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I’m pleasantly surprised. Action News is known for not hiring from other stations in the market. But I love Jessica’s work. They made a great choice.

Go watch any of the big 3 evening news programs from 20-25 years ago and then ask yourself… why don’t they do that anymore? I remember when Peter Jennings was anchoring World News Tonight it was news from all over the world. They had stories from civil wars in various countries and other things that had nothing to do with the U.S… in a world where we are more connected than ever and information is endlessly available that should have increased not disappeared. Not to mention that David Muir has the most bizarre speaking style in the history of anchoring. It sounds like William Shatner is reading the news and speaking in bizarre flowery meandering sentences. “That crash, those victims screaming in terror, the first responders rushing into danger pulling the victims to safety.” Speaking straightforwardly is so very much better.

My guess: because it’s not a quarter-century ago anymore? Related: what was being done a quarter-century ago differed from a quarter-century before that. Time moves on. Few things, particularly in any form of media or art, are the same over that time span. Audiences change. Styles change. Business realities change.

In my experience the quality of the producers being pumped out of j-schools these days is a pretty big part of the problem.

Well…that was a bit of a surprise

Okay, I am so excited for this and this is stuff only public television can do. KTCA Twin Cities PBS has produced a three-part series called Broadcast News. Produced by Minnesota news legend Cathy Wurzer, It takes a close and unique look at the Twin Cities television market from the 1960s onward. I have yet to see them but I WILL be watching them. To paraphrase the descriptions of each episode a.k.a. TL;DR (these are my descriptions based on titles and descriptions used at TPT.org): Episode one mainly focuses on the 60s and 70s as Stanley E. Hubbard is a pioneer in broadcasting which leads KSTP to dominate until an unknown Dave Moore and WCCO take over, skyrocket, and create a fierce battle between the two. Also, women and POC fighting to be included into newsrooms. Episode two gets to the late 70s into early 80s, continuing to showcase women and POC fighting to be included, weather and meteorologists now becoming an important part of the news, and production values becoming more mainstream and polished. Episode three gets into local news from the 80s to today. KARE 11 is the laughingstock... until its no longer and becomes a major threat to WCCO and KSTP, the Hubbards are investing in their stations, and continuing shifts in the media landscape as newscasters have their private lives thrusted into public view. Watch them now before KTCA puts them into PBS Passport and then is paywalled. https://www.tpt.org/broadcast-wars/

Details to be worked out. One reason they said it will take a year to implement.

Might she be added as Walter’s co-anchor on weekend evenings?