Always online, on Facebook and Twitter

Now more then ever it seems news organizations are jumping on the social media bandwagon, which is a good thing. It helps viewers realized there are actual people behind the news stories. It also allows viewers to interact with reporters, and perhaps suggest stories. Between Twitter, Facebook and their internet sites each station in the Capital Region is doing a fairly good job of adapting to the always changing media forms.

Twitter All of the news stations in Albany are using twitter, some better than others. Fox23 up until recently was only using twitter feed, and Capital News 9 is still mainly using twitter feed. Setting up a twitter account with only twitter feed doesn’t mean you are using twitter (as far as I see it).

CBS6 and NewsChannel 13 use twitter feed –but also use it to talk about stories they are working on, what stories are coming up in their newscasts, or get reaction from viewers. This mix of twitter feed and real people tweeting can be both good and bad. Instead of going to one of these news organizations websites and looking for a story, they are all right there on twitter. But, at the same time so many stories coming at you can be a little overwhelming.

News10 seems to be real tweets from real people. Whether it’s where Steve went to get coffee or posting the latest John McLoughlin story, their twitter seems to be the most real. Fox23’s twitter seems to be all business. Just teasing stories and talking about what stories a reporter is working on, or breaking stories. Lately, Capital News 9 has been using their twitter to report traffic problems, which makes me wonder why not make a separate twitter page for Capital Region Traffic?

Individual reporters and anchors are also on twitter. I like the idea of individual people being on twitter. You know who you are tweeting to, as apposed to tweeting to a news organization. And, it also helps when suggesting a story idea, or just to tell them how great they are at what they do!

Facebook NewsChannel 13, News10, CBS6 and Fox 23 News all are on Facebook. NewsChannel 13 and CBS6 seem to use it to post stories, so people can comment on a story. News10 seems to be using it to post weather, information about pet connection, and the News10 at 4 viral video. Like twitter, Facebook also has individual anchors on it. CBS6 has set up accounts for Liz Bishop, Marci Natale, Jerry Gretzinger and Meteorologist Steve LaPointe

Web Only Only one news station has video blogs and exclusive online content –CBS6 News. Morning anchor Ed O’Brien files a daily “Ed’s Head” and Assignment Editor Shane Mahar lets viewers know what CBS6 will be covering that day on “From The Desk.” CBS6 also has exclusive video reports by Ken Screven, Steve Flamisch and Jerry Gretzinger.

FOX23 News is adding a new feature to its newscasts, “The Rant.” This is a great idea, and I think it will be a great addition to their newscasts. CBS6 also uses viewer’s twitter and Facebook comments on stories they cover during their 5:30 newscast. News10 has also been taking advantage of the comment section of their website, by reading people’s comments on their newscasts. And, during their Presidential Visit coverage NewsChannel 13 read people’s twitter comments on the air.

Everything you need, no --want, to know about Balloon Boy

First the Facts:
1. His family was on ABC's wife swap.

2. He barfed on "Good Morning America" and the "Today" show.

3. As of 1:30 pm (10.16.09), 89% of people who took TV Guide's online poll thinks the whole thing was a hoax.


Breaking News, as it happens: Thursday, October 15, around 11:00am, local time, KUSA (NBC station in Denver) and the local cops got a call from the Balloon Boy's dad, reports B&C. That basically began the non-stop coverage of the Balloon Crisis. Even WTEN, the local ABC station in Albany, NY simulcasted CNN's coverage during the afternoon. Denver Post TV Critic, Joanne Ostrow, has this write up about how local channels covered the Balloon Crisis, adding this:

Terrific visuals of what looked like a flying Mylar muffin kept viewers glued to screens through a day of frantic coverage centered on 6-year-old Falcon Heene and the family's loosed balloon

This whole thing gave KUSA's website a major boost, number wise; here's what KUSA general manager Mark Cornetta had to say:

To put things in perspective, our normal traffic on a day without any major breaking news or weather is usually anywhere from 750,000 to a million page views a day, and about 150,000 unique visitors. Yesterday, we had 4.6 million page views and 939,000 visitors. And between the hours of 1 p.m. and 4 p.m. alone, we had 722,000 unique visitors and 3.8 million page views.

Finally, at 6:07pm ET, the boy was found hiding in a box (nope, in a press conference taking place as I type this the police officer says he wasn't in a box) in the attic. This is when people knew that it was ok to start poking fun at the boy's adventure (because he was safe), and some people began to question if it a publicity stunt for the father (he says it wasn't), or the family's Wife Swap appearance. A DJ from, 96.1 Kiss FM, Scott Ehrenberger tweeted this:

Yo Balloon Boy, Ima let you finish, but Anne Frank had the best attic hideout of all time

There's also this webpage with some funny images on it, about the whole Balloon Crisis. We also learned more about the father, CBS6 reports:

He also happens to be one-half of a weather-investigative team with a former on-air weather personality at CBS 6.

