Category: Media

Throw The Book at The End

My heart goes out to the family of Jennifer Strange, who apparently died of water intoxication during a radio contest on “Morning Rave,” the morning show on “The End.” Ten people were fired today, and I have to assume that includes whoever was “in charge” at the time. Admittedly, water intoxication is probably not something everybody knows about, and I don’t know how many people are actually working during an FM radio morning show, or how the vetting process works for the contests (that process must not contain a humor component, as this whole tragic effed-up mess was aimed at making a pee joke about the Nintendo Wii). But somebody should have said something. Well, somebody like nurse practitioner Judith Linder did say something:

She and two co-workers called the radio station on a speaker phone, and their comments that water intoxication can be dangerous were part of the broadcast.

A DJ retorted, asking them why they didn’t join the contest. Linder said they replied: We don’t want to die.

I say criminal negligence. Throw the book at ’em.

Copper is all craze!

Has anyone else noticed that on cbs13.com (other local sites, too, I’ve just noticed it more here lately) they “write” their online stories by sort of transcribing their video reports? For example, I’m reading today’s story about recent copper thefts on construction sites. I start to read the first few sentences and I notice that there a several errors. So I watch the corresponding video from the newscast. Ron Jones tells me that there is a rash of copper burglaries in Sacramento. The text in the story is more or less the text from the video report. Except that key words are removed:

The owners of a construction supply company in West Sacramento tell us a guy driving a nice tan or gold colored Chevy Suburban is copper thief…Copper is all craze among legitimate customers and recycling thieves…The suspected thieve is accused of stealing about 2,000 pounds worth…

I can go on and on. It seems like lazy journalism. As with most local online news stories (not just cbs13.com) I wonder if anyone ever reads them after they go live. Perhaps it’s an automated system that converts the spoken word to print. If so, does anyone know how this works? I wish we knew people at local news stations that could shed some light on this!

CBS13 undermines river safety

CBS 13 story on the river party videoBy now you’ve heard of the “Sacramento’s American River Gone Fockin’ Crazy” video, an amateur “Girls Gone Wild” shot in the lawless American river by a creepy young would be video entrepreneur. CBS13 promoted the crap out of their story about the video last night during the broadcast of the (shudder) People’s Choice Awards, or as I like to call them the Yay For Everything Awards!! They cut in every commercial break, and displayed “Girls gone wild on the river” on the screen. Their angle was that County officials are worried that this will lead to more out of control partying on the river. Aren’t County officials also worried that CBS13 is showing us a reporter holding the DVD, showing the YouTube clips, and telling us that it is available in stores for $10?

Continue reading “CBS13 undermines river safety”

Tom says snow

Snow!If you’re a weather geek, you gotta bookmark the Web site of Tom Loffman, an honest-to-heavens meteorologist — as opposed to the Ken or Barbie pointing to a blue screen that’s the pretty much the rule these days. Loffman, of course, spent years on the air in this market, first at the mighty KCRA and then at … KOVR? Am I remembering right? And he’s fondly remembered in some circles for his too-true comment on how TV stations were more interested in having their weather types kiss dolphins than work the weather beat.

Good on you, Tom. Good on you.

Continue reading “Tom says snow”

Placeblogger, putting the L in URL

Introducing Placeblogger, the hottest new thing in blogs dedicated to specific cities. FauxPaws pointed this out to me a few months ago but now it has launched, complete with major financial backing.

Placeblogs are sometimes called “hyperlocal sites” because some of them focus on news events and items that cover a particular neighborhood in great detail — and in particular, places that might be too physically small or sparsely populated to attract much traditional media coverage.

Sounds right up our alley. Here are the Sacramento placeblogs. Now with 33% McClatchy meat!! (Ours is in the queue.) Continue reading “Placeblogger, putting the L in URL”

Fun with slideshows

(Yes, we’re having a slow day at the Sac Rag offices, so sue us!)

Ever notice how KCRA.com offers up slideshows on their site?  While they are usually your standard “Caught on Tape” wackiness, from time to time I find a few that are funny.  Mainly because they are not really explained or introduced.  They just jump right into their topic.  For example, I noticed two “Most Annoying” slideshows today.  The first was “The Most Annoying Songs of All Time” and the second was “The Most Annoying Celebrities of All Time“.

While we can all agree on Carrot Top, I’m not sure Don Johnson really fits.  And Nathan Lane?

But, be careful.  I still can’t get that darned “Mmmm Bop” song out of my head now…

Sactown Mag comes out punchin’

So Sactown magazine, the new lifestyle magazine, hits newsstands this week. Based on Sam McManis’ review in today’s Bee, I can’t wait to see it. (RonTopofIt says he got a free copy in the mail, lucky!)

“Opening Shots,” an eight-page spread of dazzling photos. Magazines from Newsweek to Sports Illustrated do this, and it’s nice to see a local publication make a commitment to photojournalism, not just product shots.

Sounds great. I can’t tell whether or not I agree with McManis that the cover is too busy; that might just be too nitpicky for my taste. Seems about average for a glossy magazine like that. McManis also takes a jab at Sactown for using “premier” as in “premier issue” on the cover. That’s where this gets a little funny.

Continue reading “Sactown Mag comes out punchin’”

Are there any other kind?

Snark is not always fun and games. Sometimes the camera must be turned on the less savory parts of life. For example, the Bee’s coverage of the man currently being sought for several assaults on women contains a sidebar about other serial offenders that includes their media nicknames, like Anthony Ray Starks, nicknamed “Cowardly.” You know, unlike the courageous men who typically commit this particular crime.

New crime mapping tool on KCRA

KCRA's Crime Tracker - Mike Teselle reports
Mike Teselle reports

KCRA rolled out its Crime Tracker tool just in time for Halloween this year, and RonTopofIt just pointed it out to me this morning. It is a mashup of Google’s ubiquitous mapping service, and it works way better than the SacPD’s Crime Mapping tool, although I’m sure the SacPD’s offering is more inclusive and updated faster. One thing I have always loved about the SacPD’s tool is the ability to search by neighborhoods, not just Zip codes — this link, for example, shows you residential, auto, and business burglaries in the Ben Ali neighborhood (which is apparently a microhood between El Camino and Marconi on the West side of the Capital City, who knew). To get a similar map on KCRA I had to use an address, 1941 Iris Ave, and I get all of the crime hits (including Invasion of Privacy). But the ease of searching by Zip, intersection, or “Landmarks” on the KCRA site makes it worth a look.