On my taking WLOS to task for not mentioning the FEMA director’s resignation at 6 on Monday, Master Control comes back with this:
Master Control
-First, WLOS news does air live at 11PM on Monday nights on WB40. This past Monday was the first show to air during Monday Night Football. There have been many commercials advertising this the past couple of weeks.
While it is true that the 6PM show did not mention Brown, the 5:00PM, 5:30PM, and the 11:00PM shows DID have the story. The scripts prove it.
——————————
5:00 News
(DARCEL)
PRESIDENT BUSH WAS BACK IN THE DISASTER ZONE TODAY.. TRYING TO BOOST
MORALE..
BUT ENDED UP FACING MORE TOUGH QUESTIONS FROM THOSE CRITICAL OF THE
GOVERNMENT’S RESPONSE.
2 SHOT
GOOD AFTERNOON, I’M DARCEL GRIMES.
(TAMMY)
AND I’M TAMMY WATFORD.
TIGHT
THE NEWS ALSO CAME TODAY THAT FEMA DIRECTOR MIKE BROWN IS RESIGNING.. TWO WEEKS TO THE DAY AFTER HURRICANE KATRINA HIT.
BROWN WAS REMOVED LAST WEEK FROM DIRECT SUPERVISION OF THE FEDERAL RECOVERY
EFFORT. ABC’S GLORIA RIVIERA HAS MORE FROM NEW ORLEANS. . .
——————————
5:30PM News
TAMMY ON CAM
((TAMMY:))
THE HEAD OF THE FEDERAL EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT ADMINISTRATION… MIKE BROWN SUBMITS HIS RESIGNATION.
IT COMES THREE DAYS AFTER HE WAS REPLACED AS HEAD OF RECOVERY OPERATIONS FOLLOWING HURRICANE KATRINA.
TAKE VO
MEANWHILE PRESIDENT BUSH MAKES HIS THIRD TRIP TO THE AREA TO SURVEY THE DAMAGE AND CLEAN-UP. HE VISITED GULFPORT, MISSISSIPPI AND NEW ORLEANS. HE SAYS PROGRESS IS BEING MADE IN TERMS OF GETTING THE CITY DRY AGAIN, BUT THERE IS STILL A LOT OF SERIOUS WORK TO BE DONE.
WAIT SOT
((WAIT SOT:))
——————————
11:00PM News
((DARCEL OTS))
FOR A SECOND DAY, PRESIDENT BUSH TOURED THE DAMAGE CA– — USED BY HURRICANE KATRINA ALONG THE GULF COAST.
BUT THE BIG NEWS WAS IN WASHINGTON WHERE FEMA DIRECTOR MICHAEL BROWN STEPPED DOWN.
THE RESIGNATION WAS NOT UNEXPECTED, AND ABC’S CARLA WOHL REPORTS, FOR SOME AT LEAST, NOT UNWELCOME.
TAKE PKG
((TAKE PKG))
——————————
Although none of this was from the 6:00 show, this would explain me remembering some mention of it on Monday. I don’t know why it was left out of the 6:00 show.
My reply
Master Control, thanks for that. You still didn’t have it at 6, your main news cast.
Lightnin’ told us about the WB40 move on Mondays. We haven’t seen any commercials, so you’ve got to tell me where they’ve been running, and what times.
Also, why has WLOS stopped posting scripts on its Web site? scripts were up there for a number of years, then went down. Why?
2 Comments
Scripts are no longer on the website (at least in part) because of a change in the newsroom computer system. In years past, WLOS engineers had basically been able to jury rig an interface between the TelePrompter output and the web server. When they (we, at the time) upgraded to the new newsroom computer system, which included a centralized server, they were unable to modify that web input to work properly with the new hardware.
mike
I also remember scripts being available for public viewing as well. There was a switch to a new “newsroom” computer system called Avid iNews around the same time that scripts stopped being put up on the website. I’m not 100% sure, but I’m willing to bet that there was an automation process with the old newsroom computer system that put them up on the website. So, iNews must not be able to perform the same function, or nobody has cared enough to try and fix it due to lack of demand or laziness.