It’s started.

I woke up to the sounds of silence at 4:45 Monday morning. Normally that’s not a bad thing except the whole house was quiet. No AC running, nothing. It’s amazing how quickly a house can start heating up this time of the year in the MidSouth, especially after the power has been [...]

Keep a former employee from down on the river in your thoughts and prayers

I saw in the CA that Nancy Sawtelle Hayslip of Bartlett died this past week. She is the mother of former NC3 anchor and reporter Steve Hayslip who now anchors the morning show at WTVF in Nashville and reports for them as well.For those of you who know Steve then you know he is [...]

We’re Number One, We’re Number One and people are leaving.

You work hard to earn the Number One spot in the market and people start leaving. A second reporter from down 0n the river turned in his notice that he’s leaving the market. R.E. is moving off to the East Coast where I’m told he will do some freelance work. A producer for [...]

When the ship starts to flounder, one of the first things they want to do is toss the anchor overboard!

Some news operations are like that. If they see they really aren’t going anywhere like the consultants convinced them they should be, then they (the ND and GM) start tossing the anchors and other on-air folks overboard. They’ll usually give folks a couple of years to “make a difference” and then it’s time [...]

Imitation is still the most sincere form of flattery

For years folks in the Memphis area could vote on what they considered “The Best” the city had to offer. Everything from the best burger to the best weather guy. It was always fun to read the results in the weekly Memphis Flyer. I think it was this survey that had a [...]

The Ripple from the Nipple

Who could have foreseen that exposing a nipple on a television screen could possibly jeopardize live shots in local news. Huh? What’s the connection here?Well, according to an article by Brooks Boliek in the Hollywood Reporter, “…in a continuing crack down on on-air profanity the FCC has requested numerous tapes of broadcasters that [...]

We’re live and the scene is dead!

Over the last week or so I’ve noticed several rants in articles from folks in various parts of the country who seem to have discovered that some television stations put reporters live on the scene where absolutely nothing is happening or where whatever happened is long over. To borrow from Captain Renault in [...]

Hey man, put me on TV and a former mayor is expected to be back at work in Memphis

Any videographer or reporter who has spent any time at all in the field as heard it. “Hey man, put me on TeeVee.” The plea usually comes from kids who will crowd into the shot you’re trying to get so you can wrap up your piece and head back to the station. [...]

Odds and Ends

Thanks to everyone who took time to share birthday greetings. I guess I never really thought about it before but I have something in common with the station down on the river. It got its start in January 1956. I got my start in July 1956. It’s owned by the NYT. I used to be [...]

A former newsman looks at 50.

I’m listening to Jimmy Buffet’s “A Pirate looks at 40″ as I say goodbye to the 40s and hello to the big 5-0 on July 3rd. I’ve always looked forward to the big birthday events of my life: turning 13 and becoming a teenager, turning 16 and getting my drivers license, turning [...]