as a "fast food joint". 

Why the disparaging words? 

Is this the case of the Media Elite looking down their noses at viewers who enjoy the food and the Conservative values of the Chick-fil-a parent company? 

Or is it simply a case of overblown, out-of-touch news anchor ego? 

Do the Emmy's now have a category for self-importance?

Sure as hell looks like it!

Media Elite Problems

The Maven got a good chuckle out of this Tweet. 

Maybe she can't pronounce the street names, but apparently, she’s savvy enough to get the diva treatment from the airlines to correct her mistake of being a month off on her reservation dates.

Happens to us all, no?

An Act of Journalism

Journalism. Remember that?

On June 1 the News Sentinel's Kevin Leininger did his homework and footwork and answered a number of questions about a large, ugly building on West Jefferson.

Mr. Leininger researched the address, interviewed people involved with the situation and published a well-written story. That's how Journalism used to be done. 

How is Journalism done today?

Four days later the kids at the TV stations read Mr. Leininger's story, added some video, and passed the story on to their viewers as if they, the TV kids, had done all the work Mr. Leininger did. 

The least they could do is send Mr. Leininger a thank you note.

Media Decides Winner and Losers?

Kudos to WOWO's Pat Miller for a Monday afternoon faux pax, and quick recovery. 

Mr, Miller, WOWO afternoon host and staunch Conservative was interviewing Andy Downs, PFW professor and democrat party activist about Tuesday's Municipal election.

While discussing the Republican candidates in the highly contentious primary race, Mr. Miller remarked that on the Democrat side, incumbent Mayor Tom Henry was unopposed. 

After some texts were sent to WOWO, and running a Gina Burgess for mayor commercial in the next commercial cluster, Mr. Miller quickly mentioned that Ms. Burgess and Tommy Schader were also on the Democrat primary ballot. 

To his credit, Mr. Miller's misstep was minor and was quickly corrected. However, the issue of how the local media generally treats "fringe candidates" continues to show how media is complicit in choosing winners and losers. The cozy relationship between the current political ruling elite and the media elite is easy to see. The Journal Gazette can't seem to decide if Ms. Burgess is a Republican (as stated in print) or a Democrat (as stated in print). Other media feature "mainstream" candidate interviews at more favorable times than those pesky "fringe candidates" because they fear viewers will flee if Tommy Schrader, for example, pops up during a high viewership newscast slot.  

Because media helps determine winners and losers, the Maven ponders the money that could be saved if we just let the news media tell us who our next "rulers" will be. 

Local Weather Radar Disappears

On May 1, WISE-TV  added 5 new "channels" to their line up. Good news for "cord-cutters" abandoning cable, but bad news for people concerned about blizzards and tornadoes. 

By adding the new services on 33.2, 33.3, 33.4, 33.5 and 33.6, and dumping the radar from 33.2, WISE (now owned by former competitor WPTA) has alienated a segment of their viewers who, as the Maven understands it, are rather angry. 

In comments seen on related Facebook pages, a station spokesperson responded to concerns of viewers in a rather "corporate" way by, in essence telling viewers that the radar channel is going away and to get over it. 

This is the same "radar" that WPTA once promoted as "an extra layer of protection". 

While concerned viewers can contact the station(s) locally, there are other avenues available to them. 

For those who feel motivated to make a phone call or write a letter, the FCC website is a good source of information about an individual station. Each broadcast station is required to keep a "Public Inspection File" which, among other things, contains ownership information, a copy of their current license, and other helpful items. Public files are now required to be accessible via the internet, saving viewers a drive out to 3401 Butler Road. Keep in mind that this information mirrors typical government forms so they may take some time to digest. 

The Ownership Report for WISE-TV is available at this link (as a .pdf):

https://publicfiles.fcc.gov/tv-profile/wise-tv/ownership-reports/

The Ownership Report for WPTA TV is available at this link (as a .pdf):

https://publicfiles.fcc.gov/tv-profile/wpta/ownership-reports/

Short Memory

From the "if you were from here, you'd know this" department. 

WANE-TV's story on Zoo Day was complete, but it was not accurate. 

According to WANE-TV, "Kroger is launching its 26th annual campaign to raise money for the Fort Wayne Children's Zoo. Since 1993, the grocery store chain has collected $1.8 million for the zoo." 

One hitch...Kroger has had nothing to do with Zoo Day until 2007 when they bought out Scotts stores and rebranded those stores as Kroger. 

The News-Sentinel gets it right - "This will be the 26th year for the fundraising partnership started by Fort Wayne's Scott's Food Stores and continued by Cincinnati-based Kroger after it bought the business in 2007".

While one might argue that the kids in the WANE-TV newsroom may not have been alive 26 years ago, it is safe to assume that most were born before 2007 when Kroger took over. 

WANE - 15, Your Station For Class Warfare

A child is in critical condition, yet WANE-15 feels is necessary to go out of their way to tell us about the socio-economic condition of the neighborhood before telling us the details.

Here's the story from WANE - 15's website:

FORT WAYNE, Ind. (WANE) - A child is in critical condition after being pulled from a pond in the affluent Sycamore Hills neighborhood on Fort Wayne's southwest side.

First responders were called around 1:45 p.m. to a pond just off Carnoustie Lane. Dispatchers first told WANE 15 that a water rescue had been conducted there and the person was out.

Later, dispatchers said the victim was a child and was reportedly in critical condition.

The Maven may have missed a few stories, but does not recall reading about breaking news on Winter Street, for example, being called and economically-depressed neighborhood. 

