MediaZone4K

No Morning Joe? You beat me to it. I was questioning earlier this weekend why MSNBC didn't put any of their pundits on the coverage like Fox and CNN did. At first I summed it up to MSNBC being a skeleton crew on the weekend so they decided to consolidate resources with network NBC. Speculation but, MSNBC wanting to avoid riling up tensions probably extended to the weekend coverage as well as Morning Joe. But that thinking is off to me because CNN which also skews left has their people on. Being as a-political as possible, from observation CNN does attempt to feature opposing viewpoints and presses leftist figures harder than MSNBC. I couldn't see the way Anderson Cooper pressed VP Harris after the Biden debate happening on MSNBC. The few people from the opposite side MSNBC features, like Joe Scarborough, tend to agree with the network's viewpoint. Moreover CNN, and FOX actually break off of politics for regular news coverage more than MSNBC.

Robin, George and Michael all in on a Sunday for Trump shooting coverage. Anchors were on the weekend set. The sets camera quality looks like standard definition. Very muddy/grainy.

Cool to see Today simulcast on MSNBC. The joint coverage NBC Special Report MSNBC bug was on screen at first, then they switched over to an MSNBC reports bug.

To be fair, David Muir was not on ABC either, Whit Johnson lead coverage. CBS did have Margaret Brennan leading coverage who should be considered a familiar face. None of MSNBC's ususal commentators came in, the network simulcast regular NBC. It's always interesting to see how networks handle major breaking coverage on the weekend. So many factors like off times (and summer vacations) play in.

I'm all for giving the inexperienced a chance if they demonstrate ability...I've been a beneficiary of that. Colleges just need to do a better job of preparing talent before they enter the industry so less on the job training in required. It helps the talent and the station look better.

Yes, was going to mention weekend repeats. The simulcast totally makes sense. I'm not complaining that they didn't have separate coverage as it makes sense to consolidate resources on the weekend, I'm just surprised that they didn't opt to call in their commentators like Rachael Maddow as 90% of their airtime is devoted to Trump.

More national screen time for Maurice DuBois. He assumed coverage from Margaret Brennan at about 12:20ish AM ET during wall to wall coverage of the Trump assassination attempt. CBS was the first network to stop coverage at 12:30 AM ET. He came in on Saturday to anchor WCBS' 11:00 news aswell

Also interesting to note that MSNBC had virtually no anchors or separate coverage, they just simulcast NBC News' coverage with Lester.

Always interesting to see how networks handle wall to wall coverage on a weekend which is an atypical time for major breaking events. Lester was the only lead anchor on during the Saturday afternoon Trump shooting. It appears Jose Diaz Balart was on first then Lester took over coverage. Norah and David on CBS/ABC were not on (understandable as its the weekend). Whit Johnson lead ABC, Margaret Brennan lead CBS.

https://tvnewscheck.com/journalism/article/local-tv-news-recruitment-problem-has-a-solution/ On the topic of recruitment author Sean McLaughlin blames universities for the lack of prepared applicants into tv news. He says gone are the days of rooms full of applicant tapes, nowadays a position can go unapplied for months. He says the applicants they do get are unable to pitch stories or write well. He has a point. From my experience, many journalism schools are only focused on writing for print or digital platforms rather than preparedness for an on-air role. My j-school teacher didn't even know the big station ownership groups (outside of Sinclar due to the controversy at the time). McLaughlin is right. News writing today is very "and this happened then this happened then this happened".- No wit, creativity etc.. The author suggests that a new model might be to find eager and creative talent from someone local to the market who is passionate about the community, rather than hiring randoms who have to start off through small markets and risk burnout along the way. Im not opposed to this method. What McLaughlin ignores is low wages also cause low recruitment . If I'm born and raised in NYC, I can get a decent paying nursing job right out of college in the same neighborhood as my family. If I want to go into journalism I'd have to work my way up through smaller markets, accepting low wages for many of those years, and hopefully get a job back home in 10 years. College students aren't settling for that in this economy. They especially don't want to obtain student debt in exchange for a low paying career. Moreover, the social relevance of working in the news has diminished, so many young people may opt to be an online journalist, blogger, or influencer rather than a 'dinosaur' TV news reporter. Many things to consider.

I definitely think their previous lower thirds were better than what they have now. More shine gloss and not too flat. Their current graphics arent bad though. I'd still say 11 Alive's current set tops WAGA's overwhelming blue look. The WSB wood set looks a little outdated. I wish the skyline took up their entire background framing. WANF's set is not the worst or best...the overly fluorescent lighting cheapens their look though.

I would love to see updated numbers for the Miami market. From last check, 2022 via nexttv (how accurate are they ?) Telemundo 51 averaged as the top station overall. WPLG comes in as the top English language station ranking at either second or third place overall. https://www.nexttv.com/news/local-news-close-up-south-florida-holds-the-keys-to-successful-local-news It's truly a feat that WSVN was dethroned. From watching, their newscast don't carry the same energy as they used to. Local 10 has incorporated some of WSVN's tabloid penchant for flashy stories and presentation. They also have a good crop of anchors which has stolen my attention from Ch 7. WTVJ's broadcasts are very standard plain clean and corporate. Better than WFOR but not as energetic as 10 & 7.

