Oregon Media Insiders

Hey, sets are expensive, ya know?

This is what's wrong with local television news. No one is doing this kind of content anymore, compelling content that gets people to watch. All we're giving them is weather and what ever story came out of the garbage can. This will hurt KATU.

Wow. Seriously WTH? I guess that just shows how out of touch the local news stations are with the area/viewers... not that we needed any more confirmation of this fact...

Didn't they do this once before under Rausch? Grant's great and the station will miss him.

At least if you're going to fire someone like McOmie, at least dont say something palpably disingenuous like you don't see enough interest locally for outdoor and environmental issues.

This is Portland. In Oregon. You know, famous for bottle bills and transit and sustainable development and city planning and stuff like that. We have a local active bicycling culture. We're percieved as a center of green culture, and you say something like that?

C'mon now. I love you, KATU, so I'm going to be honest with you, because you're honest with your loved ones: that was one dumb move.

Samuel John Klein, a/k/a ZehnKatzen
samuel.klein@gmail.com or zehnkatzen@gmail.com
graphically involved at http://zehnkatzen.blogspot.com

Just go watch Oregon Field Guide.

Let me just say that McComie's stories were always among the most interesting and unique in the market. Nobody else in the market was able to merge outdoor/environmental coverage and package their stories in a more compelling manner. Sure he has a great, distinctive voice, but I never came away from a McComie story WITHOUT knowing something I didn't know before.
I never understood why KATU didn't package his reports into a weekly magazine show on the weekends like Oregon Field Guide.
What a waste. Just when I was thinking KATU was getting ready for a major push they make a stupid move like this and give a boneheaded reason that makes them seem OUT OF TOUCH with the market.
No KATU, you're not on my side. Anymore.

Doesn't Belo they have a "northwest" program on KING and NWCN that they could easily replicate or add to KGW? Seems like KGW could use his talent if KATU wants to emulate KOIN in terms of newsroom decisions.

This is quite possibly the stupidest move that KATU has ever pulled. I mean, the ratings are already in the toilet, so I'm sure they could stand to lose their MOST POPULAR FEATURE REPORTER and one that will have growing relevance with the coming eco-boom.

I'm sure it was money. But don't dress it up as something other than the firing of one of your most well-liked and popular reporters.

Stupid. Stupid. Stupid.

The best part of KATU will be gone when Grant leaves.....Next,tell Rhonda to quit mentioning ocean conditions...nobody goes out there anymore...How sad...KATU...will give us more crime reports, I suppose....

I've seen this type of reporting in other cities, and frankly McOmie just wasn't that great at it. I'm sure he's a really nice guy and you never like seeing a 22 year veteran let go. But in my opinion, his stories were never that compelling, especially given the near endless supply of great material here in the Northwest.

The real sad part: I'm guessing KATU won't be replacing him with a reporter that works on a comparable beat.

I'm an on-air person at another station, lived here my entire life and watched the guy while in high school. Too bad. Really out of touch folks. Does KATU management know that there is an ocean and several mountain ranges nearby? Most likely they've never left the metro area.

I also grew up in Portland, I don't live there anymore and I wasn't familiar with McOmie, mostly because I never liked KATU. My guess is he's picked up by a magazine, or does freelance work. Sounds like he was a good piece of the puzzle over there, maybe another network could pick him up. KGW would be the next station to consider him, I'm guessing it's not KPTVs style, and KOIN probably couldn't afford him.

One of my recent posts is gone and as I looked for another to respond -- it has disappeared too. Deleted any posts lately?

KATU should replace him with a daily prescription drugs segment or something that appeals to the few viewers who still watch it.

But I loved Grant's stories and his delivery. He will be missed.

The best storyteller on KATU is Grant McOmie. I’m neither a hunter nor a fisherman, but I found his insights on the lifestyle fascinating. And his coverage of wildlife in the region is equally as fascinating. No other station in Portland has a storyteller quite like Grant McOmie. KATU made a REALLY BAD decision in ending this relationship.

I don't watch KGW because of the toy drive that is really advertising, I can't stand KOINs lack of production values and KPTV is all crime all the time.

I was left with KATU.

With this news, I think I am going to give up on local TV news. I will just find my news on the internet through Oregonlive (even though their website kinda blows) and the other local papers.

They lost at least one viewer because of this...

Me.

Freelancer

And he was just nominated for one of them awards posted earlier. I'm flabbergasted!

Hey, Katie Brown's botox is expensive. The let Grant go so they could fill that hole in the budget.

Good Golly,.....

KATU management shows (once again) that they have their collective heads stuffed up their 'poopen shutes' to make a decision like that.