That part of the story here.

Later Thursday, the family gave an interview with CNN's Wolfe Blitzer, in which the Balloon Boy was quoted as saying this: "we did this for the show", which raised many questions.

Want some Barf with that cereal?
Then, this morning on TV the family went on all three morning shows, but only barfed during two of the interviews. I still don't know how the family was in three places at once!

Now, TMZ (the most trusted name in news, I know...JK) has the 911 call, listen to it here.

The cops don't think it was a hoax And, around 2pm ET, Friday afternoon, a press conference began with Jim Alderden, Sheriff of Larimer County in Colorado. Addressing the aspect of it being a hoax, the sheriff had this to say:

It's very evident that this boy is very hyperactive, to say the least, and, you know, the suggestion to us that perhaps this boy had been coached or coaxed by his parents to hide and remain still in this attic for five hours during the duration of this event, just seems inconceivable

Did WTEN just re-air a three month old story, no ABC did

Last night I was watching News10 at 11, on WTEN, the local ABC station in Albany, NY, when a story about Hidden fees came on. It was done by ABC News reporter Bill Weir. Immediately I realized I had seen the story someplace in the past and I jumped to the conclusion that News10 re-aired the piece.

The story was originally done for a story on the July 15, 2009 Nightline. I thought it was odd that they were re-airing, a story from Nightline on News10 at 11, for two reasons. One, why re-air a story so many moths later, but two; stories on Nightline usually run around 3-5 minutes, as the show typically only has 3 stories from reporters, and a story so long on a local newscast is almost unheard of.

So, this morning I looked into it a little more, and found this out. On Monday night's ABC World News they aired the Bill Weir piece (which aired later on NEWS10 at 11). But, it was a much shorter piece then the original nightline story, from a 5 minute and 45 second story, on Nightline in July; to a 3 minute story on Monday night's World News. This is when I realized that News10 must have just used the report from ABC, seeing how WTEN is affiliated with ABC they have access to all of their stoires. Therefore it was ABC, not News10 that re-used and edited the story . My thought is that it could have had something to do with Monday being a holiday and the lack of news, that ABC News decided to re-air the piece; but shame on them.

NEWS10 was first to report, but should they have been?

{Here's the video link, if the video player above does not show up.}

Last night, News10 -the ABC station in Albany- was first to report a plot to kidnap, torture and kill former Rensselaer County District Attorney Trish DeAngelis. News10, as news stations typically do, billed this as an "Exclusive" story, which from what I can tell at the time it was. However, the story was based off of three anonymous, sources. A news story is based off of anonymous sources can be sketchy, and some people will say it is a practice of bad journalism, like some comments on this Times Union Blog. To me, this is investigative journalism, as WTEN was the first media outlet to report this story (from what I can tell). How did Anya Tucker get a hold of this info? Who knows? But, I feel (and hope) that she, and WTEN (actually, any news organization), would only report on a story if they had solid facts, which despite the anonymity, it appears WTEN had. So News10 was the first to report on this story, last night.

By tonight's news it was not "Exclusive." Reporter Steve Flamisch covered this story for CBS6. Flmaisch mentioned WTEN, in his print and video story, something that the decision makers at WRGB, undoubtedly had to debate over doing or not doing. I thought this was very interesting that another news organization would site another news organization (normally competitors). But, the article/story on cbs6albany.com does not shed a nice light on WTEN.

Regarding WTEN, McNally said he could subpoena the reporter and anyone else with knowledge of the claims. He said, however, that he currently has no plans to do so.

NewsChannel 13 and the Times Union also covered this story

How this story was covered raises some questions, for me at least. Was it right for News10 to air this story last night, a story based off of three unnamed sources? Does anyone care about this story? Is this quality journalism?

PETA's Protest.

{NOTE: The video will start playing immediately, because of that I will delete this blog post in about a week.}

Yesterday, I told you that PETA was going to protest, by dumping milk in front of an Albany grocery store. Fox23 News did a story on it here it is:

My Duh moment of the day

Everyday I say things I sometimes regret, today I questioned, on twitter, whether or not News10 reporter Anya Tucker is pregnant or not; she is.

But earlier today, in my History class, somehow the teacher got on the topic of Voodoo Dolls, and someone in the class said they were related to witch doctors. So, I whispered to my friend sitting next to me, "wasn't there a song about that in the Chipmunks movie?" Well, the teacher said, "Michael, do you know?" Seeing as I had no time to come up with a BS answer, I said, "well I know the chipmunks sang a song about it, in the movie." The whole class cracked up!