Newscast quality aside I will say Tegna stations tend to be very good looking, even in smaller markets. The upgrade wasn't all that necessary as 11 Alive has the best set in the market (WAGA has the worst)...we'll see what they do now.

Fair points. It is interesting though when stations completely de-emphasize network branding. It's like they want the benefits of a network affiliation such as primetime programming and live sports, but they want to have the guise of an independent operation. Now for Fox stations, it's obvious why they would want to distance themselves from the brand.

WCBS Jim Jensen 1964 WCBS Jim Jensen 1994, 29 years later. One thing I noticed by the '90s Jim could not sit still and the camera operator constantly had to shift the framing so that the overhead graphic didn't cover his face. Jim was a real talent, to my understanding alcoholism was his undoing. Shame. Even in his more disheveled state by the '90s he commanded a classic anchorman and strong on camera presence. https://youtu.be/ETMkcr-k4AU?si=-lO0scxEv58Sqf0j

Will the flagship WCBS follow suit? Most New Yorkers I know refer to them as Channel 2.

I always get this vibe that WSVN doesn't want to be associated with Fox. Ironically they are the model Fox affiliate. Looking at their coverage of the Biden press conference they did not have any Fox graphics on their feed compared to my local Nexstar/Mission station which does. Correct me if I'm wrong, but I hardly see them use Fox News packages. Very little reference of the Fox network is made on their channel. EDIT: To my recollection the only time they took Fox's coverage was 9/11 My history based assumption is when Ansin ran it he wanted his stations to have strong independent identities so that if they got into another affiliation battle they could stand on their own. WHDH's success post NBC has proven carving out an identity outside of the network is useful.

Looking at KPRC from 2004, it looks exactly like WSVN in the 90s. No doubt that Channel 7 had to have had some inspiration on the formatting in Local 2. WSVN 90s

Was George not aware that he was being recorded? While George is certainly entitled to his opinion off the clock, journalists have to be careful about where when, and to whom they share their opinions. This to preserve their image of neutrality. In George's position, I would have probably said " My lips are sealed as an objective journalist. I have to keep the public away from my stances." EDIT: This was nothing major and George should be left alone. Again...beware of fans and watch what you say around them. You provide perfectly valid and balanced points. Totally agree that we need to be careful of insulting/dismissing the public's intelligence to explain their preferences. Subjective statements ahead lol...I have to maintain that GMA's abuse of "breaking news", "breaking overnight" and constantly speaking in present tense adds a false sense of urgency to the news, which is problematic journalism. GMA and WNT play on sensationalist fear mongering and click baits to maintain an audience rather than informing and educating them. But, GMA is only a small drop in the bucket. Yes, TV news must evolve and change with the times, but let's make sure we aren't deevolving. We don't even necessarily have to look to the past. International outlets like BBC World News and France 24 really hightlights how insulated and watered down many American news programs like GMA are. There has to be a way to preserve intellectual quality while maintaining an audience. CBS Sunday Morning and 60 Minutes' continued successes prove there is an appetite for such. The notion that the continued dumbing down of journalism is just what has to happen to keep up with the times is bad. Meanwhile, audiences will turn to YouTube channels and podcasts to get the in depth reporting and serious conversations they cannot get from the news.

I agree that those channels have become useless rerun vats. Not to verge too off-topic, but what is the future of cable television? Non existance?

Watching WSVN's 10pm Sunday newscast. I'm noticing the anchors tracking multiple packages throughout the newscast. I haven't really seen this on any other station. From observation a lot of those packages seem to be regional, not local stories. Perhaps this is how they have to do it because Sunbeam only has two stations, so they simply track wire service stories. Moreover, I haven't seen them run many Fox News packages.

WZVN/WBBH is an interesting duopoly as its an ABC & NBC station that share talent with newscasts on at competing times. How was this allowed by the FCC?

Minor observation: Since the rebrand, WCBS and the other O&Os have are having their reporters use stick mics less and going for the lav chest mics more---much like the national correspondents do. From a production stand up why have national newscasts traditionally opted for a more hands free look during stand up shots?

Per his IG, WFTV's Raphael Pires (a WSVN alum) is leaving tv news after only 8 years. He is one of many 'day in the life of a news reporter' vloggers that I have followed. Almost all of them, namely Clancy Burke, have left the industry. He has not stated his reasons for doing so but all his fellow vloggers have stated pay, conditions, deadlines, work environments and industry trajectory and are bowing out early. Can't blame them.

I suspected it was a temporary set because the anchors are seated differently...but their standard set, which is 9 years old, is not much better. The bad camera quality is more obvious on a blown up flat screen tv than a cell phone screenshot but here it is: