Category: Media

I opened a letter today from KXJZ, 90.9, Capital Public Radio that is, letting me know that the last vestiges of jazz being played on 90.9 will be disappearing from the station as of January 17. Ok, disappearing might be too strong a word. Jazz programming is moving to 88.9 KXPR, and will be heard from 7-11, Sun-Fri.

Color me pissed. I’ve contributed to KXJZ for years, and never once been asked for feedback on programming. Not once have I been asked for my tastes or preferences or likes or dislikes. Instead, over the last two decades, KXJZ has gone from a 24-hour jazz station (and a damned good one) to a watered down jazz station (so much so that in 1999 it was featured in Downbeat (the only real jazz magazine left) as following the tide of stations more interested in “playing it safe” than playing jazz) to a jazz and news station, to most recently a news and “jazz” station (the “jazz” in question being a mashup of Brazilian bubblegum and adult contemporary detritus salted with a pinch of straight-ahead jazz for the apparently dying breed that actually like instrumental, improvised music), to, now, a 24 news station. Continue reading “KXJZ Getting Out of the Jazz Business”

We love to discuss rankings and lists, so I was please to come across this nice photo gallery compilation of Sacramento’s ranking in 33 categories.

Rankings that caught my eye:

No. 30: Most Generous Tippers: Sacramento at 18.7 percent was slightly below the national average of 19.2 percent in Zagat’s survey of tipping rates in 31 restaurant markets. New Orleans was tops at 19.7 percent.

Heck, we should be dancing in the streets about that one. 1% separates us from the best tipping city in the country?

No. 21: Suburbanization of Poverty. The Brookings Institution ranked Sacramento 21st out of the largest 100 metro areas in the growth of poverty in its suburbs. As its measure, Brookings tracked the migration of low-income people who receive housing choice vouchers (HCV) provided by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.

From wikipedia: “Some have argued that Section 8 enables low-income criminals to reside in suburban communities they would not otherwise be able to afford, and subsequently pursue law-breaking lifestyles in more affluent neighborhoods.”

Ugh. Continue reading “Sacramento Ranks (Bee photo gallery)”

I dare you to try on those Christian Siriano shoes

Not only does the Payless ShoeSource in Stockton get robbed this weekend, they also receive wonderful advertising on News10.net.

Seriously, I am not sure there is anything more to say here. I did notice the AP Graphics image used is named “110925025028_paylessShoeGun.jpg” which is a little snarky, I must say.

I don’t know, I’m getting old, I guess, but man these *news* stories that are published online with errors, typos, mistakes, etc. are getting old. In some cases, it leads to confusion, like with this story on news10.net about leaving your kids in the car.

Sacramento police officers cited the woman for a violation of Kaitlin’s Law, which prohibits anyone from leaving a child 6 years of age or younger unattended in a motor vehicle without the supervision of someone who is at least 12 years old. “Children under the age of 12 cannot be left alone in a car where the keys in the car, the ignition is on or there’s the potential of danger, injury or hazard by leaving them in the car,” police Sgt. Norm Leong said. The fine is $100.

Huh? 6, 12, unattended, supervision, keys in the car, danger, injury, I don’t know what to do.

It’s sort of an important clarification, right? I think some folks would argue the car is running and the AC is on scenario, by the way.

In September of 2009, I wrote a post about the types of headlines the media agencies use to report cars crashing into buildings. Two years later, this method of journalism continues with this story about an automobile accident a Roseville DMV office.

The Roseville field office of the Department of Motor Vehicles is expected to be closed for repairs the rest of this week – after a driving school student crashed into the building and put a 5-foot hole in the wall.

What I found interesting was the Google News results for this accident. This wasn’t a case of the same story being spread across the wire.

“Student driver crashes into DMV office” – “Student driver plows into DMV” – “Hit-And-Run Driver Swipes Calif. DMV”

The hit-and-run angle was not widely reported. Adds quite a twist, I’d say. Most of the information gaps are due to the “get it up as soon as possible” aspect of today’s journalism.

Authorities in Roseville learned of the accident from a local news channel following a viewer tip sent by email. By the time police showed up the vehicle was gone. DMV officials believe the car belonged to a driving school and that a student was likely operating the vehicle.

Late last night, a news10.net story even had a little punch line at the end of the story (I didn’t get a chance to screen grab it!) that went something like “…no word on whether the student passed the test or not.”

They’ll be here all week.

Here’s another one of those news stories where the headline is meant more to get people fired up than to summarize what the story is about.

Authorities are discussing the possibility of permanently banning alcohol along the river every day of the year.

And yet I’ve watched the video and read the article and I am not sure I know that “authorities” are really discussing banning alcohol along the river.

“I don’t know that we’ve reached the point where we have to ruin it for everyone” Sacramento County Supervisor Phil Serna said. “It would require a joint effort between the state of California – who governs the actual water – and the adjacent acreage is under the oversight of the county.”

At any rate, I get it, it’s a law enforcement nightmare to have to keep the drunken yahoos in check.

I wonder if this dude knew his interview would be used heavily in the piece.

“It’s not that bad, it’s just fights” rafter Will Schulze said. “We’re adults. If we want to drink on the river, we should drink on the river.”

Oh, boy, time cue up the Colonel Jessep scene from A Few Good Men.