Is this a new newsroom policy or someone finding a way to include "affluence-shaming" as a political comment?

Here's the link to the story as this blog post is being written:

https://www.wane.com/news/local-news/water-rescue-at-pond-in-sycamore-hills/1956871565?utm_medium=social&utm_source=facebook_WANE_15&fbclid=IwAR1mGUaTbCQeVZ0_EOW91e0qt-pRCMaiXsG4B_kN7Vl2LNd7S83f24YZ8mI

Local Media Gives Us Gas

On Wednesday morning, Fort Wayne Police forced two people from a house in the 800 block of Columbia and arrested them after they had barricaded themselves in the house. Police were there to serve a warrant. 

What makes this interesting is how the local news media stories were similar and different. 

Comparing the stories to the "official" FWPD press release, it appears that local media gets good marks for getting the Who, What, Where, Why, and How correct. So far, so good. 

How the individuals were "motivated" to abandon the house seems to have confused local media. 

FWPD Press Release - "Emergency Services introduced a chemical agent into the residence". 

WANE-15 - "Police fired gas into the home and the suspects came out."

WPTA ABC21 - "Officers say they then used gas to get the suspects to exit the home." 
Note how similar the WANE-15 and WPTA ABC21 stories are, including the curious word "gas". The Maven wonders if they used Unleaded or Premium in this case.

WOWO - "police had to send tear gas into the building."
Note that the kids in the WOWO news room help us out by calling the "chemical agent" by its generic name, tear gas. A term most listeners/readers/viewers will quickly understand. 

The Journal-Gazette - "police said negotiators and chemical agents were used to persuade the couple to leave the home." 
Note that the J-G reports the facts from the official Press Release. 

Each story is "correct" in regard to the facts, but the story from WOWO is easier to understand and digest from a user standpoint. The TV stations appear to be copying from each other's papers, again. The similarity of those efforts including the confusing and useless term "gas" do nothing more than confound their viewers. 
It is unclear if a journalist or stenographer wrote the J-G story. 

Find the FWPD press release here 
http://www.fwpd.org/barricaded-warrant-suspect-april-17-2019

The WANE-15 story is here
https://www.wane.com/news/local-news/columbia-ave-closed-during-police-standoff/1932726603

The WPTA ABC21 story is here
https://wpta21.com/news/2019/04/17/police-standoff-results-in-arrests-drug-charges/

The WOWO story is here
https://www.wowo.com/update-two-arrested-following-columbia-ave-standoff/

And the J-G story is here
https://www.apnews.com/566cc9e1d8214d9fb98538b18f8b5dd8

Weather Disturbance

Everyone talks about the weather, but no one ever does anything about it.

When it comes to Fort Wayne TV weather, they talk a lot about it.

Why can’t a weather forecast just be a weather forecast? In the past, the weather was a presentation of the current conditions along with a mention of how national weather trends are impacting our area, then a presentation of the forecast conditions, low and high temperature for the next day or two. Now, a typical weather segment includes up to a 60-second interactive exchange with the anchors (we used to call this “happy talk”) after which the credentialed meteorologist will explain in meteorological terminology why the forecast for the past 24 hours missed their prediction. This will involve a graphically intense map of the US complete with icons showing highs and lows, warm fronts, cold fronts and an occasional occluded front (which will be explained to viewers as if they are 4^th graders). Next on the agenda will be the current forecast and a 7-10 day extended forecast. The extended forecast is a hoax, because most any non-TV meteorologist, including those at the National Weather Service, have repeatedly held that weather cannot be reliably forecast beyond the next 48 hours. To wrap up the weather segment, we are once again treated to interactive happy talk with the anchor or anchor team. In the case of WPTA ABC21, this exchange usually includes the female anchor complaining about Fort Wayne’s cold and snowy conditions. The Maven wonders if she pulled that stunt when she worked in South Bend?

WANE 15 Fails Again

Would your grumpy high school English teacher give you an A or an F" if you submitted this?

Spelling, apparently, is optional for the kids in the WANE 15 newsroom.

The story remains uncorrected here:

https://www.wane.com/news/local-news/democrats-look-to-re-open-inquiry-into-perry-township-trustee/1786352468

Media Misses The Boat, Again

Local media did their usual pedestrian job of highlighting the myriad of potholes on a notorious section of I69 where INDOT has been forced to reduce driver's speeds down to 45 mph from the usual and standard 85 mph. Nice pictures, grumpy drivers, all the usual stuff.

But, what did our intrepid media miss? Why 15 didn't "Find Out", why 21 didn't "Dig Deeper", and channel 55? They still have their hands full learning the street names. 

Here's the deal: 

On July 1, 2017, thanks to the Indiana legislature, the cost of a gallon of gas increased 10 cents with the stated purpose of fixing Indiana's roads, which voters were told were crumbling. Also contained in this law, was a promise to increase the gas tax by a penny each year, for years to come, to fund more improvements. 

So kids, why hasn't anyone in the media asked the question "where did the money go" or "what did you spend the money on"? Too much trouble to pull the Governor out of St Elmo's to ask him? No time to track down a handful of local reps or a state senator? 

Why does the media appear to look the other way?

Choose the best answer:
A. I'm afraid of pissing off the rich and powerful
B. I won't get invited to all the cool holiday parties that politicians throw
C. What tax increase?
D. Club Soda will take away my reserved bar stool.
E. All of the above.

So, elected members of the Indiana Legislature, what say you? What did you do with the money?

Murky News

Ever wonder why people are so confused?

Our media isn't helping...