Afternoon Update: Wednesday October 7th 2009

Yes, it's only Wednesday. There have been some really interesting stories around the area lately.

First in Albany, at the Achievement Academy, Two teachers have quite after saying they were secretly videotaped. For some reason FOX23 wasted the talents of Jeff Saperstone on this story, but here's his report and the Times Union Schools blog has more here.

There's this major trial going on in the area, now that tapes of the interview with the father (Adrian Thomas) and police have been released; the TV coverage has ramped up. Here's CBS6's coverage from last night at 5, the video is very compelling -including the police praying with Thomas. More of this video will get played today in court, according to various news organizations, so we'll see what happens.

Happening Today, as they say. While you are not suppose to cry over spilt milk, I think this protest is just dumb. This from a news release from PETA:

Dressed as a cow, a PETA supporter will dump gallons of "milk" outside a grocery store in Albany as part of a protest against cruel factory dairy farms.

Here's the full news release, seems like a waste of milk to me.


In today's Times Union there is this article that says Kate, from John & Kate might get her own talk show, I know who cares....I'm just saying.

Also in today's Times Union is part of this associated press story about how David Letterman's ratings have been going up --because he keeps talking!

This tweet from News10's Steve A. explains that Diane Lee (formally of FOX23 News) will be leaving the ABC station in Albany, to take a job down south.



Also, it appears John Craig, who literally has reported for every capital region news station is back on NewsChannel 13.

I saw him on "NewsChannel 13 Today" this morning with this report about the ongoing Adrian Thomas Trial. When I tweeted NewsChannel 13 to ask if it was in fact John Craig, they tweeted me back telling me it was John Craig.

They also tweeted me this:

Media Notes

Tonight's BIG STORY...
Locally, while today's big story is yet another fire, last nights was the announcement of the City of Schenectady's budget. All of our local news channels covered the announcement, some better than others. CBS6 News's Randy Simons, a very talented reporter filed this report, which included interesting visuals. Another great political reporter, Jeff Saperstone filed this report for Fox23 News. News10 had Diane Lee cover the story. And, News Channel 13's Jessica Layton covered the story. Also Capital News 9, Time Warner Cable's 24 hour news channel in the region, had Curtis Schick on the story, with this report. All in all, the reporters who covered this story are some of the best reporters this market has.

In other news...
Lydia Kulbia blogs about the Federal Trade Commission’s blogger endorsements rule.

The Times Union's Kristi Gustafson has a great blog post about the David Letterman Disaster on her blog, here.

All Over Albany had this great blog post about yesterday's late afternoon rainbows in the Albany area.

Also, is Nancy Grace the new Judge Judy -god I hope not! Here's an article from B&C talking about the possibility of her new show.

News10 at 4 -a different kind of local news

Just over two weeks ago WTEN, Albany’s local ABC affiliate, started a new 4pm newscast. It is way too early to judge what the masses will think of News10 at 4. People in the region seem to a) not like change and b) hate seeing the same story three times (not that I’m saying News10 at 4 does that). However the concept of News10 at 4 intrigues me, for many reasons. First off Lydia and Elisa seem to be focusing on different type of stories; stories about the community. New segments include “Making a Difference,” “4 your health,” “4 your money,” and amongst others, and my personal favorite “Annie on the Job.”

News10 at 4 is just a local example of how many television stations across the nation are adding local newscasts, despite the economic climate of media industry. GM’s of these local stations will probably tell you something like “we’re committed to our viewer,” and that may be true, but the simple fact is this: it costs a station less to air a live-local news program then airing a syndicated show, like Ellen or Oprah. WTEN isn’t the only station to expand their newscasts, to “non traditional” times, or “non-traditional” formats.

Local Mornings:
Here in the capital region two channels have local news from 7-8am, FOX23 and the Capital Region CW (produced by sister station CBS6). It’s quite obvious that these two stations don’t put much stock into these early morning local newscasts, as they do with their evening newscasts.

FOX23 fired (from what I can tell) the one anchor that arguably made that morning newscast interesting, Diane Lee (now freelancing at WTEN). She has been described as “the one bright light on low rated morning show” by a viewer on this Times Union blog. The morning news program at FOX23 also use to have a morning live reporter, and a morning traffic reporter; Kaitlyn Barto. In the morning, it seems, the more anchors the better. This shows the viewer that as a news station you are committed to the idea of morning news and want your viewers to be as committed to watch you. And having a live morning reporter brings a feeling of urgency to the stories, and keeps the newscast fresh.

As for CBS6 News on the Capital Region’s CW, the morning newscast seems to be nothing more than local anchors introducing national CBS stories, not to say that they have no local stories, they do.

