Not A Current Photo

The kids at WPTAABC21Alive have done it again. 

Either a lazy or ignorant staffer was told to pull up a photo of Fort Wayne City Council to accompany a story about Sharon Tucker's ascension from Council to the Mayor's chair.  

Well, they found a photo...except it was NOT a current photo. 

Please note, that Mr. Didier and Mr. Hines both left office on January 1, 2024. 

Apparently, the kids in the WPTAABC21Alive newsroom have not caught on.

Standardized Weather Graphics, Please!

For the most part, local TV weather people have worked hard to tone down the hype and to increase calm and reliable forecast presentations. Gone are the days of trying to outdo the competition to panic the audience into the belief that their world would end if viewers dared to switch the channel. 

One thing that the purveyors of meteorological data could do to further improve public confidence and understanding of weather data and forecasting would be to somehow standardize the colors and terms they use on their graphic presentations. 

Here's how Indiana Homeland Security, using a National Weather Service graphic, sees today/tonight's weather:

The Weather Channel with their TORCON (whatever that means) offers this:

And, WPTA ABC 21Alive offers this:

Do you understand why those of without a degree in Meteorology might be a bit confused?

Standards Have Changed?

A letter to the editor in today's Journal Gazette caught the Maven's eye. 

Making no judgment about the letter writer's arguments, referring to a US Senator and candidate for Indiana governor as Senator BLOWHARD, seemed out of place.

The Maven has blurred the name and hometown of the letter writer because that is not the issue here.

The issue is that the Journal Gazette seems to have relaxed its Letter To The Editor standards to allow name-calling and ad-hominem attacks.

Many years ago the Maven, writing under his legal name, penned a caustic letter regarding a "blowhard" member of the Fort Wayne City Council. I called the man "Councilman Blowhard". The letter was rejected, noting that calling someone a "blowhard" and "idiot", constituted an ad hominem attack on the individual, and could not be printed. 

So, the question is: Has the JG changed its rules? 

Whatever Ever Happened To...

It's pretty common knowledge that the Federated Media stations, WOWO, WMEE, K105, et al are moving offices and studios to a central location in the Coventry area. The Maven wishes them well.

However, that's not the only operation that's moving. Or at least had plans to move. 

You may recall that Northeast Indiana Public Radio Inc, WBOI 89.1's parent company had purchased the old Odd Fellows Building at 210 East Jefferson downtown with plans to develop a state-of-the-art broadcast facility. 

If you drive through downtown, chances are you've seen the building, next door to Subway and across from Wendy's.

.

Here's the announcement:

Cool stuff. Here's the architect's rendering of what the new facility might look like:

So, why does this building still sit empty? 

Northeast Indiana Public Radio Inc, WBOI's parent company, continues to own the property. A search of the records is here:

So, the mystery remains. Whatever happened to WBOI 89.1 moving into these fancy digs? Or are they just another passive real estate investor with plans to "flip" the property to a fast-food operator, tobacco store, or fireworks stand?

 

Those Rand McNally Moments

Many reading this blog will have no idea who the gentleman in the meme is, but his message conveys the frustration of many in the mass audience. If you work here, you should, at the least, have a handle on local geography. 

Besides jumbling facts and figures (which they contort and confuse regularly), it appears those young "journalists" on our nightly newscasts, er, shows (sorry), seem to have no understanding of local geography. 

The Maven has a few examples:

The intersection of Broadway and Taylor, in the shadow of the transformative Electric Works project, wreaks havoc with the kids in the newsroom. Some say it's downtown, south of downtown, or west of downtown. A map would have been helpful on this one. Hint (it's southwest of downtown).

It's not just Fort Wayne geography that confuses the newsrooms. Hoosier state geography is also a mystery. Linton is a pleasant little town southwest of Indianapolis.

The Journal Gazette, a fixture in downtown for more than a century, is also confused about what downtown means. For the record, 2213 Fox Avenue is southwest of downtown.

What is it about Broadway that confuses these young skulls full of mush? It's still southwest. Hasn't changed in years.

Another example of misidentifying location. The 400 block of Poplar is South of Washington/Jefferson, and West of Calhoun (the traditional divisions on NE, SE, SW, and NW as used by the City of Fort Wayne). This makes it Southwest...but, apparently WPTAABC21Alive has other ideas...

So, what's the big deal you say. Besides the property damage caused by irate viewers hurling the shoes, dentures, and small animals at TV screens across the tristate region...these "errors" chip away at local TV's already dwindling credibility.