I was trying to remember after your last post what the landscape looked like here in Chicago in the days when I watched the local news. I know that Bill Kurtis and Walter Jacobsen were the #1 anchor team in Chicago when they were paired at WBBM. But WBBM got some new program management in the early '90s, and they attempted to add more glitz and sensationalism to their newscasts. This drove Jacobsen to the new WFLD newsroom (where he still is, along with Robin Robinson, another WBBM refugee), and Kurtis left the local news scene entirely. Ron Magers and Carol Marin were one of the more respected anchor teams in town until their station, WMAQ, decided to offer a commentary position to Jerry Springer. This decision not only caused protests outside NBC Tower in Chicago but led Marin to resign in protest. Magers followed her out shortly thereafter. Springer, incidentally, only lasted a week before he resigned himself
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I know what you mean about trying to go back and watch local news after the team you watched for years gets dismantled --;! The same thing happened here with KSTP, the station I watched for several years as a kid. I used to watch KSTP religiously and their then #1 anchor team of Cyndy Brucato, Stan Turner, Dennis Feltgen, and Bob Bruce. Things got ugly in the mid-80s when Q ratings and Hubbard, owner of KSTP, decided to tweak the team. Since then, KSTP has been rotating their main anchors in and out every 3-4 years X( except for the meteorologist, Dave Dahl who replaced Feltgen after Feltgen had a nightmare contract re-negotiation that ended him leaving the station, and the main sports anchor, Joe Schmidt who replaced Bob Bruce whose exact reasons for leaving I can't remember at the moment O~O! The other 2 main news stations, KARE-11 and WCCO, kept their teams relatively stable while KSTP went through at least 6 or more different main anchors. WCCO did cause a bit of a ruckus when they pressured their veteran anchor
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Re: News Anchors26376February 16 2004, 19:30:11 UTC
Here are two questions from the new Eric Zorn quiz. I got them right, of course. #43 should tell you something about the regard for the newscasters I mentioned in their years at WBBM.
32. Why did news anchors Carol Marin and Ron Magers leave WMAQ-Ch. 5 in 1997 2 points. Jerry Springer only did a few commentaries for WMAQ, but the damage was done. Marin has only recently returned in Ch. 5 as an investigative reporter. Magers is at WLS-Ch. 7
A. They were ousted in a sex scandal (0%) B. They resigned in dispute over money (0%) C. Management wanted to bring in younger anchors (4%) D. Their ratings were terrible (0%) E. They quit because the station hired Jerry Springer to offer news commentaries. (96%) F. I don't know (0%)
43. Who, for many years, co-anchored THE 10 o'clock News? 4 points. Some still yearn for Kurtis and Jacobson to reunite
A. Bill Kurtis and Walter Jacobson (72%)B. Floyd Kalber and Fahey Flynn (0
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Well, I have sent this to CJ of the Star Tribune, but that's about it. I just read an article about KSTP and how it's handling its dead last situation. Apparently, what I described above for KCBS is actually a 'model' of the quick bite-sized newscast for young viewers, and KSTP is starting to implement it over here as well ;b! Some journalism professors were commenting that this model has been described by their students as WHOOSH, flashy, and impersonal. The 'caring feeling model,' used by KARE and WCCO, was just dumped at KSTP in favor of this one ;P since it wasn't helping them in the ratings. After reading that, I doubt that KCBS will listen to what I say, like our 'beloved' KSTP, whom I dumped 15+ years ago when they started that revolving anchors thing. Supposedly, they know 'exactly' what they're doing, and they're doing it on purpose. Bah, let them flounder, I say XP, especially if they don't listen to input from their viewers.
I think the Bakersfield news that I watch tries to use the model that KARE uses, but they just SUCK SO BAD at it. They try to make jokes and converse, but it's all so fake and not funny. Bleh.
As much as I love KSTP radio, I've never been keen on KSTP TV. Of course, that may be because I was busy watching Paul Magers...
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I know what you mean about trying to go back and watch local news after the team you watched for years gets dismantled --;! The same thing happened here with KSTP, the station I watched for several years as a kid. I used to watch KSTP religiously and their then #1 anchor team of Cyndy Brucato, Stan Turner, Dennis Feltgen, and Bob Bruce. Things got ugly in the mid-80s when Q ratings and Hubbard, owner of KSTP, decided to tweak the team. Since then, KSTP has been rotating their main anchors in and out every 3-4 years X( except for the meteorologist, Dave Dahl who replaced Feltgen after Feltgen had a nightmare contract re-negotiation that ended him leaving the station, and the main sports anchor, Joe Schmidt who replaced Bob Bruce whose exact reasons for leaving I can't remember at the moment O~O! The other 2 main news stations, KARE-11 and WCCO, kept their teams relatively stable while KSTP went through at least 6 or more different main anchors. WCCO did cause a bit of a ruckus when they pressured their veteran anchor ( ... )
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32. Why did news anchors Carol Marin and Ron Magers leave WMAQ-Ch. 5 in 1997
2 points. Jerry Springer only did a few commentaries for WMAQ, but the damage was done. Marin has only recently returned in Ch. 5 as an investigative reporter. Magers is at WLS-Ch. 7
A. They were ousted in a sex scandal (0%)
B. They resigned in dispute over money (0%)
C. Management wanted to bring in younger anchors (4%)
D. Their ratings were terrible (0%)
E. They quit because the station hired Jerry Springer to offer news commentaries. (96%)
F. I don't know (0%)
43. Who, for many years, co-anchored THE 10 o'clock News?
4 points. Some still yearn for Kurtis and Jacobson to reunite
A. Bill Kurtis and Walter Jacobson (72%)B. Floyd Kalber and Fahey Flynn (0 ( ... )
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But really, that was a great critique of their 11:00 news. You should email it to them. Mebbe they'll try to fix it.
You never know!
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Well, I have sent this to CJ of the Star Tribune, but that's about it. I just read an article about KSTP and how it's handling its dead last situation. Apparently, what I described above for KCBS is actually a 'model' of the quick bite-sized newscast for young viewers, and KSTP is starting to implement it over here as well ;b! Some journalism professors were commenting that this model has been described by their students as WHOOSH, flashy, and impersonal. The 'caring feeling model,' used by KARE and WCCO, was just dumped at KSTP in favor of this one ;P since it wasn't helping them in the ratings. After reading that, I doubt that KCBS will listen to what I say, like our 'beloved' KSTP, whom I dumped 15+ years ago when they started that revolving anchors thing. Supposedly, they know 'exactly' what they're doing, and they're doing it on purpose. Bah, let them flounder, I say XP, especially if they don't listen to input from their viewers.
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As much as I love KSTP radio, I've never been keen on KSTP TV. Of course, that may be because I was busy watching Paul Magers...
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