Both stations have unique opportunities to capitalize on “live-local” morning newscasts, but aren’t doing a very good job of this. Most owned and operated Fox stations have local morning news from 5-9am, some until 10am. Because this is such a huge amount of time for local news, stations are becoming creative with interesting morning content. Good Day Tampa Bay lets you submit your child’s first birthday, for them to announce on air. Another Fox station, Fox 7 in Austin, has a segment on their morning newscast devoted to local musicians. The local CW station in Sacramento, CW31, airs a morning news program seven days a week. Good Day Sacramento even has its own webpage. According to their webpage, “Each week, the Good Day cast brings you the best that Sacramento has to offer. Whether it's lifestyle, (5 a.m. Club, Prego Posse, Momtrepreneurs), entertainment (Mark on Movies, The Vault), recreation (Nick's Joints) or news-related (News of the Weird), Good Day has it.” Now this seems like it would be a very interesting newscast to watch while getting ready for my day. Another example of a different style newscast is on WSFL, a CW station in Florida. Their morning newscast takes a much more laid back approach when it comes to the news, mainly because the show seems like it is not focused solely on news. The show less then a year old, utilizes the Internet –to stream live and twitter.

Lifestyle shows
While some Lifestyle shows, such as WNBC's 5pm "LX TV" can be unwanted by viewers, others seem interesting. The ABC station in St. Paul/Minneapolis, owned by the same company that owns WNYT, airs a local lifestyle show called “Twin Cities Live.” Looking on their website, the story about how the station picked who would host the show is very interesting. Another afternoon local lifestyle show, on ABC-7: San Francisco is called “View from the Bay.” What makes these local programs interesting is that both, “Twin Cities Live,” and “View from the Bay” are taped in front of live studio audiences. While these shows air in the afternoon, some stations have locally produced morning lifestyle programs. In Milwaukee, NBC station TMJ-4, airs a 9am lifestyle program called “The Morning Blend.” And in Houston, if you turn on KHOU Channel 11, you will find “Great Day Huston.” All of the lifestyle shows typically have cooking segments, interviews, as well as relationship advice and stories about what is happening in the local communities.

News Magazines:
These shows typically are on each night, either at 7 or 7:30pm. They focus more on what is going on in their community, and less on the news of the day. There aren’t many shows like this in America. One such example is on the ABC station in Boston, WCVB. The Chronicle, according to the station’s website is “the nation’s longest running locally produced nightly newsmagazine.” King 5, the NBC station in Seattle has a new magazine fittingly called “Evening Magazine.” According to the station’s website, “Evening Magazine remains a local favorite highlighting the people, places and events that make the Northwest so special.” Both of these news magazines have anchors and reporters that focus solely on their evening news magazine program.

Keeping it Local!
Two other unique types of newscasts can be found on the west cost –both in Portland. The NBC station, KGW, has a 7pm local newscast; but not just any 7pm newscast. “Live at 7” is a very different approach to news. Both the host and producer are on twitter and viewers can watch the show online live –with both the producer and anchor’s mics left, as they say –HOT! The show also features in depth interviews, all done from the “studio on the square,” a-la the Today Show’s Rockefeller Plaza. The CBS station, KOIN, just started a 4pm newscast, “Keep it Local,” according to the station's website the program is “Produced on location every day, Keep It Local goes wherever the day’s biggest story takes us.”

So, back to the capital region. Where does News10 at 4 fit in to the various types of local news programs being produced around the country? It seems to be half lifestyle, half news. So, why not just commit to one or the other? Also, why not just push it back to 5pm –make it an hour -so it can compete with other channels –or maybe being the only local program at 4 is just what WTEN wanted. It seems WTEN’s content is stronger during this 4pm newscast, then the “harder” evening newscasts.

The bigger question is when will local capital region news channels start listening to what viewers want? Only time will tell what impact News10 at 4 has on local Capital Region news. Maybe local news channels need to realize that there simply is not enough news for 5 separate news channels. Second off, we probably do not need 90 minutes of evening news. Local Channels need to also realize that they need to stop with the national/wire/AP stories on focus on local content -and if it means less news on the air so be it. OR, hire more reporters to do “special assignment stories,” I am sure there are so many local stories that we hear about on the news, done simply with an anchor voice over, that actually having a reporter to tell the story would make a newscast more interesting (and it appears in this respect, News10 at 4 is listening). Finally, why does it seem that local news channels don’t interview people? Capital Tonight on Capital News9 does a great job of interviewing people.

Local TV News is NOT dead, it just has to adjust with the times, and 90% of our local channels are NOT doing that -presumably because it will hurt their bottom line!