Local content is what ensures the survival of local news and Grant's stories embodied just what that is here in Oregon.

Channel 2 gets the ratings they deserve.

The Internet looks better and better as a source of news.

This reminds me of when KGW management fired longtime sports personality Doug LaMear. He’d been a fixture at KGW for decades, but was let go then rehired because of public pressure. I know it RARELY happens in television news, but maybe someone should e-mail KATU with their dissatisfaction on this one.

This is a really tone deaf move. Hope somebody picks him up ASAP.

It is sad that Grant McO Will be gone- I think he did a fine job with his segments.
Did Derek Sciba get the ax too? He did a good job too. Anyone else think that he resembles a young Tony Perkins in Psycho?
Just how tall is Rod Hill? Someone said that he is "tiny".
How tiny?
I would also like to put in a good word for Carl Click. I think he does a great job with the news and has a pleasant delivery. He seems very genuine and is attractive.
There will be NO ugly anchors on TV!!!! Ha!

What a totally stupid move by KATU. Grant is one of the best in Portland.

Hey KGW- Hire Grant ASAP!

Grant McOmie's stories have also been a regular feature on KVAL in Eugene (another Fisher station, or whoever owns them now). Hopefully we'll still see him appearing there.

This is the same brilliant team at KATU that fired Tim Hibbitts (the markets best known political expert) via a Dear John letter.

Oregon and Washington are all about the outdoors. Not urban crime.

KATU, give us more crime and slime. That's what we want.

Firing Grant is another act of total stupidity. Oh, and your new set sucks too.

Just another example of KATU's foolish ND Don Pratt's poor judgement. This is the NW, figure it out or move back to Boston.

In Boston they are too busy worrying about what socks match their shirts to venture out into what remains of their wilderness. Pratt must not have noticed many people move to Portland JUST for the outdoors experiences. If you are going to fire him because you want to save money, or hire more ditzy mike stands as seems to be the current trend, don't insult us with lame excuses like there's "no interest". Mr. Boston can't see the forest through the trees.

For those of you who think there is no interest in the outdoors here just look at the Columbia or Willamette river. I think KATU really missed the boat. We don't need more stories on "low lifes" robbing a market. Hopefully another station will pick Grant up and gain a bunch of new viewers. Great PR move KATU. You lost a ton of viewers this one for sure.

Dreadful news! Always a great segment to watch. But it is a good excuse to watch any other channel for local news. So tired of the sparing on the set, worse now Deb is back.

Grant McOmie's incredible journalistic talents will long be remembered. Don Pratt and John Tamerlano will soon be forgotten when they are replaced a few years down the road. But, hey in the meantime, we'll have more mindless crime news and KATU newscasts filled with pretend investigations.

By the way, KATU says it's out to hold public figures accountable (insert laugh track here). Who's holding them accountable for this bone head decision?

McComie is a well respected & liked individual, but his particular expertise was not appreciated until they put a fork in it. You guys make it sound like KATU is going to completely abandon outdoor reporting, which is almost as ignorant as some of your hollow rants. When they used to dedicated a complete 30-minute special on what he did, all three of you from Burns tuned in. I'll stand corrected if another sation picks him up...but since that won't happen, ya'll need to move on. Not much worse than someone who can get sooo passionate on 2.5% of the information...go back & support that Al Qaeda traitor from Washington County that ya'll were convinced was innocent...until he confessed...oops!

Could you change the original post to read ifish.net? That would be the correct source.

Thanks.

Congratulations KATU (mis)management, you've just removed the last shred of local content. And no, the senstaionalist dreck you call Two on Your Side doesn't count. If the FCC actually cared about public input during re-licensing procedure, you'd all be selling used cars or appliances in a few years.

If you don't give your viewers a compelling hook, like local content, they'll just get what they want off the internet. You idiots must have a deathwish- good luck selling your ad time.

Whether his beat is your favorite or not, it's hard to argue that Grant McOmie brought a genuine spirit to all of his stories. I worked with Grant several years back, and can tell you that he was willing and able to do a wide variety of stories. Like most reporters, he was assigned work and didn't always get to do things exactly as we wanted. He took this as a pro and still worked hard to develop his beat, covering everything from RV destinations to investigations about poaching and animal cruelty. During the storm of '96, Grant was one of the most insightful and energetic reporters live in the field. His knowledge of the Northwest is hard to match, and his departure shows that there is little left in local news with a local flavor. Why not just pipe in CNN and call it a day?
I felt the same way about Ray Summers, and with the passing of the Boz and dismissal of Grant McOmie, I am feeling fortunate that I am no longer in Portland to watch what passes for news these days.
Sad indeed.