Loyal reader B Smart has some good thoughts on what’s happening at WLOS:
Speaking of good journalists, I felt bad for Russ during the 11:00 newscast Saturday night. It was his last weekend newscast. He will be going to My40 weeknights at 10:00.
Unfortunately, there were all sorts of technical glitches. Especially noticeable was a problem with the top story, the hand-off from Russ to Karen, toss back from Karen to Russ(Karen’s toss backs are ALWAYS rushed as if she punctuates her last sentence with the tossee’s name) and a couple glitches with the weather screens.
Also, they TWICE talked about the arrest of a suspect in the murder of Lauren Burk (Univ of GA murder victim), but instead showed photos of Eve Carson (UNC murder victim) – once during the teaser before the commercial and then again during the actual story.
The entire newscast seemed rushed, but then at the end they had about 30+ seconds to kill. Despite the glitches, Russ, always the professional thanked the production crew for their work during his tenure on the weekends.
One of the worst parts of the newscast was a comment by Edward McDonald at the very end. Russ (probably to kill some extra time) warned everyone to watch out for black ice on the roads. Edward jokingly said something to the effect, “You’ve always gotta make it a racial issue” as if calling the ice “black ice” was a racially prejudiced comment. I realize Edward was just kidding and probably didn’t realize the mic was still open. Even so, he shouldn’t have made a comment like that; It was VERY unprofessional. The mic is OFTEN open a few seconds longer than what the talent may realize.
Maybe they have the 3rd string crew during the weekend evenings. Regardless, there seems to be an overall lack of professionalism (excepting Russ) at WLOS, especially lately. I hope management/Sinclair is able to make some changes, but I’m not holding my breath.
3 Comments
I should correct myself here, though. Lauren Burk was a student at Auburn, not UGA. My mistake. 🙂
I would defintitely not hold your breath for a change in anything at WLOS except you not watching it. Good riddance.
The problem for the 11pm show definitely seemed to be at the beginning. The video that rolled was of the Rate A Cop (or whatever) story, but the title/super was "weather concerns." Well, weather concerns led off the 6pm show with Terrie Foster live somewhere. But they definitely ended with waaaaaaaaaaaaay too much time left (that’s normally on the producer). Edward and Russ always took jabs at one another usually following Edward’s last "wacky sports" video. I’ve worked in TV and the audio operators are supposed to leave all the mics open when everyone is at the desk, especially at the end, for chitchat. But, think about it, you would have heard Edward’s remark over Russ’s mic even if Edward’s was off.
If you’ve ever called WLOS on the weekend for a question or story idea, you’ll quickly find out that they are understaffed (one reporter, one photographer). If it’s that way in the news department, who knows if it’s the same for production. Maybe it’s a labor/cost issue. That will definitely show if they fill Russ’s spot with someone already on the roster. I don’t think I’d watch the weekend news anymore if that happened.
Also, there’s some religious show ad that’s making it sound like WLOS is bringing back Sunday morning news (would that mean Karen gets even more face time at the desk?!?!). I definitely heard the pastor guy say something about GMA though.